Opinions
Highway plan seen as a hoax
RALEIGH - Every year, the
Board of Transportation sets a
road construction schedule that
will cover the next decade.
This Transportation Improve
ment Plan, or TIP, is considered
an essential planning tool for the
Department of Transportation and
for communities which need to
know when and where roads are
going to be built.
But on the legislature's Depart
ment of Transportation Study
Committee, there is significant
feeling that the TIP might be little
more than a hoax on the public.
The 10-year TIPs are changed so
often that they have little credibili
ty with the public and they cause a
great deal of wasted time and ef
fort in DOT, these legislators said.
The TIP is "ineffective, ineffi
cient and wasteful," Sen. Marc
Basnight, D-Dare, told the study
committee. "I think we go too far
when we try to plan for 10 years.
It's costly because we start people
working on a project, we get all the
design work done and everything
else ready in the field and then we
change governors and he drops the
project."
Watching
By Paul T.
O'Connor
Sen. Bill Goldston, D-Rocking
ham, said, "My people think mak
ing the TIP (with a desired road) is
the first step and then the next step
is getting it delayed. They want
predictability."
It is no secret that the promise to
build a road is one of the biggest
plums a governor can hand out in
this state. (He appoints a majority
of the board which in turn decides
which roads are built.) As Sen.
OUie Harris, D-Cleveland, said,
"These folks out here running for
governor are promising people
roads. (The building of roads) is
politics and it's going to continue
to be politics."
When a governor promises to
add a road to the TIP, then he may
have to drop others. The state
doesn't have unlimited road funds.
When that road is dropped, say
Basnight and others, then the state
throws away money it spent on
road design and planning.
Governors would still have the
opportunity to put roads into the
TIP under the Basnight plan. But
they wouldn't have to worry that
the road was going to be taken out
by the next administration.
Transportation Secretary Jim
Harrington said that the TIP does
have a credibility problem with the
public. But he said that less than 10
percent of it was changed when
Gov. Jim Martin's board came to
power this year. The savings possi
ble from planning for 10 years into
the future far outweigh the disad
vantages created when some plans
are changed, he said.
Harrington also claimed that the
TIP adopted by the Board this year
is much more realistic in its projec
tions than were previous plans. A
certain amount of over-planning is
necessary, he said. If a project gets
delayed or new federal money sud
denly becomes available, the state
should have plans xe^dy to use
almost immediately. The plan
adopted this year, he said, kept
that over-planning to a minimum,
however.
HOWTOBUY I
flJCTTOftTYfll
SftlE PRICES.
All kilowatt-hours
are not created equally
There are off-peak
times each day when
they cost us less to make.
And when they can cost
you less to buy
1 UD TO
newTime-Of-Use Rates,
Sign up forCP&L's
and we'll install a special
meter that tells us not only how much electricity
you use, but when you use it.
Then, at billing time, we charge you a lower
rate forthe electricity used during off-peak.
Just by changing yourtimesfor things like
showers and laundry you can save up to 15%.
This time of year, off-peak limes weekdays are from 1 pm to 4 pm and 9 pm to 6 am and all day Saturday and Sunday
Season's change spurs thoughts
This month we finally accept it.
Summer is over.
The cool air brushes briskly
across our faces every morning
now. It is almost dark before most
of us get home from work.
The color has come to the leaves
all around us. We watch them
burst into flame - knowing that
soon they will fall to a lovely
death.
It reminds us of the temporary
nature of life and the certainty, at
the end, of our death in this world.
The coming of the autumn --
and the changing of the seasons at
the same time each year -- also re
mind us of the reliability and per
manence of God's pattern for this
world.
If we take into account that the
end of our lives here on this earth
is ultimate and certain regardless
of anything that we try to do about
it ? and if we accept the returning
cycles of seasons on this earth as
permanent and unchangeable -- if
we take all this in account - why
should any of us try to make a dif
ference?
Why should we interfere? Why
should we try to change things that
will not change? Why should we be
involved?
To find an answer we have to
look at things another way. In the
midst of all of this world and its
permanent changingness - we are
a part of it.
We are involved whether we like
it or not.
Look outside and see the
evidence that people can make a
difference.
See the houses, yards, the
streets, and the parks. Their beau
ty bursts forth this season because
people makeplans. Because people
plant trees and flowers and bushes.
Because people care for them.
Because people want to make a dif
ference.
Someday we will look at those
same trees ? some of which are
just saplings now -- and they will
tower over us and our children.
You will be struck by. their majesty
and beauty. Remember then that
people planted them and cared for
them. Remember that people make
a difference.
r
TF
m*:-' One on One
JM? D.G.Martin
1
When all of us are older, we will
look back at our own lives and
review again this question of our
meaning ? our purpose -- and why
God put us here.
1 think that we will put that
question to ourselves like this ?
what differenc did I make? Was it
for the good? Did I do all I could?
It will not make much difference
to us then exactly what offices we
held -- or what elections we won -
or what jobs we got ? or how
much money we earned -- or how
powerful we ultimately were -- or
what title we had, or even how
many friends we had.
When we look back, I think we
just want to be able to look
ourselves in the eyes and say - "I
was involved. I did make a dif
ference -- and it was for the good."
Each of us is a testament ? a
secret testimony of making a dif
ference. You know things that
nobody else knows that you have
done to make life better for some
other person - to make life's
journey for that person more
tolerable, more understandable,
more pleasant, more acceptable
and more meaningful. All of us
have done that sometime for some
other person.
But all of us have passed by the
opportunity to make a difference.
Sometime we could have made a
big difference just by crossing the
street and putting an arm around
someone in need, and we did not
do it.
When that day comes we will
remember those times we made a
difference -- and those times we
did not.
Perhaps this time of changing
seasons then is a good time for us
to resolve together to be better in
volved, to make a better difference
and to better prepare for that day
when those final questions are ask
ed and we can look ourselves and
our Maker squarely in the eye and
present our true account.
Share with me some of your
memories about how someone else
made a difference in your life.
Write to me at the following ad
dress: D.G. Martin, P.O. Box
37283, Charlotte, NC 28237.
as*
ii> Wi*r /?w* hbvks
ATTEND
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HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA
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and
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You are eligible if:
(1) You have satisfactorily completed the
eighth grade.
(2) You are 18 or older and have been out of school
for at least one year.
Classes are held at Hoke High School on Tuesday
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Registration:
November 26 at 6:30 p.m.
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