Opinion Page
the BRUNSWICKfeBEACON
Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers
Edward M. Sweatt Editor
Susan Usher News Editor
Doug Rutter and Terry Pope Staff Writers
Johnny Craig Sports Editor
Peggy Earwood Office Manager
Carolyn H. Sweatt -Advertising Director
Timberley Adams & Cecelia Gore Advertising Representatives
Tammie Galloway & Dorothy Brennan Graphic Artists
William Manning Pressman
Brenda Clemmons Photo Technician
Lonnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman
Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation
PAGE 4-A, THURSDAY, JUNE 6. 1991
Play It Safe On The Seas:
PFDs Are Meant To Be Worn
It's too late for the three Greensboro men who lost their lives
May 28 after their boat sank off Shallotte Inlet.
That tragedy might have been averted had the four fisher
men on that 24-foot motorboat been wearing life vests or some
other form of what the U.S. Coast Guard refers to as a "personal
flotation device."
The one man who survived apparently grabbed for a jacket
as the boat began going down. It ripped in two, but Gary
Richardson held on to his half of a PFD and lived.
Boating regulations don't require wearing PFDs; they just
say you've got to have one available for each person on board a
boat. The vests can even be stashed under a seat, out of the way.
After all, they're bulky, cumbersome and sometimes uncom
fortable. Who needs them?
Anyone who steps in a boat, that's who needs them. PFDs
are meant to be worn, not stashed somewhere to collect dust or
mildew.
If you're the "captain" of the boat, show respect for life.
Wear your PFD. Make sure there are enough PFDs on board for
every passenger to have one also. Then make sure they put them
on and leave them on for the duration of the trip.
Play it safe on the water.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Thief Created Ugly Memories
To the editor:
Please publish the following open letter to the public:
1 don't know who you are but you will recognize yourself immedi
ately. You're the one who stole the 9.9 horsepower Johnson motor on
Stanley Road the evening of Saturday, May 25.
Sure, it was just a small motor on a little fishing boat. But besides
violating my rights by illegally taking my property, you stole something
from my husband and me that can't be replaced. The boat and motor
had been given to us by my father just before he died in February of this
year.
This was our first trip to Holden Beach since my father's death.
Unfortunately, we never got to enjoy the boat even one time because of
you.
I have many wonderful vacation memories of Holden Beach, both
as a child and an adult. Why do you want to create ugly memories for
me now? Why not keep Brunswick County a fun, safe and secure place
to visit?
From the bottom of my heart I sincerely hope whatever benefit you
derived from stealing this motor was worth the cost paid by my family.
Deborah L. Broome
Concord
I*
Here's How You Can Help
To the editor:
Last year, from January through August, the Brunswick County
Animal Shelter had to pick up 3,108 animals. Of that number, 2,366 had
to be killed bccause no one adopted them. We, the taxpayers, have to
support the cost of the shelter. Naturally, the shelter only has room for
so many animals.
This large number represents irresponsible people. If you are a re
sponsible person, unless you have a valuable animals whose offspring
can be sold, you will help to prevent this carnage of death. Have your
animals spayed or neutered.
Since the cost of this surgery is rather expensive, the Brunswick
County Animal Welfare League was formed to help pay for the cost.
You can help in two ways. Join the League for only S5. Throughout the
county are miniature dog houses for you help with donations. Even
some change will help.
The other way you can help if you have an animal that needs
surgery, call Jack or Jewel Perry at 754-4228 to find out how to get our
financial help for the surgery.
At this time we are meeting on the last Wednesday of the month at 1
at the Senior Citizens Center. We are investigating a location that can
hold more members than one of the small quiet meeting rooms at the
center.
Teddi Neal
Bolivia
Children Deserve A Break
To the editor
As a parent I oppose a 12-month school period. Our children de
serve a break just like everyone else.
Everyone who works has a vacation at least once a year or more.
How would other parents feel if they had to work 12 months with no va
cation? They probably wouldn't like it at all. I know I would not like it.
So give our children a break, along with the sheriff's department. If
you send students to school for 12 months, a lot of them will drop out at
16. Also the sheriff's department will have their hands full because it
could increase crime in the area.
So, Superintendent Hankins, you better think twice about 12 months
of school. I don't know how many parents are against 12 school
months, but I am and I'll fight for my kids' rights. The school don't get
enough money now and it might be a lot worse for 12 school months.
So I'll keep on fighting.
Tammy D. Todd
Route 2, Supply
Good Job Covering Tourney
To the editor
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to your news
paper, and especially to Doug Ruuer for his fine coverage of the North
Myrtle Beach Rotary Club 2nd annual King Mackerel Tournament.
Doug was the only local reporter who took the time to visit our
awards ceremony at Harbourgate Marina in North Mynle Beach.
Keep up the great job.
John Schwab, Committee Chairman
NMB Roary King Mackerel Tournament
(Letters To The Editor Continue On Following Page)
Having To Learn
Our ABCs All Over Again
I'm not a businessman. However,
understanding North Carolina's Al
coholic Beverage Control system
requires a business mind.
In my mind. I've always placcd
ABC stores in the same category as
pharmacies. To me, it's difficult to
picture either as a business, but
that's exactly what they are.
The restrictions placcd on buying
alcohol or drugs (legal ones) always
confuse my brain. Liquor stores arc
not found on every comer. In North
Carolina, I think that is a welcome
sight.
ABC stores operate by selling a
product. Prescriptions arc not need
ed to buy alcoholic beverages, but
buyers must be 21 or older.
Recently, a controversy has brew
ed between the county's nine mu
nicipal ABC systems that cach
operate a store and Brunswick
County's ABC system, which oper
ates a Holden Beach Road store that
opened last year.
The county is establishing an
ABC system that apparently is sap
ping profits from existing municipal
systems. There has been talk of a
possible merger of the 10 stores,
but...
From there the arguments fly.
There are both pros and cons to a
Terry
Pope ^ ,
merger. Those who know how to
run ABC stores talk about indirect
operating expenses, bonded indebt
edness and working capital. That
leaves me out.
I'm slowly learning to see ABC
stores as businesses, in the same
light as a shoe store or pizza parlor,
but it takes practice. I want to fully
understand the whole touchy situa
tion, the fears of municipal ABC
store managers. They believe it all
boils down to this: a little brother
(county system) is trying to take
over an empire.
I'd like to share what I've learned
in a language that I understand.
There are two types of state ABC
systems, a controlled system and an
open system.
North Carolina is one of 18 slates
that operates controlled systems. An
attempt is made by law to regulate
alcohol use, but the most important
point is that net profits in a con
trolled system revert to the state.
In an open system, as in South
Carolina, net profits from alcohol
sales revert to the owner of the store.
Yet only in the Tarheel state does
the profit from ABC systems stay in
the county or town where the sales
arc made. Not one penny of local or
state funds (or tax money) is used to
operate ABC stores in North
Carolina.
That's both good and bad. ABC
stores struggle just to survive. In
Brunswick County, each store has its
own expenses, rent, etc. The state
charges a fee of 85 cents per case to
deliver liquor to an ABC store, re
gardless of where it is located.
Horace Dcudney, administrator
for Forsyth County's three munici
pal systems, spoke to Brunswick
County ABC officials recently. He
told them how the liquor business
nationwide is taking a beating ?
sales arc down.
"The problems we face today in
the spirits industry are the same
problems we faced with the tobacco
industry," said Dcudney, who spent
over 30 years working for RJ.
Reynolds in Winston-Salem.
Hearing that there was a dccline
in alcohol sales started to brighten
my day, but 1 quickly remembered
who filled the scats around me at
that ABC meeting. They were ABC
store managers and ABC board
members who look it as terrible
news, because an ABC store is a
business, not a service.
Tougher driving while impaired
laws and awareness programs and
the recent health consciousness kick
are reasons for declining ABC
sales, Deudney said. "The day of
the happy drunk is over," he added.
So ABC systems are fighting
back by building stores that are
more attractive and stores that offer
self-service convenience to its esti
mated 52 percent female clientele.
In Forsyth County, Deudney is
locating as many stores in shopping
centers as possible. Developers
want the ABC stores there to lure
customers to the center, which will
also help rent other retail spaces.
Inside those ABC stores are
shopping baskets and attractive
aisle displays. It's called marketing.
ABC stores arc, after all, another
business. When profits are up, so
too arc revenues to the towns and
other community organizations.
When profits arc up, it keeps the
town's lax rate from going up.
State General Assembly
T?1 . ? .? ? ? ?
The limes they are a'changing.
For the first time in decades,
white male Democrats no longer
hold a majority of seats in the North
Carolina General Assembly.
That's the word from the N.C.
Center for Public Policy Research
in Raleigh in its latest publication.
Article II: A Guide to the 1991-92
N.C. Legislature.
The year I graduated from high
school, 1971, white male Demo
crats held a total of 79 percent of
the seats in the legislature. The
Senate had only white males, while
the House had two black and two
female Democrats along with the
white male Republicans.
These days white male Demo
crats comprise 46 percent of the
House membership, at 55 members,
while they have remained in a ma
jority at 54 percent (27 members) in
the Senate.
This decline is concurrent with a
move toward greater diversity in
membership among other groups ?
Suson
Usher
more women legislators in both par
ties, as well as more black male and
female Democrats and white male
Republicans, according to Kim
Kebschull, a policy analyst at the
center and author of the guide.
Blacks now account for 11 per
cent of the legislature's total
memership (19 members), the high
est level since the turn of the centu
ry. The total number of women re
mains stable at 25, or 15 percent.
The first Native American was
elected to the House since 1981;
there have been no Native Am
erican members in the Senate.
What does it all mean? Perhaps
Looks More Like Us Now
more accurate representation of the
people of North Carolina. Case in
point: a marital rape bill that ran in
to trouble with conservative male
legislators in 1987-88 and appeared
headed for the scrap heap. But all
24 women legislators ? liberals and
conservatives, Democrats and Re
publicans, agreed unanimously to
support it. According to former
Rep. Sharon Thompson of Durham,
a spokeswoman for Women Elect,
the bill would not have passed with
out women legislators.
The legislature may be getting
more diverse. It's also getting older.
The average age in the House is 57,
up from 49 back in 1971. the aver
age age in the Senate is 58, up from
51 in 1971. As the average age rose,
so did the number of retirees serv
ing in the House (from 22 in 1989
to 28 in 1991). the Senate still has
just six. Retirees account for about
20 percent of the total membership.
There's more, lots more, of this
type of demographic information
contained in the eighth edition of
Article II, along with some other
useful stuff, such "bill success ra
tios" and overall effectiveness rank
ings for each member, district maps
and committee listings.
Once upon a time, jokes equated
the legislature with lawyers or
would-be lawyers. I can't speak for
the would-be part, but for some it
will probably be good news that the
number of lawyers in the legislature
has shown a considerable decline,
from 45 in 1989 to 35 in 1991. On
the other hand, we're seeing an in
crease in insurance agents, Realtors,
farmers and health care workers in
the legislature. .
Get a copy; it makes for interest
ing reading. In fact, it's not recom
mended for bedtime. It might keep
you awake.
Copies are S20, plus $1 tax, plus
$1.50 postage and handling from
the N.C. Center for Public Policy
Research, P.O. Box 430, 5 W.
Hargett Street, Suite 701, Raleigh,
N.C. 27602 , 919-832-2839.
The World Needs More Dreamers Like Emma
I have some tragic news to report.
One member of the British duo
that came through Brunswick
County earlier this year on a world
bicycling lour has died.
Emma Scrimshaw, who had plans
to travel the globe with companion
Steve Bradford, was killed May 16
near Des Moines, Iowa. The 23
year-old woman was hit by a truck
while bicycling on Iowa Highway
163.
I had the pleasure of meeting
Emma and Steve when they came
through Brunswick County in
March. They had big plans.
The couple from Nottingham,
England, had started their trip around
the world in November in Miami.
They had logged nearly 1,500 miles
by the time they crossed the North
Carolina state line on U.S. 17.
They planned to see the United
States and 31 other countries on
their mountain bikes. They planned
l'
/ n /
to cover six continents over a five
year period and travel 50,000 miles.
While exposing themselves to the
cultures of the world, they were try
ing to pass on what they discovered
to a special group of children with
learning disabilities back in
England.
They planned to send packets of
information to students at the Hayes
School in Kent County to let them
know about geography and culture.
Ironically, the story of Emma's
death as told in the May 17 edition
of The Des Moines Register has a
Brunswick County connection. Mrs.
Joseph Hewcll of Shalloile brought
us the issue last week.
On their way through the county
in late winter, Don and Deborah
Arnold, who live in Des Moines and
own property at Brick Landing, be
friended the cyclists.
The British couple spent two
nights with the Arnolds at Brick
Landing Plantation before continu
ing their journey through North
Carolina.
They hadn't planned to visit Iowa
at all, but changed their itinerary so
they could help celebrate Mrs.
Arnold's birthday May 16.
With the birthday party on their
minds. Miss Scrimshaw and Brad
ford were pedaling their way toward
Des Moines on a four-lane divided
highway when their dream trip
came to an end. A bread truck
struck and killed the young woman.
They had traveled just 9,000 of
the 50,000 miles and not even cov
ered one of the 32 countries on their
map.
To pay for their extended vaca
tion, the couple had sold just about
everything they owned in England.
They had left their homeland with
no ties.
A lot of people would say that's
the craziest thing they've ever
heard. But I think it's one of the
neatest things I've ever heard. I re
spect anybody with the guts to do
something like that.
The world is chock full of people
who are willing to put another per
son down for doing something ex
citing with their life. Maybe that's
what's wrong with the world.
Maybe we need a few more peo
ple like Emma Scrimshaw, some
body who wasn't afraid to dream a
little and ride her bike around the
world.