Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / May 27, 1993, edition 1 / Page 4
Part of The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Opinion Page THE BRUNSWICK#!EACON Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers Edward M. Sweatt Editor Lynn S. Carlson Managing Editor Susan Usher News Editor Doug Rutter Sports Editor Eric Carlson Stajf Writer Peggy Earwood OJJice Manager Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director Ttmberiey Adams, Cecelia Gore and Linda Cheers Advertising Representatives Dorothy Brerman and Brenda Clenunons Moore ..Graphic Artists William Manning Pressman Lonnie Sprinkle Assistant Pressman Tammle Henderson Photo Technician Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation PAGE 4-A, THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1993 County Board Should Hold Line, Study Need For Change The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners acted ap propriately Monday when it turned thumbs down on the 1993-94 budget proposed by Interim County Manager John Harvey. The board agreed to go back to the drawing board and hold the line on the current 68-cents-per-$100 valuation property tax rate. The commissioners literally said "thanks, but no thanks" to Harvey's controversial recommendations to dissolve the Bruns wick County Library Board of Trustees, the Resources Development Commission and the Parks and Recreation Department. This is not to say that some type of county government reor ganization is a bad idea. But there were troubling fundamental problems with Harvey's proposal, not least among them that it was too much, too late. Sticking with the plan Harvey outlined would have given the board only six weeks to make the most profound kinds of changes?ones for which the budget proposal simply did not make a strong enough fiscal case and which in some cases appeared motivated more by politics and personality than by good governmental sense. The commissioners would have been hard-pressed to sell the people of Brunswick County on a budget in which the so-called streamlining process?whose realities would have included dis missals, demotions and deep cuts to some popular programs and services?would have been accompanied by a 10-percent tax in crease. "Where's the extra money going?" was the question tax payers were asking all week, but to which they were no substan tive answers. Furthermore, it would have been ill-advised to allow anyone in an interim leadership position to foist on the next county man ager the type of administrative turmoil which inevitably accom panies changes of the magnitude Harvey proposed. It should be the privilege, as well as the responsibility, of the new county manager to work out a direction and management structure in concert with his board of commissioners. Holding the line at 68 cents will be tougher than it sounds, and the board is sure to face intense lobbying at its public hearing tonight (Thursday) from citizens, many with very strong cases, who want their favorite programs or causes spared the knife. But even if it hurts, avoiding a tax increase is a good idea for now. As soon as this budget is finalized, the board should begin taking a close new look at county government with an eye to ward some of Harvey's concerns about waste, inefficiency and redundancy. That way, there will be plenty of time to separate the wheat from the chaff and carefully plan for a truly beneficial re organization, if such a move is indicated. The public hearing on the proposed Brunswick County bud get for fiscal year 1993-94 begins at 7 pm. tonight (Thursday) in the Public Assembly Building of the County Government Complex in Bolivia. Memorial Day Glorifies Peace Won By Patriots BY ROGER A. MUNSON The observance of Memorial Day offers an opportunity for all Americans to stop and reflect on the unique history of the United States and our rights and responsibilities as citizens. As the national commander of the American Legion, I represent more than 3.1 million men and women who have served this nation during a time of war. We know first-hand the sacrifices that all of America's veterans have made to preserve our way of life. Make no mistake, Memorial Day doesn't glorify war, for no one hates war more than those who've fought the battles. To the contrary, Memorial Day glorifies MUNSON pcacc by reminding Americans that we are entrusted with remembering those who paid the ultimate price so that our great country would endure. Their selfless sacrifice spans the history of America, from the Revolutionary War to Desert Storm. These patriots left their homes and fam ilies when their country called and gave their last full measure of devotion in defense of freedom. Today, in tens of thousands of homes, a carefully folded and lovingly presented American flag rests in a place of honor?a token of a loved one's sacrifice for their country. That flag, which once draped the coffin of a service man or woman, holds tears and a lifetime of memories. It offered pride to accompany the pain and sorrow of those whom the fallen had left behind. It is fitting that we celebrate on Memorial Day the freedom that has been won and sustained by these fallen heroes. They answered their country's call, put themselves in harm's way, placed the welfare of their comrades ahead of their own safety, and put duly ahead of personal interests. Their sacrifice must never be forgotten. As we pay tribute to America's fallen sons and daughters, let us realize that the United States remains the envy of the world. What is it about America that has drawn citizens of foreign lands for more than two centuries? Why do people to this day leave their homelands and risk death aboard rickety boats on (he high seas to reach our shores? The answer, of course, is freedom. It's the freedom which the patriots of this country established with their lives. Freedom of speech, freedom of reli gion, freedom of the press, and our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are unique throughout the world. Our Constitution, our great democratic process, have survived over the centuries while the unsound governments of many other lands are but the dust of history. Our country has endured bccause it was founded on princi ples that are right and true and worth dying for. Let us never forget that Americans have given their lives in defense of these fragile freedoms that we, in America, have the luxury of referring to as "rights." Let us never take for granted what America's patriots have died to presei?c. Let us humbly celebrate these freedoms today. That is the best maTRo%er A. Munson is national commander of The American Legion. Schools: Getting On With Business There arc probably some ob servers oul there who arc disap pointed that Brunswick County Superintendent of Schools Ralph Johnston didn't "clean house" last Wednesday night. And there are a lot of relieved educators. After months of speculation, Johnston unveiled the first stage of an administrative reorganization plan. It wasn't a radical plan by any means, and there was no wholesale shuffling of personnel, as some had feared and others had hoped for. He could have done that, very easily, achieving only a limited amount of good, even if his people aren't all performing to their poten tial where they are. The reasons arc the very ones Johnston named Wednesday night: (1) change can only happen so fast and be effective, people can only deal with so much at one time; (2) he's been so busy trying to (a) fight fires and (b) lay the framework needed to support system improve ment (discipline and personnel poli cies, performance plan, etc.) that in seven months here he hasn't had the time to be out in the schools and ob serving administrators as much as he would have liked; and (3) he is will ing to give people and programs Susan Usher enough lime to show if and how they work. Change is a constant in education; there's always a fad or a trend com ing through. Veteran educators slop getting cxcitcd. Before an entire school staff has gotten comfonablc using one "program" another has re placed it Could the other have worked? Who knows? It never had a chance. So it's good, 1 think, that Johnston left generally intact administrative teams that have recently embarked on school improvement plans of their own design. Let's see how their ideas work and then let them take the credit or the blame, whichever is appropriate. Where changes were made, they seemed to reflect a great deal of thought and with sensitivity to the people involved. I'm thinking par licularly of Freeman Gause, a for mer elementary school principal who has been under-utilized (and frankly, overpaid) as a community schools/extended day coordinator. Gause, who is also a pastor, will be taking on a new challenge as the attendance counselor in the western school district. It isn't a throwaway job. Attendance counselors under the new plan arc (and this is good news) going to be much more than simply truant officers. They are charged with acting as counselors, working with students with chronic absenteeism problems and their families. This is a job where Gause can?and 1 hope will?do a grciit deal of good helping parents undeV stand why they should send their kids to school, and what will most assuredly happen if they don't. If you arc out and about during the daytime, then you know there arc entire neighborhoods where par ents tend to keep their children at home. We're talking not about high school kids who arc old enough to get themselves ready and to school if they chose to, but little kids who can't do for themselves. Whether the parents can't be bothered getting up early or what, 1 don't know. But the problem definitely exists. If you have eyes, you can see it. There's reason to be optimistic about the new administrative talent coming into the system. Based on their resumes and interviews, in coming principals Pat Carney, Richard Lawson and Dean Peterson appear to be dynamic individuals who will bring fresh ideas, high en ergy levels and the proven ability to deliver. They're not likely to get bogged down in the "this, too, shall pass" syndrome that afflicts any in stitution, and particularly school systems. ' There arc more changes to come, and we don't know Johnston's timetable or thought processes. There arc still people and responsi bilities in the central office not ac counted for on the charts laid out for us last Wednesday. But the people who needed to be in place before schools arc staffed for the coming year arc now in place and can get on with the job of facul ty assignments for the coming year. If the schools arc going to deliver, while there must be movement and momentum and all those "go" words, there also needs to be stabili ty. Otherwise people cannot get on about their business. Last week's decisions arc a good step toward that goal. VDTHB*H?M^ Q MOM THE *LOTTFRYt?, ^0/^6 ^VTHE v V?T0.'1 It's In Them And It's Got To Come Out The other day somebody asked me, "Why don't you write some thing about all those loud radios?" By this I assumed he meant those 5,000-watt stereos in the cars that stop at the traffic light outside the Beacon and ratde the walls with a bank of 15-inch woofers blaring some rap "song" that sounds to me like an auctioneer selling pile dri vers. My first reaction to his question was, "Yeah. There ought to be a law against that!" And the next time I hear one of those mega-decibel thumpmobiles, 1 ought to snatch the driver by the collar and scream: "Just because you feel so good, do you have to drive me out my head?" Then 1 remembered. Those were the exact words to one of my fa vorite tunes of teenhood? "Get Off My Cloud" by the Rolling Stones. For those of you who missed the 1960s, this was a story song about a guy who just wanted to be left alone and play his music real loud, when the phone rings and someone tells him to turn it down. The above com ment is made by a neighbor, who precedes it with the following obser vation: "It's 3 a.m. There's too much noise! Don't you people ever want to go to bed?" To which the singer responds: "I ley, you. Get off of my cloud. Hey. You. Get off of my cloud. Iley. You. Get off of my cloud. Don't hang around Because two is a crowd." You will be shocked to learn that these lyrics did not win a Nobel prize for poetry. But they did a pret ty good job of describing a conflict that has raged since the dawn of the age of rock 'n' roll. Anyone who passed through ado lescence after 1953 (the year Elvis cut his first record) feels differently about loud music than those who were previously pubescent. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't recall seeing any of you Glen 4fQ Eric * Carlson r0 * j Miller or Artie Shaw or Benny Goodman fans riding around in your customized cars blasting "In the Mood" out the windows. But rock 'n' roll (and evidenUy rap) is meant to be played at signifi cantly higher volumes. Sometimes to extremes. Like the proto-punk garage band "The Ramones" used to describe their live performances: "Too loud to talk. Too fast to dance." The obvious reason is technologi cal. Les Paul's development of the solid-body electric guitar gave stringed instruments the ability? some would say the obligation?to play as loudly as possible. The other reasons are sociologi cal. Adolescence is the period when young people define themselves. A time when they choose a tribe to identify with?jock, preppie, surfer, skater, rapper, hippie, redneck, etc. Each group has its own style of clothing and its own music. Like songbirds announcing their species and location, kids play their music loud so others will know?at a significant distance?who they arc and what they're into. It invites fel low tribe members to make contact and warns others to stay away (i.e. Get Off My Cloud). When a long-haired skater in bag gy "grunge" clothing walks through a mall parking lot, he knows from a quarter-mile away that he's likely to have more in common with the kids sitting in a little hatchback covered with surf-shop stickers and blaring the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" than the occupants of a tinted-window 5.0 Mustang thumping out "Public Enemy" or the guys in the big wheeled pickup truck rocking to Billy Ray Cyrus. We "grown-ups" need to cut kids a little slack during this phase of de velopment. We want them to stay out of trouble and not take drugs. Then we pass laws to prevent them from burning off their excess ener gies in other ways. Towns across the country arc out lawing "cruising," the classic Am erican tradition of teenagers riding up and down Main Street showing off vehicles they have spent hours customizing (or at least washing) for the occasion. The City of Wilmington, like many others, is making more and more areas off-limits to skateboard ing. Which is a real shame, since this is a sport invented by kids, that they can afford, that gives them boundless opportunities for exercise and self-expression and which costs the adult community nothing except a little tolcrancc. Now "boom boxes" and loud car stereos are targeted for regulation. Which isn't going to stop kids from playing their music. It will merely drive them out of our sight, where they might be inclined to break other laws as well. To paraphrase a favorite slogan of firearms enthusiasts: If you outlaw fun, only oudaws will have fun. Besides, there is nothing you can say to convince a son or daughter that they ought to turn off that blar ing "Jane's Addiction" tape and learn to appreciate "good music" like Mozart or Pete Fountain or Tony Bennett. As the old blucsman John Lec Hooker said in one of his story songs about the inevitable clash of musical generations: "I heard papa tell mama. To let that boy boogie-woogie. It's in him And it's got to come out." Worth Repeating... MSuch was the war. It was not a quadrille in a ball-room. Its inte rior history will not only never be written?its practicality, minuti ae of deeds and passions, will never even be suggested. ?Walt Whitman MAt times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage. ?Stephen Crane UThere was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which speci fied that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did. he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions...If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to... "That's some catch, that Catch-22," he (Yossarian) observed. "It's the best there is," Doc Daneeka agreed. ?Joseph Heller WWar is hell. ?William Tecumsch Sherman
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 27, 1993, edition 1
4
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75