Lonnle Sprinkle ? - ? <*i?liiiiiir ft ????win
PAGE 4 -A, THURSDAY, MAY S. 1994
Three Towns, Different
Issues, Same Questions
Call it growing pains or call it coincidence, but all three
South Brunswick Islands beach towns have experienced recent
public discord between the people and their elected representa
tives.
? At Holden Beach, residents and property owners are com
plaining about the process by which a new mayor pro tem and
commissioner were selected after Mayor Wally Ausley passed
away. Gay Atkins appropriately was chosen to serve as mayor;
she'd been named mayor pro tem after the November election
because she was top vote-getter among commissioner candidates.
But the board disregarded (radition and failed to appoint
Commissioner David Sandifer, the next highest vote-getter in
November, as mayor pro tem; its members then ignored the logi
cal suggestion ?o appoint Jeff 1 who lost the election by osly
three votes, to fill the empty commissioner seat Instead, Com
missioner Sid Swarts was named mayor pro tem, and Maiiam?
Thomas, who did not run for election in November, was appoint
ed to the board.
One resident who wrote to this newspaper called it a "obvi
ous railroading job" and a "pre-planned set-up to.. .override the
voters' choice." The town's first mayor, John Holden, argued that
the commissioners "ignored the votes of the residents of Holden
Beach." Still another writer is "confident (the com m issinnerc)
will continue to take more heat and hopefully (be) ousted" in the
next election.
The Holden Beach beard thus far K-'j. takes so public mea
sures to explain its actions to the disgruntled townspeople, nor
have any townspeople used this newspaper's forum to voice sup
port for the board's choices.
? At Ocean Isle Beach, commissioners must decide whether
to replay on May 10 their earlier 3-to-2 vote to leave the planning
board at five members and allow the two extraterritorial area rep
resentatives to vote Gu all towfi planning ami tuning matters. The
board's April action contrasted sharply with the expressed feel
ings Of those speaking at n public hearing en' the action. Five
spoke, all in opposition; none spoke in favor.
"Who are the commissioners representing?" asked one
writer. Another proposed that "three members of the planning
hrvarrl rram fmm n>?iHrntc orKn am nnt in?nlv>H direct!" CT ?sd?
rectly, with the development of Ocean Isle."
Commissioners Kendall Suh and Ken Proctor argued that it is
a commissioner's job to do what the townspeople say they want
done, and not to adopt a "we-know-bettcr-than-you" attitude to
ward municipal government it will be interesting to see on
Tbesday whether any of their colleagues have come around to
that way of thinking, too, and if this issue serves as a catalyst to
intensify public input on municipal government there.
? At Sunset Beach, whnr mmdtfnn tn tlv Inum rnnnril *?
organized and ever-predictable, battles are fought not just with
letters but with lawsuits. There, the issues are more of the big
picture type: Will a new bridge and/or a sewer system ruin a trea
sured way of life, or are they necessary to protect public health
??! ?mViy in > inuni nrnmb can't help being attracted to? Cbaacg
says it's willing to amass a war chest to defend itself against a
threatened Sunset Beach Taxpayers Association lawsuit to halt
the sewer system. A dear majority of voters gave the sewer plan
their approval in h?? reces! efeciics, but council is bcisg mXm *>
u. ^ IX ?_a_a_ * |v ?l. .A -J- - -i - *- J
uuuc iiku ouahuiuwk um uuijr i u mc vuicis wuu wcucti id
members, but to the thousands of property owners who don't live
there and can't wn?? these .
All three instances illustrate the eternal question for those we
elect to represent us: Does icpreacnting us mean we invest you
with the power to act in what you deem to be our best interests?
Or does it mean you set aside your personal convictions and bias
es and do what it appears a majority of us want you to do?
They're tough questions, but nobody said it would be easy.
OuICmmS wvaaO caawaa't fviilsu^ wD uj tv 5SSUCS aaC?MJ~~Oli
now are likely to be forced to do so at election time.
GUEST COLUMN
New In Education: Advise Or Dissent
BY THOMAS C- O00U5Y
There s x new xauvement afoot in
public education and, at fint gj?rr
it seems to be in Ike right direction.
Bat of all it does not involve hiring
move bureaucrats or
Tie new movement la parental ?
it's not rimotv more oawimwiiifji
for PTA gripe sessions or fond-rais
ers sold as parental involvement.
The latest invention for getting par
ents l?w 4 in the public educa
tion <piagmiie is the "parent adviso
n> Iwmw *
As the education technocrats fi
that the sjmen i^nkL and?k?t
gtfting any better, attempts are
siowty nfiig mine vo aeccouiuK
mm mmum zyassn. r is ?? ftts whs sss
numb from complaining may finally
have a rhinnr to* voice an opinion in
tin ihi iiitn mutiag jwnrnm
Hundreds of schools across the
?w jjwjgmig *w.
est advisory tesass to "advise"' the
trfHwl nthontiet oo important it
sues audi as atndent safely, course
?election* and (be creation of ap
pi enlicnhip propann. However,
these parent gronps have no official
Aoriijr lowing ,7i u reside with the
Wa** |L- - ITS,, , ?? *^?4
nnncmiiR mn n* ipmhv ?s* imjm
school arhnmisimurs find it bard
not to listen.
Maybe a lesson in reai power is
starting to kick in ? parents ate vot
ers and tan pa yen*, and many of theni
don 't leei that they are getting their
money's worth of education for their
children.
If no ?"* listens to the concerned
parents, then they may take matters
into their own hands at the polling
booth by electa^ "radical" school
? Ft m !? ? ? I t I ? T ?? I ? i
SSSU ZSSTSSSSZ VsZSO SSSSpzy
dean hor? "Has is the biggai km
for the education bureancrats.
As move and more parents get in
volved in the government-ran edo
catice systsss ssd sse whs: s sssss
we have, one an only hope that
these moras and dads will roll op
their sleeves ?d go to work. The
public schools must realize that the
advice of parents is much better than
Currently, the U.S. spends more
money par student on education than
wiy ffimwtfy ?w annm*
Switzerland, and gets leas back for
iL If simply spending large sums of
but dollars were the answer, we
would be heading towards raising a
nation cf Rintrin;. rn fcsr thsa s
land of Jugheads.
Caring and concerned parents
who will force public education to
"do its job or dee" are our beat hope
for raising future generations who
sure givers
rather than "uneducated taken and
Mr. Goolsby, an attorney, lives in
Wilmington and is m low
sor at Campbell University
Waste Is A Good Thing To Mind
A mother called a comervitivt
radio show a few weeks ago to com
plain about The Planeteeta," a tele
vised cartoon program whoae credits
indicate its idea originated with
Mom worried that kids ate being
indoctrinated with an anti-capitalist
bus hy Hw> -???-*? rr!L- ^
characters like rat-Awed monsters
and snaggle-toothed villains who
operate in concert with earth-fouling
industries to spill oil and spew tox
ins throughout the world.
The Planeteers, a group of ethni
cally diverse adolescents accoasju
nied by a pet chimp, possess magic
rings which bear the powers of
"earth, wind, water, fire and heart!"
They touch their magic rings togeth
er to summon "Captain Planet," who
rushes in to save rain forests and
blow poisonous clouds off into
spate. Ai ihc end, a buxom brunette
Mother Earth appears to dispense
pearls of wisdom on topics as di
verse as composting and gang vio
lence.
It i? a bit much. I can't help won
der if young children are capable of
sorting out the fantasy of evil mutant
subhumans with rodent tails from
the heady idealism of a world free of
filth, greed, destruction and waste.
Lynn
Carlson
i
But it's probably safe to assume that
by the time they reach college age,
ntasy of those boys and girts will
have figured out that while oil com
passes ssd defense contractor; psy
good wages to smart engineers, the
classified ads aren't exactly brim
ming with listings for tree-huggcrs.
They say we're bringing up a
generation of eco-tots who come
home from school to educate their
parents about the difference in
HDra and FETE plastics ? kids
bearing mimeographed maps to all
the county convenience sites. And
while I can't help sharing the radio
mom's discosafort with the anii
business message, I'm glad kids
have become conscious of the need
to "reduce leum mH wrvrl? " ?
the catch-phrase goes.
It's not, after all, a radical new
notion that waste is a bad thing ? not
just environmentally, but morally
and fiscally.
In my own lifetime, we've made
much rongrcM in some areas and re
gressed shamefully in others. In
grammar scbuui i often rode in can
driven by my friends' parents who
would encourage us to throw our
wiiik Dud boxes and Lance cracker
wnmwn nut rhe window so we
didn't trash up the family station
wagon.
On the other hand. I can remem
ber struggling to the J&J Superette
with a six-pack fiiU of empty Pepsi
bottles to get 18 cents credit from
the proprietor. (This was at least a
decade before Pepsi opened a large
cannery in my town to produce the
"Tfcste of the Carolinas" in wildly
popular disposable aluminum cans.)
If fhllcs back then were less than
foresighted about chucking ihcii
leavings onto the roadside, our el
ders had their own and their parents'
experiences with leaner times to
keep tuCtu frugal.
A neighbor of ours would send
over little gifts of cookies or brown
is: ss ?L=tk fcs-T. supcrrr^rtc; trays
which had once held meat from the
supermarket She washed every one
and found a new use for it
My generation seems w wmm
been skipped by the " make-it-do,
I use-it-again" ethic After ail, we
came along in the age is which you
flicked vow Bic m threw ii
?way ? the era cf tfcs 19 ctni ball
point pen and cheap dirpossbfc ra
zors. During my formative yean,
pia.MK luio IM Lyijf ??
placed wax-paper wrapped sticks of
butter, plastic nibs of Cool Whip
supplanted real whipping cream and
plastic Zip-Loc bags look over far
reusable freezer containers.
And though there must be others
like roc, who'u love iiOihiiig iSwc
than to have the time to preserve oar
own home-grown freshly picked
veggies in sterile Ball jars, the reali
ty of our lifestyle necessitates Mop
ping by the store a couple of times a
week to pick up a Stouffer *s spinach
souffle ? to bs ???!cr kg I
handy plastic container which is not
iocally recyclable.
While it's okay to be proud of
ourselves for taking the effort to
clutter up our back porches and
spare rooms with recycling bins, we
I use need to fpvc o?sr o?vn !m<c Fmb*
eteers a lesson in what's really im
portant ? the fact that terrible waste
is a good thing to mind.
TtlAMMr DPTlC /ME *11
|il>| ? I iiniiiw I urv uiu ubuni
CWMBN WRAH-HSKT
UP TO ELECTION IW1
WOW-HW/OTAttBW* '|
CWBUSN^F? IMEEtKIMN?! ?
He Left Us Stronger Overseas,
But Wounded, Divided At Home
??*? ? tJu m mtf . . ...9 . _
imi Kwnirrj wwivuiNV tununv
Hfe'w finally on our own
This j mucr / hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio
? Graham Nash
No one wtio came of age during
the tumultuous 1960a and 70a could
IOIWW# tfcft rtMf 37e5e
President
Whether you supported or de
spised him, you couldn't name a
leader ia the past half century who
had a move significant impart on
America ? both positive and nega
tive ? than Richard Milhous Nixon.
In the deferential days following
his passing, amidst images of the
flag-draped coffin and 21 -gun
nonnaiKZwoo of rcunoos. lutt
mooths later, Nixon md Soviet
leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the
first Strategic Anna limitation
(SALT) Treaty
Paradoxically, by playing the
"China cant." Nixon also exploded
tL. ? . . ,?L , * iL ? H S- - ? M . J
7 . , ^ jjjjjj jjjjj w?j5
in mortal oonflict with a monolithic
"Communist bloc" of nations bent
on smothering democracy world
wide, a belief that fueled a foreign
? ? *a_ on ftAA
|MUtJ MM WlttUI UIINC III? OU,UUV
American Uvea were sacrificed in
Which brings as to the tarnished
side of Ninon's legacy. He ccrtainly
_ ^ n ri a t ? * M ? - L J? ? S
ctraoo nxsiortcai pviiK ioc fits cnpto
matic achievements. Bat Nixon also
continued a policy of sending tfanu
deaths in V^rt^^ilf'wa^ng'aa
illegal guerrilla war at home against
his political rivals.
When Ninon waa elected presi
dent in 1968, there were a half-mil
lion U.S. troops in Vietnam. Yet we
were no closer to victory than we
had been five yean earlier. Sensing
Assrist's wtarlsec of the cor.f.ict,
politicians were nawi>!in? to sp
prove the massive escalation neces
sary to win.
The rtsin? cf ssti-Vnu scuti
meet gave such momentum to the
"Peace Now" candidacy of Eugenr.
McCarthy that President Lyndon
Johnson was forced to withdraw
from his re-election bid.
If not been for the assassination of
Robert Kennedy and the Democratic
Partv's mK HMjrecsiss zl the
CTiicagn convention, it is very likely
that a different iTUi president would
have been elected, one who pledged
to withdraw from Vietnam immedi
ately. Instead we get Richard Nixon
and four more years of U.S. casual
ties (21,000 during hi? presidency).
No event did more to deepen the
? wjv emm between genera
tions than the ugliness of Campaign
1968. (Except perhaps for the fatal
shooting of four student war protest
ers by National Guard troops at Kent
State University two yean later.)
By then, those outside his so
called "silent majority" saw the
Nixon administration as a gang of
ULl-.Il., -*TpirrtCM
his contempt for youthful critics
through his attack-dog Vice Presi
dent Spiro Agnew, who publicly de
rided w ? "naM^ring nabobs of neg
auvam" ana ~an effete corps of im
pudent snobs."
So it cane as no great surprise to
many when Agnew was exposed for
taking bribes and Nixon's henchmen
were caught burglarizing the Demo
<:ratic party headquarters.
All the sordid details of Water
Olfr? At JJjj *^- j"' ? ?n#
hush money payments, the domestic
spying, the "dirty tricks campaign."
the other burglary at Daniel Ells
berg's psychiatrist's office? merely
proved what some had assumed
about Nixon all along.
Faced with certain impeachment,
Nixon resigned "to spare the na
uun." Then he had himself spared
from vn mi 11 n prosecution possi
ble imprisonment by the man he ap
pointed after Agnew resigned in aia
g> Ke
lt will be for future historians to
decide whether the positive effects
of Nixon's diplomatic ventures out
weigh the damage he did to America
during the Watergate era. The rip
ples of both continue to radiate to
day.
Who can say how long the Soviet
empire would have lasted without
Nixon's brilliant China-policy flank
ing maneuver? We would certainly
feel a lot more nervous today about
North Korea's refusal to allow nu
clear weapons inspections if Nhr??
hadn't broken the ice with the
Chinese (who sided with Kmea
amin* United Nation* tmnps the
last time around).
Nixon's effect on American poli
tics is easier to measure and impos
sible to ignore.
His lies to Congress and Us ille
gal attempts to thwart the Whteig m
investigation deepened Americana'
distrust of public officials. His "eae
mies list" of
ana ite investigative lepomng
brought down his presidency
ed a generation of news gatherers
who constantly assume the wont of
all ndasias.
The Gary Hart affair. The Con
gressional humiliations of Supreme
Court Justice nominees Robert Both
and Clarence Thomas. The lran
Contra investigations. And now the
witch-hunt into the Clintons' White
water land dealings All have their
roots in the skeoticum spswssd fey
Watergate.
Richard Nixon may have luinght
us a momentary edge in post- World
War II geopolitics. Bat we paid
dearly forte.