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Page 2, West Craven Highlioj^ Marr h 11, 1982
Three Brown,
One To Go
By JONATHAN PHILLIPS
That’s the score for four men who worked for the
guv’mint. All four worked for agencies in offices that
served the area of North Carolina that includes
Craven and surrounding counties.
Theirs is a story of budget cuts and of frustration i n
not being allowed to do their jobs. Three have packed
up and moved to Raleigh, one to return to college and
two to work in private industry. One is still in the
area, making do on unemployment benefits.
Talking with them is a good way to gain insight
into what the budget-cutting headlines mean down in
the trenches.
Wild Bill
Wild Bill was the first to go.
He worked for an agency that monitors and helps
enforce environmental laws. He had long grown
tired of working long hours to put together a case
against one of the large industries in the area, only to
have people in Raleigh ignore it (Wild Bill and I have
our theories as to why; since we lack proof we can’t
say) or slap the corporation on the wrist with a puny
fine that the firms can easily take from petty cash.
“I don’t even know why we bother,” the Wild One
once said. “It’s a joke. The state won’t do anything to
the big companies.
It got worse. Funds were cut, and soon there wasn’t
even enough money for Wild Bill to go out and go
through the motions of gathering evidence that
wouldn’t get used.
Never exactly a workaholic, even Wild Bill was
eventually driven stir crazy by the lack of activity.
He quit. He left, One down.
’The Godfather
The Godfather got out while the gettin’ was good.
He was hired as part of a special two-year
program, funded by the feds. He was led to believe
that he’d be kept on after the federal money gave out.
A few months ago, the Godfather began to sniff the
winds. He smelled scents that told him he might be
one of the first to go (last in, first out, you know) when
the federal cuts filtered down to North Carolina.
He saw another chance, about four months before
the program was to be ended.
“I hate to leave this area. I like being near the
water, I like the weather, and I’ve made a lot of
friends here,” the Godfather said, “but I’ve got this
chance for a job in Raleigh, and I’ve just about got to
take it, because I don’t think they’re gonna keep me
here.”
He also hated to bug out just a few months short of
the end of the project.
But he did. He had to. Two down.
The Farmer
It was almost a year ago that you began to see signs
of trouble in the Farmer. Though dedicated to his job.
he began to talk more and more about chucking it all
and going back to the family farm. He didn’t, though-
he hung in and worked hard.
“Last year I worked my tail off. I don’t mind saying
it: I accomplished more by myself than the others (his
counterparts in the agency) put together. And all I
got for it is a pat on the back,” the Farmer said.
Frustrated but still willing, he watched as the
travel budget was cut. This didn’t sit well with the
Farmer, since he had to cover counties from Craven
and Carteret to the Virginia line.
“If I don’t travel, I don’t work,” he said. “It’s okay
for awhile, but sooner or later you get tired of
lounging around the office reading novels. I even got
a raise. Can you believe that? I was beginning to feel
like a tick in the ear of the taxpayers.”
A company in Raleigh offered more money and a
little work to do.
The Farmer had little choice but to pack his bags.
Three down.
The Eel
The Eel fishes his pots in season. Out of season, he
looks for work and eats courtesy of the
unemployment checks.
His federally-funded program was cut altogether.
The Eel strolled in the office one morning and
strolled out that afternoon unemployed. His job no
longer existed.
The Eel likes it here. He doesn’t want to leave. But
it’s been almost a year now, and he may have to.
One to go.
I Remember
My Mother
By LELA BARROW
I know Mothers Day is the Second Sunday in May.
But this is different in a way. My mother was born in
March and this is as I remember her in raising her
children. Perhaps she had read Proverbs 31st
chapter often and made it her model as a mother. We
usually think of a portrait as being a picture, but in
this case we will say the finest picture of Motherhood
ever painted is in words, and found in.31stchapter of
Proverbs.
We are told many things about this ideal mother.
Her price is far above rubies, her husband trusts her
so that she shall have no need of spoil. She will do him
good and not evil all the days of her life.She worketh
willingly with her hands, she bringeth food from
afar, she riseth up while it is yet night and giveth
meat to her household.
When a man’s heart is at ease because he can trust
his wife, he knows she is a good mother and is making
a home for her children, then he can settle down to his
work be it near or far from home knowing she i^
capable. There are six different things described
concerning this mother; her husband, her industry,
her charity, her clothing, her tongue and her
children: “She helpeth the poor, she reacheth out her
hands to the needy, she is not afraid of the snows for
her household are clothed with double garments, she
maketh for herself coverings of tapestry.
She is a good business woman, she maketh fine
linen and selleth it, she openeth her mouth with
wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness. Her
children arise arid call her blessed. Her husband
praiseth her, showing she is praised of the Lord. Let
us say the real clothing of this mother is not beautiful
gowns, but love and honor, and works. They praise
her in her home; they praise her in the market, in the
church. Thank God for mothers like this. My mother
was never too tired day or night to go, when called
upon, to doctor a person, white or black, who was sick
and suffering.
Vanceboro and New Bern area Residents call
638-8566 for Fire and Rescue Service
West Craven
HIGHLIGHTS
Craven County’s Family Weekly Newspaper
R.L. Cannon, Jr.
Publisher
Business Manager
Christine Hill
Office Manager
Betty Daugherty
News
Edith Hodges
Mike Hodges
Circulation
Sharon Buck
Production
Glen Seamster
Sports
P.O. Box 404, Main Street, Across from the Post Office
Vanceboro, North Carolina 28586
Phone: (919) 244-0780, (919) 244-0508
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
Second Class Postage Paid at Vanceboro, N.C.
(Permit entered March 1,' 1978)
SUBSCRIPTION PRICES
Single Copy 20?
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2 Years $10.40 3 Years $14.56
(Includes N.C. Sales Tax)
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(Payable in advance. Subscribers desiring their Highlights
terminated at expiration should notify us of this intention,
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Our Special Best To.
Medicine
By JUDITH S.
I was born and raised
for the most part in
Washington, N.C., where
there is a sense of
permanency and history.
1 recall a historical
marker there on Main
Street memorializing
Elizabeth Blackwell, the
first woman physician in
the United States. “She
was the first, ” I said to
myself in high school,
“and I shall be the second.
“At the time I had never
heard of another woman
physician.
■The general practi
tioner was practically the
only doctor in Eastern
North Carolina in those
days. He was the
pyschiatrist, obstetri
cian, surgeon, ortho
pedist, etc. He was the
doctor, for the specialists
were clustered in the>
medical centers at Duke,
Bowman Gray and
UNC. It also seemed to
me that he was the “real”
doctor.
A great many people in
Washington influenced
and encouraged my
decision to enter medi
cine. They would not
know it nor was I aware of
it then; My parents never
questioned my interest,
and they supported me
emotionally and finan
cially. I suppose their
support and my youth
quelled any doubts I may
have had.
There were few women
in medicine in the eastern
region when I entered
medical school at UNC-
Chapel Hill. There were
only three women
students in my class, and
I remember only four
practitioners—Rose Pul
ley and Rachel Davis in
Kinston, Malene Irons in
Greenville and Janet
Fisher on the UNC
faculty.
For me medical school
YONGUE, M.D.
was exciting, challenging
and very lonely. Although
I shared a comforting
closeness with my
classmates, I had some
difficulty sharing my
fears and hopes. We were
rival, front line troops
guided for four years by
shining figures in white
coats who were counting
on us. There was no
indication that there was
any real life for us outside
of medicine.
After medical schIV
and the army my
husband and I arrived in
Greenville to establish a
practice and a home and
start a family. I tried to
spend time with my
family as well as
selectively practice
medicine and of course
there were compromises.
There were choices to be
made, and I made them.
Family practice was all
I knew and what I
admired and emulted.
But much has changed in
family medicine since I
started practice, and I
felt the need to change
also. I felt that even with
my boards, I didn’t
belong.
With the opening of the
medical school here at
ECU, it became possible
for me to make a career
choice again. Four years
ago, I began resiliency
training in phychiatry.
Now I feel I belong.
The discovery of myself
as a wife, mother and
physician was made as
each of these roles
presented their needs.
Young women in med
icine today have the
freedom to become
whatever they want, but
the choices are difficult. I
think we can work
together with a sense of
history. I think we can
give our special best to
medicine.
Editors Note
Dr. Yongue is the former Judith Salle', daughter of
Dr. and Mrs. George Salle', who lived in Vanceboro.
Dr. George Salle' practiced in Vanceboro f(A
several years. Judith was born while they lived nIP
Vanceboro and was christened in St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church, Vanceboro. Mrs. Kenneth R.
Jones, II and Mrs. Lela Barrow were Judith’s
godmothers.
Why Bother
Constituents are the most important people in a
representative’s or senator’s life. Their very
existence as members of Congress rests upon their
ability to take the “pulse” back home - and this is
especially true of members of the House who must
run for re-election every two years. They rely upon
you and your willingness to let them know your
views.
KrDm thi' directory “Tell it to Washington"
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