Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Nov. 24, 1999, edition 1 / Page 4
Part of The Chowan Herald (Edenton, 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
/editorials, columns, letters to make an end-of-year rally for team 5 •17* Surprisingly, however, the effort lasn’t received many donations ess than $100. Missing are the $15, !20 and $25 donations from people n Edenton. One of the driving factors be lind the Community Foundation’s ffort to purchase the Steamers is d instill a sense of “public owner hip” in the community, the feei ng that the team belongs to ■denton and the Steamers fans. To mphasize that, the Foundation dans to use any profits from oper iting the Steamers (possibly ;10,000 to $15,000 a year) to bolster /outh athletics in Chowan County. Now it’s time for the community to rally around the Steamers to ensure that the Community Foundation’s effort to buy the team succeeds. The group needs to raise $100,000 by early next year to seal the deal for the team. Last season the Steamers aver aged about 1,000 fans for their 25 home games, for a season atten dance around 25,000. Allowing for the fact that many fans probably went to several ball games through out the season, the number of dif ferent individuals who came to the stadium at least once last summer might be closer to 10,000 to 15,000, though there’s really no way to estimate for sure. Still if you look at those num bers and figure if every fan sent in just a donation of between $5 and $10, the Steamers would be Edenton’s by Christmas. A donation to the effort to buy the Steamers is like reserving a right to watch baseball every summer; and for the price of about $10, that’s a pretty good bargain. This time, the Steamers need the fans to pull off a late inning rally for them. And any ball player can tell you a rally takes everyone in the lineup - homerun hitters (i.e. big donors?) and singles hitters (i.e. small do nors). The names of all donqRB, whether they give $1 or $1,000, will be listed in the Steamers program next year. To make a donation to the Edenton-Chowan Community Foundation, see the advertisement on page 2B of today’s Chowan Her ald. It includes helpful informa tion about the Edenton-Chowan Community Foundation’s effort to buy the Steamers. It also has a re turn slip to mail in with any doha tion. For more details, contact(2S2) 482-4080. . ‘ -ML- f JT food for thought RALEIGH - Last year, one of the state’s lowest performing schools, as determined by the state’s ABCs of Public Educa tion program, improved im mensely. Almost half of its stu dents performed at grade level or above on end-of-grade tests. The previous year, only one third had fared that well. For such a considerable gain in academic performance, the school was designated as an “exemplary” school for academic growth and gain, and it was tabbed as one of the sate’s “top 25” schools. And, of course, people got to saying that the school was an “exemplary school,” in the “top 25,” and wasn’t that wonderful. Until they looked again and noticed that more than half of the student body STILL wasn’t performing at grade level. That’s when public education critics and parents began calling the ABCS program a sham. The State Board of Education, recognizing that it has a public relations problem with such inflated awards, is re thinking its nomenclature, and the point at which a school is wiloidored to bo low performing. ' “Some people think we shouldn’tbe calling a school •exemplary’ until at least half of the students perform at grade level,” Phil Kirk, chairman of the State Board, said sarcastically at a recent legislative hear ing. In fairness to the State Board, it hasn’t called any school “exemplary.” Rather, it rewards schools for “exemplary growth” in academics. That means that the school is making big improvements, but it can also mean that the school still has a large percentage of underperforming students. Others, mostly local officials and the media, confuse the matter by calling them “exemplary schools.” That’s likely to create confusion with the very best schools, those that see 90 percent of their students performing at grade level. The Board calls them “schools of excellence.” In an attempt to end the confusion, the State Board has already discontinued use of the terms “top 25” and “top 10” to describe the elementary and high schools that, respectively, experience the greatest improvement every year. Now they are simply recog nized as the Most Improved Schools. Adjustment of the “exemplary” tab may be next. Kirk told legislators that it might be best to deny the exemplary growth award to any school that still has not passed the 50 percent grade level perfor mance mark. Taken together, the terms create the impression that the State Board is trying to pull the wool over our eyes, to make it look like our schools Paul O'Connor See O'CONNOR Page 5-A Edentonian wrote first book The first book written and published in North Carolina, concerning something other than legal matters, was “A Collection of Many Christian Expe riences, Sentences, and Several Places of Scripture improved. The author was tnemeni nan, an Anglican missionary who served as pastor of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Edenton in the mid-eighteenth century. Born in England in 1706, Hall came to North Carolina with his brother and mother sometime before 1731; Hall pur chased 104 acres of land in Perquimans County that year. In 1739, he was appointed a justice of the Perquimans County Court. In 1743, Hall sought to become a mission ary for the Anglican Church. Prominent men in the colony wrote testimonials vouching for his “Honour, Diligence and integrity, anaaescrmingnimas a true cnurcuman and one of very good Repute, Life & Conversation.” He was recommended to church officials in London as a “suitable itinerant missionary for service in North Carolina,” according to William S. Powell, writing about Hall in “The Dictionary of North Caro lina Biography.” Hall spent a year in London, where he was ordained, and returned to Carolina in mid August 1744. The vestry ofChowan Parish, St. Paul’s in Edenton, provided a house for Hall and his family. In addition to holding services in Edenton, Hall had duties for the church throughout the northern part of the colony of Carolina, frequently traveling more than 2,000 miles a year, according to his own figures. Conduct ing services out of doors, under trees, Hall preached to as many as 600 people at a time. In addition, he prepared children for baptism, “churched women” (which Powell defines as “a service of prayers and thanksgiving for women after childbirth”), visited the sick, conducted funerals, and distributed tracts Mary Ann Coffey aupjjlicu UJ U1C UVV/iClJT 1U1 Lliv X. X W^Uf,wnuw of the Gospel in London. Hall estimated that he baptized at least 10,000 people dur ing the 13 years of his ministry. While traveling on horseback around the colony, Hall kept a journal, which he called his “Pocket Companion...to keep my Thoughts employed on good Subjects; which I believe most People find are natu rally apt to be vain and wandring when we are alone, notwithstanding our greatest Care.” In this book, he wrote down quota tions from the Bible, prayers, and prov erbs. i_•_in „x :i nlnrt V»/-v nf pnmn TToo f A V>UliaiUCl mg uiui ii -— others, who have a Desire to improve their Time upon the like Occasions, or when on a Winter’s Night or a rainy Day they have Leisure to peruse it, instead of Drinking, Gaming, or telling of an idle or slandrous Tale,” Hall made arrangements to have “my small Mite” published. For that purpose, he employed James Davis of New Bern, who had been hired by the Gen eral Assembly to become North Carolina’s first printer in 1749. Davis printed the state money, and published the revised laws of the colony. Hall’s “Collection” was the first book Davis published outside of legal and official government works. According to Powell, many of the entries in Hall’s 50-page collection were original to Hall, but there See COFFEY On Page 5-A What should we do in the U.S. " with monoi D.G. Martin What does the George W. Bu$h presidential campaign have in common with Microsoft? Both of them have achieve$,^ monopoly. Microsoft in the field of operating systems for per sonal computers. Bush in the field of political fundraising in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Both monopolies have driven out the competition - and, as a consequence, have limited the public’s alternatives. Both monopolies raise a question about whether something ought to be done to “open up the market place.” Should Microsoft be broken up? Or should it be required to share its “Windows” operating system with its competitors? Should Bush be limited in the amount of money he can raise and spend? Or should a system of public campaign finance support provide his competitors with enough resources to maintain a “level playing field.” H Both Microsoft and Bush would argue that their monopolies have been earned fairly - and that their success benefits the public. How have these monopolies been achieved? s.1 I won’t even try to answer this question as it relates to Microsoft, but I am going to try to outline some of the reasons George W. Bush has become America’s most successful political fundraiser. Reports show that he has already put well over 50 million dollars in the bank - far outstripping any other Republican contender. His “monopoly” posi tion helped scare off Elizabeth Dole—and is keeping every other legitimate contender out of the Republi can race for next year’s presidential nomination. You would have to think that there is something sinister about Bush’s fundraising. But, except for the taint that is attached to almost all political fundraising, Bush’s success appears to be clean. ' Let’s look at how and why he got his money - and so much of it. There are several factors that explain how most money for political candidates is raised. First, money rolls in for a candidate who appears to be a winner. (That is why Jim Hunt was able to raise a lot of money from staunch Republicans. They wanted have an “in” with Hunt, even if he wasn’t their real first choice.) Second, money rolls in for the opponent of the candidate or cause that people hate with a passiori. (That is why whoever runs against Senator Hehiis can raise a lot of money. And it is why Senator Helms See MARTIN On Page 5-A * >:i • Jeb Caudill - Publisher ca Bunch..... Editor POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO: The Chowan Herald • P.O. Box 207 * Edenton, NC 27932 THE CHOWAN HERALD (USPS 106-380) Telephone: (252) 482-4418 PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY By Cox North Carolina Publications, Inc. Entered as a second-class matter August 30, 1934 at the Post Office of Edenton, North Carolina, under Act of March 3,1870. E.N. Manning - Publisher Emeritus One Yi One Year Zone 8 (Zip Subscription .50 .95 : $26.95 n Request 10% Discount Available To Senior Citizens State tackles thorny issue of lawyer monopoly ' X’fc BY GEORGE C. LEEF RALEIGH - Every state except Arizona has a law prohibiting “un authorized practice of law,” which keeps the market for legal services entirely within the control of the legal profession. Only licensed at torneys are allowed to do anything that falls under the vague concept of “the practice of law.” Bar orga nizations don’t like competition on their turf, and they often use those NOTICETOOUR READERS If you have something you would like to get off your chest, take the time to write the The Chowan Herald. All letters must include your current ad dress, telephone number and signature of the writer. Deadline for the letters is 12 noon Friday prior to each week's pub lication. laws aggressively to stamp out competition. But in Texas such efforts backfired this summer. The State Bar of Texas had been especially vigorous in seeking to prevent competition from driving down the billable hours of its mem bers. Last year it instituted two lawsuits against firms that sell le gal self-help books and software. One was against Nolo Press, a Cali fornia publisher of a wide array of books and computer software de signed to assist the layman in han dling his own legal affairs. The other was against Parsons Tech nology, an Iowa company that pro duces “Quicken Family Lawyer,” software that helps non-lawyers navigate the shoals of the law. Nolo and Parsons products cost around $30, an amount that buys very little of a lawyer’s time. Arguing that the books and soft ware transgress the boundary be tween simply giving information about the law (OK) and giving people advice (illegal), the Texas Bar’s Unauthorized Practice Com Common SENSE -—— mittee dragged the companies into court. The Parsons case was de cided first, when federal district judge Barefoot Sanders ruled in January that Quicken Family Law was illegal. He brushed off the defendant’s argument that the First Amendment protects the right to sell such products. That argument had prevailed in the Sec ond Circuit in 1967 when the New York Bar tried to block the sale of Norman Dacey’s How to Avoid Probate!, but Judge Sanders ruled that Texas’ statute was a reason able, “content-neutral” restriction on the press and therefore consti tutional. There was no evidence that any person had been harmed by the use of Quicken Family Lawyer, but proof ot harm is never required in unauthorized practice cases. Nor did it matter that the software \yas written by lawyers and checked for compliance with differing state laws. Competence is no defense tp the charge that you’ve given “un authorized” legal assistance, n r Having found Parsons in viola tion of the law, Judge Sanders is sued an order prohibiting the sale of its legal self-help products in the state. ,'-A In Nolo’s case, the company suc ceeded in taking its case directly to the Texas Supreme Court, which heard arguments last October. Months went by without a deci sion. Meanwhile a storm of protest blew up like a Texas twister. Citi zens who did not want to be de prived of what they regarded as a good, low-cost alternative to hir ing a lawyer made their wishes known to state legislators. Rep. Jim Wolens introduced a bill (HB 1507) to amend the Unau See BEAT On Page 5-A
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Nov. 24, 1999, edition 1
4
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75