Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Jan. 5, 2000, edition 1 / Page 4
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OPINIONS /editorials, columns, letters Iredell’s diary provides look at man of character With the onset of winter, the routine slows down and there is a bit more time for reflection, perhaps even opportunity to write a diary or a journal. In the winter of 1773, James Iredell kept such a record; “bound in heavy yellow board, it is w'ritten in a small neat hand on thick eight by six inch paper.” Don Higginbotham, editor of The Papers of James Iredell explains. “It, at times at least, represents a kind of ‘stream of consciousness, ...Yet parts of it are carefully and deliberately written, little essays on philo sophical or religious subjects.” It' is “very revealing of a young man and his socral world,” and a unique part of Bdenton history. Only 21 years of age, Iredell was very serious. He feared that he spent “too much time in an unprofitable, idle manner.” A bachelor, Iredell ate out with the gentlemen, and called on many married couples and their families. One Sunday, Iredell “went up town to Mrs. Blair’s, whence I walked with the young ladies to the boat, which was lying at the wharf.” The young ladies were •Jean Blair’s sisters, AnnjShand Hannah Johnston, who were returning to their home at Hayes by boat. Hannah and James would marry lateCi?} the year, and mucAof this journal records their court Mary Ann Coffey she will perhaps think, it may do well enough for an excuse...” Iredell recently had been admitted to the practice of law, and he made note of the law books he was reading, and recorded the time he spent on busmess. Yet, his principal work was still as comntroller ship. Some entries were clearly written to be read by Hannah: “Tho- when my dear Hannah comes to this paragraph of customs for the port of Roanoke, in Edenton. Iredell reports that, after dining at Hayes, he was “obliged to come over just after, expecting to clear a captain out, and when I was in town, he was not ready. This disappointment made me spend a very dull afternoon and evening, during which I staid at home, unable to apply myself to any thing.” Iredell was responsible for checking cargo, insuring that the papers were in order, and the fees paid before a ship left the port. Iredell was second in command, with the position of collector held by his kinsman, Henry Eustace McCulloh, who spent most of his time in Em gland. McCulloh paid a visit to the office in January 1773: “...We had a very happy, cordial Meeting — Dined with him at Horniblow’s and spent the afternoon and evening with him at Mr. Hewes’s.” McCulloh remained with Iredell for the week, during which time they called on friends, including Colonel Buncombe, who lived across the Sound. In 1774, See COFFEY On Page 5-A Governor did not do enough, Dornan says John Dornan didn’t built .the Public School Forum into North Carolina’s most effec tive private educational foundation by being acerbic in his criticism of Jim Hunt, the. supposed “education gover nor.” The melodious toned Forum executive director has always chosen to criticize in gentle, constructive bones - some thing usually foreign to these column inches. Viewed through the prism of Dorman's gentility, therefore, the best description of his December column in "Forum Report” is as a blistering ■„ appraisal of Hunt’s failure to lead. Dornan focused his column on the coming year and the anticipated release of Hunt’s “First in America Initiative," a supposed blueprint that the next governor and future legislatures can follow to make North Carolina’s schools the best in ’America. : ;Doman wonders whether the initiative will focus on a number of crucial education issues that Hunt has never embraced or tackled, despite holding enormous power for 20 of the last 28 years. Dornan praises Hunt for his “short list” - or focused agenda - of Smart Start, higher teacher pay and accountability. But he says that a “short list” is not enough for a System with so many needs. He specifies four: (1) North Carolina school districts have an enormous disparity in resources, but Hunt has been absent in this debate. “With only one year to go before tougher promotion standards threaten to leave tens of thousands of low-income and minor ity students behind, it would be the right time for Governor Hunt to address this issue,” Dornan writes. (2) JobReady, the state’s effort at preparing « youngsters for the world of work faces a loss of federal funding next year. “Ironically, while Governor Hunt has preached the connection between education and economic development for three decades, he has never been a public cham pion of this issue.” Someone needs to find the money to continue this program “but the leadership for sustaining the initiative is lacking,” Dornan says of Hunt. (3) Hunt has championed higher pay for teachers, but “he has not coupled higher salaries with plans to give young people more educational opportunity or to give teachers more opportunity to receive quality See O'CONNOR Page 5 / Policy changes are needed to make NC more progressive state in 2000 While NC may be known for its economic growth, low unemployment and natural resources, our state is also recognized for its hog waste, low , unionization, and lack of mass transit. Policy changes could reconcil NC’s political contradic tions and improve citizens’ quality of life in the spending limits. Public financing would safeguard democratic elections and only cost less than two tenths of 1 % of the total state budget. 2. Shift the tax burden from the working poor to corporations and the wealthy. Public financing of campaigns is also important new millennium. (1) Establish public financing of campaigns. A few wealthy individuals and special interest groups control elections in NC. On,b’ 1% of NC’s population contributes 90 % of all campaign donations. As fhe cost of campaigns escalates, political Common SENSE because, as long as corporations and the wealthy can give large sums of money to political candidates, policy makers will continue to reward them with special tax breaks. Two major tax cuts enacted in recent years, the repeal of both the inherit ance and intangibles tax, power becomes increasingly concentrated in the hands of an elite few who can contribute heavily to campaigns or themselves run for office. The average NC House winner spent $53,090? in 1998; the new Senators averaged SI 12,172- In thepast three elections, the top-spending legislative candidate has won 84% of the time. Citizens are beginning to tire of bigTJfoney’s influence on politics. The 1996 Carolina Poll indicated that 75% of North Carolinians surveyed thought that corporations and wealthy interest groups have too much influence on polities. The poll also revealed support for public financing of elections. A Clean Elections Act would allow registered voters to make small donations, through their income tax returns to candidates who pledge to take no special interest money and accept strict primarily benefited the affluent. Corporate tax loopholes allow industry to dodge several hundred million dollars in taxes each year. With the strain on the state budget after Hurricane Floyd, this is an opportune time to eliminate loopholes that allow corporations and the wealthy to greatly reduce the taxes they pay. Industry in NC has long enjoyed both unfair tax breaks and has long enjoyed both unfair tax breaks and corporate welfare programs while many citizens have paid more htan their share of taxes and reaped few of the same rewards. 3. Enact a statewide living wage law. Working class families in NC pay more than their fair share of taxes while also earning wages that See Sense On Page 5-A i Your vote may i not count in a key election North Carolina’s important state legislative elections this year will be a lesson in how undemocratic our supposedly democratic government can sometimes be. 1 got this message from the information in the latest issue of “North Carolina DataNet,” a publication of the Odum Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill. Political science professor Thad Beyle and several of his students prepare ■ DataNet. This DataNet issue examines the 1998 elections for the North Carolina state house of representa tives and the prospects for this year’s contest. Using some of DataNet’s information, I want to raise a couple of questions and try to answer them. But first let me give you my bottom line conclu sion. Here it is. Although this year’s elections for the state house of representatives will have an impact on North Carolina government for years to come; your vote is probably not going to count for much. Now for the questions-and some details to back' i UP this pessimistic conclusion. 1. Why are the upcoming house elections so important? ' „ • Ahswer: Redistricting. The legislature elected this year will, subject to the governor’s veto, put together a new set of legislative districts based on the 2000 census figures. Our state’s population distribution has changed greatly during the last 10 years. So there will have to be a lot of changes in legislative districts. • There is one thing we know for sure about the redistricting process. The political party pf charge of the legislature when the redistricting is done draws the districts to its advantage. Here Is how it usually works. If the Democrats are in charge, they try to coral as many Republican voters into districts that are going to vote ‘ Republican anyway. This gives Republicans “free rides” in these districts, but dilutes Republi can strength in more competitive districts thereby improving the Democrats chances. If the Republicans are in charge, they do the same thing in reverse. * Just a few careful adjustments in the legislative districts can make a tremendous difference in the number of Democrats and Republicans who serve in the legislature. See MARTIN On Page 7-A THE CHOWAN HE^LD (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 Jeb Caudill - Publisher Rebecca Bunch..Editor Pamela Nazi.. *Zi,. Susan Bunch.Office Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES < One Year in Edenton prt/1 One Year Anywhere Else in North CarolMKoS^J.SO One Year Oat of State (except for Zone 8Jf.JiI.95 Zone 8 (Zip Codes 21,831-864, 88*999): $26.95 Subscription Breakdowns Avaffab# tflpon Request 10% Discount Available To Senior Citizens POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO: The Chowan Herald • P.O. Box 207 • Edenton, NC 27932 HERALD MAILBAG Support Is Needed Dear Editor: Now that the new year is here, why not help someone by giving a pint of blood? Did you know, every two seconds someone needs blood. A single donation of whole blood may help three to four people. Volunteer donors are the only NOTICE TO OUR 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. means of maintaining an ad equate blood supply. It takes less than one hour to go through the entire process and only 15 minutes of that time to give a unit of blood. To ensure that there is enough blood for the community, the Red Cross must collect between 500 - 600 units every day. At the blood drives in Edenton we only get 50 units per drive. With over 5,000 people in the town and county, you would think we could get a lot more. Think about it: if your parents, grandparents or your, own child needed a pint of blood and you were told, “Sorry, there is no blood available,” how would you feel? What would you do? Please do your part. Come to Chowan Hospital on Jan. 11 and support the Red Cross Blood Drive. Ralph Clapper Red Cross Volunteer for Edenton Cooperation Needed Dear Editor: Recently our Edenton-Chowan Board of Education held two forums to gain input on the future configuration of our elementary school populations at White Oak and D.F. Walker. The information received was to be used to guide the Board in determining the best possible solution for our children’s education. Subsequently our two elemen tary school PTA’s came together to foster dialogue and coopera tion in an effort to explore all facets of the issues and stand ready to assist the Board in any way possible. Our Superinten dent and our Board all need our understanding and support during these very important deliberations. Meanwhile, a concerned group of businesspeople formed a group whose aim is to promote a K-2,3 5 grade configuration, the first at White Oak and the latter at Walker. A meeting took place Tuesday, Dec. 28, at COA where they stated that this was their aim and they intended to present this position to the Board. We addressed these folks and expressed what is believed to be a majority opinion of not only County residents but further, City residents as well. This is that while a K-2/3-5 split is an option, it is far from the only one to consider. Another, of course, is to maintain the status quo, i.'e., make no change. A third example is: given that we have a brand new White Oak, which is centrally located (which from the very first was of primary importance when it was built), why couldn’t an enlarged K-5 campus handle all of Chowan’s elementary See LETTERS On Page 5-A
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