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OPINION
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! The Chronicle
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Ernest H. Pitt Publisher/to-founder
NOURISI ECEMONYE Co-FounJer
Sharon Brooks Hodge editor
Elaine PlTT Busmen Manager
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; J Fannie Henderson advertising manager
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i I A meaningless survey
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S I The North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research has pub
! Jished the results of its most recent survey on the effectiveness of our
! 3>tate lawmakers. But people should not consider this a meaningful
? {assessment of how the men and women we send to Raleigh are actu
; jelly performing on the job.
; ? The biggest problem is that the survey is little more than a popu
' parity contest among legislators and lobbyists. Apparently, most of
; Jthe state's black legislators aren't held in very high esteem by their
! {peers.
? 1 "I'm concerned about what people in my district think," said Rep.
i. {Alma Adams. "And they give their opinion on election day."
! ?; Adams is entirely correct. It is ridiculous to ask anyone other than
I ?lhe voting public to ascertain how effective any given law maker is.
v "And there is real damage that can be done by disseminating such mis
. Representation of reality. s
! "The Center's Rankings help citizens understand the way the legis
; iature works," insists Ran Coble. Coble is the executive director for the
i ."N-C. Center for Public Policy Research.
?' ?' According to the survey results, Larry Womble, Alma Adams and
Flossie Boyd-Mclntyre are the bottom of the barrel. If voters took
{"this information seriously, they may not re-elect those with poor rank
{ ings. Perhaps that's why the survey has been around for 20 years.
One way to make certain a lawmaker is ineffective is to tarnish his
{or her reputation. That is precisely what this bogus survey-does. It
{gives the impression that black lawmakers can't get anything accom
plished. Nothing could be further from the truth. This survey also
'makes some legislators look better than they are.
{ Republican Steve Wood has had members of his own party get up
{and walk out of committee meetings because he is there. How effec
tive can he possibly be? Well, if you believe the survey results, he's still
? more effective than Adams, Womble and Boyd-Mclntyre. That's real
ty hard to believe, and it is irresponsible to promote such an image.
{ A legislator's clout ought to be what he accomplishes for the peo
! pie who elected him or her ? not how well he is liked by political
adversaries and lobbyists.
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I No boycott
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{ From The Herald-Sun of Durham
{ We don't blame teachers for feeling besieged these days. With con
fidence in public education running low, people are looking over
? teachers' shoulders like never before. But boycotting the state's test for
{teachers in low-performing schools, as some educators are now threat
ening to do, only hurts their case.
{ The N.C. Association of Educators is even considering a lawsuit to
{stop the tests. Talk about bad public relations.
j The teachers have our sympathy. But they should swallow their
pride, take the competency test and move on. Acing it, as we expect
{most teachers will, would help silence the critics and restore faith in
{our schools. Kicking up a fuss, on the other hand, would only feed the
{public's distrust of the schools.
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ore. Lsttsrs should bo as condso as possAU and should botypod mjs?ttfy
addross and tolophono numbor of tho writor. Column? must
our gmtmal toodmthip. Tho Ovonidi w6i not pubSsh any lsttsrs or columns
columns for biovity and clarity. Submit iottors and columns tot
Chronidm JHoftnp, P.O. Ban 1636, Winston Salom, MC 27103. NmI
Charities would benefit
Letters to the Editor:
The criticism of selfish, highly
paid baseball stars and greedy
owners is a favorite battle cry
around which the "Vote No crowd"
rally.
They want us not to Vote YES
on the May 5 baseball food and
ticket tax. Here are some examples
of what the greedy Minnesota
TWINS organization and its self
ish players are doing in the Twin
Cities and the Upper Midwest:
#1 The Twins, in conjunction
with WCCO radio and the Salva
tion Army, raised $13,000 at their
season opener for southern Min
nesota storm relief.
#2 Terry Steinbach has agreed
to donate $1,000 for each double
he hits this season to the St. Paul
based Deva House. They will set
up a model children's hospice pro
gram. Steinbach hit 17 doubles in
1997.
#3 The Twins have giyen
$700,000 to local charities through
he TVins Community Fund since
1991.
#4 The Twins will host 25 free
youth baseball clinics for boys and
girls in Minnesota, Iowa, Wiscon
sin and the Dakotas. Over 800,000
youngsters have participated in this
program that ft Twins' scout start
ed in 1961.
#5 The Twins sponsor 18 inner
city baseball teams through the
Boys & Girls Clubs in 1998 in con
junction with the Major League
Baseball initiative in many major
league cities called "Reviving Base
ball in Inner Cities" (RBI).
#6 200,000 students took part
in the Twins' "Salute to Educa
tion" program in 1997.
#7 80,000 free tickets are pro
vided to inner-city kids and senior
citizens each year through the
charitable efforts of Kirby Puckett
and Paul Molitar.
#8 50,000 free tickets were
donated to kids by the Twins orga
nization in 1997.
#9 The Twins will initiate the
Twins College Scholarships! Every
student attending a game will
receive an opportunity to enter and
win one of 10 Twins Player Schol
arships to the Twin Cities' 2-Year
Colleges.
#10 Through the Twins Player
Charity Program, every Twins des
ignates a local non-profit organiza
tion as his designated charity.
Thanks to this program Twins
players have made a significant
impact on the lives of adults and
kids living throughout the region.
Some recent examples:
? Kirby Puckett has raised in
excess of $2 Million for Children'*
Heart Link since 1991.
? Kent Hrbek has raised in
excess of $700,000 for ALS
patients and research since 1987.
? Paul Molitor has raised more
than $ 100,000 for Camp Heartland
and Make-A-Wish in 1997.
? Rick Aguilera has raised more
than $50,000 for Athletes in Action
since 1992.
#11 As the Upper Midwest was
ravaged with the "500-Year Flood"
of 1997, -the Twins organization
focused on helping families in
need. Carl and Eloise Pohlad and
the Twins family contributed
$50,000 to the flood-relief efforts
designed to help families recover
from this natural disaster. In addi
tion, the Twins sent groups of
employees to the Red River Valley
to aid in the cleanup. Throughout
the season the club hosted flood
victims and volunteers at the ball
park.
#12 The Twins January caravan
composed of players, alumni and
broadcasters visited more than 30
communities in the upper Mid
west, attracting an estimated
20,000 fans.
#13 The Twins Wives Organi
zation formed a partnership with
the Minnesota Quilters Associa
tion in 1997 to raffle a series of
autographed quilts with all pro
ceeds benefiting the Ronald
McDonald "House of the Twin
Cities. These player wives provided
more than $20,000 in Autograph
Party proceeds to Deva House and
the Gillette Children's Hospital.
Is this the kind of behavior we
can expect from greedy owners and
the selfish highly paid players of
Major League Baseball? Might
this occur'when Major League
Baseball comes to the Triad. If so,
many youth service agencies,
schools and charities would benefit
from these people... and that's a
"hit" in any league.
Note: Jack Hutslar is a sports
junkie and a somewhat biased Vote
Yes volunteer who must Vote Yes
on May 5. Web sites of interest to
baseball and youth sport fans
include: www.triadbaseball.com,
www.minnesotatwins.com,
www.majorleagueba8eball.com,
www.sportingnews.com, www.fan
link.com, www.littleleague.com,
www.sportingnews.com, www.fan
link.com, www.littleleague.com,
www.pony.com,www.bgca.org,
www.ymca.net,wijw.ywca.org,
www.girlscouts.org, and
www.NAYSI.com. J
Jack Hutslar
Kernersville
A shell game?
To the Editor
Debating, arguing, posturing,
adding personal spin and voting
are the good American way and
democracy at its zenith.
To be informed by an open,
honest, objective, non-biased
media - whether print, picture or
voice ? should be the hope of all
free people.
whether one votes for or
I li
against the proposed stadium'ls
each person's private decision. The
problem seems to be that if this
proposal is passed, the motorthg
public and the general fund U$
payer will see their funds and filefe
used in ways they will have no cdw
trol over. 1,1
Fuel tax and road fees will be
used for roads, streets, traffic cotu
trol devices and personnel. Gener
al tax funds will be used for storm
water collection, retention and
treatment if required, potable
water supply problems ? landfill
capacity for millions of food wrap
pers and beer cups ? already
contentious subject between the
two counties involved and so matt?
other unasked questions and
unclear answers. '
Will a private access road and
parking lot btincluded for the ufe
of the holders and users' dt thti hkjr
boxes? When thesfccompanies and
corporations and private people
write off the expense of travel,
food, drink and other entertain
ment in town, will the general fund
taxpayer be asked to subsidize the
lost taxes?
The November 1997 issue Of
Reader's Digest had a very infor
mative and thought-provokink
article titled "The Stadium Shell
Game." The subtitle was "Whet
happens when public money js.
used to help fund private play
grounds." Reprints were available.
A project of this magnitude wiH.
affect people for many decades to
come; it won't go away or be aban
doned even if it fails to pay its otyd
way. The legacy we leave o,uj
grandchildren will reflect on us for
a long time.
Doug
"NO CONTROLLING .
LEGAL AUTHORtTX
MO CONTROL,
PEWODLM
1 Voices from the community.;.
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? Residents of East Winston were asked their views on the pos
sibility of East Winston Library Branch closing down. ;
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Kwame Nyerere
/ find it ironic that
decision makers find it nec
: essary to ponder the idea of
closing our little deprived
library. Yet, they are spend
ing money to acquire a larg
er building for the Reynolda
Branch. While simultaneous
ly naming another branch
after one of our
Black heroines.
Maria Antunez
We need our library, in our
neighborhood. I don't even go
downtown to study at that
library.
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Terquoiya Harrison
East Winston Library should
not close. It is safe to walk to,
we walk there in groups. That
is how many of us get there.
Marquea Heath
If that library closes, a lot
of kids will get into trouble
on the streets. That is a safe
place to hang out. Plus, I
use it too much to lose it.
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Jamall Scott 4
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East Winston Library
closing down is news to me.
I hope they let people know
before they close it for sure.
I use it to do my school
assignments.
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