Newspapers / The Pilot (Southern Pines, … / Nov. 21, 1963, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page TWO THE PILOT—Southern Pines, North Carolina THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1963 PRIVATE VS. PUBLIC RESPONSIBIUTY ILOT Southern Pines North Carolina “In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We will try to keep this a good paper. We will try to make a little money lor all concerned. Wherever there seems to be an occasion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we will treat everybody alike.” — James Boyd, May 23, 1941. -■ ‘If We Can Have Something Better. •. ’ a long-discussed proposal to consolidate with one or more of the neighboring high . . The expenditure of large sums, where any controversy exists, should be done only after thorough public discus- ' sion and adequate, expert consultation .,. Educational experts have not compared for us, the taxpayers, the relative merits of maintaining a separate high school or consolidating with our neighbors . . , If we can have something better, I would like to find out more rd>out it " Thus, in part, reads a letter appearing on this editorial page last week—refer ring to the Southern Pines administra tive unit’s share of the $3 million school bond issue approved recently by the county’s voters, and how this money will be used for betterment of the local school system. Actually, the letter goes beyond that. The local share of the bond money, $554,700, is about half committed to pro jects already begun or promised in West Southern Pines, the other half being tentatively earmarked for a new 16-class room elementary school on the East side. The latter is a project that could be eliminated, along with a good many thousands of dollars more for purchase of land on which to place it, if Southern Pines were to join Aberdeen and West End (and possibly Pinehurst), in a con solidated high school project for which the county bond issue is providing vastly more money than is available from the Southern Pines unit’s share alone. What the letter is getting at—and we can’t emphasize this too strongly—is that the school board’s decision to reject schools is a decision that simply assumes the people of Southern Pines don’t want to consolidate. For a long time, we haven’t thought that the people’s feeling against con solidation is nearly as strong as the board of education thinks it is—yet, apart from that, how can the people of Southern Pines school district make up their minds on what they want unless the information needed to make a choice is placed before them? We do know that twice in the past de cade, survey teams of educators from out of the county have recommended that Southern Pines and Pinehurst join the county school system in a consolidation program. We do know that the three new consolidated high schools planned by the county will offer a broader curriculum than is possible here or will be possible for some time to come. We do know the conviction of Dr. Conant and many other top educators that a small high school can seldom in any field — academic, business or vocational—offer students as much educational opportunity as a large one. It is good news, therefore, that a com mittee of citizens is being formed to press for information on consolidation possibi lities, and a reconsideration of the evi dence by the local board of education. Whatever is done, the citizens and tax payers of the Southern Pines school dis trict are entitled to an assurance, spelled out in clear information, that we are doing the right thing. Mr. Eure’s Misplaced Hesitancy little clique who cooked up this totally Secretary of State Thad Eure’s recent proud assertion to an American Legion group that he wrote the “Communist speaker ban law” affecting State educa tional institutions contrasts starkly with the deep silence maintained by Mr. Eure and all other promoters of the bill while it was being concocted and right up to the minute it was bulldozed through the General Assembly with sudden and questionable procedures. The ringing statements voiced at the Legion meeting (“I am ready to write another bill if it would strike another blow at communism . . . ”) were nowhere heard while the Assembly was in session. Nobody made ringing statements about the bill then. To do so might have let University officials, the press, the public and even other legislators not in the unnecessary law know what was being proposed: that North Carolina’s educa tional institutions were about to be rob bed of the full freedom that is their most precious asset. If Mr. Eure had spoken half so strongly and so proudly before the bill was pre sented as he does now, we are confident it would never have been enacted. Once examined and debated, the bill could not have stood the light of day. Its promoters, of course, did not want that to happen. Let’s hear no more from Mr. Eure on having “no hesitancy about admitting I wrote the bill ...” At the hour when it counted, he was plenty hesitant. And the State suffered thereby. The Moon Race: Doubts and Questions It is remarkable that there has not been more public debate on the enor mously expensive and incredibly risky government program to send an Ameri can to the moon and back by 1970. Discussion' has been stifled by the fate ful injection of the moon program into the Cold War, making it a race with the Soviet Union — and thereby putting doubts into the realm of anti-patriotism or even disloyalty to the nation. Ironical ly, the Russians now say they are in no hurry to reach the moon—and the Unit ed States is left, if this be true, racing itself. Another stifling force has been sheer ignorance. Who is qualified to question or to doubt? Are not the nation’s top scientists dedicated to this fantastic pro ject? Who are you or who are we to Commercial To The End Right to the end, the terms were com mercial. At that recent extravaganza of bad taste—“A ‘Going In Party’ On The Ocas- ion of Kidd’s Entering Prison For Influ ence Peddling,” to quote from an invita tion, capital letters and all—Kidd Brewer of Raleigh righteously thrust out his chin, as seen on TV, and pointed out something he said hadn’t been mentioned before: that he had not cost the State of North Carolina any money by reason of his machinations (he didn’t use that word) with a sign company and a State High way official. It seemed to be the money that coimted. That was the point. Whether what he said was true or not makes no difference — though if the money he pocketed had been saved, we can’t help but deduce the State might have benefited. The appalling thing was that, going off to prison, he was still thinking in terms of money, not of right and wrong. The man at the microphone was vastly different from the haunted Kidd Brewer who tried to kill himself in his barn after he was found out. We think we like him better in his penitent mood. evoke our petty fund of common sense and denounce it? These are strong pressures and the list of those who have bucked them publicly is not long—though, when summed up, it contains some notable names. Not the least distinguished of the doubters and questioners is Dr. Vannevar Bush wno was director of the Offce of Scientific Research and Development, 1941-46, and is now chairman of the corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In a letter to The New York Times, published last Sunday, Dr. Bush asks us to face the loss of life that he says is in evitable: “bound to happen, especially in a crash program.” So far, he notes, we have watched the satellite experiments in a holiday spirit: “Children watch it and expect everything to come out all right in the end, as it does in the stories they read. . . ” Then Dr. Bush asks: “What will happen when the tragedy occurs? The public is now in doubt on the program. They will be impatient as it proceeds very slowly, with little of popular appeal to report. When a grim tragedy occurs, they may throw the whole experiment out the window.” And his conclusion: “To put a man on the moon is folly, engendered by childish enthusiasm. It will backfire on those who drive it ahead.” Some expert commentators on the moon program stop short of Dr. Bush’s pdical rejection, but find a deadly flaw in the “race” aspect of the project. We believe that there is doubt in the minds of many Americans on the course the moon program is taking—nor do we see how sensible people could escape such doubts, once the assault on space is view ed as a venture far transcendng tele vision entertainment, involving a unique ly gruesome risk of human life. The government could do much to relieve this doubt and lift an increasing burden of dread, if it were to call off the moon “race,” rescind the 1970 target date and commit the nation to a far more deliberate, unquestionably sound and in ternationally oriented program of space research and development. Rising College Price Tag Varies Higher education bears many price tags today. A private uni versity in one Southern state charges $1,450 annual tuition, and a public teachers college in an other charges $40 annual tuition. Though price is one indication of quality, an education cannot be measured by that yardstick alone, for a student attending the $1,450 institution will not necessarily re ceive an education 29 times as good as the student in a public teachers college. He may even receive an education better suited to his needs and his talents at the lower price. As a result, picking a college is like supermarket shopping for the Southern family. Before the high school graduate is a broad selection of colleges and univer sities classified by types of curric ulum, by types of control, and by price to the student. Ideally, the choice of a college is based strictly on the student’s talents, ability and interest in education. More practically, it is largely determined by the price tag, which has been going up for every kind of higher education. 'Basic Charges' Whatever the cost, tuition is usually less than living expenses and incidentals. The amount which the U. S. Office of Educa tion calls “basic student charges” is a combination of averages for tuition and for room* and board. Basic student charges are theo retically the minimum cost of at tending college—but the mini mum is always exceeded. A recent study of student ex penses at a large state university showed that basic student charges comprised only 65 per cent of total expenses incurred by the average male undergraduate resi dent student. Laundry and clean ing expenses, transportation, weekends—all add to the bill. Student costs have increased more rapidly than any other ma jor source of income for higher education. Trend Continues And the trend is continuing. Figures based on a special U. S. Office of Education survey of 90 land-grant institutions and state universities show that tuition jumped seven per cent in the sin gle year between 1961-62 and 1962-63. The arguments in favor of plac ing a larger share of the costs of higher education on the individ ual have often been stated. They usually include the assumption that advances in tuition will be countered with increases in stu dent aid because the objective of providing every individual with opportunity for maximum devel opment of his abilities has be come axiomatic in American so ciety. However, there is not enough scholarship aid available to off set the increases in tuition, and where aid is available it is often awarded to students whose par ents could afford to see them through college anyway. Society Benefits The Association of State Uni- versitieis and Land-Qrant Col leges and the State Universities Association recently made this joint statement: “The process of making students pay an increasing proiportion of the costs of higher education will, if continued, be disastrous to American society and to American national strength. . “The primary beneficiary of higher education is socie ty. It is true that great econ omic and other benefits do accrue to the individual, and it is the responsibility of the individual to help pay for the education of others on this ac count—through taxation and through voluntary support of colleges and universities in accordance with the benefits received. “But even from the nar rowest of economic stand points, a general responsibili ty rests on society to finance higher education. The ' busi nessman who’ has things' to sell is a beneficiary whether he attends college or not, whether his children do or not. Higher productivity and higher income make better customers for business.” Individual First Or, as the Commission on Goals for Higher Education in the South put it, “In a democracy the individual comes first. We are irrevocably committed to the principle that every individual should have the opportunity to progress as far as his interests and abilities will permit.” The Commission has further suggest ed that by 1970 the South must enroll in its colleges and univer sities at least as high a proportion of college-age youth as the na tion enrolled in 1960. —From "Student Costs and Public Responsibility" in "Fi nancing Higher Education" (A Service of the Southern Regional Education Board). Extending Low-Cost Education In states where public tution charges are a larger part of family income, fewer students of college age tend to go on to college. Where public tuition charges are less of the family income, more students tend to go on to college. The community college, offering low cost education near home, has helped raise college attendance rates in states where such institutions are located. The community col lege has become an island of minimum charges in a sea of rising costs. The economic logic of the community college, for the stu dent, is that it is cheaper for him to go to a college near home than far away. In Florida, the 1961 freshman enrollment was 50 per cent of the number of high school graduates in those counties which had institutions of higher education, but was only 34 per cent in coimties which did not have such facilities. From 1957 to 1961. over-all enrollments at Florida's in stitutions increased 55 per cent, but enrollment at public community colleges rose 259 per cent. Eight community colleges were established during that time, five of them in three counties which were previously without institutions of higher learning. In those three counties, the per cent of high school graduates going to college rose 15 per cent. Over the same period of time, first-time college enroll ments as a per cent of high school graduates in the state as a whole dropped one per cent. Americans of an earlier generation accepted the principle that support of public education through 12 years of schooling is a responsibility which society should bear. Because the present generation has become greatly dependent upon the skills of the scientist, the bulk of all education beyond the level of the bachelor’s degree has likewise become a public responsibility through the widespread operation of various fellowship programs. The present generation, through widespread adoption of community college concept, is beginning to close the gap between public support of secondary education and public support of graduate education. The establishment of a widely dispersed system of commun ity colleges in a state is a primary method of removing econo mic barriers to college attendance. Goldwater... Or Quicksilver ? Senator Goldwater (AuH-20) is changing chemically to Senator Hg—the chemical element known as quicksilver. Webster's Dictionary de fines quicksilver as "an elu sive person or thing." It doesn't define Goldwater. He is shifting positions so fre quently he uses an electronic computer to keep tabs on his new and old statements. Actually, we still have the same old Goldwater who wants to exploit our natural resources, who wants to tax everybody at the same rate, who wants to sell Tennessee Valley Authority to the provate power trust, who wants to dissolve the Rural Elec- tricfication Administration, who would weaken Social Security, who has cast 33 votes against bet ter education since being elected senator, who believes the elderly should be left to shift for them selves, and who has the blessing of Robert Welch, founder of the John Birch Society. We are now getting the "new Goldwater" treatment. His statements soften on so cial legislation which he has opposed so steadfastly. He no longer wants to put labor unions under antitrust laws. He now wants a "study" of our tax laws rather than elimination of the progres sive feature. As former President Eisenhow er observed recently. “I am un clear on precisely what Senator Goldwater’s present views are. LIBERAL'S VIEWPOINT EXPLAINED Freedom, Peace Are Inseparable By NORMAN CORWIN In Saturday Review In the context of today’s world, the liberal sees no contradiction between believing in freedom and believing in peace. For he be lieves neither in surrender nor suicide. He believes that the pol icies that are committed to the cause of a durable and enforce able peace also best serve the cause of freedom. Nuclear war may not destroy all life on earth, but it will cer tainly destroy the prime condi tions for a meaningful life. Peace without freedom is unthinkable; freedom without peace is impos sible. Hence the genuine liberal never separates the two. He puts the making of enforceable peace at the top of the human agenda for our generation. Ideologically, the genuine liber al is familiar with Marx and En gels, as he is with all the prin cipal ideas about human organi zation. But his ideological and historical kinship is not with Marx but with men like Mill, Mil- ton, Jefferson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and William James. He believes in the perfectability of man. He sets no limits to the pos sibilities of betterment of the hu man condition because he sets no limits to the potentialities of the human mind. He does not blind himself to the existence of evil, but he never loses faith in the essential good ness of man. He is concerned with those conditions and circum stances that can control the evil and provide the fullest outlet for the good. He sees a pluralistic free society as offering the best arena for meeting the problems, basic or contrived, that spew out of the fact of life itself. and I think all Republicans would want to learn more about how he—and each of the other possible candidates—would now approach the issues of 1964.” Now this hurts Senator Gold- water. “It is difficult to understand how President Eisenhower can be unclear about my position in view of the wide publication my views have received,” Goldwater observed. Senator Goldwater insists on the fiction that people who don't understand his present views just haven't read his statements over the> yealrs. The truth is that former Pres ident Eisenhower is unclear on Senator Goldwater's views because Senator Goldwater has said two or more differ ent things—taken two or more different positions—on a number of issues. Congressional Quarterly, a non-partisan publication, ob serves in its introduction to a col lection of Goldwardia, September 18: “His stands on some issues show significant changes from past positions.” Even Richard Nixon, former vice president has noticed the Goldwater shift. “Goldwater,” he says, “will continue to move more toward the center, as he has been moving recently.” Governor Romney of Michigan added to Senator Goldwater's discomfiture by observing: "As far as I can see, he hasn't disassociated himself from the Radical Right, I haven't seen any statement that changes his position ifrom what it has been in the past." Don’t give up. Governor. —From 'The Democrat" Foxes Or Golfballs With the news that yet another golf course is being added to the many that already crowd the land of southern Moore County, there grows a feeling of unease. Will the inhabitants of this gently friendly area have to start dodg ing behind trees? Then, as November days crisp up and the early morning chorus of the Moore County Hounds re minds that the Opening Meet is next week, the unease of just or dinary folks grows; is the time coming when we will have to choose between being run over by the fox hunters or hit by the golf ers? The thought brings to mind some observations penned by James Boyd, founder of the local pack and first huntsman, whose disgust with the game of golf and delight in careering about the country on a hiorse following the pack were about equally power ful. His loathing for the former sport certainly entered into the bitterness with which, in the let ter printed below, he bewailed the gross error of the News and Observer when the Raleigh paper named him as an inhabitant of Pinehurst, the Golfing Capital of the World, instead of Southern Pines. Widely reprinted in the State press, the letter drew howls of rage from the golfers and loud cheers from the hunters. Letter F’rom James Boyd To The News & Observer December 6, 1927 Editor, News & Observer Raleigh, N. C. Dear Sir:— At a single stroke your power ful newspaper has destroyed my happiness and ruined my reputa tion. Although for nearly thirty years I have been a citizen of Southern Pines, you described me as coming from Pinehurst. The difference is immense. Pinehurst is a resort visited by golfers; Southern Pines is a town inhabited by fox-hunters. In the summer, Pinehurst ceases to ex ist. It is merely a deserted village haunted by the ghosts of departed golfers. But all the year around. Southern Pines may be seen -vig orously flourishing, its noble civic life distinguished by sectarian disputes, town dogs, corner loaf ers, Kiwanians, caucuses, tax- dodgers, boot-leggers, dead-beats, rummage sales, law suits, chiro practors, literary gents, beauty shoppes and all the other attri butes of organized metropolitan society. You can, therefore, conceive my grief at your misapprehension. Es pecially when I tell you that I am a fox-hunter, and that all fox hunters are ex-officio Nature’s noblemen whose lustre no amount of lying, liquor and vainglorious ness can dim. If it could, that lus tre would have been dimmed long ago. Golf, on the other hand, is merely the most expensive and depressing form of pedestrianism. It renders its victims on the one hand gloomy and self-pitying, and, on the other, tediously and inter minably loquacious. I know of no other practice, except the pur chase and consumption of bad liquor, wherein good money can be spent for so pitiable a result. From all this, you can see the wrong that you have done me, and when I add that I never visit Raleigh without making your newspaper office into my social club where I try to persuade your City Editor, your special writers, your Staff Correspondents and reporters, and the sons of your distinguished owner to desert their labors of getting out the paper and listen to my tales of fox-hunting, you will feel, as I do, that you have made me a mighty sorry return. I am, sir. Yours truly, James Boyd THE PILOT Published Every Thursday by THE PILOT, Incorporated Southern Pines. North Carolina 1941—JAMES BOYD—1944 Katharine Boyd Editor C. Benedict Associate Editor Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr. C. G. Council Advertising Bessie C. Smith Advertising Mary Scott Newton Business Mary Evelyn de Nissoff Society Composing Room Dixie B. Ray, Michael Valqn, Thomas Mattocks, J. E. Pate, Sr., Charles Weatherspoon, Clyde Phipps. Subscription Rates Moore County One Year $4.00 Outside Moore County One Year $5.00 Second-class Postage paid at Southern Pines, N. C. Member National Editorial Assn, and N. C. Press Assn.
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.)
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Nov. 21, 1963, edition 1
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