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NATIONAL NEWSPAPER " association
ASSOCIATION
Published Every Thursday at Raeford, N.C. 28J76
1H W. El wood Avenue
Sub*crip<io? Rales In Advance
Per Year? S8.00 6 Months? S4.25 3 Months? SI. 25
0MO&fUl\
LOUIS H. FOCLEMAN, JR Publisher
PAUL DICKSON Editor
HENRY L. BLUE Production Supervisor
BILL LIN DAL Associate Editor
MRS. PAUL DICKSON Society Editor
SAMC. MORRIS contributing Editor
Second Class Postage al Raeford. N.C.
I USPS 3M-260)
THURSDAY. MARCH 25. 1982
Student drug policy
The Hoke County Board of Education is considering a new
anti-drug policy for the schools, and it sounds more effective and
more constructive than the present policy.
The present policy has students caught with or using drugs on
school property suspended by their principal who recommend
expulsion for the remainder of the school year. This applies to first
offenders as well as repeaters.
" Only the county schools superintendent has the authority to expel,
and he does if the findings substantiate the charge. The student has
the right to appeal to the school board, which can either support the
expulsion recommendation, limit the penalty to 10 days' suspension
given by the principal, or reverse the principal's decision.
' If suspended or expelled, the student has the opportunity to
attend off-campus classes to keep up with his school work during the
suspension or expulsion period.
The new policy being considered would add a compulsory drug
education class and give first offenders only 10 days suspension.
Second offenders would be expelled and turned over to the law
enforcement authorities for prosecution in court if the superin
tendent and/or board found the facts warranted those actions.
If convicted and given probation by a court, the student would be
compelled to attend a drug-education class also, as a condition of
probation. He also would have to attend the drug-education class
which would be established by the new policy.
The school system's class would run for 10 hours total at the rate
of an hour a day, which would cover the period of suspension. The
court-ordered course runs for 15 hours, held on four days.
The off-campus class arrangement would be continued.
Dennis Brewster, Hoke County mental health unit manager and
substance-abuse counselor, told the school board at its March 15
meeting that the program of drug education wouldn't solve the
problem of student drug use; but the hope was the school
drug-education course would save students who were just
experimenting with drugs (when they were caught) from "a trip to a
hospital" for treatment of overdosing, or to "Dorothea Dix (state
mental hospital) for life."
The new policy with its provision for drug-education for offending
students holds a promise of important progress, though not
perfection, in getting the serious problem under control.
The board will act on the proposed policy at its June meeting.
-BL
Break for Soviets
President Reagan, with the "help" of his secretary of state,
managed to give the Soviets an international propaganda tool.
The Soviets, President Leonid Brezhnev said last week, had halted
the deployment of medium-range nuclear missiles in the European
part of the Soviet Union.
The Soviets, he said, want to set a "good example."
This is the very thing many Americans had hoped one or another
American president would do. But. on the contrary. Reagan has
hollered for a buildup to meet the Soviet "threat."
With the Soviets coming up with its halt, they make themselves
look like peace-seekers, and the American government look like a
peace threat.
Later, Reagan dismissed the Soviet arms freeze as a propaganda
ploy and said the U.S. will proceed with plans to deploy missiles in
Europe next year.
It's obviously a propaganda ploy, it's going to work, and it's no
excuse for continuing the American buildup.
Reagan might bone up on a historical principle of communism's
goal. The principle has it using not just one method -- military force
- but economic, political, social and anything else that the
Communists think will do the job best.
Reagan also goofed in Soviet-U.S. relations last week in saying he
wishes Evangelist Billy Graham wouldn't go to Moscow and preach
at the Russian Orthodox Church, as the Soviets invited him to do.
Reagan is afraid that the Soviets will use Graham's preaching as a
propaganda tool against the U.S.
Reagan shows in this fear a lack of faith in Graham's intelligence
and experience and apparent ignorance of the sort of message
Graham has been bringing to the millions w ho have heard him in the
30 years he has been preaching his worldwide Crusades.
Graham several years ago did preach in one of the Soviet bloc
(Communist) Eastern Europe countries.
As far as we know, the Soviets didn't make a single convert out of
it.
Furthermore, Reagan apparently doesn't know that much-lesser
known, relatively unknown American ministers have been in Russia
holding services in private homes and elsewhere.
The Russians as far as anyone knows haven't been able to make a
single stalk of propaganda hay out of them.
The Russians, however, could make some propaganda hay from
Reagans wish that Evangelist Graham would preach somewhere else
~ anywhere but in in Soviet states. For example, they could say:
"Doesn't your Saviour say somewhere in your Bibles: preach the
Word of God to all men?"
This, of course, would ban an accusation of hypocrisy.
Reagan, however, could reply that He didn't say a thing about
preaching to Soviets.
But instead of trying to discourage Graham from preaching in the
Soviet Uaion, Reagan ought to be encouraging him to preach in the
Soviet Union and every other Soviet-dominated country that gives
Mm the opportunity.
'Sorry, Old Timer ? you struck
it rich a little too late!'
Th? Okmi Scare* Mortfot
People of Graham's stature and reputation could do the United
States and its people a great deal more good in developing friendship
with the Soviet-dominated people than the amount of harm in
adverse propaganda that the Soviets could do with such visits.
Graham Crusades and similar religious activities could be
effective as propaganda tools for the U.S. as they could be used for
the same purpose by the Soviets.
This is a two-way street.
They also just happen to fit the spirit of Judaeo-Christianitv of
which the American system is the political expression.
-BL
Avoid oil crisis : plan
From The Christian Science Monitor
With the world now awash in an oil glut and falling gasoline prices
it might be well to heed the words of former Lnergv Secretary James
Schlesinger: "I suspect the energy crisis is over until we have our
next energy crisis." Mr. Schlesinger's sense of irony - and timely
warning - befits an ex-energy official who faced his own crisis of long
lines at the gas pumps a few years back. The important point is that
the current period of ample supplies - in large part stemming from a
falloff in demand because of recession - not be allowed to lull
Americans into complacency about the need for continued
conservation and development of alternative energy sources.
Although a combination of high prices, new exploration,
conservation, and recession has caused the US to now have the
"lowest level" of dependence on oil imports in the past 10 years,
according to current Energy Secretary James Edwards, it must be
recognized that any number of political or economic factors could
alter that situation very quickly. The industrial world remains highly
vulnerable to the Persian Gulf area for its supplies. The question of a
future embargo cannot be totally dismissed; nor can the ability of
OPEC nations to make future supply cutbacks. OPEC nations will
be meeting in Vienna March 19 to ratify' a decision to cut production
by more than one-million barrels a day.
Moreover, as the industrial nations slowly recover from recession
in the months ahead demand will surely rise.
Much of the recent reduction in energy (and oil) usage has now
been "built into" the economic system in. for example, the form of
more fuel efficient cars and electrical appliances. But there is still
much more that can and should be done to reduce the growth in
demand even more. Private citizens must not be tempted to return to
an energy "spree." what with lower prices. Washington, for its part,
might well consider offering limited subsidies or loans to financially
hardpressed firms that convert to coal. Some technical assistance
and loans might also be made available to third world nations eager
to develop their own oil resources to help spread production as
widely as possible. The US should also consider plans to ensure that
there will be a fair allocation of existing oil stocks in any future
shortage. To that end Mr. Reagan would seem to be well served by
signing into law the Standby Petroleum Allocation Act of 1982.
That measure was recently passed by wide congressional margins -
86-to-7 in the Senate, 24b-to-144 in the House. The legislation
provides the President authority to allocate oil supplies and control
crude and refined product prices during a "severe petroleum supply
shortage." and only if the President, in his discretion, decides free
market allocation is not working. Yet, the administration is said to
be considering vetoing the bill because it runs counter to the free
market.
What now seems in order are clear steps - from continued
conservation, to development of alternative energy sources, to
standby allocation authority - to ensure that there need not be a new
and unexpected "energy crisis" in the years ahead.
Puppy Creek Philosopher
Dear editor:
Because you get only one side,
you sometimes get the impression
that everybody in Russia is per
fectly contented, that if you're a
factory worker the hours and pay
are great and if you're a farmer,
plowing for the state is a joyful
occupation. If you're a housewife,
living in a one-room apartment
with the bathroom down the hall is
agreeable so long as your satellites
are circling the globe on schedule.
Every once in a while however
there's a crack in the propaganda.
Just recently I read that drunken
ness is a major problem in Russia
and there's a shortage of doctors to
take care of people who can't show
up for work on Mondays.
Also, Russian officials have
never been able to figure out why a
peasant farmer can produce more
on the acre he's allowed for his own
use than on the SO acres he works
for the state.
But the funniest report came out
last week. The head of the Russian
national circus was caught shaking
down performers in the 20,000
member outfit. Police searched his
apartment and found S200.000 in
cash and 51.1 million in diamonds.
He was driving a Mercedes and that
probably caused his downfall.
Big cars are made for the use of
top Communist officials. Russian
citizens are supposed to ride
bicycles.
Dictator Brezhnev, explaining to
a puzzled citizen why he has eleven
big automobiles and the average
citizen a bicycle, can squelch such a
questioner by saying "Why would
anybody need eleven bicycles?"
And the citizen will say. "Oh. 1
see. Of course."
If he knows what's good for him.
Yours faithfully.
J. A.
BMMMMMWWMBMBBWWWHiWWH I 1 I W II 111 >? WWII"!
It's a Small W orld |
hy Bill Lindau
Feller w ho is usually cheerful was
looking depressed one morning.
"What's the matter?" a col
league asked.
"It's my wife." he said glumly.
"She treats me like a dog."
"What makes you say that?" the
other asked.
"The other night I came hpnie
late from a poker game. It broke up
a lot later than I thought. She was
waiting for me when I got home.
And vou know what that woman
did?"'
The sad man sighed and said:
"She batted me across the nose
with a rolled-up newspaper."
* ? ?
Since last Wednesday was St.
Patrick's Day, here's one about an
Irishman whose quick thinking
saved him from the same kind of
brute strength and awkwardness at
the hands of his w ife.
Paddy's wife had finally gotten
fed up with getting him out of jail
for fighting after he got drunk. He
never did fight when he hadn't been
drinking that fighting liquor. She
also got tired of having to get up in
the wee hours and fetching him
from the home of a friend, who
didn't have room for a sudden
guest, especially, an inebriated
one.
So she extracted a promise from
Paddy: he would never drink again.
Paddy kept the promise, and the
weeks went by. and Mrs. Paddy
became a stranger to the town jail
and to Paddy's friends' places.
But one night Mrs. Paddy was
passing by a local pub when she
happened to glance in. and there
she saw Paddy at the bar with a
glass in his hand.
Immediately, she stormed in. her
face menacing with red fury.
Paddy, shocked, looked at her
and explained quickly. "I just
stopped in for a glass of water,
darlin'." he cooed. Mrs. Paddy
snatched the glass from his hand,
sniffed it and sipped it.
"That's whiskey." she snarled.
Paddy's eyes bugged out. his
mouth opened, he looked upwards,
then he looked at his wife, and in a
tone tilled with awe. he whispered:
"Begorra! A miracle!"
* * *
While waiting to see someone in
an office in Raeford the other day. 1
noticed a little sign on a bulletin
board.
It bore a cartoon of Snoopy and
Charlie Brown sitting on a street
curb.
Under it were the words:
"Doing a good job in a place like
this is like wetting your pants in a
dark suit.
"It makes you feel warm. But
nobody notices."
? * ?
Seriously speaking... President
Reagan w as quoted in an interview
as saying some chiseler used his
food stamps to buy vodka.
That one must have been fed to
him by one of the anti-food-stamp
people.
It's highly unlikely, though noth
ing is impossible, that any liquor
store, or general store selling liquor
would accept food stamps even in
partial payment. Liquor stores
aren't licensed to accept food
stamps, and the others would risk
losing the right, and the profit
therefrom, to accept food stamps
tor a year it they were caught
accepting food stamps to sell so
much as halt a pint of alcohol.
Yes. Virginia, there are people
out there enforcing the rules gov
erning the use of food stamps,
though they get no nationwide
publicity.
The same is true of the enforcers
of rules governing taking payments
for public assistance of all kinds,
including unemployment.
In recent weeks, in Hoke County
alone. District Court judgments
were issued against people accept
ing unemployment and other
public assistance payments they
were not eligible to accept. They
were given sentences suspended on
condition they make restitution of
the illegal payments to Social
Services.
Periodically, before those recent
weeks, convictions of such viola
tions and the penalties for the
violators have popped up in the (
Hoke court records.
And besides the pros on Social
Services Department staffs there
are neighbors who catch violations
from time to time. For one ex
ample. one department got a call
that a man was getting tood stamps
but his family was no bigger than
the caller's and his job paid a lot
better. The department investigat
ed. found a violation, and the
violator had to make restitution for <
the ineligible receipts.
Maybe some do get away with
welfare chiseling, but the record
shows it's risky to try. Probably not
all have been or will be caught. But
it's not for lack of Social Services
trying.
And many are caught, and this
may be a deterrent for others.
The amount of chiseling and
abuse of welfare payments also
has been exaggerated, as Marion {
Smith, director of the Randolph
County Department of Social Ser
vices. found out.
Several years ago. wearied by
charges of one or another county
commissioners that people were
using their welfare money to buy
beer and liquor. Smith did a
thorough investigation.
When he was finished, he report
ed at the next commissioners' ^
meeting of the 1.500 Randolph
families getting public assistance
checks, only one person was found
to have bought alcohol with welfare
money -- a six-pack ot beer.
And that violation brought a
penalty.
Smith also had been hearing the
regular comments that a lot ot
able-bodied people were living off
welfare and not even looking tor
jobs. ^
Next time that remark was *
uttered. Smith turned to a commis
sioner and told him that he was
glad he mentioned that, because he
had a bright, educated young
woman on welfare, she needed a
job. but she'd been turned down
everywhere she went.
Maybe the commissioner would
hire her. Sure, the commissioner
said. .
She had just one difliculty. (
Smith added, caused by gland
trouble. She weighed 300 pounds.
Well, the commissioner stam
mered. he'd be glad to give her a
job. But he just didn't have
anything open in his office right
now. he said.
That's what they all tell her.
Smith said.
The critics of the welfare system
can find enough real (though
correctable) defects in the system 4
without indulging in misleading,
generalized exaggerations.
Letter T o The Editor
Editor, The News-Journal
I am writing this letter as an
appeal to all motorists and espe
cially truckers to help the North
Carolina State Highway Patrol aid
stranded motorists on our high
ways.
The well-publicized incident of a
young woman stranded all night on
1-40 outside Raleigh presents the
problem. Now. I am in receipt of a
letter from a woman in New Bern
who was stranded for more than
four hours on U.S. 70 the night of
February 8
She writes: "May I remind you
that I sat in the same spot for over
four and one-half hours on the side
of a heavily traveled highway. I
kept my flashing lights on for the
entire time. Although many cars
passed, no one would stop. Several
times I turned on the headlights
and stood in front of them so that
the passing motorists could see that
it was a 5*1", 100-pound woman
who needed help. Still no one
stopped."
After the incident involving the
young woman on 1-40 the State
Highway Patrol reinstated a 24
hour patrol policy with special
emphasis on interstate highways in
the state. The intention is to see to
it that these limited access high
ways are monitored in the late night
and early morning hours.
There are. however, more than
75.000 miles of roadways in this
state, and the Patrol is spread very
thin in trying to monitor them on a
24-hour basis. There is no way to
cover every mile.
It we are to conic to the aid of
every stranded motorist, which is
the goal of the Patrol, we are going
to need the help of all our citizens.
If you sec a motorist stranded along
one of our highways, please g '.o
the nearest telephone and call the |
local State Highway Patrol head
quarters or local law enforcement
agency about the .motorist. If you
have a C.B. radio in your vehicle it
would be so easy for you to report a
stranded vehicle to a base and ask
for the report to be relayed to the
Patrol.
When we were growing up in
North Carolina, this was a state of
good neighbors. Everyone helped a j
person in need. That's the way we
were brought up. The story of the
Good Samaritan in the Bible is
most important.
We must not become a state of
strangers in such a hurry that we
can't even report a stranded
motorist on our highways. The next
time you see a stranded motorist,
help.
Sincerely,
Heman R. Clark 4