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NATIONAL NEWSPAPER association
ASSOCIATION
Published Every Thursday at Raelord. N.C. 2*376
119 W. Etwood A vmhc
Subscription Rales la Advance
Per Year? M OO 6 Moaths-S4.25 3 Months? $2. 25
(Jo/io&mA
LOUIS H. FOGLEMAN. JR Publisher
PAUL DICKSON Editor
HENRY L. BLUE Production Supervisor
BILL LINDAU Associate Editor
MRS. PAUL DICKSON Society Editor
SAMC. MORRIS Contributiag Editor
Second Class Postage at Raerord, N.C.
(USPS 3M-260)
THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 1982
Life-saving investment
Last December, the Hoke County commissioners voted 51,330 to
buy advanced life-support system for the Hoke County Ambulance
Service.
A few weeks ago. the first members of the Ambulance Service staff
completed training and were certified to use the equipment.
Not long afterward in a relatively short period of time, the
advanced life-support system was used in emergencies on four
patients. This was reported by Jim Henley, Ambulance Service
director, to the commissioners at their April 20 meeting. He reported
these emergency uses in displaying and explaining the equipment the
Ambulance Service bought with the county appropriation.
Furthermore, he told a reporter earlier in April, the certification
and training of the Ambulance Sevice's EMT people in the advanced
life-support system use was also a great step toward training the
Ambulance Service staff as paramedics. He told the commissioners
April 20 the training would start in August and would be completed
four months later.
The purchase of the advanced life-support system and training of
people to use the equipment was a huge advance in improving the
chances of emergency patients to live till they could get hospital
treatment.
Before getting the new equipment, the Ambulance Service did a
good job of keeping patients alive, but it just wasn't enough in some
cases, for example in cases where the patient's heart had stopped.
The sophisticated equipment probably saved some if not all four
lives, which might have been lost, without it.
That $1,330 was probably the most valuable investment the
commissioners have made of county taxpayers' money.
John Balfour, the commissioners' chairman, praised Henley and
his staff for their devotion to the lives of patients, beyond the call of
duty.
The appropriation was a great bargain; its use for equipment in
the hands of these dedicated people makes it priceless.
The training of people to be paramedics will make the chances of
heart-attack victims and patients severely injured to survive even
better with treatment at the scene of their attacks and injuries and
enroute to hospitals.
Hoke County has no general hospital; the nearest are in Pinehurst
and Fayetleville, about 25 miles from Raeford; but with the
advanced emergency training and equipment the Ambulance Service
has gotten and the paramedic training it will get, the county
certainly has the next best thing to a hospital and, apparently
comfortably close to the real thing.
?-BL
Embattled farmers
From The Christian Science Monitor
If any particular quality describes America's farmers, it is
resiliency. Through lean years as well as periods of plenty, farmers
have found ways to innovate and overcome obstacles. And the proof
of such creativity is that the United States has repeatedly been
blessed by abundant crops that have helped feed much of the world.
That quality of resiliency is needed now in US agriculture more
than at any time in recent years. The extent of the terrible toll being
paid by farmers because of the current recession is not yet fully
known, but the indications are troubling. Net farm income is now at
the lowest level since the Great Depression. Yet farm costs - and that
mainly means interest rates ? remain prohibitively high.
At a recent series of regional field hearings conducted around the
US by the National Farmers Union, it was brought out that between
20 and 35 percent of the farmers in each area are going out of
business. "For Sale" signs are uncomfortably common on many a
dusty rural roadway. The delinquency rate on low-interest loans
from the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) is running at
around 58 percent, the highest level many farm experts can recall.
Total US farm debt is now estimated at over $200 billion.
What has led to such conditions? And. most important, what can
be done to help the farm economy?
Agricultural economists and farm organizations are as divided in
their assessment of the depth of the current downturn as they are
about the reasons for and solutions to the problem. Still, there is
general agreement that, given the combination of high farm costs,
large crops, low commodity prices, and sagging world food demand,
many farmers would have difficulty today even under nonrecession
ary conditions. The 1980 grain embargo against the Soviet Union
clearly hurt many farmers. And it must also be noted that many
farmers Financially overextended themselves throughout the 1970s,
in effect buying land "on margin" during that period of high
inflation and widespread land speculation.
A number of solutions suggest themselves:
?The FmHA should consider a one-year moratorium on
foreclosures. Lower interest rates (than current rates running
between 13 percent and 15 percent) should also be made available
through this period.
?The question of food embargoes should be seriously rethought. A
strong argument can be made that such embargoes should be
undertaken only in the most extreme of cases.
?Farm exports must be promoted even more vigorously. Some
steps are encouraging. Right now. for example, a delegation from
the American Farm Bureau Federation is visiting Japan to try to pry
open that market to more imports of US beef. Congress, for its part,
should provide funding for the Commodity Credit Corporation
Export Revolving Fund to help promote exports. It might also
consider using Export-Import Bank funds for farm sales abroad.
Little in-t he-red schoolhouse
?Soil erosion is now such a serious problem that as many as 25
million to 62 million acres of land could be lost during the next half
century. Farmers have to be encouraged not to exhaust the land but
to ensure its long-range productivity.
Long-range solutions should be geared to developing economic
conditions. If the farm slump has bottomed out, or soon bottoms
out. then more drastic action may be unnecessary. If conditions
worsen. Congress might well want to consider mandatory set-aside
programs for commodities, rather than the current voluntary
programs. Another option for Congress - federal red-ink
notwithstanding - might well be to reconsider the Farm Act of 1981
which sets support price levels.
By all indications. Congress and the Reagan administration need
to get "out on the farm" to ensure that they are gauging conditions
properly. Of all US "industries." none has been more efficient or
productive over the years than agriculture. To overlook that now
would be to ignore one of America's - and the world's - greatest
assets.
Letter To The Editor
Editor, The News- Journal,
Since I contracted the dread gar
rulous pcn-an4?mouth disease las!
April, many of my colleagues and
associates seem to think I'm in
quarantine, possibly because my
room assignment this year is in a
rather isolated place, formerly us
ed for lockers. I wish to assure
them the disease itself is not con
tagious; however, the effects of
close association to its victim may
have similar repercussions.
Therefore, 1 quite understand their
sentiments and feel no animosity
for their actions.
It does surprise me that a co
worker would be so immature as to
tear down (not once but three
times, one of which it was torn to
shreds and placed in my school
mailbox) The News- Journal's
August 13, 1981 publication of ad
ministrators' salaries and sup
plements which 1 posted in the
teachers' lounge ai the request of
another teacher.
It seems strange that the
teachers' supplements in Hoke
County went from the original
$200 to $100 and finally to zero
last year, whereas supplements in
most other counties have increased
or at least stayed the same.
When the New Hanover Board of
Education attempted to do away
with that county's teachers' sup
plements, over 200 teachers pro
tested at a Board meeting.
On April 21, 1982, the teachers
at the high school received the
following "ballot."
To: All Teachers
From: Dr. Lenwood D. Simpson
Date: April 20, 1982
Last year all teachers were told
that Federal Impact dollars coming
to Hoke County would be used for
teachers' supplement. At that time
no one would speculate the
amount of federal dollars that
Hoke County would get.
Recently, the school board
received $3100.00 in Federal Im
pact money. Needless to say, we
are all disappointed over the small
amount that we did receive.
The school board has asked that
teachers be given a choice on how
the money is spent. They have ask
ed that all teachers vote for one of
the choices listed below. A majori
ty vote by all Hoke County
teachers will decide how the money
is spent. Please vote for one of the
following:
A. Personnel supplement $6.00
B. One million dollar liability in
surance policy for the 82-83 school
year
C. instructional supplies
D. Library books
First of all, why should there be
a ballot when we were already told
that the Impact money was to "be
used for teachers' supplements?
Secondly, why are items B, C and
D even mentioned on fhe ballot
when the high school has
$25,000.00 invested in certificates
on deposit? What is to become of
that money plus the interest? And
why is it that the superintendent
and other administrators' sup
plements have not been equally af
fected by Federal cut-backs?
Perhaps teachers are not supposed
to realize the three zeros following
the 6 in the superintendent's
supplement are not the same as the
zeros following the decimal point
in the teacher's proposed $6.00.
On the same day that we receiv
ed the ballot concerning our sup
plements, I receive the following
letter:
To whom it may concern:
You say you love me, but
sometimes you don't show it. In
the beginning, you couldn't do
enough for me. Now you seem to
take me for granted.. .some days 1
even wonder if 1 mean anything to
you at all.
Maybe when I'm gone, you'll
appreciate me and all of the things
I do for you. I'm responsible for
getting the food on your table, for
the clean shirt you wear each day,
for the welfare of your children
and your home. ..for the thousand
and one things you want and need.
Why, if it weren't for me, you
wouldn't even have a car to drive!
I've kept quiet and waited to see
how long it would take for you to
realize how much you really need
me.
Cherish me.. .take good care of
me, and I'll always take good care
of you.
WHO AM I? I'M YOUR JOB.
In response to the first part of
the letter, I can only say that I feel
that I've done more than an ade
quate job in a field in which I am
not certified. Four of my remedial
reading students were on the honor
roll the last grading period, and I
expect two or three more to make
it this grading period.
As for the letter itself, could it
be a threat from the administration
to curtail my Constitutional right
to free speech or just a slight har
rassment from a concerned co
worker who is trying to "save" me
from making a fool of myself in
public? 1 wonder -- there was no
signature.
1 suppose that if it's from the ad
ministration, I have to decide
which is more important to me, my
job or the preservation of my, self
esteem and personal dignit; .
Hmm?
Sincerely,
Naomi Johnson
rMM?W : >.
It's a Small orld
By Bill Lindau
Every now and then people
criticize a newspaper for "playing
up" the "bad" news and "burying"
the "good" news somewhere inside,
next to the classifieds.
Well, look at the bright side:
"bad" news gets prominent treat
ment- take the high school drug
busts as an example -- because it
happens rarely. If high school drug
busts weren't news, we'd be in real
trouble.
The Charlotte Observer, for
example, doesn't carry reports of
fatal traffic accidents that occur
outside its home county, unless
there's something ususual about
them ? like five vehicles involved or
a dozen people killed. This is a
commentary on the frequency of
the "ordinary" fatal accident, in
which "only" one person is killed:
it's not news any more, unless it
happens in the paper's home
county.
It is reminiscent of the reporting
of World War 11: the war corre
spondent didn't bother writing a
story about a battle in which "only"
a dozen Americans were killed,
unless one happened to be from his
paper's home town. The reason was
there were many such patrol ac
tions in which a few soldiers on
both sides were killed, consequent
ly they weren't "news."
But as far as The News-Journal is
concerned, anyone looking at the
paper can see that there is little
"bad" news in any one edition: the
"bad" news generally is confined to
the listings of the court and
magistrates' records and the Area
lncidents--the reports of com
plaints made to the police and
sheriff's departments. And even the
court records aren't exclusively bad
news: we get a lot of "not guilty"
and "dismissal" judgments in those
columns. These, obviously, are
"good" news to some people-the
defendants if nobody else.
Then. too. what lands on the
front page is a matter of opinion of
news values and the mechanics of
putting the paper together. For
example, if the West Point appoint
ment had been just an inch or two
^shorter, or longer, it might have
gone on the front. On the other
hand, in that particular week,
other news took precedence over
the appointment. The news value is
based on, among other things, the
number of people affected by the
event: for example, a change by the
school board in the attendance
districts would be a front page
story, replacing one about a West
Point appointment, for example,
important as such an appointment
is.
On the other hand. also, a Hoke
County student winning a More
head Scholarship to UNC would be
a story that would shove a school
board story of narrow public
significance off the front page and
to an inside spot. The same also
would happen to the board story it
a West Point appointment was
announced the same week that the
board met.
News is relative: everything is
important, but some things are
more important than others?and
what's more important than others
is a matter of the opinion of the
people who are putting the paper
together and writing the headlines.
That goes for the "play" of a story
also: one week, if little has happen
ed. comparatively minor action by
the board of county commissioners
will get a long "fat" headline-say
about three-quarters of an inch
high and five columns long. On the
other hand, if in the same week the
whole police department joined the
FBI, that one would rate a one-inch
high, six-column headline on the
front, and the commissioners' story
would get an itty bitty head maybe
two columns wide. That of course
would depend on what else was
signficant enough for the front
page, and what was needed to fill
the space.
There's more to it than this brief
explanation tells, but books have
been written on the subject.
One important thing that deter
mines whether a story gets in the
paper at all and what kind of play it
will get is its time of arrival and its
length at the time. For example, a
1,000-word piece of strong public
significance that arrives at the
office by noon Monday is practi
cally certain to make the front
page, though not all of it may (the
latter part of the story probably
would be "jumped" to an inside
page). On the other hand, if the
same story doesn't reach the office
till mid Tuesday afternoon, it's
likely to get inside treatment and
reduced; and if it's less than serious
in public significance it probably
will be held over till the next week's
edition.
Then, too, what else has come in
and what other news has "broken"
also affects the "play" of the story.
If you've got the information you
want published in one week's
paper, it's a good idea to get it to us
by Friday of the previous week.
Mondays and Tuesdays -- particu
larly Tuesdays- are "rush" days,
when most of the material for
publication comes in. and there are
still news stories for the reporter to
get and sometimes pictures to be
taken.
We also have had a complaint
that a letter to the editor wasn't
published the same week it was
submitted. The reason is letters to
the editor are published on the
editorial page, which is one of the
first to be made up.
So the best bet is get your letter
to us by Friday if you want it
published in the following week's
paper. Otherwise it will run a week
later.
There are rules governing publi
cation of letters: of course, we can't
publish anything libelous or mis
leading; and we have to have a good
reason for publishing a letter
without the writer's name - one
good reason is the writer's job
would be endangered if the name
were published. However, we have
to know who the writer is before
we'll withhold the name from
publication.
I might add here that every news
item that comes to the office is
considered, because we know that
it is important to someone. Then,
too, if you don't see in the paper
something you think is important,
the reason probably is someone
didn't tell us about it, or the
reporter can't be in more than two
places at the same time.
After considering what I've writ
ten here, I am surprised that a
newspaper is published at all.
The reason a weekly is called a
"tri-weekly" is it "tries" to come
out once a week.
Puppy Creek Philosopher
Dear editor:
Washington officials have been
criticizing the television networks
for broadcasting too much bad
economic news. They say the more
the public hears about the reces
sion, like long lines of the unem
ployed or factory closings or un
sold new cars and such, the worse
the recession gets. They say there's
a psychological effect there.
There are two things wrong with
this (1) It over-estimates the power
of television and (2) it underesti
mates the mentality of the public.
It's said that three-fourths of the
people get their news from TV. or
all the people get three-fourths of
their news that way, I forget which,
but I think it averages out to a lot of
people being misinformed three
fourths of the time. Not that it
matters, so long as it's entertain
ing.
For example, a TV reporter with
his hair well-groomed will stand in
front of Buckingham Palace and
say "Tonight, all London feels
...such and such," as though he or
anybody could tell what London
feels when most folks in London
don't even know what they feel or
what he's talking about.
Or a TV reporter in Washington,
standing in front of the capitol. will
say "ABC (or CBS or NBC) has
been told. ..such and such." with
out ever saying who did the telling.
For all we know it could have been
a janitor at the Pentagon. Which is
not to say the janitor doesn't know
as much as some of the Generals.
When it comes to reporting a
volcano or the results of a tornado
or a flood or ten feet of snow. TV is
very good, but when it comes to
politics and the international situ
ation you need to listen with your
fingers crossed.
And as for reporting bad econo
mic news, 1 doubt if it has much
effect either way. Very few people
have to wait for the evening news to
come in to find out if times are
good or bad.
Yours faithfully,
J. A.
This Is
The Law
CHANGING YOU WILL
A will remains, valid until it is
amended or revoked.
However, there are changes in
circumstances which make it desir
able to change a will, such as new
tax laws, marriage, birth of a child,
death of a beneficiary or moving tc
another state. Even a substantial
change in the nature or amount of
your property may call for a change
in the way your estate should be
handled. For example, if you bu;
or sell a business, the old will whicf
refers to that business may b*
inadequate.
You may change your will a*
often as you wish, by drafting a ne?
will or by adding an amendment
called a codicil. Simply striking ou
and adding new words will no
amend as will.
For more information, see th
free pamphlets in N.C. librarie
called "Making Your Will."