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NATIONAL NEWSPAPER association
ASSOCIATION
Published h?er> Ihursdai at Raeford, N.C. 28376
119 W. Clwood Avcnuf
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Editor
Production Supervisor
Associate Editor
Society Editor
, . .Contributing Editor
Second Class Postage at Raeford. N.C.
(USPS 388-260)
LOIISH. rOGLEMAN, JR
PAUL DICKSON
HENRY L. BLUE
BILL LINDAU
MRS. PAUL DICKSON . . . .
'< SAM C.MORRIS
THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1982
Unusual achievement
Thomas Gilchrist, Jr., of Hoke County rates special attention for
his academic achievement.
Appointments to the U.S. Military Academy or the Naval
Academy are hard to come by. So are scholarships to institutions of
high prestige, such as Duke University, Davidson College and
Howard University.
Any one of the five awards would warrant giving a student special
recognition .
Gilchrist was awarded all five, finally choosing the Military
Academy appointment.
He's been a student at the North Carolina School of Mathematics
and Science at Durham for the past two years. He will graduate
Saturday. Appointment to this school alone is a high honor for a
North Carolina high school student, since only the student are above
average is considered. The same is true of the Governor's School,
which Gilchrist also attended by appointment.
His achievements do him great credit.
They also do great credit to the Hoke County schools, where he
received his grounding for those achievements in the grades through
Hoke High School sophomore.
--BL
Why vote for ERA?
Editor's note: the following was written before the North Carolina
Senate majority killed the ERA ratification bill Friday.
* ? *
From The News & Observer. Raleigh
The General Assembly reconvenes this week with a chance to
make history. North Carolina has a rare opportunity, under the gaze
of a watchful nation, to take a stand for the high ideals of justice and
equality among Americans.
A majority vote in this state's Legislature is essential to getting the
noble concept of equality of rights for women written into the U.S.
Constitution. Legislators can turn their 1982 session into a historic
occasion by voting, as they should, to ratify the Equal Rights
Amendment.
The language of the proposed amendment ? "Equality of rights
under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or
by any state on account of sex" ? expresses such a fundamental
principle that it ought to be self-evident that ratification is right. But
because ERA has become the center of an intensely emotional
debate, certain points must be reemphasized to make clear why the
amendment should be ratified:
?Historically, American women have encountered harriers, not
faced by men, in credit, in property, in insurance and in the conduct
of business. Similarly, certain government actions, in the field of
taxes and Social Security, for example, have treated men and women
differently.
Remedial legislation has gone a long way toward lowering these
barriers and removing unnecessary distinctions in business and
government programs. But the ERA is needed not only to remove the
remaining barriers but also, most importantly to ensure that more
obstacles and distinctions are not raised in the future.
* * *
?It is undeniable that an economic gap exists between men and
women. In North Carolina, women on the average are paid 61 cents
for every dollar paid to men. Studies have shown that, even in the
same jobs, women frequently are paid less than men.
The ERA is needed to redress the unjust disparities in the
economic status of men and women. This is especially crucial in
North Carolina where 55 percent of all women work outside the
home.
ERA, in sum, is a matter of economic justice.
?Despite fears fostered by the distortions of opponents, ERA does
nothing to threaten families. Indeed, ERA may strengthen families.
Discrimination against any member of a family is discrimination
against the whole. To deny a woman of a chance to earn more and to
gain access to legal equality may mean denying her children a
chance for a better education and a better life.
?Again contrary to some fears, the ERA does not repeal common
sense. It does not do away with privacy, does not tell a platoon
sergeant that either a man or woman who cannot pick up a bazooka
must do so and does not instruct a baseball manager to send in a
woman as a catcher.
ERA is needed simply to ensure that discrimination under the law
may not take place on the basis of sex.
* * *
?Section 2 of the ERA makes a pro-forma statement that
? Congress can enforce the amendment through appropriate
." legislation. This makes explicit what would be implicit anyway. Any
| portion of the Constitution gets its meaning over time through
f legislation and court rulings.
To oppose ERA on the ground that it invests the federal
government with new, awesome power is to show remarkably little
faith in American democracy. The Constitution is the document for
enunciating fundamental rights. It is a document that lives and
crohret as it is adapted to contemporary conditions. The ERA
extends the work of the Founding Fathers.
?A majority of the people of North Carolina favor the amendment.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch
The reliable Harris poll has shown it with an April survey finding a
60-31 margin for ERA. Further, women are getting increasingly
active politically. A vote for ERA is not a political millstone.
?A refusal to ratify ERA would carry an incredible implication ?
that women should not get and do not deserve equal rights under the
law. Surely it isn't possible that North Carolina legislators want the
United States to assert that equality of rights under the law can be
denied arbitrarily to some of its citizens.
Through ratification of the ERA. North Carolina can recapture its
progressive image as a leader in the South and the nation. When
history judges this General Assembly, let history write that North
Carolina legislators voted to uphold with confidence the American
ideal of equality under the law.
It's a Small orld
By Bill Lindau
Nick Chaltas went back to the
Old Country of his family ?Greece
-- for a visit several weeks ago and
came back with a great load of
enthusiasm.
Listen to him talk about Greece
generally and the Greek islands of
-the Aegean particularly, and you
feel you Won't have had much of a
life if you don't save up your
nickels and dimes and go there.
After Nick talked to me at a
motel Appreciation Dinner the
other night, a drawing was held for
a free trip to Hawaii. I wasn't the
least bit interested.
He also got into some of the
rough parts though. The traffic in
the city, I think he meant Athens,
is terrible, he said.
"Are the drivers as bad as they
are over here?" 1 asked.
"Worse," he said. The drivers
in Greece make the American
driver look like a kid at a Sunday
school picnic, he remarked, or
words to that effect.
One of the small good things he
mentioned was the restaurant. You
can order a cup of coffee and sit at
a table all day with it if you want to
he said.
Nick was in Army Intelligence in
World War II. That sounds grim
but it had its light moments.
Those were the days when Hum
phrey Bogart made the trench coat
fashionable for roles of private in
vestigator, spy, and similar types.
One day the men in Nick's unit
had a training session. Practicing
for the real thing, they were to ar
rive separately at a rendez vous. an
upstairs room over a restaurant.
All went well for awhile. Each
did furtively well getting to the
room. That was a bit tricky,
because nobody but the in
telligence men had been told of
ficially where it was.
But then one agent got confus
ed. He found the building, all
right, and went in. But then he
forgot where he was to go from
there.
A restaurant worker saw him
looking lost, and guessed. "Oh.
you must be looking for the spy
meeting," he said. "Go upstairs,
and it's the second door to your
left."
Then there was another meeting
(getting back to Bogart and the
trench coat uniform).
One by one they came to the
rendez vous.
Then their commanding officer
took a look at them and groaned,
"Oh, no."
Each of them was wearing a
trench coat.
"That's okay for anybody
else," the CO said. "But not for
you guys.
"Follow that car," and "Follow
that cab" were melodramatic
orders that could be heard at least
once in practically every spy or
private-eye movie in the old days.
Nick always yearned for the day
when he could say that.
Finally his moment came. A
man in a sensitive defense job had
been acting strange lately. Sneak
ing about, hanging up his phone
quickly when someone entered his
office suddenly without notice,
creeping away before quitting time
and taking a cab to heaven knows
what sinister rendez vous, leaving
his car in the office parking lot.
So Nick was assigned to find out
what he was up to, or down to.
Nick observed him discreetly for
several days.
Then one day he saw the man
slip out of his office, walk careful
ly down the stairs, then into the
street. There the man hailed a cab,
and got in, and the cab drew slowly
away.
That was Nick's great oppor
tunity. He quickly hailed another
cab, and when it pulled up to the
curb, he gave the driver those
tremendous words: Pointing a
finger in the direction the suspect's
cab had gone, Nick said tersely,
"Follow that cab!" Then he got
in. and his cab went off on its
discreet pursuit.
After that, the assignment
should have had a brilliant,
glamorous finish.
But it didn't.
To make a long story short,
Nick found that the suspect, rather
than being a traiter or a hostile spy
passing secrets to an enemy
government, was just a married
man with a secret girl friend tucked
away in the apartments his cab
took him to that day and other
days.
Nick did get 10 say, though,
"Follow that cab!"
They can never take that away
from him.
This Is The Law
WHOSE SHOES?
Adams operated a shoe store.
Baker bought a truck load of shoes
at a factory liquidation sale. Baker
took the shoes to Adams' store and
arranged for Adams to sell them
for him, agreeing to split the pro
ceeds.
Before Adams sold the shoes,
his business went bankrupt. Baker
claimed that he should be allowed
to reclaim the shoes, for he had
neither given nor sold them to
Adams. The trustee in bankruptcy
contended that the shoes should be
sold to pay off the creditors to the
bankrupt store.
Who should prevail?
The law says that the shoes
could be reclaimed by Baker if it
was generally known by Adams'
creditors that Adams was substan
tially engaged in selling shoes that
belonged to someone else. But if
the creditors did not know this,
and assumed that Baker's shoes
belonged to the shoe store, the
trustee in bankruptcy could take
the shoes, sell than and pay the
money to Adams' creditors.
Letters To The Editor
Editor, The News -Journal
School will close this week, and.
instead of the usual thoughts of a
relaxing two months ahead, hun
dreds of school employees across
the state-and thousands across the
nation ? are wondering whether
we'll have jobs to return to in the
fall. And if so, what kind of jobs? If
we're still teaching, will they be in
our fields? Will we be doing what
we were trained to do? Will the
Legislature see Fit to make further
cut backs? Will the salary and
increment freeze pass? Will they
continue to lessen hospital benefits
while raising premiums? What
have we as school employees done
to become the target of the
government's vengeance?
One of Governor Hunts' major
campaign issues was to improve
education in North Carolina
schools. Teachers and school per
sonnel across the state were told to
vote for Jim Hunt because of his
dedication to the education of your
young people. He still appears
regularly on television, book in
hand, surrounded by a group of
bright-eyed youngsters, advocating
the necessity of reading. He and
Mrs. Hunt let it be known that they
were volunteer tutors in the reading
program in Raleigh's elementary
schools. Yet he wants to cut
funding to schools and RIF
(Reduce in Force) educators and
school personnel.
According to Glenn Keever,
advertising manager of North Caro
lina Education, "...the State of
North Carolina has not reached
anything approaching the Depres
sion - level poverty that would
justify cutting salaries of teachers
and state employees (one sug
gestion) or freezing them out of the
salary increment they have already
earned (another suggestion)." ERA
has again failed, so we know how
progessive and fair our state gov
ernment is.
1 won't bother to mention Presi
dent Reagan's programs except
that he has all but phased educa
tion out of the federal government
and sent it back to the states
"where it belongs." Now the buck
stops at the state level.
Working down trom the state
level to the local school boards, we
once again reach a personality
struggle. Those who perform their
tasks according to what their
superiors call professional behavior
(ie. accepting school or board
policy unquestioningly, accepting a
disappearing supplement, and
being moved about "arbitrarily and
capriciously") are given a pat on
the head and told they are doing a
fine job. They are no longer even
thrown a bone. But God help those
who ask questions; and 1 mis
takenly thought that teaching stu
dents to ask questions was part of
the teaching process.
A young black woman who has
been a secretary in the county for
nine years received a letter in March
stating that because of "reorgani
zation" she would no longer be
needed as a secretary. She had the
option (in the letter) to accept a
position as an aide, a job she never
held, at the same salary. She had
tried to come before the board at
the regular May 4th meeting but
was not placed on the agenda.
However, she received notice of her
"hearing" May 27th, the day she
went to the hospital to have a baby,
to appear May 31st at 8:30 p.m.
She arrived shortly before her
designated time, but the board had
already gone into executive session.
The superintendent appeared at
about 9:00 and acknowledged the
fact that she was there. The board
finallv opened its meeting again at
10:00. 1 could not believe that
people could be so inconsiderate
and inhumane, but "They are all
honorable men." Her replacement
is white.
As I indicated before. I had
never received any prior or official
notification of my change in as
signment last August or any notifi
cation that my name was on the
original May agenda to be RIFed
and transferred, but it mysteriously
vanished from the May 31st agenda
(which turned out to be the regular
June meeting). Would they go to
the trouble to have a special
meeting in my honor while I'm out
of town? No, that would be
ludicrous, and besides they're
honorable men, "So are they all, all
honorable men (and women)."
I keep wondering if the fact that
I'm a Yankee has something to do
with the way I've been treated. It
never crossed my mind until an
administrator made a snide remark
to me concerning my husband's
marrying a Jew. At the time I didn't
believe that anything like anti
Semitism might exist in Hoke
County, but these days 1 feel like
Harold Abrahams in Chariots of
Fire. "Semi-deprived ... they lead
you to water but won't let you
drink."
Teaching is not really a list of
complaints. As I hope you've
noticed, my complaints have little
to do with the students themselves.
When a teacher reads a letter from
a student like the one in last week's
News-Journal, all the aggrevntion
which has become synonomous
with teaching bccomes insignifi
cant. That's why we teach. Thanks
Daphne.
Oh yes, Vickie Wiles wanted me
to make it clear to the readers that
she U certified in Spanlih. She said
everyone knew to whom I was
referring in my last letter since she
was the only teacher uncertified in
Englbh who has a class originally
assigned to me.
Summer's almost here. I intend
to enjoy it. Have a nice summer.
Sincerely,
Naomi Johnson
Editor, The News-Journal,
To the editor and citizens of
Hoke County:
At the present time, Hoke Co.
has one of the finest school
systems in the state. Not because
of its beautiful schools, but in my
opinion, because of the efforts that
Raz Autry, as superintendent has
put forth. I'm sure there are other
people who deserve credit for their
effort. But even with the strict
discipline that Mr. Autry main
tained as principal of Hoke High,
he was respected by students &
parents alike. And still is.
To Mr. Autry, everyone is
equal, and hard-core as he is, I
think he still has a friendship with
the students. Not someone to fear,
rather a consort in rough water.
If Hoke Co. loses Raz Autry,
the loss will be long remembered.
Every concerned parent should feel
it his or her duty to know what is
happening in their child's school &
who is responsible. If you don't
like what's going on, let the Board
of Education know. Nothing is
ever accomplished by sitting home
grumbling to the neighbor. If you
find things running smoothly, let
them know that too.
Raz Autry is & has been an ex
cellent educator, simply because he
cares about every student he has.
His interest in your child is not
superficial, rather honest &
"sincere."
Raz Autry is one of a kind.
Cheryl Driggers
f1 ly Creek
ilosopher
Dear Editor;
Being a Congressman isn't easy.
For example, how do you ex
plain to the voters back home that
you voted for a $19,000 tax break
for yourself without knowing
about it?
Somebody around midnight --
Congressman claim they don't
know who it was -- slipped a rider
on a bill designed to aid coal
miners with black lung disease.
The aid bill passed overwhelming
ly, but next morning Congressmen
discovered they'd passed the rider
too, giving them $19,000 apiece in
tax deductions. It was like a dream
come true.
That created the soul-searching
problem of explaining their
carelessness to the voters back
home, few of whom ever have the
opportunity of being so careless.
But that's just half the problem
a Congressman faces. The other
half is Should I take the tax break?
Here I am, a Congressman tells
himself, the beneficiary of a bill
I'm opposed to, didn't know I was
voting for, but $19,000 is $19,000,
even in these inflationary times.
Should 1 take it?
With a problem like that, no
wonder Congress can't take time
to pass a budget. First things first. ,
Now as to how many Con
gressmen will take the money, how
many will refuse... that's a matter
hard to get at. Some, who must
have had at least one eye open
when the bill was passed, are tak
ing only two-thirds of the money,
this leaving one-third of yourself
intact. Others are taking all of it,
betting voters will forget about it
before the next election. Some are ?
refusing all of it, although there's a
loophole available if they want to
use it; they can turn it down on this
year's income tax report, then' next
year amend that report and take it
retroactively. Others won't say
whethe. they're taking the money
or not, saying a tax return is con
fidential and it un-American to be
asking a Congressman such an im
pertinent question.
You may think I'm poking fun ,
at Congress, but look at it this
way. We've got to ease the cruel ef
fects of inflation. Right? And
we've got to start somewhere,
right? So, if you're a Con
gressman, why not start with
yourself?
NU&SMNGSBON36 <
Yours faithfully
J. A.
MOMIYGRCWS