Fmti*
Superintendent's Desk
bf Ah Arty
I haven't written this article on a
regular basis for quite a while for
several reasons. Some of them are
my own personal reasons and even
though the board of education
never asked me not to write, I am
sure I made them terribly nervous
at times.
It is a part of my job to keep the
\ public informed about the school
system. However, my writings at
times have been about other sub
jects, and when I attempt to write
about other areas I get "hoof-in
mouth" disease.
After starting all of the above, I
will get to the point af this article
and why I am writing it.
In the few months I have left I
am going to focus on some of the
| pi usses and minuses of our school
system. I wish that it could all be
plusses, but there are some things
in the school system that needs
attention by those in authority. If
those in authority give it attention,
they need the backing of all the
citizens of Hoke County.
School facilities, as most of you
know, is an area I am greatly
interested in. It is also an area that
|. I have become totally frustrated
with in trying to get someone in
authority to do something about it.
The only way anything will ever
be done about it is for the Hoke
County citizens to get totally in
volved in seeing that their children
have a decent place to study and
work.
Our citizens can bury their head
. in the sand if they want to but when
they come up for air, J.W. Turling
ton School will still be facing
jhighway 211, if it is not burned
ldown.
1 There is no way to justify having
children housed in a building that
was constructed in 1934 or sitting
3 in classrooms under a gymnasium
I where other children are playing.
? (These classrooms were formerly a
i lunchroom.)
At best, they are undesirable.
^When these students leave these
1 classrooms they are apt to go into
' brick veneered portable units or
climb a flight of stairs and go into
rooms that were built in another
era for high school students.
John Balfour and Bill Cameron,
chairman of their respective
boards, are going to hare to eyeball
each other and come to grips with
this problem. To solve it, they will
need the help of every citizen of
Hoke County, whether they have
children in school or not.
For a citizen who does not have
children in school to say that it is
not their problem means that they
believe it was the responsibility of
the citizens of the past to educate
their children.
I don't have any children in
school either. Some folks helped
educate mine, and it is only fair
that I help educate those who come
along after mine.
It is a waste of time and
procrastination in its worst form for
our citizens to make all the remarks
I have heard many times.
One of my favorites is 'if you
would cut out some of the person
nel in the Central Office you would
have money to build classrooms'.
If any citizen will tell me how to
use the money allocated by the
State and Federal Governments for
personnel, I will use all of the
money except what they, the citi
zens, consider essential services, for
facilities.
Another remark is 'we are too
poor a county or our tax base is too
Tow. Let the State do it, etc.' All of
the excuses may be true but the
problem exists and will get worse in
time unless something is done
about it.
A parent said to me recently
'does a building have to burn and a
child get burned up before some
thing is done about the schools?'. I
could have told that parent that as
long as the people think the job of
providing schools belongs to the
county commissioners, the board of
education, and the superintendent,
nothing will change because they
can't solve problems without the
help and support of those they
represent.
If I have made our citizens mad
enough to start thinking, then the
criticism I receive from this article
will be worthwhile. However, if I
just made them mad. and they wish
I would soon "fade away" so the
problem will go away and they can
turn their attention to something
else, I have once again wasted my
time and paper.
'Things That Matter"
by LmIn CakaM
I had never before paid much at
tention to proverbs, seeing them as
little more than witty sayings. But
recently I was struck by the pro
found wisdom buried in a collec
_ tion of proverbs 1 came across in
Van old book.
They could only have been for
mulated by astute students of
human behavior.
Ponder these, for example:
"Empty vessels make the most
sound."
"Give a lie twenty-four hours
start, you'll never overtake it."
"Every ass loves his own bray."
Q "He who lies down with dogs
will rise with fleas."
"Destroy the lion while he is just
a whelp."
Most proverbs that 1 know
anything about are ancient in
origin, but ageless in meaning. For
example, anyone who "has been
listening to the victims of
unemployment interviewed on
television recently will understand
9ihe meaning of the old adage, "A
hungry man is an angry man."
And who can hear this ancient
biblical proverb without thinking
of someone he or she knows per
sonally: "A prudent man conceals
his knowledge, but fools proclaim
their folly."
One of my favorite from the
book of Proverbs is this one: "Bet
ter is a man of humble standing
^who works for himself than one
#*ho plays the great man but lacks
bread."
Like other things made of
words, proverbs often undergo
changes as they are passed along
from one generation to another.
Almost everyone has heard the
common saying, "Spare the rod
and spoil the child." But relatively
few people can quote this proverb
in its original form, from Proverbs
13:24, "He who spares the rod
hates his son, but he who loves him
is diligent to discipline him."
Even modern specialists in child
rearing who would counsel against
the use of the rod are still in essen
tial agreement with this proverb's
correlation of love and discipline.
Some proverbs get at the same
truth in different words. For exam
ple, you've heard the proverbial
warning against being "pennywise
and pound foolish"?
Another proverb, of English
origin, catches up the same truth:
"Don't spoil the ship for a
ha'p'orth (half-penny's worth) of
tar." (To put it in concrete terms,
don't invest a hundred hours of
labor painting a house, using the
cheapest paint you can find.)
One of my New Year's resolu
tions is to re-examine the treasury
of wisdom in the Book of Pro
verbs.
Unlike some resolutions, this
endeavor has a built-in reward. It
fills the mind with thoughts worth
thinking.
Witness this choice example:
"Better is a dinner of herbs where
love is than a fatted ox and hatred
with it."
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FOR JUST *4.50
THAT'S LIKE GETTING ONE Win Ft EE!
CYlm w6 - journal
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Chemicals serve as an 'acceptable risk'
R? Ink. - - - -
By John Sledge
N. C. Farm Bureau Federation
Chemicals that are handled pro
perly can be useful tools in almost
every phase of our society ? and
agriculture is an important exam
ple.
Chemicals pose some risks, but
if we eliminated every substance
that might be hazardous under any
circumstance, the world would be
a barren waste. If we get real
technical, nothing can be con
. ?
sidered safe; risk is a way of life.
Water is a chemical that is usual
ly considered safe, but the risk of
drowning is still there. Digitalis,
used properly, can help control
heart disease; used imprudently, it
can kill.
So the scientists have modified
the word "risk" and prefer using
the term "acceptable risk." This
means that a certain degree of risk
is permitted because the probabili
ty for harm is low or there is no
alternative to fulfill the
It is an acceptable
toxic chemical subst;
it is safely and p
and controlled. It
table risk to use j
substance for just
So, the whole
is a risk in eve _
greatest risk of all i
being able to use
on the farm.
FnaTbMM
Coftjrtttma* BM HtW
Congressman Bill Hefner
(D-N.C.) last week introduced HR
613, a bill to repeal the
withholding of taxes on interest
and dividends. The withholding
provision, which would levy a 10^?
tax on interest and dividends, was
proposed by the Reagan Ad
ministration and is contained in
the Tax Equity and Fiscal Respon
sibility Act of 1982.
"This withholding provision will
penalize savers and financial in
stitutions alike," Hefner said.
"The poor and elderly, who are
technically exempt from this tax,
must wade through a sea of red
tape to gain exemption. They are
the groups least likely to fill out the
required forms and most likely to
suffer from the loss of income,"
he said.
Hefner noted that the added
bookkeeping required will cost
financial institutions millions of
dollars annually.
The Congressman said a new
10% tax will discourage saving and
investment at a time when more
capital formation is desperately
needed to fuel economic recovery.
"There is considerable support
for this bill in the House and
several bills similar to mine have
also been introduced. 1 hope this
repeal effort will be successful,"
he said.
"This is not the first time that
such legislation has been attemp
ted," he said, adding that two
years ago a similar withholding bill
was defeated by an overwhelming
vote of 401-4.
The present tax legislation
originated in the Senate as a revi
sion to a minor House tax bill. The
House was not given the oppor
tunity to consider individual provi
sions of the full bill and
withholding became part of the tax
increase law, passed in September.
This necessitated the introduc
tion of a bill to repeal the
withholding provision, as Hefner
has done.
THE SHORT AND LONG OF
IT. The shortest verse in the Bible
is "Jesus wept" (John 11:35). The
longest verse is Esther 8:9.
WERE IRVING ID
GET TO THE BOTTOM
Of THISUS!
THE PRJC? Of ELECTRICITY
1. NewYork, NY M94<1
2 New Haven, CJ1Q29< I
3 Boston, /VIA, 9744
4. Newark, NJ, 9104
5 Philadelphia PA, 8794
6. Pittsburgh, PA, 8394
7. hlartfbrd,CJl8364
8 Cleveland, OH, 7.724
9. St. Petersburg, FL, 7.284
10 Tampa FL, 6794
11 Miami, FL, 6744
12 Savannah, GA, 6 744
13 Wjshington,DC,6524
14. Baltimore, MO 6484
15. Fiichmond,VA,6374
16 Jackson, MS, 6184
17. Columbia SC, 6164
18 Syracuse, NY, 6104
19 Pensacoia FL,6004
2Q Birmingham, AL, 5.904
21. CP&L,5.73C
22 Guidon, MS, 5674
23 Wheeling, WV 5464
24. Fairmont, WV 5414
25 Atlanta GA, 5314
26 Cincinnati. OH, 5274
27. Charlotte, NC, 5014
28 Roanoke, VA, 4.984
$ur*y Of A*ropP Pbce fa KjkMVT
Hour For Rmdentid Customer. In 280t?
far \2 Months E/x)>ng)unc XI
Like the cost of just about
everything else, the price you're
paying for electricity has gone
up for the past few years.
But it could ve been worse.
In fact, as you can see by
the chart, CP&L ranked less than
a penny over the lowest price
per kilowatt hour
What's more, in 3 out of 4
towns, you'd pay more.
And, with your help, well
keep on conserving energy and
looking for more efficient ways
to operate so we can stay close
to the bottom of the list.
That way both of us will get
more out of ourA||0|
energy dollars.