Editorials
A matter of policy
An ad which appeared in last week's News-Journal gave further
public airing to a disagreement between two Hoke County School
officials which has been smoldering privately for several months.
Much to the credit of the individuals involved, school Superinten
dent Raz Autry and board Chairman Bill Cameron, the tiff had
been kept under wraps and was not vented publicly until the two of
ficials unfortunately exchanged salvos in another newspaper recent
ly.
We felt for the good of the Hoke County School system that the
disagreement should have been settled by the officials quietly,
however, last week the The News-Journal was drawn into the fray
because of a standing company policy.
It is our policy that anyone wishing to express an opinion in the
newspaper, either in our editorial section or through an advertise
ment, should be allowed to do so, if the opinion is in good taste and
observes all applicable laws.
It is also the belief of this newspaper that persons expressing opi
nions should have the conviction to stand behind those statements.
Therefore, we do not allow opinion writers the luxury of hiding
behind a cloak of anonymity. All letters, ads or columns must bear
the name of the author.
The advertisement last week was signed the "Voters".
It was rejected for publication, not because we did not agree with
its contents, but because the ad was ambiguously signed and did not
let readers know who was behind it.
After one member of the sponsoring group agreed to sign his
name, the advertisement was run without hesitation.
As to the two squabbling school officials, we hope they will re
main tight lipped until after March 17 when Autry retires.
The bickering between these community leaders can do little more
than hurt the school system that both of them have sweated to build
and endanger the education of Hoke County students that they
have fought to preserve.
Time may not heal the wounds between them, but it will certainly
render the public question moot.
Cheers for champs
A tip of the hat should go to Coach Ron Parsons and his Hoke
High Bucks for capturing the 4-A Conference Championship.
The Bucks topped Lumberton Friday night 86-71 to clinch the ti
tle.
It has been four years since Hoke High has won the crown. That
title came in 1979 during Harold Thompson's senior year and Par
sons' first year as coach here.
The Bucks are 17-5 overall and 9-3 in the conference, and for a
league similar to the ACC, that's not bad.
After receiving a bye in the first round of the state championship
tournament, the Bucks will have the home-court advantage Thurs
day as they start their quest for the crown.
Although they are ranked third in Eastern North Carolina, the
state tourney is not going to be easy for the Bucks.
A house packed with pro-Buck fans would mean a true advantage
for the home team, and could be the edge Hoke High needs to
garner the state crown.
The Bucks are playing good basketball. They deserve all the sup
port we can give them.
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PRESS
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Letters To The EdHor
Cameron defended
To The Editor:
When Bill Cameron expressed
his opinion on February 15, he may
not have been speaking for ALL of
the citizens of Hoke County, but he
darn sure was speaking for SE
VEN-EIGHTS of the citizens of
Hoke County.
Since the country believes in
FREEDOM OF SPEECH, 1 think
it fair for Mr. Cameron to speak his
personal opinion.
After all Raz has spoke his
personal opinion since day one.
Hazel McNeill
Raeford
Freeze backed
To Editor:
It is my belief that there is no
issue facing North Carolina, the
nation and the world today greater
than the threat of nuclear war.
The proliferation of nuclear
weapons pushes us closer and
closer to such a war in which there
would be no winners and which
could mean the end of civilization
and Earth itself.
We know that nuclear freeze is
not the total answer, but it is the
first step, the most necessary step,
toward easing that threat which
hangs over all of us. It will help
restore some sanity in an insane
arms race.
I know of no greater service to
mankind that the North Carolina
Legislature can perform at this ses
sion than to adopt a resolution
calling for a freeze in nuclear
weapons. In the name of
mankind's preservation, I urge
them to do so.
Sincerely,
Sam Ragan
Southern Pines
Cat rescued
To The Editor:
Please let me use a little space in
your paper to say a big thanks to
the men from Carolina Telephone
and Telegraph for rescuing the lit
tle kitten from the tree at the post
office.
1 don't know any of their names,
but their help is very much ap
preciated.
It's sad to say the fire depart
ment and city Animal Warden
refused to help, but they did.
When an animal lover from
Raeford sees a man for C.T. & T.
Co., let's always say "thanks for
caring."
Margaret Thaggard
Puppy Creek
Philosopher
Dear editor:
As everybody knows, the courts
are so clogged with cases these
days it takes almost forever to get a
case tried, and even the Supreme
Court is suggesting a sort of Semi
Supreme Court to take some of the
load off it.
I'll tackle only one part of the
problem -- the time it takes to get a
jury.
It's not easy to find 12 people
who don't read the newspapers or
listen to the news on TV or even
listen to gossip, or, if they've heard
about the case, don't have an opin
ion on a man who has admitted
butchering and burying 15 or 20
people in his spare time.
What we need are Professional
Jurors, people who do nothing but
try cases and are ready to be sworn
in the minute the judge takes his
seat.
All crime news would be cut out
of their newspapers and their
television programs would be
taped re-runs. We couldn't have
them listening to a regular pro
gram where some announcer might
break in with a news bulletin an
nouncing the outbreak of nuclear
war right while they were
deliberating on the guilt or in
nocence of a Congressman
photographed in a hotel room tak
ing a bribe.
You might think it would be
hard to find a group of people so
open-minded, opinion-less and
uniformed and willing to spend
their lives as Professional Jurors,
but if the pay is adequate they
could be found.
I don't know how justice would
be served under this system, but
maybe it could come up to the kind
where the man who discovered the
burglary that produced Watergate
has now been sent to the pen for a
year for shoplifting a pair of $12
tennis shoes and the top man in the
Watergate scandal was given a par
don without even being tried.
Yours faithfully,
J. A.
Autos make barbarians
out of reasonable humans
by Lucien Coleman
Have you ever noticed how
reasonably decent human beings
can turn into uncivilized bar
barians the moment they get
behind the wheel of a motorized
vehicle?
Not long ago I drove into a
suburb of Atlanta late at night. It
was raining steadily and visibility
was poor.
As 1 groped my way through un
familiar streets, I had to slow
down at intersections, trying to
make out the street signs.
Suddenly, a pair of headlights
glared in my rear-view mirror as a
car came up behind me at full
throttle. The driver could have
gone around, but, instead, he
pounced on his horn and brakes at
the same time.
Then, to make sure I got the
message, he rolled down his win
dow and shouted an obscenity as
he roared away.
I wouldn't have given it a second
thought had it happened only
once. But two other drivers
repeated the same borrish behavior
within the next 10 minutes.
Can you imagine someone run- I
ning up behind you as you move
down the aisle of your grocery ,
market and shouting, "Hey, .you
idiot! Get out of my way!"
No, most of us retain at least a
thin veneer of civility when we're
on foot, but cars and trucks tend
to bring out our more primitive in- ,
stincts.
Some folks will do anything to
keep from walking 30 feet in a
parkins lot.
Things That Matter
As one little white-haired lady
waited for another car to pull out
of a space in our neighborhood
shopping center the other day, a
brash young man, who looked to
be in his early 20's, came racing up
in his customized van and wheeled
into the space from the other direc
tion.
Being the straightforward type,
my wife called his attention to the
fact that he had run in front of that
elderly lady.
"Well, now," he smirked,
"ain't that sweet of you."
Some drivers just plain don't
give a rip about the other in
habitants of their planet. I'm refer
ring to the characters who park
their cars diagonally across two
spaces, use spaces reserved for the
handicapped for their own conve
nience, and scrape the doors of
nearby cars as they back out
without any thought of paying for
the damages.
Maybe prospective drivers ought
to be required to take lessons in
courtesy before being awarded
licenses.
Some old-fashioned good man
ners would make driving more
pleasant for all of us. And I
suspect it would do a lot to reduce
accidents, if we could exercise a lit
tle more chivalry on the roadways.
I won't pretend that I am
without sin. As my wife can tell
you, I've done my share of horn
blowing. But it struck me, not long
ago, that we tell the people around
us an awful lot about our personal
maturity by what we do behind the
wheel of a car.
CUR ME...
topfe* ItMM
SOCIAL SECURITY PLIGHT!
... We are concerned about Social
Sec^ty uiW^hiaroo and how it
is bang handled.
KmHSL?*1 that ^od#1 Security, if
handled reasonably, can be of
?"*t help to the elder citizens.
As it is dow btini run we mr+
lbe ?** of the century
? *
?2?B? w ***"> k* than
*t0'. a ?rouP working
on Social Security came forward
with a program which we were told
was on solid foundation. President
Ford and other distinguished
madr "ffvT Were ? *** ?roup that
row the recommendation
U.S. Senator Jesse Helms also
brought forward with a program
qwte different from the Social
Security System under which we
now hve.
qu?'c/r?m M "tide in the
J??>day. Feb. 21 issue of the News
by New York
Times News Service which says:
Rn A study b.y the Congressional
SntP*?* projections that
the Medicare trust fund will be
depleted in 1987 or 1988."
Congressional leaders were told
less than two months ago that a
study committee had arrived at an
agreement that would put the pro
gram on a safe and solid basis.
RohLt st?tement. Senator
r ?? ^ Kansas, chair
k- \ ?J finance committee,
which has authority over both pro
grams, said:
"If you think we face serious
deficit problems with the Social
Security cash program, you're in
tor a big surprise when you look
??.Wn /oad at Medicare's
future. Under the current op
timistic assumptions, Medicare
could literally go broke sometime
towards the end of the decade
perhaps as early as 1987 or 1988."'
FORECLOSURES ... Agri
culture Secretary, John Block said
recently the farm economy will
probably remain depressed enough
this year to force the federal
government to foreclose on
another 800 to 900 producers.
MILITARY A TRAVEL .
U.S. News and World Report said
the Pentagon provided more than
S2 million in VIP domestic travel
service and related entertainment
for members of Congress in 1982.
During the year, 35 senators and
111 House members took trips
aboard planes operated by the Air
Force's 89th Military Airlift Wing.
NATURAL GAS ... The
Natural Gas industry, buoyed by
word that President Reagan is
leaning towards quicker decontrol
of gas prices, intensified its de
mand recently for an end to federal
intervention in the gas market.
MEMORIAL ... Forced to
decide between warring veterans,
the government's Fine Ans Com
mission voted recently to locate a
statue of soldiers and a flag by the
side of the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial rather than between its
black granite walls.
ABORTIONS ... The number of
legal abortions in the United States
has increased steadily since the
1973 supreme court decision
legalizing abortion, but the na
tional centers for Disease Control
said recently the rate of increase
appears to have leveled off.
BAD YEAR ... Cramped by
high interest rates, U.S. builders
started work on barely 1 million
new houses last year, the fewest
since 1946, the government
reported recently. But with a hous
ing revival already underway ad
ministration and industry officials
agreed 1983 should be much bet
ter.
DONATES ORGANS ... 15
year old Anthony Pennington of
Kilgore, Texas was so moved by a
television movie that he told his
brother he wanted to donate his
organs when he died to help others
live. Tragically the youth was
struck and fatally injured by a
pickup truck as he rode his bicycle
a week later.
Letters Policy
Letters to the editor are en
couraged and welcomed. Writers
I should keep letters as short as
possible. Names, addresses and
telephone numbers should be in
I duded and all letters must be
signed. Names will be printed,
however, other information will
be kept confidential. We tint
the right to edit letters for good
taste and brevity, letters should
be received by Jht News-Journal
by 5 p.m. on the Monday of the
pubticarion week.