Newspapers / The news-journal. / Aug. 4, 1983, edition 1 / Page 2
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Editorials Committee on track A first step was taken last week to move Hoke County for ward. It was not a particularly bold step, and was one that should probably have been taken long ago. A group of business, civic and governmental leaders are joining hands to form the Progressive Action Committee under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce. It will be the committee's duty to work as a team to solve problems and to develop the potential of Hoke County. On the agenda for the group are such things as: ?^Developing attractive medium to high priced residences which will lure an active Ft. Bragg housing market to Hoke County. ?^Putting together a local drive to develop motel facilities in Raeford. CLIFF BLUE . . . People & Issues CONSTITUTIONAL... The N.C. Committee on constitutional Integrity secured the passage of a bill which is worthwhile. The bill provides for the publica tion of summaries of proposed constitutional amendments which we think is good. The bill provides for the establishment within the Dept. of Secretary of State a Constitutional Amendments Publication Com mission. This Commission consists of the Secretary of State, the At torney General, and the Legislative Services Officer. At least 60 days before an elec tion in which a proposed amend ment to the Constitution is to be voted on, the Commission will prepare a simple explanation of the proposed amendment. The summary will be distributed to an> registered voter or represen tative of the broadcast media mak ing a request to the Secretary ot State. SLOW DOWN AGING?. ..Wc note an article in the Charlotte Observer where Dr. Paul Goldstein is working tor clues to "Slow Down Aging." ' We quote John Watts, a UNCC biologist and pioneer heart re searcher who says Goldstein's thrust: "Is not far-fetched at all. It is realistic that understanding how the chromosome mechanism works could give you some tools for slow ing down the damages of aging. "Genetic engineering." Gold stein savs, "is the best thing that's happened to us as humans. It will substantial!*, improve our quality of life. Back in Bible times people lived to be verv old Methuselah. Ined to be 969 years old! living LONGER. Many Americans -- especially females - have been living longer, statistics say. Two authorities attribute this drop in mortality to fewer deaths trom heart disease and to medical advances that now control diseases that formerly killed children. As a result. Dr. F.ileen M. Crim mis. assistant protessor at Andrus Gerontology C enter at the Univer sity ot Southern California, told the Council that projections of estimated life expectancy have been climbing. Social Security estimates that by the year 2,000 average life expec tancy at birth for males will be 7} years and for females 81. And things will get even better by the middle of next century with projections that American women can expect to live to 91 and American men to 80. Meanwhile the Census Bureau says that there are now 32,000 peo ple in the United States 100 years or older, and three fourths of them (24,000) are women. Zhe ^ eu?<) - journal ?ZSL Published Kver> Thur\da> b> IXfkMin Pr*v%. Inc.. Piul IMtkvon. Prrv I IV W. hlwood Avenue, P.O. Bo* 550 R afford. NX. 2JU76 subscription Ram In Advance In ( ounly Per Vear~$l0.00 6 MonlM? $5.00 Out of Oounl) Prr Vear -$12.00 6 Monlhv- W> 00 I Ol IS M. HX.IHMAV JR Publisher WARRF.N N JOHNS I ON Mltor HKNRY I . Bl I I Produrliun s?p?r>K(? MRS. PAll l?K KSON Mitor SAMC. MORRIS ( onlrihuhng Idilor ANN Wt BR *d>frtW?| Rrpftwalilio 2nd ( Ian Pmlajf al Harford. N.( li sps .tm-2Mii ?^Finding a new approach to attracting industry here, such as developing an industrial park or constructing buildings to house a prospective industry. ?^Seeking a full community college for the county. ^Filling vacant retail buildings on Main Street and in shopping centers. All of the objectives of the committee seem attainable, and have been accomplished in other communities in North Carolina and in other states. Hoke County has gone too long ignoring Ft. Bragg. The military installation, most of which came from this county, is one of the largest industries in the nation. It is not likely to move or to cease operation. In addition, Ft. Bragg generates cosmopolitan and young retirees who have the desire and income to settle in the surrounding communities. One of the first challenges for the committee is to find ways to attract those retired and active duty personnel to Hoke County. In order to accomplish the goal, homes will have to be con structed, direct telephone contact with Fayetteville established and highway access improved. Two hundred additional families would mean more shop ping, food services, entertainment facilities and tax dollars. The committee's task will not be easy, but it seems the ap proach they are taking is a good one. The time has come for this county to take advantage of what is already here and to turn problems into "oppor tunities." | Individually the members of the group have established their credentials as leaders, and collectively this new commit tee has the power needed to develop the full potential of Hoke County. For too long, members of this community have stayed on the sidelines, complained about what the county needs and become frustrated waiting on someone else to do it. By getting this group together, the Chamber of Commerce has put the ball in the community's court. I It is hoped that the group will work together as a unit and move ahead to develop the county's assets to the fullest. 4 a.m. creamed liver sets morning flavor , c \1M YOUR PROGRNA r 0^? - Letters T o The Editor By Warren Johnston Lately, I have been starting my mornings with an 18-pound, lop eared cat sitting on my chest. The other morning he stopped by around 4 a.m. to visit and check on my plans for the day. "Good morning," the cat said, explaining that he was glad to see that 1 was awake. "What's for breakfast?" he ask ed. "I was thinking we might have a can of liver in cream sauce," he said, as he lovingly kneaded his claws into my chest. At that hour of the morning, the thought of liver and cream sauce was not appealing, and 1 was find ing it difficult to breathe with the cat sitting on my chest. 1 hurled him across the room. "I can see you are feeling a little grumpy. I'll come back later when you can be more civil," the cat said. Around 6 a.m. the cat returned. He brought a friend. Shortly after reaching my chest, they began arguing over what would be served for breakfast. The friend did not want liver. The cream sauce gave him a rash, and he preferred an assortment of fish parts in oil. Gasping for air and nauseated by the repugnant conversation, I headed for a morning shower. The noise of running water and my rendition of "Swanee River" did not drown out the continuing discussion which had moved to the foot of the tub. Bits of fur, dislodged during a particularly strong point, occasionally wafted _ above the shower curtain. Getting dressed was difficult. The cat and his friend stood on my shoes and gnawed at my toes. When I finally headed for the The Puppy Papers kitchen, it was like the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. As they pushed and shoved around the food bowl, a third cat joined them. She requested "brais ed beef tips." I opened a can of "chicken parts." All three refused to eat. The dog, who had been patiently waiting outside the back door all night, came in and tried to add a fourth opinion. When reason failed to stay the whining of two of the cats, the dog sat on them and attempted to reach the third with logic. It was useless. They complained vehemently. "Can't you control these animals?" my wife interrupted, as she stormed into the room. "How's a person supposed to get any sleep around here with all this noise?" I sheepishly opened cans of beef, fish and liver, and gave the dog the chicken. "That's better." my wife said, returning to bed. "I would like to go for a walk now," the dog said. "But I haven't had time to eat breakfast," I protested. The dog explained the conse quences of my refusal, and 1 agreed that a six-mile jaunt seemed more appealing than cleaning up the alternative. At 7:55 a.m. we returned. 1 was sweating from the heat and ex hausted from lack of sleep. On my way to work, it dawned on me what farmers must face every morning. It is easy to im agine how cranky a chicken could be standing on one's chest at 4 a.m. Puppy Creek Philosopher Dear Editor: The topic lor discussion this week is the sad plight of the Statue of Liberty. She's got a hole in her arm and a plant is growing out of it. Because of sloppy reporting in New York, the writer who reported this didn't say what kind of plant it is. It's something that needs to be looked into. With kooks using everything from flower pots to backyard gardens to windowsills to national forests to grow the stuff, how do we know some far-out kook isn't using that hole in the arm of the Statue of Liberty to grow mari juana? You might say, aw just some bird dropped a harmless seed there. A likely story. Let's get to the bottom of this. Not only does the copper-plated 97-year-old Lady have a hole in her arm, she's coming un-riveted. She's held together by 300,000 rivets, and 30,000 of them have come loose. Moreover, investigators have found her head is two feet out of line. They say it's due to a design error from the very start, not from holding up that torch for so long. This brings up a matter of foreign policy. As all high school graduates except those who can't read and many teachers know, the statue was given to the United States by France. Now suppose we had given the Eiffel Tower to -France and something went wrong with it. Wouldn't France's foreign policy demand that we come over and fix it? Or if we'd given Big Ben to England and it started losing two hours a day an^i even if it was months before tfye British noticed it, wouldn't they still clamor for us to fix it? Probably so. But if the money to repair the Statue of Liberty is rais ed, and it ought<to be, we'd better do it ourselves.,1' i Yours faithfully, J. A. Bankrupt now called 'debtor' Prior lo the enactment of the 1978 Bankruptcy Reform Act, a person who went through bankruptcy was referred to as a "bankrupt." Today, under the new Bankrupt cy Code, the terminology has been changed from "bankrupt," which has a bad connotation, to "debtor," which doesn't have the stigma attached to the term "bankrupt." In order to take advantage of the bankruptcy laws, the debtor under the new Bankruptcy Code does not even need to be bankrupt, that is, having debts which exceed his assets. The only qualification of a deb tot undci the Bankruptcy Code is that he reside in the United States, or have a domicile, a place of business or property in the United States. It might seem strange at first that one can go into "bankruptcy" without actually being bankrupt. However, if you think about it, you will see how ridiculous it would be for a person to want to go through bankruptcy when he in fact has enough money to pay his debts. If. for example, a solvent debtor files for bankruptcy, the trustee will Find plenty of money to pay all of the debtor's creditors. The solvent debtor will, of course, have his debts paid, but he will lose money in the end as a result of having to pay filing fees. administrative costs and possibly attorneys' fees. He will get no benefit at all out of the bankrupty proceeding. If all of his debts are paid by the trustee, he has no need for the discharge which the insolvent deb tor would desire so urgently upon going into bankruptcy. Thus, even if a solvent debtor can go into bankruptcy, you will not find one who will want to do so. This article is written us a matter of general interest only. It is not to be construed as legal advice, and you should not rely on the statements made in the article to govern your actions in any specific case. If you have a particular ques tion or problem, you should con tact an attorney. Farm gets short change By John Sledge N.C. Farm Bureau Federation Out of each dollar spent on food in a supermarket or restaurant in 1982, the farmer who produced that food received, on the average, only 28 cents, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This marks the third year in a row that the farmer's share has declined. Another 32 cents of each food dollar goes for labor costs and the remaining 40 cents is divided among providers of many other marketing costs from packaging to profit. The figures show the great deal of variation between different types of commodities when retail prices and farm values are com pared. For example, commodities in the meat food group just about double in value between the farm and the retailer's shelf. Eggs, on the other hand, have a much narrower spread between farm value and retail price. In 1982, eggs that averaged 88.5 cents a dozen at retail had a farm value of 53.1 cents. Milk had a retail value of around SI. 1 2 per half gallon in 1982 compared to a farm value of about 58 cents, or about the same ratio as meat, but had much higher processing and wholesaling costs and a much lower markup by the retailer than meats. The lowest return to the farmer was for the ingredients in bread with the wheat and other ingre dients worth only a nickel to the producer, while the one pound loaf cost the average consumer 53 cents. The other 48 cents in the price of bread, more than 90% of its total retail cost, goes to people who provide such services as assembly, processing, transporta tion and wholesaling. n??penjtmOM Letters Policy Letters to the editor are encouraged and welcomed. Writers should keep letters as short as possible. Names, addresses and telephone numbers should be included and all letters must be signed. Names will be printed, however, other information will be kept confidential. We reserve the right to edit letters for good taste and brevity, letters should be received by The News-Journal by noon on the Monday of the publication week.
Aug. 4, 1983, edition 1
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