Thoughts on education
April 10,1996
THE NEWS-JOURNAL Raeford, N.C.
3A
The great fire of 1871 destroyed
just about everything except these
stone covered waterworks.”
Vito is giving me the basics about
Chicago. He is the driver of a trolley
type tour bus—and he is the guide. A
couple of other brave or crazy tourists
and I are making the rounds of the
Chicago downtown this cold, damp
afternoon. Vito performs well — like
the actor he wants to be.
There, across the Chicago River
is the Wrigley Building — same fam
ily that owned the Cubs and the chew
ing gum business.
Somewhere over there is the site of
the first settler’s home. Jean Babtiste
Du Sable, and he came from Haiti. So
the first non-Indian resident of Chi
cago was a black man. They didn’t
used to brag about that. But now that
is a big part of Chicago’s story.
“There is the Merchandise Mart.
The Sears Tower is the tallest build
ing in the world. No. I have to say the
second tallest now. A new building in
Malaysia is now the talle.sl. Just
opened the other day. ”
Vito is on a roll. If he were a
teacher he would get a goixl grade on
“classroom performance."
Utcr, I ride up the fast elevators of
the John Hanctvk Center — one of
the tallest buildings inCTncago. hrom
the top I look down on V ito’s city and
give his work another, more impor
tant test.
Can I take what he taught me and
use It to learn more '
Down below are the landmarks
that he shttwed me. from this height I
can recognize them and see how they
are related to each other Without
One on One
D. G. Martin
Vito’s introduction to Chicago, my
view from the heights of the John
Hancock Center would be only a beau
tiful intriguing maze.
I can also make out other features
of the city that Vito did not mention.
For instance, I see how big Lake
Michigan is. Vast and endless. And
right up against Chicago. But
Chicago’s lake shore is separated from
the city by a giant multi-lane highway
that moves cars quickly andefficientl y
from one end of the city to the other.
I see at once, what natives of Chi
cago may miss. The beautiful lake
and the hand.some city should be
joined together. But the concrete and
fast-movingcarsdi vide Chicago from
its lakefront just as brutally as the
Berlin wall once separated that city
from its .soul.
Ixavingthe tower, I make my way
to the center of the city to visit the
edi ti trial offices of the “ Encyclopedia
Britannica " Here is the most famous
compilation of knowledge on the
planet I want to see how it is done.
Quietly and carefully, Charles
Trumbull, the editor of the Britannica
Yearbook leads me through the halls.
Ordinary popic w orking behind or
dinary desks 'How is it all put to
gether’' I ask ‘How can you as-
sembleall that know ledge in this small
place?”
Modestly, he explains that he and
his colleagues are mostly editors and
assemblers of the work of others. They
send out assignments to a trusted core
of scholars and writers. Then they
check.They edit. They decide what to
cut and what to add. They assemble
and organize. They take the knowl
edge of others and make it accessible
to you and me.
Charles Trumbull and his col
leagues at Encyclopaedia Britannica
don’t spoon feed the basic informa
tion to me as Vito did. They have
assembled volumes of information,
catalogued them and arranged them
where I can find them — when I know
what I am looking for. They have
given me a framework that help me
learn on my own.
Without the Vitos and the Charles
Trumbulls of the world you and I
would be lost. We would never figure
out Chicago or very much of the rest
of the world by ourselves.
And while we are at it, let’s con
fess that Vito and Charles Trumbull
couldn’t do very much for us if we
hadn’t been made ready by the good
teachers in our schools and colleges.
Norwould VitoandCharlesTrumbull
had much to offer us if they didn’t
havea.storehou.se of information avail
able to them from the scholarship of
thousands of others — mostly in col
leges and universities across this coun
try.
Remember Vito and Charles
Trumbull —and those who back them
up the next time somebody asks
you to help our schiMils, colleges and
universities
P:.
•The only time of the year I can get him to clean out the garage la when he
should be doing our taxes.*
Letters
Raz
(Continued from pof^e 2-t I
library club members Needless to
say I was right in my comfort zone. In
my 2(1 years as a high school pnnei-
pl, I truly loved to work w ith teenag
ers.Therefore, when I wascalledagain
to be the spaker by the same gtxid
friend, i assumed that she was talking
about the present club members It
was a beautiful talk I was going to lay
on these young popic When I ar
rived at the Cumberland ( Tiunty Pub
lic Library. I noticed a lot of adults
were headed towards the entrance It
suddenly dawned on me that prhaps
1 had assumed wrong. You are tight,
I wa.s wrong Ihc pop{« ut ig. [,Kini
were cUwe to my age, some older I
could see mvself s;iy ing at the appro
piatc time. “It is a long climh over
tirol’s hill. s(>me folks make it. some
don’t "These are the words I used on
my teenagers over the years Another
was' Stand in your own shoes." I felt
like crying My mind was clicking
faster than it has in years. Standing in
front of them, staring in spec, w asn’t
w hat they came to see and hear Since
1 wasoneot them, I didn'thaveagreat
deal of difficulty shixtting the bull,
which I did Thankful they seemed to
cn)oy my bull Never again will 1
aiu^spt an inviiatiiin w ithout checking
ill my tacti I most ailmit I was about
as contused as Abigail and Adelaide,
two elderly sisters, were taking their
first trip on a jet On the 7.T7 Abigail
said, "Do you know this plane travels
taster th.in siiund .’"
AdclaivJe was quite alarmed about
this, when they were settled she said
to the flight attendant. "I beg your
prdon M iss, but does this plane travel
taster than sound,’"
Proudly she said. "Yes 'kla’am we
fly faster than sound "
"Well," replied Adelaide, “Please
slow It down a little, my sister and I
want to talk ’
My prting thought It would be
a lot easier to love our neighbors, if
thev weren't
(Continued from page 2A)
ness decisions. I would ask the papr
to reprint what promises the incum
bents made when they were elected to
their present offices, it might opn
some eyes. I hop the good pople of
Hoke County will look hard at the
candidates and make the right deci
sion on 7 May 96.
Robert E. Vaughn II
Justice system
needs work
To the Editor:
Are you aware that our justice sys
tem is not what it should be? The
Sheriff’s Department and our City
Police department are trying to do
their jobs, They End and arrest these
crooks, but they have no control over
when they are brought to trial.
Back in 1994,1 was owed a debt of
$4,000. This fellow made a payment
Easter —
to me of $1,500 by check. About 10
days later, my bank notified me the
check would not clear, due to lack of
funds in this prson’s account. 1 then
called this prson, with some diffi
culty and gave him 24 hours to make
the check good. He didn’t, so I began
the legal process to get my money.
I really got an education of how
pur system is working. What I felt
should have only taken maybe three
or four months, at the most, took
nearly a year and a half, even though
this prson was found guilty. This all
came about because he was given a
continuance every time he was to
appar in court for not pying off the
bad check. I also learned at this time
that there were at least two other pople
who had charges against this prson,
for a $600 check and a $9(X) check,
written on the same account. No one
will ever convince me that was an
honest mistake on this crook’s part.
This should have been taken care of
through the normal process of the
law.
No one will ever know the stres^
something like this can put yon"
through, until you have been therei
Both my husband and myself are law^
abiding, tax-paying citizens, whe
never thought something like this
would ever happn to us. And bel ieve
me, it could happn to others.
It is still upsetting to me to think of
all the time we wasted in court, wait
ing to see justice served, only to seC-^
this man walk month after monthwith-
a continuance and a grin. i
Is this not a waste of our tax dol
lars? Is the county’s best interest be*;
ing served? Every citi.'’en of Hoke^
County should spnd some time in the
courtrooms to observe what’s hap-_
pned to our legal system, as I have
done and will continue to do. I think'
it’s time to put an end to this revolving
door plicy, NOW!
Sarah B. Wood'
Check Our Calendar To Find Out What's Going On In Hoke County
(Continued from page 2A)
.something that high cholesterol and
chiKolate are known to promise.
I must say that the Easter rituals of
hiding and huntingeggs and bitingoff
the ears of chocolate bunnies paled in
comprison to watching the Sunday
morning sun rise over the trees on a
day when rain was suppsed to have
spiled everything. It was tooth-chat
tering cold outside, but not a single
cloud marred the scene — blazing
orange orb on one side of the sky,
glowing moon and stars on the other.
It was as if God was saying, “I’m still
here, just wanted to see if you no
ticed.”
Being reminded of that makes it a
little easier to wade through the dirty./
clothes and candy wrappers, and'
makes it harder to tire of smashed
eggs and leftover ham and other boun^
tiful blessings of The season.
Someone’s watching. Someone
knows. Someone cares. Always. It’s
just up to us to notice.
And to remember to say, “Thanks.”
We appreciate the value of your possessions.
AthJ rr.w. ** ^
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J.H. Austin Insurance Agency, Inc.
114 W. Edlnborough Ave. 875-3667
dj
\S'hen nt'id to wi»-(
W'e'rfut L ur
m HAjmoRO
NOTICE
The Hoke County Schools are asking
that all residents with school age children
please send your E-911 Address to the
schools as soon as possible. Starting the
96-97 school year all bus routes will be
based on the 911 system. This summer
the routes and stops will be updated to
this system and students that do not have
appropriate addresses may be missed. It
is very important that you have the house
#, street name in the school database so
your child will be assigned to the appro
priate bus stop.
ELECT
Buddy Blue
Hoke County Commissioner
Democratic Primary - May 7,1996
Paid for by the Committee to Elect Buddy Blue
Foundation
Vote
GIBSON
County Commissioner
Paid Bv Comnunce To Elctl And> Gibson
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