I
Opinion Page
THE BRUN.SW!CK#BEftCON
Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn II. Sweatt 1'itblishers
Edward M. Sweatt Editor
Susan Usher "Sews Editor
Hahn Adams iV: Doug Butter Stuff Writers
Johnny Craig Sports Editor
Christine Ballon Office Manager
Cecelia Gore & Susan Barefoot. .Advertising Representatives
Tannine Gallowav X Dnmiln it.....?...??? T " -
..... .... r//m'iitT5
Robert Williams Pressman
Brentln Clemmons Photo Technician
Lonnie Sprinkle Assistant Pressman
Clyde and iMattie Stout. Phoebe (llemnions (Circulation
Page 4-A Thursday. May 5.1988
It's That Time Of Year
It's that time of year again?winds are up, rains are down,
and Brunswick County's starting to dry out. Wildfire season
has arrived.
If one needs more proof that it's time to be concerned,
there's a ban on burning in effect in Brunswick and adjacent
counties, and no rain in the immediate forecast.
Traditionally woods fires have been contained by working
with boundaries such as ditches, roads, open fields. But, as
more and more people build homes and businesses in
Brunswick and adjoining counties, those rules don't work as
well as they once did. More "interface" is created between
woodland and Hpvplnnmonf witv-. ??? * * * *'
? ? ~" mi me uiwi c<tacu mreai 10 lives
and structures, the urgency of the situation heightens also.
Thursday afternoon?before the burning ban was imposed
I by the North Carolina Forest Sendee?the service and local
volunteer firefighters battled woods blazes in Ash and Supply
communities.
The fire in Ash imminently threatened homes and
businesses. The Forest Sendee and local volunteer fire companies
quashed it quickly in an impressive joint effort. While
two plows cut a line around the fire and a vintage contract
airplane dropped chemical retardant from the air, volunteer
firefighters from three departments stationed themselves
around homes and businesses, pouring on water to stay the approaching
flames.
Tactics used to fight the Prospect fire, going at the same
time, were more traditional. In a thinly-habitated rural area
north of Supply, the fire burned approximately 70 areas before
containment, out poseu no immediate threat to lives or structures.
In this joint effort, volunteer firefighters worked to prevent
the woods fire jumping the roadway and spreading to
another area.
What does all this mean? That there's a genuine need for
caution and common sense when handling fire.
Prevent wildfires: Instead of tossing out matches or grinding
cigarettes into the ground, dispose of them properly. Use
a barrel with top grate when burning outside and clear around
the barrel several feet. Don't leave fires unattended and keep
a rake, shovel and water hose handy. Don't burn on windy
days.
When burning, stay within the laws: Check with the
Forest Service towers at Bolivia, Shallotte or Maco on
whether a Dermit is needed anH whulhop!] Kon io ir,
, ? ??. .iwwivt U UU11 iO in CllCV.bi X lie
best conditions to burn in, according to County Ranger Miller
Caison, are days when the winds are light, the temperature is
low and the humidity is high.
And, report all wildfires and careless burning to the
Forest Service as well.
V/-.i i (~nn A Ar-iL-A nilloronro
i \*S\J i> iviviiw^ r x. v it i ul wi
Last year, of the 55,000 people who died in North Carolina,
only 600 were organ/tissue donors.
Yet, in North Carolina alone, there are 150 to 200 people at
any given time who are waiting for a donated cornea, and for
the transplant surgery that offers the hope of sight. They may
wau sieany uiree monins, Because too tew people take the
time to become organ donors in North Carolina.
The situation is similar aii across the country, where more
than 150,000 people will be hoping for a "miracle" this year.
More than 100,000 adults and children with serious burns will
need skin grafts, 2,000 will need bone marrow transplants,
7,000 will need kidney transplants and more than 3,000 will
need corneal transplants.
How do you become an organ/tissue donor? It's simple,
but you do need to go one step farther than simply having it
noted on your North Carolina driver's license that you are an
organ donor. First, you need to talk to family members and
make them aware of your intentions and desires. Second, you
need to obtain and carry an organ donor card. These are
available free of charge from several sources, including local
Lions Clubs and Carolina Organ Procurement Agency
(COPA). COPA has a 24-hour, toll-free, statewide information
line, 1-800-252-COPA. Call and a card will be in the mail tomorrow
morning.
COPA is one of three organ procurement organizations in
North Carolina. Serving the pactorn nurt nf th? ctatn it i.roo
formed by Duke University Hospital, East Carolina University
School of Medicine and North Carolina Memorial Hospital.
Charlotte Memorial Hospital and Baptist Hospital in WinstonSalem
have their own procurement centers.
Seriously consider becoming an organ donor; talk it over
with family members and your family doctor.
Each of us can make a difference; the organs and tissues
of even a single donor can help many needy people.
Write Us
The Beacon welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed
and include the writer's address. Under no circumstances will unsigned
letters be printed. letters should lie legible. The Beacon
reserves the right to edit libelous comments. Address letters to The
Brunswick Beacon, P.O. Box 2558, Shallotte, N.C. 28459.
In S<
If I could bottle my wife's perspiration
and sell it as bug repellent, we'd
be millionaires. She's the only person
I know who isn't bothered by no-seeums.
I, on the other hand, attract the little
varmints like honey draws flies or
a porchlight attracts moths.
Whenever I'm outdoors, it's as
though I wear a sign on top of my
bald head that reads, "USDA Surplus
Human," and the no-see-ums already
hoyo their food stamp cards
validated.
In case you haven't had the
pleasure of meeting these little bloodsuckers
yet?which is extremely
doubtful if you live anywhere on the
coast?they go by several names: nosee-ums,
sand flies, biting midges
and punkies. They're so much a part
of coastal living that I'm beginning to
think businesses should start using
f c
<?>*)& ***&
Kic
I've always heard that small kids
lend to ask some pretty difficult
questions.
But you know how it is, you never
really believe those old wives' tales
until you're actually thrust into a
situation in which they are api to
come true.
I was thrust into such a situation
last week, when I talked to a group of
third-graders at Waccamaw Elementarv
Qrhnnl nhnnf S<%K ?? TV%?
j ww..vv. uwuut I??T juu cab me
Brunswick Beacon and the many
complexities of how a newspaper
comes into being each week.
(Incidentally, I recently learned
from a very friendly, yet unforgiving
crew o? bus drivers th?.t Warpamaw
Elementary is not located "in the
sticks," as I stated in a previous column.
It seems the school is "in the
country." I stand corrected.)
Anyway, I said I was thrust into
this situation, but in reality, it was
one of those circumstances where I
semi-volunteered. To say the least,
my heart really wasn't in it when I
made the arrangements.
But like a trooper who could have
pleased the toughest boot camp drill
sergeants and maybe even Oilie
North, I went through with it
After talking specifically about my
Shollofie
To the editor:
From your April 14 paper, I see as
usual the Shallotte Town Board, with
their crone fire chief, are at it again.
Instead of hiring a professional fire
chief and letting the town develop a
fire protection service worth having,
they have come across the idea of
purchasing aerial equipment.
Now if these people were talking
about a $50 mistake, as taxpayers,
we could ignore their ignorance, but
when they are talking about equipment
which usually has a price tag of
$200,OW) plus, I for one think it is
about time something is done. To me
$200,000 is a whole lot of money to put
out for protecting buildings that may
be built!
Now the department docs need to
update their old 1954 pumper. But, if
the town does not update their water
system, and clean what they have,
even a new pumper with the gallon
capacity needed for the present fire
protection load will be of little use.
The volunteers of the past have
saved this town over $300,000 a year
in salaries and benefits, but this town
board ran most all of them off and
now has a department of mainly town
employees.
It's a good thing we haven't had
Borch Of The
Adams J/
sand flies instead of seagulls on their
logos.
Spending our first spring on the
coast, my wife and I encountered the
tiny pests for the first time just over
a month ago when we decided to play
a little tennis. "A little tennis'" was
right, since I spent more time swatting
bugs than tennis balls.
"What are these things?" I
screamed across the net to my wife.
"They're eating me alive!"
She gave me a skeptical look and
ds Ask The D
Doug (L ~y
Rutfer /?
K
job for a while and then about the
newspaper business in general, I
opened the floor to any questions.
Admittedly, I was half expecting a
lot of blank looks on the their faces
and some silence to go with it. so 1
was prepared to have a newspaper
scavenger hunt if they seemed
uninterested.
Much to my surprise, however, I
was faced with a barrage of the most
basic, yet fascinating questions from
the mouths of these youngsters.
Relating to the world of journalism
by watching television shows and
movies, a lot of these kids wanted to
know what it's like to run around all
day like a maniac, pushing and shoving
people to get the information we
need to write a story.
I tried to teii them that reporting is
generally a gentle occupation, with
most days consisting of several hours
LETTERS TO '
> Board Should h
any large fires because I don't knowhow
the policemen are going to fight
fire and evacuate people or handle
traffic al! at the same time Nor do I
cpp hnw thp a-ator rlonarfmnnf
are going to help with the water problems
and try to be on the hoses too.
If this board continues with their
arrogant and ignorant mistakes we
will not only keep paying for their arrogance
in lost volunteers, but will
hntra on orl/lifinnnl COftA AAA t?
iiutv can uuuiviuna 1 ftuu,wu iu |JdV IU
boot. This is aLso in addition to higher
insurance payments, because the two
most important items to the rating
bureau is the water system, and the
number and training of the
firefighters, and our hydrant system
is deplorable, and the number of
firefighters is still below the state
minimum. So, if we did have the
buildings requiring an aerial truck,
which we don't, such a truck would
have little effect on the town'4* ratinp
ft may be of interest, too, to the
people of this town who have fire insurance,
to note that the rating
bureau rates volunteers at 1/3 per
paid, which means that it takes three
volunteers to count as one paid
member, and even though the town
employees are being paid as
employees, they do not count as paid
Perfect Bug S
prepared to serve despite my pleas
for help. "Oh, quit whining," she
replied. "I don't hear you complaining
when you're winning."
She had a point?actually several
points because I think she was ahead
in that game, 40-Love. Needless to
say. I threw in the towel shortly
thereafter and literally headed for
the showers.
A few days later I was attacked
again as we went for what was supiv>sed
to be a leisurelv Sunday morninu
stroll down the street to a nearbv
newsstand. It was Dee. 7, 1941, all
over again, and I was Pearl Harbor.
"Stop jumping around so much,"
my wife scolded, as she helped slap
the no-see-ums off the crown of my
head. "You're going to get us both
run over."
Right then, getting hit by a Winnebago
would have put me out of my
arn'dest Thine
on the phone and several hours in
front of the computer terminal, it's
not all undercover investigation a la
Woodward and Bernstein.
Not only did those statements shatter
their concept of the stereotypical i
news hound, it left some doubts in my i
mind as to whether the television i
series "L.A. I.aw" accurately por- i
trays the legal profession.
The big minds of these little kids i
also wanted to know how we find out i
about all the shootings and murders 1
and fires and car wrecks and other 1
tidbits we feature on a weekly basis, i
Well, I thought, another good question
which I never would have 1
thought to address in my little speech j
in a million years. <
1
We have a scanner in the office, I
told them, and we aiso have a j
reporter call the people who keep t
records of these things. Other times, j
I explained, folks just call us and tell j
us what's going on in the county. i
These kinds of questions went on ]
and on. They wanted to know it all. i
The toughest one was, "How do you i
know what questions to ask?"
I told the students that it's
sometimes difficult to ask the right
questions and often times we have to
fHE EDITOR
//re Qualified Fin
firemen.
And. should they be, there will
have to lie quite a few changes made
to bring the remains of this department
up to the OSHA standards required
for a paid department.
So, if this board is truly interested
in the citizen's safety and pocketbooks,
they will hire a National Fire
Protection Association minlifiart
chief officer. This will not only pro- 1
vide them with an expert from afar,
since they scorn the local people, but
will also be someone to insulate the
future volunteers from the town I
board so they can serve their fellow
citizens without being publicly abus- <
ed for doing so by the board.
Susan Arnold
Shallotte I
Members Of !
Congress i
Out Of Sync ;
To the editor: 1
These bits of not-so-trivial trivia
may be of interest to your readers. <
It is interesting to note that Senator
<
pray
misery. My wife, though, had
everything to live for because, as
usual, she wasn't being bombarded
by kamikaze sand flies.
I decided then and there that if it
was a fight they wanted, I would give
it to them. It was war. Unfortunately
I had to go out and buy some ammunition
before I could get off a few
OIIUU) Ui II1V Uffll.
Even though wearing smelly bug
repellent is almost as bad as putting
up with the pests it repels, I bought
two cans of a popular brand the other
day?two cans, because the company
will send me a free baseball cap if I
mail in the proof of purchase seals.
I haven't had a chance to try it out
yet, but I figure if the repellent
doesn't work, I can at least use the
cap to block the little devils' landing
pad.
eut l'v? stuck with
^outw$ugh thick
and1hin.
yes.rw i\true friend
To You,ron .
we BACK IN
JS
Bo back and ask more questions. But
like anything else, it's something you
learn as you go along.
As the morning wore on, I realized
that I was learning as much about
my job as these kids were. Being a
reporter on a daily basis, I had
Forgotten how complex the
newspaper business really can be.
This was the first time I have
fished a classroom to talk about
what I do and I hope it's not the last. I
went from being a half-hearted
volunteer to a reporter eager to
spread the word of his profession.
The best part of the whole deal, I
think, was that I learned to make
sressman's hats. The kids also learn;d,
but I think I had more fun with it
than most of them.
Even though some of the students
may have been disappointed to learn
that reporters aren't always racing
around like decapitated chickens or
kicking and scratching to get to the
front of the interview line, I really
had a good time giving these kids a
feel for the reality of the newspaper
business.
Whether they learned anything
listening to me is hard to say.
Anyway, I certainly learned
something from them.
e Chief
Albert Gore (D-Tenn.) is the sixth
and final member of Congress to end
his 1988 presidential bid, giving further
credence to what is becoming
conventional wisdom in Washington:
sitting senators and congressmen
just don't get presidential nominations
anvmnrp
According to a bipartisan group of
political experts surveyed by Roll
Call, the newspaper of congress, the
reasons mainly have to do with
Washington itself.
"Members aren't nominated
because their focus is so exclusively
Washington," said Doug Bailey, a
consultant and publisher of the
Presidential Campaign Hotline.
'They're not where the people are,
they're not in sync with the public at
large."
Only one member of congress lias
been nominated for president in the
oast 24 years, and lie got clobbered.
Did you ever wonder the political
eanings of brainy people? The
statistics as compiled by the Joint
Center for Political Studies in the
lew Congressional District Fact
3ook are fairly conclusive on the
natter: nine of the ten congressional
listricts that have the highest pro(Cnntinueri
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