Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / April 23, 1992, edition 1 / Page 4
Part of The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Opinion Page THE Piiuinvinvii^MLfivviii Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers Edward M. Sweatt Editor Siisan Usher News Editor Terry Pope Staff Writers Doug Rutter Sporis Editor Marjorie Megivcm Assortatt' Editor Peggy Earwood Office Manager Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director Timberley Adams. Cecelia Gore and Linda Cheers Advertising Representatives Dorothy Brennan and Brendn Clemmons Moore ..Graphic Artists William Manning Pressman Lonnie Sprinkle Assistant Pressman Tracy Smith Photo Technician Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation PAGE 4 -A, THURSDAY. APRIL 23. 1992 Just Give Us The Facts, Ma'am The ordeal Donna Baxter has survived points up some ap parent injustices in our law enforcement system. This candi date for the Brunswick County Board of Education, and pre sent chairperson of that board, was found guilty of improper passing in a March 16 traffic accident, in which she suffered minor injuries and was also charged with driving while im paired. Here's the nib. Baxter's injuries prevented administration of the standard breathalyzer test, but because she admitted to a beer-and-a-half with dinner before the accident, she was charged with driving drunk, pending the outcome of a blood test. Now the results of that test tell us she was nowhere near im paired by alcohol at the time of the accident. Relieved, she in tends continuing her re-election campaign leading to the May 5 primary. But what does John Q. Public really think about Candidate Baxter now? Can the stigma of a DWI charge be erased simply by facts? Maybe not. Given our attraction for what is spectacular and what goes wrong around us, rather than the ordinary and the good, we tend to remember about someone their appearance of wrongdoing much longer than their concrete good deeds. This being true, it seems patently unjust for police officers to have the prerogative to charge something prior to documen tation, putting on public record for media distribution the mere possibility that a violation has occurred. Any citizen so charged could lose stature in the eyes of friends and co-work ers, could even lose his/her job; but a public official or candi date for office stands to lose even more. The newspaper head lines would be bigger; the alleged "crime" would loom larger in the public mind. Also, the stakes are higher. There was nothing incorrect about the actions of Officer Timberlake, who made his DWI charge on the evidence of careless driving and Mrs. Baxter's admission of having con sumed one-and-a-half beers. He did his job. The media did it's job, too, in reporting the charge, even giving it front page play. Baxter played her role with extreme propriety as well, promis ing to withdraw from office should her blood test reveal a state of drunkenness. Of course, some will react with horror to the notion of ANY alcohol consumption, but let the stones be thrown only by those sufficiently pure to do so. Get real. How would we run our government, including school boards, if everyone who had a beer with dinner were excluded from office? The problem occurs when such a "tentative" charge as this is made at all and consequently becomes part of public record. That record is open not only to the media but to the general public as well. It seems we should consider tinkering with the laws, per haps having officers delay filing a charge such as DWI-for which breathalyzer and/or lab test results are routinely a major element of the evidence-until that documentation is available. Another possibility might be taking a second look at whether tentative charges should be among the records so readily avail able. With either alternative, of course, there is a potential for abuse that must be addressed; however, we need to protect the dignity of our "innocent till proven guilty" neighbors, not flash across the sky every suspicion of their misbehavior. Till that enlightened day arrives, it's up to each of us to curb our tendency to let sensationalism mold our attitudes. What should be remembered about Donna Baxter is not that erro neous charge, but the quality of leadership and service she has given to the school board. Let's avoid attaching stigma by suggestion and stick to facts we know to be true. Here's To Outside 1 visited the museum at Ocean Isle Beach the other clay, for the first lime since before it opened. It is, of course, a fascinating, stimulating reflection of coastal North Carolina. All the creativity and planning that went into it show clearly in every room. What was even elearer to me as I talked with its founder, Stuart Ingram, was the inestimable value to any community of outsiders like him who come in and stir tilings up. Wiiiniugiuii, whcic I live, wuuld ikH have classical music on the airwaves today, nor, in fact, would Brunswick County, if it were not for a handful of Yankees who migrated there. They couldn't imagine a place without good music and just waded in and started a public radio station. I understand the University of North Carolina at Wilmington originated in a similar fashion, the brainchild of someone passing through. Now Stuart Ingram is no Yankee, but he is no Brunswick Countian either. Like a huge percentage of the bcach population, he was lured from the big city into buying property on the beautiful isknd where now a Discover Brunswick's 'Other1 Fragile Treasure it always amazes mc how much we uikc for granicd m Brunswick County. The Green Swamp is a good ex ample. Knowledgeable visitors from across the globe tramp through its savannahs and pocosins, oohing anil ahing in excitement at the incredible diversity of plant and animal found within its borders. 1 know; I've had occasion to accompany several of them. Those who have studied the roles of wedands bemoan the steady loss of the swamp. But few of the people I know who live here or visit here on a regular basis, other than a few hunters and birdwatchers, have taken time out to visit the Green Swamp Nature Pre serve, which is managed by the N.C. Nature Conservancy. Though it's been written about many, many times, some claim not to even know it exists, much less how to get there. It is, one must admit, not featured prominently in tourist guides. The Conservancy is probably happy about that, since conserving the area is its main goal, and public educa tion important, but essentially a side order. While 1 appreciate its scientific value, that's not why I go to the Green Swamp Nature Preserve near Supply. And it's certainly not lie cause of the ticks, red bugs, mosqui Susan Usher "***$ tos and snakes sometimes encoun tered, though ihey may help explain why so few people lake in the glo ries of the swamp. And if 1 venture out during hunting season, it's with plenty of company and safety or ange outerwear. When we think "swamp," most of us think of canoeing something like the Okcfenokcc, straddling the Flori da-Georgia lines: dark, murky, mys terious, even threatening, mainly wa ter with a few islands of vegetation here and there with enough high ground to pitch a tent if the raccoons and other critters let you. Thai's one kind and one part of a "swamp." While it's better to form your own composite picture of what a swamp really is, I'd like to intrixluce you to at least one other image, the swamp as Mother Nature's own temple, a place suitable for contemplation and even worship, if you will. You've tiptoed along a boardwalk through and over standing, tea-col orcd water, entangling vines and thick briars cf the pccosin. You're sweating, starting to itch and your tennis shoes and pants legs got soaked when you stumbled into a pothole that no one else seemed to find. That funny plant growing in the path that the tour guide made such a fuss over didn't really make much of an impression; it wasn't even bloom ing. Without your reading glasscs-on the table at home, you couldn't even see those you-know-what sundews everybody was talking about; they were entirely too small. "Why," you ask yourself for the umpteenth time, "did 1 ever agree to come on this junket? 1 should be home playing bridge or maybe can ning tomatoes. Anything but this." After all, everybody knows the only thing swamps and wetlands arc good for is to be drained and turned into farms and pine plantations, and then later, subdivisions and golf courscs. Just look around! An eager "birder" up ahead points upward at an old, longlcaf pine with a small hole and sap running down the side: the home of the elegant and endangered rcd-cockaded wood pecker. Closer by it seems like you're suddenly surrounded by pitcher plants of all shapes and sizes, pok Ill? iiiv.il uuuvu uiwuun up iiiiuugn the undergrowth. And is that a gentian of some kind? Oh, and what kind of orchid is that? Where's that field guide when you need it most. Then, you pause, breath catching tn your throat ami wonuCuug if there's film in the camera. Just ahead, sunlight filters through rows of leggy, green-topped pines in long swathes of gold, set ting aglow a meadow of tall grasses burgeoning with more blooming wildllowcrs than you could have imagined. The pine savannah, welcoming, teeming with life. Not Monet's flow er garden, but then. Mother Nature wields her own distinct paintbrush. In the distance, ihc indistinct hum of traffic rumbling up and down N.C. 21 1. Visitors scurrying to the seashore, or back home again. Delivcrymcn in their trucks. Little do they realize they arc rushing through and past Brunswick County's "other" and equally fragile treasure: the Green Swamp. Check it out for yourself. The North Carolina Nature Conservancy will Ik* conducting free field trips May 9 as part of its 1 5th anniversary celebration at Brunswick Commun ity College. Driving along N.C. 21 1 will never be the same. I promise. ??in ? " f nirnm ? ? m? | We Set Some Higher Goals In Adulthood A friend in Chapel Hill has set a high goal for himself this year. He's working on a private pilot's license. He says it's tough finding the time to practice, but we're all pulling for him. He flies around the state in one of those two-seater airplanes with a flight instructor who knows where the airports arc that arc close to great restaurants. Last week he flew to Lynchburg, Va., and back, all in an afternoon. He has flown solo already, and as tradition would have it, his shirttail hangs in the clubhouse at Horace Williams Airport, along with others who have made that brave step into the wild, blue yonder. Flying buddies talk about a place in western North Carolina where there is this terrific restaurant that sits right next to a runway. They fly there for lunch and then fly back home, to return to their jobs or families. It all has the convenience of just taking a ride down the street to the local waffle house. But this story isn't just about flying or down home cooking, it's about goals and dreams. Every time we see or call one an Terry f 't Pope .*4 other, our conversation eventually focuses on our goals. Me? I'm working on my college thesis, hop ing to complete it this year, which is when Russell would also like to ob tain his license. We both hold full time jobs. Goals seem harder to achieve when you become an adult. Maybe we just start setting higher goals for ourselves? Or can't seem to find the time to reach them. We kid one another about how we'll be old men one day and we'll still be talking about getting that de gree or pilot's license. It's funny, yet it's also scary. To me it is. We have been friends since the fifth grade. When I do things, I want to do things right. Here's an example. I took my camera lo Chapel Hill on a visit rcccntly and used the largest zoom lens I own, a 200 mm, to try to get shots of Russell landing the plane. He was practicing touch and go landings. I still don't know why pilots do that. Maybe it has something to do with what would happen if they are forced to pull out of a landing at the last second. He wanted to do his best for the pictures, and 1 wanted to do my best work behind the camera. It was a bright, sunny day and the only loca tion safe near the runway had me staring into the sun. The plane would come out blackened by shad ows in the shots. Even though I got as close to the runway as safety would allow, it wasn't close enough. Also, 1 forgo; to set the film speed. 1 shot a roll of 100 speed film at 400 speed, which means the roll would come out underdeveloped with the pictures looking fuzzy. 1 didn't realize what I had done until I was taking the film out of the cam era. Not only did the pictures have terrible shadows, but they were fuzzy shadows. Oh well, I incsscd up. There will be another time. But I'm always thinking about tilings that I want to do today, not years from now. I'm already starting to think about things 1 should have done in college 10 years ago. We assure one another that we'll reach our goals. That's what friends are for, reassurance. He asks, "When 1 get my liccnsc and fly down to Wilmington, will you tly back to Chapel Hill with me?" 1 hesitate slightly, but then I say 1 will. It's something that will mean a lot to both of us, if we're not loo old to enjoy it. I'll stiil have to work on getting over my fear of Hying though. And 1 add, "If the FAA says you arc a pilot, then I'll hop in the plane with you." "You'll trust my Hying?" he asks. Well, reassurance is most important here. It would thrill me if we both achieve those goals at once ? he get his pilot's liccnsc and I finish my thesis right on time. I'll take my carnera-and get better shots the next time. Agitators In Every County And State Marjorie Megivern top-quality nature museum stands as his handiwork. Would insiders have ever built it? "Insiders" are usually bom, raised and die in the same place and cannot fathom why anyone _____ would want to travel, visit or live anywhere else. In the tiny Texas town where I spent 18 years, a community leader proudly declared he would never go so far away he couldn't sec his town's water tower. My own father in-law, permanenUy settled in a little corner of Missouri, always had the same response when someone suggested he visit a particular city. "Why? I didn't lose anything there," he would say. Now, "outsiders," on the other hand, arc often gad abouts; otherwise they'd never become outsiders in some new and strange environment. Unless uprooted by necessity of job changes, marriage or natural disaster, they probably have a curiosity about other places and people. Generally they have experienced a variety of communities and ways of doing tilings and they enjoy experimentation. That's why they come up with good ideas for the "insiders" when they become acquainted with their new home town. They see the place with fresh eyes and if there's a problem or need, they have a background of soluuons that have worked somewhere else. Whether it's school improvements, a new way to handle traffic, or schemes to fill the cultural gaps, these upstart "fur rincrs" very often put new life in staid old societies. This is not to denigrate "insiders." Many of them arc willing to go along and when ideas begin to flow, they find they have some to contribute. If they arc not stub bornly hidebound against the intervention of newcom ers, they can be invaluable in helping the implementa tion of those innovative suggestions. In fact, their - ? ?? ?* h m knowledge of pilfalls anil procedures can be vital, as long as they don't pull out the old chestnut, "But we've always done it THIS way!" Every county, every town needs outsiders and should cncouragc their participation. Ocean Isle Beach was fortunate and smart enough to welcome the likes of Stuart Ingram into their community some time ago. He, in turn, was fortunate and smart enough to ally himself with local talent and brains in the birthing of his brain child museum. Certainly he could not have accom plished it alone and the folks on his board of directors, he insists, rule the operation. When everything that's best about a settled commu nity is married to the best of the immigrant crowd flow ing into it, some high-powered parenting takes place. Born of this merger arc better schools, town govern ment, artistic endeavors and social life. And in the South Brunswick Islands, the "outsider" influence has brought us a museum in which every in sider can take great pride.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 23, 1992, edition 1
4
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75