Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / April 30, 1992, edition 1 / Page 4
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Op\r,\or, Page Wl BRUNSWICK? oE^'^ Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers Edward M. Sweatt Editor Susan Usher News Editor Terry Fu^e Staff Writer Doug Rutter Sports Editor Maijorie Meglvern Associate Editor Peggy Earwood Office Manager Carolyn H. Sweatt -Advertising Director Tlmberley Adams. Cecelia Gore and Linda Cheers J\.dvertistng Representatives Dorothy Brennan and Brenda Clemxnons Moore ..Graphic Artists William Manning Pressman Lonnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman Tracy Smith Photo Technician Phoebe Clernmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation PAGE 4-A, THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1992 Who, Me Vote? No Thanks! So you don't plan to vote next week! You don't have time? You don't like any of the candidates and you're convinced the u'tnnorc *im 1 1 turn Ant tr% Vv> 1nc<*rc') Vr\n rlnn't \rmir \rr\to *? iiinviu ?> tit tut t ? v/ v4i w ?v ?? . ? vm vivn ? tyvnv ? v- ? vu> ? v iv matters? What a lot of good excuses! Life is pretty frantic for most of us. Who has time to find their voting precinct or stand in line? What a bore! And all those names facing you on the ballot... .they're just politicians, and you know how crummy they all are. When did an elected official do anything good in office? And how in the world could one person's vote even be noticed, anyway? If you can live with any of that rationale-and far more than half the country's registered voters do-just be prepared to keep your mouth shut next year as governments from City Hall to the White House make their decisions. Don't say a word about your taxes, the roads in front of your house or the miserable educa tion your child or grandchild is getting. You are no doubt content to let perfect strangers choose who will run a portion of your life. That small percentage of time wasting, idealistic, foolish people who actually have nothing better to do than mark ballots are determining whether or not some dingbat slips his weird ideas into school planning or that ambitious politico gets control of county government and spends your taxes on a new airport. Your life will be affected by all these people who win elec tions, but it's fine that somebody you don't even know put them in office. Probably you won't even understand, much less care, about something else you give up when you stay home on Tuesday. There is a symbolism about the act of voting. It's one of the few actions open to everybody in this country who cares enough to register and go to the polls, and there's really something thrilling about it. As you stand in line with your neighbors, you can think of dozens of other nations where you might get shot for doing this, places where people are fighting and dying for the privilege. You can feel part of a long line of Americans who. for more than 200 years have valued the freedoms of this country, even with its flaws, and have been proud to have a voice in maintaining them. If you want a real laugh on election day, get this: There are those rare citizens who go beyond registering and voting and actually study the candidates and research their issues. This is that rare breed, an informed voter, a real patriot. Can you be lieve it? Who wants all that hassle, anyway? It's far more fun to grab a six-pack and settle down in front of the tube. Election day? Just another irritating excuse to pre-empt your favorite sitcom, broadcasting the names of people who will run your life. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Bypass Warning Device Could Work Here , Too To the editor. I have followed with interest the debate and the controversy over the U.S. 17 Bypass around Shallotte. A similar situation existed on a West Virginia road-Route 19 north out of Beckley, W.Va. The problem was solved electronically. The warning lights, set about one lourth mile from the intersection, do not flash continuously, as they do on tin; U.S. 17 Bypass. The warning lights only flash when the traffic light is going to change from green to red. This allows the through traf fic, traveling at 55 to 60 mph, time to slow down. A sign placed at the warning lights advises the driver "when the lights are flashing, the signal is aboul to change". The electronic de vice works in West Virginia and it will work here. I also wonder about the opposi tion to the new Post Office at Sea side. Why did the opposition wail until the building was complete be fore voicing their opposition? Is there a political or personal motive? I was under the impression that the Post Office in Shallolle will still exist, and that all the services will still be there. If tins is true, why all the fuss? George V. Rowe Sunset Beach 'Let The Chips Fall Where They May' To the editor. The following is a response to the editorial, "Just Give Us The Facts, Ma'am," which was in the April 23rd Beacon. 1 will not comment on the ru mored 1 .2 and the DA's .032 results of the blood test for alchol content. I do take exception to "tinkering with the laws" and "evidence of careless driving". Tinker is a word for cover up. To tinker with the law for the reasons you give is absurd. You already have "Freedom of the Press," which gives you the right to print or not to print. Nowhere in the docket do I find a ihargc or conviction for careless dn ving. Reckless driving is common in the docket. The victim is not even mentioned in this editorial. This person was turning into his own driveway. The impact of Ms. Baxter's car moved his three-quarter ton truck over 60 feet; the car continued through an open field until it was stopped by a utility pole. Speaking as a victim, who spent three months in a hospital, I do not call this an accidcnt caused by "careless driving". We should be grateful that the victim did not end up a statistic and let the chips fall where they may. Eileen Kcllaghcr Long Beach Voters Are Getting Excited Again I stand amazed. Just when it looked like another blah election year, voters all across Amcnca are getting cxcited. They think they've found a REAL choice, something or somebody different from the poli tics-as-usual breed. They like Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot. Excuse me, the national press says Americans love Perot. Not because of his positions on the issues, but because he's pcrccivcd as a leader, a man of action, a man who makes things happen and gets things done. I've even been templed to sign the petition to get Perot on the ballot in North Carolina, and 1'tn not a peti tion signer. However, I am a dis satisified voter, though not for en tirely the same reasons as some oth er people 1 know. If Perot docs make the ballot, who knows what will happen when 1 step into the voting booth this fall. In some past years, I've been so unde cided a quarter has come in handy. Generally, American voters aren't happy with the way the country's going. And while wc all have to Susan Usher s r* { T& > share ihe blame for the trends we see and the failure to correct them, most of us arc happy to shove the bulk of that blame on somebody else. Congress and the Presidency are good places to start; after all, the folks up there arc supposed to set an example, aren't they? He's not the stereotypical candi date; he's different And believe me, they've had enough of the rest. Perot is different and he's draw ing dissatisfied voters the way hon VJ vuuw J 1MVO. At the national level, 1 don't think the reporters know yet whether to take the draft Perot campaign seri ously; otherwise they probably would have been "digging" deeply m into his background even more quickly than they have. What would they find if they did? Possibly just what the man appears to be; I don't know. That same group of reporters ap pears to be a little nervous because Perot hasn't been easy to pigeon-hole. No one has handed him a platform based on public opinion research cor related to a national party platform. What we're hearing from Perot, I think, is what he thinks. Apparently, like most of us, he's a hybrid when it comes to the issues, part-liberal, pan conservative, evolving. As a journalist, I was taught to fo cus on the issues in a campaign, to pin the candidates down, force them to take positions and to fuss at them if their positions change. But is that realistic? My own views vary issue to issue, shaped in part by my own personal experi ences and are in a continuous siaie of change. I figure if my position on an issue is subject to change as 1 leam about an issue, have experi ences relating to it or hear about oth ers' experiences, then maybe it's okay for a candidate to be the same way. In fact I would probably won der about a person whose view nev er, ever changed. These days I don't think it's as important how a candidate views a specific issue as how he or she ap proaches the decision-making pro cess, and the factors that have shaped them as individuals. Attitude is especially important. Most of us haven't been really ex cited about any candidate for public office in a long time. We needed a jump start and Perot's just that, a jolt of electricity across an otherwise faded landscape. Win or lose, his involvement in this presidential campaign will have been good for us, bringing some people back into the political process who had given up interest and hope. Win or lose, his success in the pe titioning process should send Dem ocratic and especially Republican leaders scurrying back to the draw ing board, trying to figure out what Perot offers that their candidates and their platforms don't. Don't Just Vote For A Pretty Name I've been listening to and reading media rhetoric from all the politi cians, but it was my visit the other night to a candidates' forum that brought back vividly my own fling with elective office. Fourteen years ago I was seized with the idealistic fever of public service and ran for the New Hanover County school board. Having taught, reported on education, shep herded four children through the ed ucation mills, and presented dramat ic programs in the schools for many years, 1 considered myself a unique expert on the subject. Oh, the grandiose plans 1 had for improving everything from teachers' working conditions to central office efficiency! However, 1 had not counted on the disgusting farce of campaigning to get elected. After several months of eating fried fish and shaking strange hands. I wasn't sure I had any idealism left, not to mention energy. The kind of lorums where candi dates actually talked about their goals and their educational concerns were stimulating and enjoyable. 1 liked answering questions, hearing what my opponents had to say, and gauging the needs and complaints of Marjorie Megivern the public. However, these events were the ones where candidates outnumbered the audience. There was no great rush to attend substantive, informa tive gatherings, especially if no re freshments were served. No, the crowds came out lor the big blowouts in a park or stadium, where hot dogs and fish and gallons of soft drinks provided motivation. Here, speaking time was severely limited, if allowed at all, and the noise of the masses drowned out any serious dialogue. It look me only a few weeks to re alize 1 was not cut out for political jousting, that I was happier on this side of the reporter's pad and could withstand just so much phoniness and party whoopla without running for fresh air. Soon, 1 just wanted the whole thing to be over. Then the darnedest thing hap pened. I was elected! I was one of the top vote-getters, in fact, in my first (and last!) time out as a politi cian. How did this happen? How it happened is the point of these remarks, a sad and cynical commentary on the voting public. 1 had been on stage frequently in Wilmington's community theater, had become known as a reporter and married a professor whose some what controversial name was be coming a household word. I'm con vinced that simply on the basis of name recognition people pulled my lever and hoped for the best. That election could not have been based on much real understanding of my views or qualifications; there just weren't enough occasions when we candidates talked seriously and people listened. If voters facing zil lions of names on a ballot have heard litde but "sound bites" for months, they are inclined to go for any name that's familiar. Unless that well-known moniker belongs to a convicted child molester, it gets more attention than the most su premely qualified stranger. This practice continues, I'm a fraid, through the present campaign. The lorum I recently attended re minded me of it because all but two of the candidates were unknown. Several appeared to be superb prospects for the school board and, in my opinion, the two "names" are in that category. Just suppose they had been, like some of the others, extremists, egotists or uninformed about issues. My hunch is they would still get the lion's share of the votes. There's no excuse but laziness for this method of choosing officials. Not only docs the media, especially newspapers, present information on which to base a choice, but public forums are held ad infinitum, to give us the chance to see candidates close up and ask them questions. Remembering how 1 was un leashed on an unsuspecting public, I would plead with voters to take the time and effort to make use of these educational opportunities and to vote with some understanding of the people behind those names. It so happens I turned out to be a pretty good school board member, but that was pure luck. Don't be fooled by a name you know and as a result get an official you would like to forget. Speak As Though Every Syllable's Golden When they gave out voices, I must have been at the back of the line. For whatever reason, the voice I ended up with isn't a rich baritone, tenor, bass or anything in between. It simply wears out at the end of a long day. Rest helps it to recover. The more I talk the weaker it gets. Over the years I've grown to judge how far I can push the throat box, and I try to slay within the limits everyday. I don't sing either ? but I never could. People ask me to speak up over the telephone. They say it politely, at first, like there must be a bad con nection somewhere. Then I realize that I've forgotten that my voice doesn't carry well over lite receiver, so I speak a little louder. Some thought it would be a prob lem when 1 wanted to (each high school. My college supervisor, dur ing my student teaching, wailed un til the semester was over before he ? -**$. 4-. told mc, "I didn't think you were go ing to make it." They fed me to 'he lions at my al ma mater, North Biunswick High in Leland. I got an A, g?xxl evaluations from my supervisor and had fun teaching in the process. There is this myth about persons born with soft voices, that they don't always gel what they want, that they can't demand control over a class room or meeting and that the voice box matches their aggressiveness in life. It's just a myth. I'm finally speak - Terry Pope ing up for all of the quiet people in the world. It's time we've had our say. In the classroom, students at first didn't know how to take me as a teacher. They were used to being yelled at. They told me so. Being yelled at doesn't make some people listen. Kids can easily tune out an authority figure with a big mouth. So what we quiet people do is use that silence to our advantage at limes. We talk as if every syllable is golden. In the classroom, if you real ly have something important to say in a learning environment people will strain their ears to listen. And when normally quiet people do raise their voices, people listen. Like those old E.F. Mutton commer cials. When E.F. Mutton talks, peo ple listen. But after five classes each day, my voice needed rest every night. Sometimes in the news business, it escapes me as well. It'll run and hide at times. But in the morning it's another day. Recharged for another 12 hours. The same myths relate to the job 1 perform as a basketball referee. Some assume that only big mouths can qualify for officiating or even play the game. I'm out to prove them wrong. In fact, fans do not go to games to watch officials. If officials are doing their jobs well, they are invisible on the court. They do not need to yell and make theatrical performances after every play. But we baule the stigma anyway. Some of us turn to writing our thoughts down instead of speaking them. Now that's a thought! People with plenty of adrenaline in the throat have no idea what this column is all about. They take their voices, all too often, for granted. When that line formed to give out voices, those people somehow talked their way to the front.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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April 30, 1992, edition 1
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