PHOTO BY B1U FAVl*
Occan waters mean more to us than recreation; our very life depends upon them.
The Great Moderator, Equalizer
BY BILL FAVER cultivation of the intellect and formation of the
Those of us who live near the occan and enjoy all ils character of nuiny nations, on the multiplication
benefits sometimes forget how im- of those bonds which should unite the whole hu
po riant it is to all of life. We over- man race, on the first knowledge of the true form
look the fascinating creatures the of the earth, and on tlw pursuit of astronomy,
oceans provide, and we take for and of all the mathematical and physical sci
T'j granted the cycles which are dc- ences.
pendent upon the waters for their Another important part of the ocean world is the cf
* functioning. feet of the water on the emotions and feelings. We en
'n a beautiful and well-written joy the attempts of poets and writers when they ex
' v -d volume called. The Water World, press our feelings and our longings in their words. We
published in 1885, Professor J.W. experience the healing and restorative powers of the
Van Dervoort, reminded us: waters, whether or not we enter them. We feel the
I-aver '/Vie ocean is essential to breezes and the sunshine and know release and hope
the existence of nun and of all vegelation; it is and renewal.
the great moderator and equalizer of terrestrial The professor also observed, "It is so fixed and true
climates, purifying the atmosphere that we in its work that nothing can throw it out of gearing."
breathe and sending off a perpetual supply of That may have appeared true in 1885, but 100 years
vapors, which condense into clouds, and are the later we know the "great moderator and equalizer" is
sources of moisture and fertility to the soil. We in real danger from pollution, development, over-fish
must also think of the facilities afforded for an ing, and global wanning.
intercourse with distant nations. It has been re- We need again to affirm the importance of the
marked that contact with the ocean has unques- oceans to our own physical and emotional well-being,
tionably exercised a beneficial influence on the along with all of life.
GUEST COLUMN
'Packing' For School: Violence
In North Carolina Classrooms
BY THOMAS C. GOOLSBY
Going to a Norxh Carolina public
school is becoming more and more
of a dangerous proposition, with ed
ucation becoming a distant second
concern behind the physical safety
of students.
Violence in our schools is becom
ing such a problem that, just as in
many other parts of the country,
scores of public school teachers arc
now choosing to send their own
children to private schools. The con
cern for their children's safety and
the desire for children to learn the
three "R's"?something that is be
coming increasingly difficult for
public school students to accom
plish?is the main motivation be
hind this trend.
Over the past several years, the
incidence of students carrying guns
to school in North Carolina has risen
dramatically. The Juvenile Law
Study Commission and the School
Board Association are both support
ing bills before the General Assem
bly that are designed to hold parents
responsible for negligently allowing
their children to carry guns to
school.
Firearms in schools arc now a
fairly common event to read about
in the newspaper. Perhaps the most
shocking part of the situation is that
many times the students carrying the
guns to school arc the "good guys
and gaL." They arc otherwise good
kids who have decent grades and no
past discipline problems. They arc
packing a gun to school in an at
tempt to protcct themselves or their
friends from the more seedy ele
ments in public education.
What's the answer to violence
and fear in the public schools? Let's
look back to when public education
worked better than it docs now.
When I was in school, the leathers
and school administrators had the
authority and the power to punish. I
feared the wrath of my teachers
much more than the wrath of any
bully. I never feared for my life, and
it never crossed my mind to bring a
gun to school in order to protect my
self from the threats of the class bul
lies.
If kids were really bad, the juve
nile justice system plucked them
from the public school and they
went off to "reform" school for "ex
tended periods," not the "extended
vacations" of today. Nor were the
bad boys and girls merely kicked
from one school to another as is
standard policy in many instances
today. The constant troublemakers
who were not bad enough to be sent
off to reform school were placed in
a special class run by a big, gruff
and mean "coach" who basically ba
by-sat these uneducable miscreants
until they reached age 16 and could
drop out of school.
Was this policy cruel and uncar
ing? Under today's standards of
coddling criminals and ignoring vic
tims, yes it prohably was. But back
when I was in school, education had
the top priority and the psychobab
ble of modem sch(X)l counselors and
the complaints of the other, all too
numerous, "administrators" whose
jobs involve anything but education,
were rarely heard. The students who
wished to receive an education were
allowed to do so, free from the fear
and intimidation of young thugs,
drug dealers and gang members.
Today we choose to sacrificc the
potential of many gcnxl students lor
the much talked about, but rarely
seen, rehabilitation of the few young
criminals in our public schools. The
good suffer and the bad merely get
worse. We hire more counselors to
help everyone "talk out" their prob
lems. We employ more security
guards, write more laws and pur
chase metal detectors. We arc more
than happy to write off the good stu
dents and any chance that they
might have in making something of
themselves because we don't want
to admit that some kids are too far
gone for public education.
It's lime for the politicians, school
administrators and public safety of
ficials to come down from their
ivory towers and face the real world.
Our children are in school to be edu
cated. not to perform some type of
social experiment. Our schools must
be made sale, and we have our own
past to guide us.
"Kick the bums out" if need be.
Place the priority on the education
of the cducable children and keep
the thugs out of our schools. Make
the North Carolina school system a
safe environment where children are
free to learn, not a haven for young
criminals and brutes to prey upon
the helpless who will learn nothing
but fear and victimization.
Thomas Goolsby is the editor of
Carolina Syndicated Columns and
an attorney in Durham.
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Familiarity
Breeds...Bubba
In defense of the rights of all hu
man subpopulaiions, including Sou
thern white males, not to be stereo
typed. let me just say one thing:
Bubha indeed.
It seems that along with our new
president we get "Bubba" maga/inc,
"Celebrating the First Bubba Pres
ident."
And the gourdhcads among my
ow n subpopulation of newspaper re
porters and editors aren't embar
rassed to go after it like flics on a
roadkill with writing like this:
"If you measure stock perfor
mance in NASCAR points, rather
than Dow ones, read on.
"If you thought 'thirtysomcthing'
was how many beers SI5 ought to
buy at the 7-Elcvcn, your time has
finally arrived along with that fella
from Razorback country."
It makes me want to retch, and
not because I perceive Bill Clinton
as any kind of sacred cow. Quite the
contrary. Tear him to shreds for his
ideology, his economic policy, his
position on gays in the military, his
dalliancc with Gcnnifcr Flowers or
the letters he wrote in college.
Knock yourself out making fun of
his hair, his thighs, his saxophone
playing, his wife's hat and his
daughter's cat.
But before you defend this Bubba
thing as all in fun, ask yourself
whether my colleagues at the Asso
ciated Press would embrace in the
same spirit of mirth a new publica
tion making chitlin' and watermelon
jokes about a newly clcctcd Pres
ident Jesse Jackson,.
Or if they would giggle along in
such good nature if Mario Cuomo or
I -V
Carlson - >
Paul Tsongas were the new com
mander in chief, and be as eager to
puhlici/.c materials satirizing their
respective Italian and Greek her
itage.
No, I'm pretty sure that some
where between Boss Hogg and
Stcppin' Fetchit is where the sacred
cow boundary lies. And, to borrow a
Bubba-ism, that dawg won't hunt.
The ugly stereotype of South
erners as slack-jawed inbreeding im
beciles got fresh national media ex
posure a couple of months ago when
Georgia native and former "Today
Show" talking head Deborah No
rville turned her incisive ga/c on the
Kenneth Register murder trial in
South Carolina.
In a decidedly pro-Register piece
broadcast nationwide in the middle
of the trial, one of N'orville's inter
view subjects concluded that Regis
ter's DNA samples would be incon
clusive because Conway, S.C., like
many small Southern towns, is so
inbred that, heaven knows, every
body's genetic fingerprint looks just
alike.
Uncle Granddaddy and I agreed
to give it an A for imagination. The
jury, nonetheless, sent Register up
the river.
Some of my journalistic peers are
also having a ball with the Calabash
Carolina Shores separation issue on
the same grounds, of coursc.
That old Civil War analogy is jusl
too tasty for them to pass up?it's so
much more colorful than the mun
dane reality that Districts 1 and 2 arc
for the most part squabbling over
grass-mowing, neon signs and
garbage hauling.
Besides, when you whip up a lit
tle "Grapes of Wrath" or "Mr. Smith
Goes to Washington" imagery,
you've got yourself a story people
can hold onto.
Here, pick a stcrotypc:
?Hard-working salts of the earth
struggle against the oppression of a
throng of restless Carpetbaggers
who no longer have to make a living
and arc determined to make it im
possible for anyone else to, in the
proccss breaking the spirit and defil
ing the heritage of this quaint fishing
village; OR
?Slovenly backwoods Rebels re
sist and fail to appreciate the effec
tive, efficient government developed
for them as a precious gift by their
more experienced and sophisticated
new neighbors from the urbane
North who have given themselves
unflinchingly to toiling in the vine
yards of the common good.
It may be clever stuff to read if
you have no contact with the reali
ties at hand, but it's wearing a little
thin around this neck of the woods.
Ain't it, Billy Bob?
MORE LETTERS
If Government Waste Were Cut,
We Could Afford Needs, Wants
To ihe editor:
Alter reading Mr. Carlson's col
umn in the Feb. 25 issue of the
Beacon, 1 came to the conclusion
that he, as I, should have been born
at the turn of the century, when
times were not as complicated.
1 agree that the owner of Bird
Island has every right to develop her
property. Alter all, didn't the early
owners of Holden, Ocean Isle and
Sunset beaches have that right? I al
so agree that it would be wonderful
to have the funds to purchase Bird
Island and preserve its natural beau
ty
We would have had these funds if
our government had not spent so
much money to study gas emissions
from cow "flatulence." Now, if you
don't know what that word means, I
suggest you get out your dictionary
because S19 million of our tax dol
lars was spent just for that study.
Shallotte Inlet and Tubbs Inlet are
in serious need of dredging. We
could do this, but again, our govern
ment chose to spend S2 million to
construct a replica of an ancient
Hawaiian canoe.
Holden Beach wants their canals
dredged, but NO!! Their tax money
went to a private institution to study
the sex life of Japanese quail?
S107,000 worth.
Sunset Beach and Holden Beach
need a sewer system. Maybe they
could use some of the $350,000 in
tax money spent to renovate the
House Beauty Salon; part of the
S800.000 spent for a restrooin on
Mt. McKinlcy; ihe SKX).(XX) spent
to study how lo avoid falling space
craft; or one of the most ridiculous
government expenditures, that of a
study costing us S 160,000 to sec if
you can hex an opponent by draw
ing an X on his chest!
These are noi figures lhal were
just pulled out of the air. They came
right out of the federal budget.
So here we sit in Brunswick
County with our beaches eroding
and our septic tanks backing up,
while our congressman voted to
spend S6 million to upgrade the two
block-long Senate subway.
It appears to me lhal every time
our government gels a piece of ham,
we should, at least, gel a piece of
bologna. So come on, Congressman
Rose, did you really need to spend
S57.000 for gold-embossed playing
cards for Air Force Two, or SI0,000
to study the effect of Naval commu
nications on a bull's potency?
It would probably have been okay
to spend all those millions to reha
bilitate the S.C. mansion of Charles
Pinckncy, a framcr of our Consti
tution. Unfortunately, the house was
built after he died. Let's face it, we
needed more of lhal tax money to
put with the S150.000 wc spent to
study the Hatfield-McCoy feud.
Maybe I'm wrong for thinking
that our government is wasting our
tax dollars, but I didn't come down
in the last shower of rain. I'm sure
that feud was over years ago!
Now it appears that our govern
ment needs more of our hard-earned
tax dollars to pay for more of these
absurd projects.
Ken Proctor
Ocean Isle Beach
Do Retirees Count?
To the editor:
Wc are being told that the
wealthy will bear the brunt of the
proposed tax increases and iliat the
increases arc fair. Those who are re
tired and drawing Social Security
benefits need to take a close look at
how they will be affcctcd. The cur
rent threshold that triggers federal
taxability of 50 percent of Social
Security benefits is S32,(XX) for a
couple. The test for that threshold is
arrived at by totaling adjusted gross
income plus any non-taxable interest
income plus 50 percent of Social
Security benefits.
Let us assume a couple with other
income of S26,(XX) and total Social
Security benefits of SI2,(XX). That
couple would be at the threshold
(S26,0(X) plus 50 percent of
S12,(XX)). Using standard deduc
tions, exemptions and 1993 Tax
Schedule Y-l, I calculate that couple
would owe S3,165 of federal income
taxes.
Using the same assumptions and
applying the paiposed taxability rate
of 85 percent of Social Security ben
efits, 1 conclude the couple could
now owe S4.211 in federal income
taxes?an increase of SI,046 or 33
percent! In my own ease 1 have esti
mated an increase of 18 percent.
Where is the fairness? Would the
couple in the example be considered
wealthy? Would they not be among
the middle-incomers that Clinton is
so concerned about, or is it that re
tirees just don't count'* We. would
also bear the burden of the new en
ergy taxes.
1 agree that we need to do some
thing about the federal deficit, and I
am willing to do my part. However,
I honestly believe the Social
Security proposal is unfair.
Joseph Wilson
Carolina Shores
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