Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Sept. 29, 1994, edition 1 / Page 4
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Opinion Page THE BKUNSWKKftfEACON Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers Lynn Sweatt Carlson Editor Susan Ushor News Editor Doug Rutter Sports Editor Eric Carlson Staff Writer Mary Potts A Peggy Earwood Office Managers Morrey Thomas Advertising IMiector Tlmberley Adams & Linda Cheers Advertising Representatives Dorothy Brennan A Brenda Clemmons Moore Graphic Artists William Manning J*ressman Lonnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman PAGE 4 -A, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1994 Brunswick Gets A Direct Voice On Fisheries Body Brunswick County should benefit from having Rep David Redwine as one of North Carolina's three representatives on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Redwine is Hunt's new appointee on the 45-member com mission comprised of gubernatorial and legislative appointees and marine fisheries directors from the 15 East Coast states. The body's mission is to address the concerns of the East Coast fish ing industry and protect and promote marine resources, a charge whose two components are continually more problematic to ful fill equitably. Brunswick County is only one of many East Coast communi ties which has seen its commercial fishing industry suffer and dwindle because of increased government regulations, decreased catches and declining water quality. It is likewise one of many where the cash cows o\ real estate development and sportfishing find themselves increasingly at economic and ideological odds ;s;:fK ? ? ? ?V* ? ro rl t ? i r\ r* <? 1 Iiifo1iKat\H IC O r ftlUI WllllIlVlVlUl 11011C1UIVU, TT IIV/vJV UUUI1IVIIUI u* VIIIIVVw ? .v! nerstone of local heritage. They're difficult issues whose ramifications are not only emotional, but historical, scientific and monetary. None can be considered in the context of any community or state, since the fallout of coastal policy floats across many boundaries. But it will be a good thing to have a direct local voice on the panel. Professors' Recommendations For Schools Make Good Sense If Americans truly desire "world-class schools," they must be willing to accept dramatic changes in the U.S. educational sys tem, including a longer school year, more homework and nation al curriculum testing. Those are a few of the recommendations of two Western Carolina University education professors in their effort to help set standards for the frequently used but never defined term "world class schools." Professors Donald Chalker and Richard Haynes compared the U.S. education system against schools in nine other nations ? Britain, Canada, France, the former Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea and Israel. They looked at 10 categories of information ? educational expen ditures, time-on-task instruction, class size, teacher education and working conditions, student involvement (including use of non school time and percentage of students remaining in school be yond compulsory attendance), curriculum, standardized testing, governance of schools, and home and community (including lit eracy rates, parent involvement and other social indicators). Their findings indicate that pouring more state and federal money into the education system is not the answer to problems in U.S. schools. The U.S. ranks second only to Canada in terms of per-pupil expenditures, and is near the top of the chart for favor able class size, student/teacher ratios and teacher preparation. Where the United States lags behind other nations is in such categories as the length of the school year, how much time is spent "on task" during the school day, and the amount of student time spent doing homework as opposed to such activities as watching television or participating in sports. The U.S. also ranks low in teacher respect and parent involvement in the education process. The professors' recommendations make good sense and should serve to remind us that until parents, students, teachers, administrators and elected officials stand together and demand high standards, hard work and strong basic skills ? regardless of the short-term consequences ? we can expect all downward trends to continue. From Runway To Tree Stand: Fashion Counts / see by your outfit That you are a cowboy. You see by my outfit I am a cowboy, too. We see by our outfits That we are both cowboys; So if you get an outfit. You can be a cowboy, too. ? The Smothers Brothers VIU u IC IUIIC Ul "Streets of Laredo") I remember following my dad around a sporting goods store in Maine one day, examining all the fascinating masculine accouterments of the hunting and fishing trades. He was particularly interested in a fancy new lure that looked like the mutant offspring of a torpedo and a pickerel, with propellers at both ends, a plastic shovel nose, a pair of beady red eyes and three sets of no nonsense treble hooks. As he carefully examined it, a crusty old store clerk walked by, peering across the top of his glasses with that calm, knowing expression typical of Buddhist monks and Maine outdoorsmen. "Does this thing really catch fish?" my dad asked, holding the big lure up so its nine savage barbs glis tened in the fluorescent store light. "Don't know," said the clerk, pausing thoughtfully. "It sure catch es fisherman." His reply springs to mind each autumn, when all the big sporting goods companies send out their an nual fall hunting catalogs. Even if I don't particularly need to order any thing, I always enjoy looking at their Eric Carlson newest offerings of rugged, long lasting clothing and equipment. What I find particularly interest ing is how they can continually cook up hundreds of new strange ? and some might say excessive ? methods of making one's self look like a tree, quack like a duck and smell like a deer. DISCLAIMER: Now don't get me wrong. I have absolutely nothing against hunting and eating animals. Without hunters, whitetail deer would starve themselves to death, destroy crops and overrun suburban neighborhoods. Vast areas of water fowl wetlands would be drained for shopping malls and condominium projects. I like venison, barbecued rabbit, squirrel stew, sautecd quail, roast duck. 1 believe the highest and best use for an angus steer is to have it chopncd intc two-inch thick filet mignons, grilled bloody rare, smoth ered in mushrooms, served with spinach salad and an Idaho spud and washed down with a hearty Bordeaux. That being said, let me add that I will never cease to be amazed at the ridiculous things outfitters try to sell hunters, when pretty much all they really need is a gun and some bul lets. Take camouflage, for example. You may not believe this, but years ago, hunters somehow managed to bag their limit of all kinds of geme while wearing nothing more exotic than khaki pants and a plaid wool coat. Nowadays, your typical hunting mag will devote at least 30 pages to nothing but camouflage clothing. There are at least a hundred different prints available. You can get camouflage that looks like tree bark, or tree leaves, or tree limbs. Or there's tree bark with limbs and leaves in front, or leaves with limbs in front. There arc green leaves and fall leaves and grey bark and brown bark. Far northern hunters can get just about any of these with a snow white background. Those who want to avoid becoming game themselves can get their camouflage in orange. There's even an "urban camou flage," which presumably allows you to blend in .vith buildings and graffiti. (I'll leave you to consider what the quarTy might be.) Naturally, today's camouflage fashions come with suitably alluring names like Timber Ghost, Blaze Horizon, Orange Mirage. Skyline Ultimate, Konifer and Mossy Oak Tree Stand. As you read this actual descrip tion of "Branch Bark" camouflage The Gyik4 Unknown Ncfib Carolina Polices STATEWIPE JUDIOAL /"AMDID/TE5 <Pl1Vi (quoted verbatim from the new "Cabela's" catalog), imagine a burly deer hunter clumping down a Paris fashion runway... Nearing the end, he turns on his lug-soled camouflage boots and holds open his parka to show off the contrasting "Rea'tree" suspenders as the flash bulbs pop and the announc er remarks: "Similar to the leather pattern on the back of a hen pheasant, contrast ing lights and darks can be meshed together in an array of natural tones to not only melt into almost any background, but also to reflect a three dimensional image. The over all background contrasts with the light-colored overlay branches to further enhance the appearance of being three dimensional." For those who can't take too many chances about being spotted in the woods, you can get almost any thing painted in camouflage these days. Or you can get camouflage tape to cover them up. There arc camo hip waders, camo gun stocks, camo binoculars, camo tents, camo back packs, camo sleep ing bags, camo Thermos bottles, camo wine skins, camo folding chairs, camo canoes, camo watches, camo rope, camo coolers and even a camo dog bed. One of the more ridiculous items is the camouflage pocket flashlight Think about it folks. The only time you arc going to take this item out is at night When it's too dark to sec. Too dark to see a camouflage flash light. Until you flick on the light SSuntcrs sswradays have a!! sorts of useful (and expensive) techno logical aids to help them You can buy night-vision glasses to find game in the dark. Or electronic range-finder scopes to find out how far away your target is. Or global - positioning satellite (GPS) receivers to find out where the heck you are Hut my favorite hunting products are the exotic fragrances These al low you to smell just like your game. (Maybe worse ) Imagine completing your morning shave by splashing on a little "Primetime Doc Estros" or "Coon Cover" natural raccoon urine. Who needs Right Guard when you can smear on a little "Doe Eslrus Gel," which includes "secretions dunng breeding." Or bow about a whiff of "Fresh Scrape," which is described thusly: "Along with urine from a doe in heat plus a buck in rut, also in cludes tarsal gland secret ions" I wonder if these hunting outfit ters have perfume snipers like the big department stores, to spray you with this stuff when you walk in the door? Makes me wanna go. What One Sourcebook Almost Has It All? Where do you turn to place as wide a variety of information at your fingertips as possible through a sin gle, easy-to-use source? The encyclopedia? Nah, it's good, but cumbersome. Not a world al manac, it's too limited. Maybe a good computer database, but that re quires a computer. It's a question I've pondered (however lightly) since reading Lynn's column on that perennial de light, the farmers' almanac, and thinking about my own bookshelf. Next to the The Holy Bible, which has advice on every enduring sub ject there is, the best single topical reference source, to my way of thinking, is The New York Public Library Desk Reference , published in 1989. Billed as "the ultimate one-vol Susan Usher ume collection of the most frequent ly uMivhi information," it was a ma jor project. The editors admit to hav ing had some difficult choices to make regarding content. Can't you imagine them wran gling into the night? "Forget the address for Internet. What we've got to have space for is semaphore code. I get a call a day on that." "And wc can't ncglect the Beaufort Scale of Wind Force," in sists another. "Or the geological time charts." "And wc can't leave out the pen nant series winners..." "What about the rules for playing pinochle and a recipe for Harvey Wallbangers?" Reams of trivia relating to almost any field you can imagine, from ar chitecture and bartending to geneal ogy and zoology. This compact (836-page with charts and index) volume makes a welcome gift for trivia maniacs. It's also great if you're preparing to travel abroad, trying out for Jeopardy or studying for the National Teachers Exam. Seriously, this is the first book i've seen thai turns any good reader into an instant general reference li brarian With it and a Bible, you could hang an "Information" sign over your desk and set up shop in competition with the library's refer ence desk Well, maybe. Ot you could buy the paperback version for use at home, like when you can't get to sleep or the kids need to know who invented the steam shovel and the library's closed. it also comes in hanuy when you need to remove a stain, dial a friend summering in Algeria, compute in terest or learn to do a breast self-ex amination. And by the way, they celebrated Confucius' Birthday yesterday in Taiwan. Thought you'd want to know. GUEST COLUMN There's A Case For ' Mainstreaming ' Children With Special Needs BY FRANK1E K. NICHOLS I am writing in response to a guest column in the Sept. IS issue entitled "Misplaced 'Special Needs' Kids Usurp Teaching Time Of Others." I understand parents' initial concerns as their children enter into what is supposed to be a year of fun and foun dation-learning, only to Find out their child's time is be ing shared with a child who has "special needs" and who acts out fears and frustrations against the teacher and other children. However, the child's behavior should not be blamed on the cnild, but on the school system, the parents and the community. The child is just that ? an innocent child. When anyone proposes that we throw a child out of the classroom (pronto) after only the first month of school, we have to question whether this is a fair re quest After only a short time, have we done all we can do to ensure that this child gets a "free, appropriate edu cation" as prescribed by Public Law 94-142? Is it fair to blame and reject a chiid for what his or her parents have done as in the case of a "crack baby"? Are the nonhandi capped children suffering in the classroom a* their par ents are claiming? The answer to all of these questions is no! The child is getting a free education but not an appro priate one. The chances are that he or she has not had the benefits that so-called "normal" children have had before kindergarten. Camps, Little League or preschool, for instance, are taken for granted by most children. Vacations, trips to the museum, or even visits to the park can provide the valuable social skills necessary for everyday interaction. According to Jo Douglas in her book Behavior Problems in Young Children , "Violent actions are often the result ot experimentation, anger, and frustration, or lack of self control." Consider, to use Ms Vickers Mawji's example, that you are a 5-year-old child whose only interaction has been with a sexually-abusive parent for the entirety of your short life. You are suddenly thrown into a classroom where you are expected to pay attention, raise your hand, share the toys, respect adults and interact with others. You've never been taught prop er school etiquette, but the system expects you to prac tlCC it anyway. Evciyonc Cim; kiiOwS iiOw io luiciact with the teacher, so why don't you? What is wrong with you? And then you find out. Little Sara tells you that her mommy said your daddy is bad to you. That's why you act like you do. You need "special" help, and you don't belong with the other children. You would feel augiy, anu you'd probably want to run away from your classroom, too. People don't want you there anyway. You would also wonder why you were be ing punished and why people don't like you. llie solution is simple: Early intervention, earlier than the first day of kindergarten. As parents, this is what you should be demanding from your school board ? not the immediate dismissal of a child who is having difficulty conforming to society's norms. Furthermore, research proves that nonhandicapped children as well as handicapped children benefit from the mainstreamed classroom. In an article in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Deborah Walker et al (who work for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the Bureau of Parent, Child and Adolescent Health) report the following: "Results of the few well- designed studies show that aca demic and social outcomes for both the handicapped child and for his/her nondisabled peers are better in mainstrcamed classrooms where adequate resources have been made available to the child and teacher than in more segregated settings." Ms Vickers-Mawji proved this claim herseli when she reported her daughter's reaction to the child that hit her. Children arc amazingly resilient and far !es? prejudiced in their innocence that we adults are. They can appreci ate differences and teach appropriate social interaction skills to those who do not have them. In the end, they become more understanding children, and when they be come adults, they will be more compassionate parents. Also, aj> adults they will sympathize with families who have handicapped children- -behaviorally or other wise. Rather than taking their children from the class room where a disturbed child is educated, they may fight for more resources for the teachcr, band together with the community to offer help to the families with handi capped children, or volunteer their own time to aid the teachers who do not have adequate assistance. The options are limitless, but throwing the handi capped child out of the classroom is not one. Neither is having the nonhandicapped child moved to another classroom. Finally, Ms Vickers-Mawji is justifiably concerned about the amount of instructional time that is being lost and the tax dollars being wasted as a consequence, but she needs to look further down the road. If this child were to receive an "appropriate" education as deemed by the federal government, he or she would probably show progress in a few months. However, with the kind of education that Ms Vickers-Mawji is proposing for this child, he or she will continue to get even more frustrated with school and will look forward to the day he or she turns 16 years old. (Emotionally, this child will have dropped out of school a long time ago.) With no education and no good-paying job, Ms Vickers-Mawji's tax dollars will be paying for a lot more than a few hours of instruction:;! time. Ts!k atout expensive! Why not Fight for the better investment? Give this child a fighting chance in the world, a place where he or she can take care of his or her own needs because of the appropriate education provided by the school system, the community and the parents. Withiw a few months, I will be certified to teach on the secondary level, and I know the challenges ahead are tremendous. Bui no maiier what, i won'i give up. My desire to give all children the chance they deserve is why I have chosen the teaching profession. As a teacher, I will continue to fight for the rights of ALL children be cause they all have the right to a quality education and they will get one in my classroom. I know I can't do it alone. 1 speak for all teachers when I say we need your help and understanding. Help us fight for more funding, more training, more resources and more assistants. This is the answer. The author is a former Brunswick County resident who lives in Raleigh.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Sept. 29, 1994, edition 1
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