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rE Page 4A-THE KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD-Thursday, February 24, 1994 | Opinions | 4 GUEST COLUMN THOMAS GOOLSBY Carolina Syndicated Columns ohn Fast Faets Hang 'em high "Hang'em, juice'em or gas'em and do it in front of the courthouse where the condemned criminal was sentenced to death," was the upshot of a bill recently introduced during the special session on crime by State Senator Frank Ballance, a criminal defense attorney from Warren County. Senator Ballance, Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, is apparently serious about his proposal. He introduced similar legislation a decade ago, but the bill never made it out of committee. Now he's at it again. Senator Ballance is a man with a vision. He wants to see a portable "tractor-trailer of death" going from courthouse to courthouse, complete with a flatbed trailer outfitted with a gallows, a gas chamber and an electric chair. Has the senator been up too high in the ivory tower of state government for far too long? On this issue, apparently not - in fact, Ballance has some very good reasons for wanting to bring back public ex- ecutions. According to an Associated Press interview, Ballance stated, "The death penalty is supposed to be a deterrent, but executions are held in private at 2 a.m. What I'm saying gis let's have them in daylight, out in public where people can see." The senator makes a good point. Aren't we losing a great deal of the supposed deterrent effect of the death penalty if we "do the dirty deed in Secret?" Besides, when the state takes everything that an individual has - his/her life - shouldn't we the public, in whose name the execution is performed, be made to witness the event? For those who balk at the suggestion of public exe- cutions, isn't it worse if we carry out the sentence in secret? A "reformed carnivore," i.e., a vegetarian, once told me, "You would never eat a piece of meat again if you observed the slaughtering process." Likewise, would as many North Carolinians support the death penalty if executions were performed in public? Probably so - the finality of death and the total van- quishing of the criminal, something rarely seen in to- day's world, would be of great comfort to many of our ° scared and frightened citizens. As a death penalty supporter, I have nonetheless al- ways been a bit squeamish at the thought of the state taking a life. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any trouble with the court simply handing the guilty party over to the family of the victim for a little "private jus- tice." I simply have trouble with the all-powerful and all-bureaucratic state having the power of death over its citizens. However, we don't live in a perfect world and I don't think that the North Carolina court system will begin handing convicted first degree murderers over to the victims’ families anytime soon, so I'll settle for this compromise - public executions, where a fami- ly member of the victim is allowed to throw the switch, pull the lever or otherwise send the criminal into eternity. Should Senator Ballance's bill receive serious con- sideration during this special session? Yes, it should. Will the bill be considered? Probably not - like most dirty deeds done by the state, the powers-that-be prefer to carry them out in private. Never forget, ours is not to reason why, it's simply to pay taxes and reelect in- cumbents. Our View Drug Arrest Kings Mountain Police Department 80 1 70 1 | 60 4° 50 + 40+ 30 | 204" ol 1990 1991 1992 1993 21 26 69 23 [] Drug Arrest REFLECTIONS ON RELIGION AND LIFE Rev. Harold Schwantes Pastor Central United Methodist Church Balanced budget amendment a scam The U.S. Senate is once again considering a bal- anced budget amendment, the first time since 1986 when the issue was defeated by one vote. The proposed amendment would guarantee a bal- anced budget by the year 2001, and here are the key words, "Unless three-fifths of the members of the House and Senate vote to allow a deficit." U.S. citizens need to take a look at the entire bal- anced budget proposal line by line. The method of bal- ancing a budget is as important as the act. Illinois Senator Paul Simon said, on one of the Sunday morn- ing news shows, the method used would be new taxes and cuts. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what that means. More tax money from the citizens’ paychecks, and another pass at spending cuts, which will turn out to be no cuts at all. The country doesn't need a bogus balanced budget amendment. Established 1889 Published Thursday at East King Street at Canterbury Road, Kings Mountain, North Carolina 28086, USPS 931-040, by Republic Newspapers, Inc.-2nd Class postage paid in Kings Mountain BOD ROD te cove cexsirvasses bo niirarssvius seis sionsnt se assis cased Publisher Darrell Austin ... Associate Publisher GAIY SIBWAR ...... iii aassiaissmiadsrisnis is asi tastonast Editor Elizabeth SIBWAILL........ item cess ras arasis ses siirescinst News Editor Shirley AUSHN .........cccuvusernenmeseansasens Advertising Representative BULFUION. oo es arses inimeassaras Advertising Representative Laura Hullette............coccveunnnranne Advertising Representative Nancy Miller ..... .Advertising Representative Saran Griffin... citer iiaim main. Business Manager CNBIYE PUB... iceiadisrasssisastisssinmaessiarsesnins Bookkeeper Deniece Talbert ... .... Circulation Manager Fran Black ....... .... Production Manager JUG LONG: i catia erst ass irs rm puasisditesss Graphic Artist Noman MOITSON .....c.o.cvreiniciminimnninsens Pressroom Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Gaston & Cleveland Counties: 1 Year $16.00; 6 Months $9.00. Other NC Counties: 1 Year $18.00; 6 Months $10.00. Outside NC: 1 Year $21.00; 6 Months $11.50. REPUBLIC p< NEWSPAPERS. INC. - LWA) : = Member North Carolina Press Association Postmaster: Send Address Changes to: Kings Mountain Herald: P.O. Box 769, Kings Mountain, NC 28086 Back issues, one month or older, when available, are 70¢ per copy. Your Right To Say It Faets on utility rate increases To the editor: I wanted to clarify some information I have read during the past two weeks regarding facts some people believe to be true. Here are the facts regarding utility rate increases: j NATURAL GAS There has not been an increase in gas since 1989 un- til July 1993 when rates were revised 2% for everyone. In December 1993, due to the constant fluctuation in the price of gas we purchased, the city went to a flex rate which means this rate can go down as well as up benefitting the consumer if prices fall. And, at this time a new category of customer was created to give the Supplemental Social Security Income recipients a discount equal to the discount given them in electrici- ty. This benefitted 156 fixed income families. ELECTRICITY There has not been an increase since 1987 until March 1992, when Duke Power increased its whole- sale rate 3.4%. The city was forced to pass the same rate increase, with no increase to the SSI customers. In July 1993, rates rose 2% for all customers, except for the SSI customers. Again, the most needy, a total of 217 customers, have not experienced an increase. WATER AND SEWER In July 1991, rates were increased 12% for industri- al and residential use. For the average homeowner that uses 7,000 gallons, the increase totaled $1.68. The in- crease was needed to pay the bond principal payments. In April 1992, rates increased 9% to industry and residential users to finish raising the funding level needed for payments on the bond and payments to Crowders Creek Waste Treatment Plant. Again, the av- erage homeowner paid an additional $1.67 per month. November 1992 both were increased 5% adding an- other $.88 to the residential customer. In July last year the City increased industry's rates 2.7% because of the low usage with the assumption that usage would equal las§ year's plus having a new industry in line for a total year. So in conclusion, water costs to the residential cus- tomer since 1989 has increased $4.23. GENERAL FUND In is true that the city has proposed to purchase a new fire truck. But it will not cost $500,000. It costs $250,000 and it takes a year to manufacture before we take possession and make payment. This request has been denied for funding by City Council for the past three years. But we will eventually have to purchase one. We now operate a 1960 model which increasingly is getting more difficult to find parts for. And, I think you can agree that the citizens want the best fire pro- tection possible. I want to encourage each citizen if they have any questions regarding the city to call me at City Hall for information. I am there for you regarding our city's af- fairs. I may not know they answer right away, but I will find out and give you a call. You deserve correct information to hold us accountable as your public ser- vants. Mayor Scott Neisler Fiske not independent Dear Editor: We have heard much recently about the appoint- ment of a "special counsel," Robert Fiske, to investi- gate the Whitewater-Madison Guaranty affair. We need to remember that he is not an "Independent" Counsel, as was used in prosecuting Watergate and Iran-Contra, but an appointee from Janet Reno. If memory serves us, we remember that Janet Reno fired every single U. S. District Attorney right after taking. office in order to protect Dan Rostenkowski. Just how independent is Fiske? Yes, he is as Republican , but so is Robert Packwood. Though he was named a U. S, attorney by President Ford, he re- mained in office through President Carter's term at the suggestion of Democrats - many of whom are now. in the Clinton Administration. He was a lawyer for prominent Democrat Clark Clifford in the BCCI scan- dal. He has also worked closely with new FBI Director Louis Freeh, and served under Philip Heymann, who was Chief of the Justice Department's criminal divi- sion under Jimmy Carter, and until recently, was Mr. Clinton's Deputy Attorney General. In addition, Fiske is a former law partner and protege of Lawrence Walsh, who was definitely no friend of Republicans. Mr. Tom Jipping, the director of the Free Congress Foundations' Center for Law and Democracy, points out that Fiske had tax problems of his own after he took improper deductions for a land deal. Jipping also recalls the difficulty Fiske had in maintiining confi- dentiality when running the American Bar Association's screening committee on judges. In that case, Fiske granted the radical leftist Alliance for Justice a first vetting of potential conservative Reagan judicial nominees. That caused enough backlash from conservative senators that Fiske was later blocked from an appointment to be Dick Thornburg's Deputy Attorney General under George Bush. If Richard Nixon had been fortunate enough to have had Bill Clinton, Janet Reno an Robert Fiske on his staff, he would have retired after eight years as serving as President with Watergate skillfully swept under the rug. Richmond C. Beecher, Shelby A winning effort It has been exciting to watch the events of the Winter Olympics in Norway these past two weeks. The Olympics have provided an opportunity for athletes to prove themselves in competition with the best in the world in their event. Every one of the athletes can be proud just to have been chosen to compete in the Olympics - they are all heroes in some respect. While we may personally have our nationalistic prejudices regarding our favorites and our opinions about the judging, we still respect and admire each of the medal- ists for the outstanding efforts they have made, regard- less of their nationality. It is unfortunate that the Kerrigan-Harding affair has taken so much of the Olympic spotlight. Such vicious- ness as the attack on Nancy Kerrigan makes the athlet- ic competition take a back seat to crime and the "soap opera" events that go with it. It suggests that athletes would rather win than play fair. We all lose when cheating is the name of the game: losers are made win- ners, and our world standards of excellence are low- ered. The only way that the thrill of victory can be to- tally enjoyed is when we play by the rules. A Gaston County police officer was an example of this principle recently. He was involved in a drug in- vestigation several years ago in which his testimony was used to instigate a drug raid at a county residence. Drugs were found in the raid and the persons responsi- ble were properly sentenced. But the officer could not live with the fact that he lied and had not played by the rules in catching this felon. The end did not justify the means. Even though the officer had successfully cheat- ed the system, he could not live with the guilt in his own heart. He realized you are not a hero, or even a good person, when you cheat to win. In a sense, all of us can compete successfully in the Olympics without breaking the rules. All competitors must start somewhere, and it is up to everyone to work to raise the level of competition to a higher standard. I'm not much good at any athletics, and I don't have the courage to ski down hill at 80 miles an hour. But I must try to be the best that I can be in what I do, so that the standard of excellence for the world at least has to seek to be as good as I am. Somewhere, at one time or another, all the Olympic athletes had to be as good or better than the competition to be able to com- pete in the Olympics. If they had not faced this earlier competition, it is doubtful these athletes would have worked as hard as they have to be as good as'they are now. i One of America's great downfalls in recent decades has been a loss of the desire for excellence among many workers. Both apathy and dishonesty have con- tributed to a situation where many other countries have been able to surpass America in quality and productiv- ity. We have proven in history that we can do the best, but our failure to keep the standard of excellence as our guide has allowed the competition to beat us. Consider what we could be and what we could ac- complish if we were to return to that standard again. Instead of profit taking or the "easy way," suppose ev- ery corporate board were motivated to one thing: to produce the very best. Consider what every govern- mental and private service agency could do if all who worked at every level were giving maximum service. Consider what every church, synagogue, or religious organization might accomplish were their members to labor for God's Kingdom with the same diligence as an Olympiad. Better yet, consider what you might accomplish if you were to give your very best effort to your occupa- tion, your church or service club, your family, your life. I'm not suggesting that we would all end up being interviewed on world-wide television because of our accomplishments. But I do believe we would all be happier, and this world would be a much better place to live. The Apostle Paul gives us good advice and his own personal witness about this in his letter to the Philippians, and with it, I close: "Beloved, I do not consider that I have made the goal my own; but this one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and strain- ing forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God." Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind. The NCAA and its double standards What is it with the NCAA? They are always so high-minded about players. They will punish a college severely for allowing a dirt poor country boy to re- ceive a $60 pair of shoes as a gift, but they will allow some of their coaches to run around acting like barbar- ians and brainless bullies. Temple coach John Chaney is the latest to display his immaturity. Last week his team lost a one point game to the University of Massachusetts, and Chaney went wild after the game. ‘He charged into a news conference, where the Massachusetts coach was being questioned, yelling and screaming epithets. He told the world, via ESPN, that he would "kill him!" He had to be restrained or he might have attacked the winning coach. Chaney's punishment was a one game suspension, nothing for the university. If one of the Temple players had been caught selling a ticket, the University would have been suspended from post-season play for a year or so and not allowed to appear on television for a cou- ple of years, costing the institution millions. You decide which is the worst infraction. Northwestern basketball coach, Ricky Byrdsong ran amok in the gym at a game and refused to take part in coaching activities. He went up into the stands running around yelling and acting like a wild man. I don't even know if the NCAA or the college took action. JM HEFFNER Columnist Byrdsong has taken a leave of absence, probably to cover himself. He has stated that he was stressed out and that he would "seek the counsel of friends, col- leagues and professionals recommended to me by the university." One of the friends will probably be John Thompson of Georgetown. Thompson is the godfather of black coaches and the NCAA appears to be scared stiff of him. The whole shooting match reminds me of the antics of Bobby Knight, the godfather of white coaches, also feared by the NCAA. Knight, as you will recall has thrown a metal chair across a basketball court while a game was in progress, kicked a ball during a game, kicked his son during a game and slapped one of his players during a game. He usually gets the standard NCAA punishment for coaches, a one game suspen- ston. Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes, a few years back, grabbed a Clemson player by the neck and slugged him during a bowl game. I'm not sure, but I don't think Hayes was punished at all. The only coaches I know of who lost their jobs for alleged misbehavior are Dana Kirk of Memphis State and Jim Valvano, and they were punished by their uni- versities not the NCAA. Kirk's problems had to do with misappropriation of funds as I remember it, and Jimmy V. was victimized by a hack writer. He may have been completely inno- cent. Several years ago, when Eddie Sutton was coaching at Arkansas, he left the bench during the game and took a seat in the stands. As far as I know, the NCAA remained silent. I simply don't understand why the organization uses a double standard. If Chaney had been able to get to the Massachusetts coach and punched him, would he have been suspended for the year? I doubt it, but that's what happens to a player. 1 guess it could be argued that a press conference is not part of a game. Are student athletes being properly served by coach- es who run rampant, and by an organization that turns a deaf ear to their misbehavior? I don't think so, how about you? SE
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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Feb. 24, 1994, edition 1
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