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Our View
Beware of fraud
during holidays
According to thé Association of Retired Persons
(AARP), the period between Thanksgiving and
Christmas is the prime time for fraudulent pitches by
representatives of so-called "charitable" organizations.
With disasters such as the recent hurricanes and
Oklahoma City bombing, requests increase even more.
. All citizens - and especially senior citizens - need to
be aware that many telephone fund-raising requests are
‘not legitimate. The AARP offers the following advice
when you receive a request for money:
HB Never respond to an emotional appeal from a
caller who is seeking funds to help victims of illness,
abuse, or disaster. Always demand that such callers
provide you with written information before you con-
sider giving.
BM Ask that printed information about the charity, in-
cluding its name, address and phone number, a state-
ment of how and where donated funds will be used,
and the charity's state registration number be mailed to
ou.
y BM Ask what percentage of the money you give will
be used for a charitable purpose and how much will be
kept by the fund-raiser.
= HM Never send cash to a charity or give out your
ficredit card or bank account number over the phone. If
you wish to contribute, write a check and note on it
what the donation is for.
§
& If the representative of the charity does not honor
fhe above requests, it's safe to assume their "charity"
organization is a fraud. Legitimate charities will gladly
provide you with the information you need to make an
gnformed decision.
£ If you have questions about a charitable solicitation
you receive over the phone, by mail or in person, or if
you think the solicitation is a fraud, contact the
Attorney General's Office, P.O. Box 629, Raleigh, NC
27602, phone (919) 733-7741.
Count your blessings
and give to food drive
* Kings Mountain area citizens have a unique oppor-
tunity to show special gratitude for their many bless-
ings during the Thanksgiving season.
¢ The Cleveland County Jaycees, which is comprised
of young men and women from all over the county, in
cooperation with the Kings Mountain Herald,
Cleveland Times, The Printing Press, Food Lion,
Harris-Teeter, Bi-Lo and Ingles are sponsoring a food
drive to provide a traditional Thanksgiving meal to at
least 50 needy families in the county.
Area citizens can help by donating turkeys, sweet’
potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce and fixings for
dressing and rice and gravy.
Each of the grocery stores listed above will provide
drop boxes, for canned items.
As you purchase your groceries between now and
Thanksgiving, think about your fellow citizens who
aren't as fortunate as you, and purchase some of the
above-mentioned canned goods and drop them in the
boxes as you leave the store.
If you would like to become more personally in-
volved and make a financial contribution or help dis-
tribute the food, call the Jaycees at 480-7703.
‘Page 4A - THE KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD -Thursday, November 2, 1995
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The Sid Sen En
One of my associates, Betsy Congdon, is leaving
the newspaper business to go to work in a new res-
taurant specializing in bagels. She and I have en-
gaged in spirited debate about the merit, or lack of
merit, of the bagel since she put in her notice.
Although Betsy has lived in the south for a while,
as Briscoe Darling would say, “She ain’t from around
here.” She is from Buffalo, N.Y. I have a lot of Buf-
falo jokes, but I will restrain myself.
Betsy is a willowy, blonde lady, with a ready smile
and a world of enthusiasm, especially for the bagel.
I don't like bagels. I cannot think of a single rea-
son why anyone would risk their teeth and jawbones
by eating one of those concrete-like baby inner tubes.
Betsy says I'm wrong and they are delicious. My
wife, Ann, likes bagels very much, but I can’t think
why.
Webster’s defines the bagel as a hard, glazed,
round roll with a chewy texture and a hole in the
middle. In my mind that’s about all you can say
about a bagel.
Betsy, Maria Trakas (Betsy's replacement), and I
debated the bagel extensively the other morning,
and I suggested that a good use for them might be
for roofing a house, or as replacement tires on one
of my grandson's toy trucks.
Bagels could be tied together and used as life rafts.
They could also be used as clay pigeons for trap
shooters, although I'm not too sure double ought
buckshot would damage them much.
Betsy and Maria tell me I'm being unfairly nega-
tive about bagels. When I told them bagels were
tasteless, they both disagreed. Seems they now come
in different flavors. As far as I'm concerned a straw-
berry bagel is still a challenge to the mouth and the
digestive system, regardless of the flavor.
Lots of people eat bagels smeared with cream
cheese, another flavorless item. A bagel with cream
cheese is like dry toast and pabulum, although toast
HEFENER
Guest Columnist .
Bob McRae
Superintendent
Kings Mountain Schools
does have a little flavor and is much easier to chew.
I suppose you might be able to make a bagel pal-
atable by soaking it in water for a couple of days
and dumping a bowl of hot grits and a dollop of
margarine on top, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Betsy says you can make a delicious sandwich by
slicing a bagel in half, stacking several cold cuts on
one half, then capping it with the other half. Frankly,
I have no intention of ruining my chain saw for the
sake of an impossible-to-eat sandwich.
As I get older, I learn more and more. I’ve often
wondered why so many New Yorker City residents
are rude and unfriendly. It occurs to me they eat a
lot of bagels up there, and many of those people are
suffering from broken and chipped teeth. Their
nerves are on edge, because of their penchant for
gnawing on those over-inflated teething rings.
Throughout our lives we are faced with many
choices. I choose to refrain from eating, or I should
say, attempting to eat, bagels. I respect your right to
chomp on those cast iron doughnuts all you like.
Your dentist will love you for it.
There is one good thing I'll say about bagels. Their
existence will provide a living for my friend Betsy.
Go in peace, Betsy, and luck to you. Remember,
make sure your group insurance has an injury-by-
bagel clause, and don’t drop any of those Sher on
your tootsies.
Hanging tough ¢n education
In a recent meeting of the General Assembly's
Education Oversight Committee, State Board of
Education Chairman Jay Robinson called on legisla-
tors to support the latest plethora of school reforms.
Without continued support for the latest in a long line
of "magic pills" for public education. Robinson be-
lieves that North Carolina's school performance will
never rise above its ranking of forty-eight out of fifty
states.
Robinson told the panel what the average North
Carolinian has recognized for quite some time: "I
think the biggest problem we had was getting people at
the local level to believe us." He is referring to failed
reform effort after failed reform effort over the past
decade as our state has continued to rank at the bottom
of national SAT scores. The problem with having tried
and quickly failed in so many attempts at reform is
that no one any longer takes a new plan seriously.
Robinson apparently believes that things will get better
if we simply stick with the current slate of proposed
remedies.
What, is Robinson's answer to our education dilem-
ma? He simply wants to be given the power for over-
seeing public education that was once elected
Superintendent of Instruction. Apparently, Robinson
believes that he and the rest of his Governor-appointed
state Board of Education, rather than the publicly
elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, can
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Carolina Syndicated
Columns
somehow be more effective in improving student per-
formance.
As for any real reforms, all of Robinson's words
sound familiar. ‘We've heard them a hundred times be-
fore and will probably hear them a hundred times
again: get parents involved, shift power to the local
level, reward teachers for performance, etc. The prob-
lem is that nothing changes. The enormous public
school beauracracy, managed and run by professional
"educrats," will nod their heads in approval and then
continue on with "business as usual.”
Is there an answer? Yes, and the solution is seen
daily in our free enterprise system. It all comes down
to one word - competition - and that can only come
about when the government-run public school
monopoly is broken. The quickest way to break such a
monopoly is by giving citizens a tuition-tax credit.
Such legislation was presented last year in the North
Carolina legislature. Liberal politicians, lobbyists and
big government proponents acted quickly to crush the
bill that attempted to give tuition tax credits of $1,000
a year per child to every North Carolina family.
Tuition tax credits would "jump start" education in
the Tar Heel state because, finally, the public education
system would be required to compete for the privilege
of educating the thousands of school children who are
currently taken for granted. Each child whose family
would be able to afford private education due to the
tax credit would mean a savings of several thousand
dollars in state funds. The result - put up or shut up
time for the slothful leviathan known as education.
Would the public schools be up for the task? Could
they compete with the private sector, particularly, if
the private sector was partially subsidized by tax cred-
its? Isn't such an effort at least worth a try? Could
thing actually be any worse than they already are?
- Don't forget, the goal is to educate our children. The
current system is not doing it and no one in the public
schools takes reforms seriously. Why not add a little
competition?
Thom Goolsby is managing partner and a trial
attorney with the Currin Law Firm of Raleigh and
Wilmington and teaches at Campbell Law School.
New state requirements
I would like to begin today's column by correcting a
piece of information I shared a few columns ago. I
stated that this year's eighth graders would be the first
students required to pass a state computer proficiency
test in order to receive a high school diploma.
Since that time the State Board of Education has de-
cided to put this off as a graduation requirement until
next year. I apologize for the confusion, however we
acted upon information we had been given by the State
Board earlier in an effort to better prepare our students.
They will continue to receive the additional nine
weeks computer instruction in the eighth grade, how-
ever, this year's seventh grade class will be the first
group required to pass the test as a graduation require-
ment. They will take the test next year.
Speaking of the State Board of Education, the curs
rent board has enacted sweeping changes in regards. to
how local school systems are governed by the Board
and the Department of Public Instruction. You need to
understand what is happening as it will have a dramat-
ic effect on our system.
Using changes enacted by the 1995 General
Assembly as a springboard, the State Board: of
Education has developed as a guide for its work a new
plan called "The New ABCs of Public Education." The
State Board of Education has been legislatively desig=
nated as the primary overseer of public education ‘in
North Carolina. The role of the State Superintendent of
Public Instruction has been brought more under the su-
pervision of the State Board. :
The term "New ABC's" needs to be further ex-
plained so that you will understand more about ‘the
three primary areas of emphasis from the State Board.”
The "A" stands for strong accountability. Individual’
schools will be held accountable for student perfor--
mance. Certain required state tests will be used to"
monitor progress in schools. Annual performance stan-
dards based on growth in achievement by students will’
be established. 2
A two-stage plan is in place for schools that do not
make satisfactory progress. As a first step, small, se=~
lect teams of educators will be assigned by the state to”
these schools to help them achieve their goals. If z a"
school continues to fall short of assigned goals, an fn*~
terim leader will be provided and tenure will be sus-"
pended for the principal and teaching staff until the
school is making expected progress. This proces:
clearly sets up the most demanding accountability p:
cess under which we have operated. We will work dili:
gently to reach our goals, and I believe we can avoi
any need for outside assistance. :
"The "B" stands for the basics and. high standa
The state testing program will be targeted only at the
basic skills which all students should master. In the ¢l-
ementary and middle grades the focus will be on read-
ing, writing, and mathematics. At the high school level
students will take end of course tests in English I and
II, Algebra I, Biology, U.S. History, and Economics,
Law, and Politics (ELP). Our primary focus in teach-
ing our children is to be on these most basic subjects. = *
Of course, we will not abandon all other subjects but © *
must realize the primary importance of what has com= i ;
monly come to be known as the basics.
The "C" stands for maximum local control. No par-
ticular method for improving student achievement and
learning is to be imposed from the state level to local
schools. State laws and policies which get in the way
of this local flexibility are to be changed or modified.
The stated intent is to give local schools and the par-
ents of the students who go there more control and
flexibility to make decisions about how those schools
operate. I think this is a move in the right direction and
welcome it if it actually happens. I am cautiously opti-
mistic, however, as I have heard these winds blow be-
fore. Time will tell.
I am pleased with the efforts of the State Board of
Eduction in regards to the New ABC's. Improvement
in schools seldom comes without focus. If the State.
Board's efforts at providing that focus come to fruition, ,
our children will be better served. Excellence is no ac-
cident, and I appreciate the State Board's hard work in :
pursuing the excellence we all desire.
HERALD LETTER POLICY
The Herald welcomes your letters to the editor ‘for
publication in each Thursday's paper. We ask that you
follow these guidelines:
Keep the letters brief and to the point. Letters in €x-
cess of 600 words will not be accepted. Type and dou-
ble space, if possible. If not, write legibly. Sign all-let-
ters and include full name, address, and telephone
number for verification purposes.
The Herald reserves the right to edit letters for any
reason and reserves the right to reject any letter for any
reason.
Servants do the right thing
One of my favorite greeting cards is an offering by
Sandra Boynton in which a room full of horses is vot-
ing upon an issue of some substance to the animal
world.
But situated directly in the crowd is one cow who
sticks out like a sore thumb. And the look on her face
betrays her realization that the room is absent of any
bovine counterparts. The horse at the podium declares,
"All in favor of the motion please signify by saying,
'neigh.' All opposed to the motion please moo."
The caption on the inside reads, "Just because you're
outnumbered, you're not necessarily wrong."
That sentiment captures a truth that even the most
amateur student of history soon discovers - there can
be a difference between what is popular and what is
right.
On the eve of our November 7 election date, those
words offer rich material for thought. Many of us will
go to the polls to cast our votes for those who will
serve. Furthermore, many of us will speak with those
who are elected both before and after the votes are
REFLECTIONS
on Religion and Life
Rev. Dick Newsome
Pastor
First Presbyterian Church
cast. And mixed in with the jargon will be requests
that each candidate listen to the people, respect his or
her constituency, and reflect the will of the citizenship.
No doubt those words will be spoken with the best of
intentions and the highest of hopes.
But I would like to add the view that something
more needs to be said - something which changes the
nature of decision-making a great deal. While it is
deeply important that a public servant have a feel for
the common consent, the opinion of the majority is not
a nd cannot be the final guide. The final guide in any
decision - public or private - should be the heartfelt be-
lief that the decision is simply the right thing accord-
ing to one's faith and ethics.
I realize that such a view places a great deal more
weight on the shoulders of our decision-makers than...
simply voting according to the collective swell. Bat TL
imagine that they know well that public politics is
| risky business and an endeavor fraught with conflict.
And among what little I know of each of them is the
knowledge that they are fully capable of such impor-
tant reflection. The Lord has blessed each of them with
sound minds and sound hearts. And I trust they will
use them to the fullest.
So good advice for the rest of us is to communicate-
our proper wishes for our candidates, and to support
them as we are able in the years ahead. Good advice is
to remind them that they are always in our hearts and :
always in our prayers. Sms
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