YOUR
VIEW
®
Weather vane
in memory
of Grace Page
To the editor:
“Which way is the wind
blowing” is a question which
can now be answered by look-
ing up on top of our new gaze-
bo
There you will see our new
centennial weather vane, craft-
ed by Crosswinds Gallery, :
Rhode Island. :
This weather vane was giv-
en in loving memory of Grace
Neisler Page by the Henry :
Neisler family. a
It seemed appropriate to :
honor her memory insucha
meaningful way, since she :
pointed the way to so many
youths by her work in Girl
Scouts and her love of all
youth sports.
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Sincerely,
Marilyn Neisler
Commandments
should be posted
in public schools
To the editor:
County commission boards
across North Carolina should
support a resolution that en-
courages the U.S. Supreme
Court to rule in favor of plac- :
ing the Ten Commandments in i
public schools. :
Commissioners in some :
counties recently gave their :
support to the idea by passing
a resolution. Our board should :
do likewise and support the :
resolution with one modifica-
tion. It should not ask
Congress to pass a law be-
cause the First Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution states:
“Congress shall make no law
respecting and establishment
of religion or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof.” By mak-
ing this change, the resolution
would simply encourage the
eseceas
Supreme Colirt to rule favor= }
ably:
Supporting a non-binding
resolution would not mean
that the subject of the resolu-
tion has to be carried out. It
would just show that politi-
cians have courage and that
they will stand up to the politi- :
cally correct crowd on the ex- i
treme left.
Some argue that posting the
Ten Commandments is uncon-
stitutional because it violates ~~:
the Establishment Clause of
the U.S. Constitution.
In fact, lawyers on the far
left, liberal law professors and
the national media will sup-
port anyone who makes it
their goal in life to rid society
of Christianity.
Fortunately, God gave the
founding fathers of this coun-
try the wisdom to grant the cit- :
izenry the mechanisms to fight :
back. We can elect conserva-
tive presidents so the right
people are nominated to the
Supreme Court and we can
elect members to the U.S.
Senate who will hold up hear-
ings on judicial nominees and
not confirm those who will not
be good for the country. We
can also challenge bad deci-
sions in the court system. We
can do many things to correct
bad legal decisions and we
don’t have to hide behinda
veil of bad legal advice. 3
Remember, it is not uncon-
stitutional to stand up and
fight against bad politicians
and bad rulings made by the
U.S. Supreme Court. When a
president, with whom we do
not agree, nominates the
wrong person, we can elect
members to the U.S Senate
who will hold up hearings and
not confirm the nominee. The
founding fathers gave the citi-
zenry the elective franchise so
that we can elect people who
will carry out our will.
We can also use the court
system to bring new cases that
will give new justices on the
Supreme Court the chance to
rule differently. Just because
former members of the
Supreme Court made a bad
decision does not mean that it
is law forever.
Supreme Court justices
aren't infallible or gods.
There are examples all
around us that prove the
Supreme Court members are
not infallible. In some cases
FT SI Ra
See Letter, 5A
Tam
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OPINION
Santa Claus held court Monday evening at Mauney Memorial
Library auditorium following the ninth annual Christmas tree
Boys will be
boys.... with
fancier toys
Once upon a time there were Christmases
when toys under the tree didn’t have any- Al an :
thing to do with computers or videos. Some :
of the best toys ever made came from the Hodge :
pre-cyberspace days when we baby boomers ~~
were young, Staff Writer All seem to be saying that it’s premature to
ff discuss the issue, because they haven't begun
One of the top toys from the days of yore BRSin Iie:
was known as Lincoln Logs. With a box of :
Lincoln Logs you could build a scaled down version of Dan’l :
Boone's cabin or a replica of the Cartwright mansion from the :
TV show “Bonanza.” Lincoln Logs also made great chewing
toys for puppies and could even be used as projectiles in a liv-
ing room ruckus with siblings. meas
Next up on the list of favorite toys from the 1960s was the.
Erector Set. Consisting of miniaturemetalgirders; nits, and
bolts, the Erector Set let you build things such as Ferris Wheels, i
skyscraper frameworks, and truss bridges. The only drawback
to an Erector Set was the fact that your fingers would become 3
raw from turning the nuts to put your feats of engineering to- :
gether. ; :
Another toy I recall fondly was the electric football field. :
Now, this amusement consisted of a sheetmetal football field a :
couple of feet long, and some little plastic football players with ~~:
brushes on their feet. To play, you positioned you players on the
field, then turned a knob which set the gridiron to buzzing. The
more you twisted, the more frantic the plastic action became.
Full bore had the players jumping like they were in the middle
of an earthquake.
$v
wa tee
merger.
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: ; ; ; Tech?)
For Christmas culinary delights, Santa brought us kids a Suzy
Baking Oven one year and a few seasons later a cotton candy
machine. My goodness, I can still recall the little cakes that came
out of that toy oven just like it was yesterday. Yes sir, there's :
something about a cake that’s burned to a crisp on the outside
and has the consistency of mush on the inside that makes for
holiday memories. As for the cotton candy machine, we proba-
bly ran five pounds of Dixie Crystals sugar through that device
in the first week.
Though some folks now say it might promote violence, a real-
ly neat Christmas gift my childhood pals Brutus and Terry
Casey got was Rock em” Sock em” Robots. Throwing uppercuts
and left hooks faster than Muhammad Ali, this toy really let you
work out your aggressions in a controlled way. It was also neat
to pretend your opponent's robot was someone who had been
picking on you in school and wail away on them.
Every generation has favorite toys that are considered clas-
sics. Just watch one of those antique appraisal shows on TV to
see the fortunes we have all tossed away. In a quarter century or
so, Pokemon will be an antique collectible too, if that seems
possible. Until then, let whatever Santa brings this year start
building a storehouse of memories that will last long after the :
- toy itself has vanished. :
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Herald/Times
lighting ceremony on the lawn. Seated with Santa are, left to
right; Kelton Stone, Alayna Pearson, Josh Barrett.
Where are facts
on entry level
employment tests?
Since the talk of merger of Cleveland
County school systems broke a couple weeks
ago I've made it a point to contact every
Cleveland County Commissioner on their
thoughts on the issue.
The community college system in North Carolina began in
the early 1960s partly as a means to prepare students who
weren't going on to four-year colleges to enter the work force. In
fact, they were called technical colleges (remember Cleveland
Editor: Gary Stewart 739-7496
December 2, 1999 Section A, Page 4
cevedpesieccesssscss
Gary
Stewart
Editor
This issue reportedly surfaced when a couple members of a
Business Roundtable committee said a merger might be needed
because potential employees couldn't pass entry level tests, and
the county commissioners immediately signed a letter calling
for a merger study.
Igseemistomentcounty commissioners/want to gather facts
i they should have firstigathered factsiomiwhotaok:those tests.
: and why they couldn't pass them.
: To date, neither industry nor Cleveland Community College
has produced data on who took the tests and whether they are
recent graduates of any of the county high schools.
We tend to believe Kings Mountain School Board Chairman
Ronnie Hawkins, who claims the merger issue is much more
than a job-ready issue.
If it is a job issue, we see it more as an issue involving indus-
try and Cleveland Community College rather than school
.
.
Industry should be working hand-in-hand with community
colleges - even to the point of donating money and equipment
i to fund and set up training programs - to ensure the successful
transition into the workforce.
This is not to say public school systems shouldn’t be involved
in training workers. Public schools for years have had vocation-
al programs, and just a little better planning and communica- :
tion between industry and school systems would probably :
solve this problem overnight...if it is a problem.
Deep down, I believe, like Ronnie Hawkins said, the basic is-
sue here is the declining enrollment of Shelby schools. :
: According to Commissioner Willie McIntosh, attendance lines
haven't been changed around Shelby since 1935 when much of
the land was farm land. The people living in some of those ar- i
eas are the ones who are often referred to as the students who 3
drive past Shelby everyday to go to school at Crest. McIntosh ~~:
further stated that any reassignment of students should not af- _ :
fect Kings Mountain. :
It seems Hawkins and McIntosh are hitting at the crux of the ¢
matter. And it seems rather than merging school systems, the i
best idea might be a cooperative effort between Shelby and 4
Cleveland County schools to redraw attendance lines. :
i shortages.”
Countdo
Availability
of medicine
Y2K concern
.. For some folks, Y2K might
be-a hard pill to swallow, for
i others, ‘they'll just be glad to
. have any pills to swallow at all.
i Along with all the other things
people have put on the Y2K
.iplate to worry about, the avail-
ability and quantity of prescrip-
tion medicinals has been added
to the heap.
.* To allay the fears of any com-
puter problems that might slow
up or even block the delivery of
prescription drugs to those who
need them, representatives of
the American Pharmaceutical
Association Foundation, gov-
ernment organizations, and in-
surers recently met with mem-
‘bers of the President’s Council
on the Y2K Conversion.
_ After the prescription
medicine powwow, participants
came out to say that they are
confident there will be plenty of
medicine available during the
last quarter of 1999 and the first
quarter of 2000. The group also
made some observations con-
cerning the prescription drug
scene overall.
One of the facts the APhA
made clear was that on average,
the pharmaceutical industry op-
erates with a 90 day stockpile of
medicines in the distribution
{1 system Nevo rk. This thats
that drugstores should have
plenty of medicine on hand
come January 1 and on into the
coming year.
Another thing the APhA
wants to get across is that even
though they do not anticipate
any Y2K troubles, anything un-
toward that should come can be
handled within five to seven
days.
If a person still has nagging
doubts about the availability of
their particular medication on
January 1, they should consult
with their doctor or pharmacist
now instead of waiting until
the last minute.
Voicing the pharmaceutical
industry’s overall Y2K confi-
dence was Ben Bluml, pharma-
cist and senior director for re-
search at the AphA Foundation.
“Y2K computer problems
may cause minor interruptions
in normal services, but cannot
alone cause medication supply
More information on how the
pharmaceutical industry plans
"to.address the Y2K event can be
obtained by accessing their
website at www.aphafounda-
3 ‘tion.org.
SIDEWALK
SURVEY
By ALAN HODGE
Herald/Times
Should Kings
Mountain,
Shelby and
Cleveland
County
merge their
schools into
one county-
wide system?
The basic
responsibilility of the
public schools it to
educate with equality
of access and
opportunity. This
process can be best
served through frank
and open public
deliberation. Deal with
the questions and the
issues, not with some
political agenda.
Les Roark
former Shelby mayor
Keep the school
systems the way they
are now.
Ann Clark
Kings Mountain
| understand the
financial reasons for
some wanting to merge
the school systems,
but | don’t think Kings
Mountain should give
up control of its
excellent, community
oriented schools for
tax dollars.
Jeff Putnam
Bethlehem community
I don't like the ideas of -
merger. Each sct.00l
system needs to stay
like it is.
Joyce Williams
Kings Mountain
; I 1ieea Lo Know ore
facts about the idea of
merger, but it sounds
like Shelby wants to
use us to bail them
out of their problems.
Tim Plonk
Kings Mountain