/
GUEST
OPINION
n
Be wise
when using
credit card
By ROY COOPER
Across North Carolina
high school and college stu-
dents are back in class and
earning credit toward grad-
uation. But students also
need to
learn about
another
kind of
credit - the
kind that
will follow
them off
campus and
out into the
real world.
More than one-third of
students are using credit
cards by their senior year in
high school, say researchers
with the Jumpstart
Coalition, a non-profit
organization that promotes
financial literacy. By the
time they reach their sopho-
more year in college, 92% of
students have at least one
credit card according to a
study by higher education
lender Nellie Mae.
While the process of get-
ting a credit card may seem
simple - fill out a form, get a
free T-shirt, coffee mug or
tote bag plus credit for life -
signing up for a credit card
is serious business. On the
plus side, credit cards can
offer students a number of
benefits. They are particu-
larly helpful for emergen-
cies and can also help you
establish a credit history.
But if you are a careless
charger, you might end up
digging yourself into a
financial hole and establish-
ing a negative credit history.
Using a credit card may not
seem like you're spending
real money. But when state-
ments arrive with the
unpaid balance and interest
charges start piling up, card
users realize that the debt
they are accumulating is
very real. Excessive credit
card debt can create long-
term problems that may
hamper buying a car, taking
out a mortgage or even get-
ting a job. High debt can
cause stress that forces stu-
dents to reduce class loads
or even drop out of school
to pay off debts.
Before you apply for a
credit card, do your home-
work:
- Shop around. The card
that looks the coolest or
offers the best free item may
not be the best credit card
for you. Remember, a free T-
shirt isn’t worth years of
bad credit.
- Compare interest rates.
Rates vary widely. Be sure
to read the fine print about
how the rate can change.
- Don’t fall for a tease,
Some credit cards offer a
lower teaser rate as a special
introductory offer. After the
first few months, the rate
~may jump significantly.
See Cooper, 5A
AE
Cs
SO SERRE
‘It PLEDGE’
u
OPINION ..._...
giance during Monday night’s school board meeting.
About solar energy,
composting toilets
and straw homes
A night off the electric grid, my hus-
band and I traveled six hours for the
experience. [Last weekend, we visited
Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center.
The folks in that east Tennessee com-
munity literally have a power line running through their
yards but choose not to hook on. Instead, they rely on the
sun and some propane.
Bill Nickel and his wife live in one home while Mary
Dennis Lentsch lives in a smaller dwelling. A handful of
families are leasing adjacent land and building similar
homes.
We stayed at Persimmon Point, a small home that Bill
and Mary call a heritage. A larger guest house sleeps 14. It
looks like an adobe dormitory.
The resource center was my favorite place. It has a
kitchen and a library filled with books about our relation-
ship with the environment.
The lights worked well in resource center and we
enjoyed a meal cooked on the propane stove.
Unfortunately, the solar set up in our cottage wasn’t quite
so efficient.
When Joey plugged in his electronic camera equipment,
the lights went out. The moon was almost full and
streamed through the windows so it was easy to find the
candles. There were so many, we suspected outages hap-
pen right regular. The miniature refrigerator stayed on
though.
While I was impressed that even some of the solar pan-
els worked, it was the composting toilet that truly amazed
me. This thing has no water. Instead of flushing, you reach
over to the bucket of peat moss and scoop up a cup and
toss it down the toilet. The waste sits in a tank and
decomposes. We never smelled it. Real. I'm still wonder-
ing how that worked.
Why would you want to collect it to begin with, you
may well be wondering. Seems once the stuff breaks-
down, it can be used to fertilize fruit trees and shrubs. It's
safe, Bill assured us, though you wouldnt want to spread
it on the garden. I guess if you're clever enough there is a
use for literally everything.
To further add to my amazement, most of the buildings
at Narrow Ridge are built out of straw bales. The straw is
stacked up. I believe some boards are used for minimal
framing. After that, stucco is spread over the stuff. There
is even a “window of truth” where instead of stucco there
is a small piece of plexiglass. You can see the straw, sure
See Andie, 5A
Andie Brymer
Staff Writer
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Editor: Gary Stewart » 739-7496
Grover Elementary students Brittany Green, Brittany Bridges, Morgan Bowan and Dillon White lead the pledge of alle-
or three months.
vised visits.
It’s disgusting
to see Rillers
out on parole
I'm disgusted for the first time in two
ANDIE BRYMER / HERALD
Jim Heffner
John Hinckley, who tried his best to kill guest Column
President Reagan, and who maimed Jim _
Brady, wants out of the psychiatric hospi-
tal where he has been held for over 20 years, on unsuper-
RT
I wouldn't even let him go on the front lawn unsuper-
vised. I would, in fact, find the darkest room in the bow-
els of that hospital and chain him there.
Not only that, over in the world class city last week, a
newspaper columnist wrote about how she was among
those who applauded when O.J: Simpson was found inno-
cent. I would applaud if she was fired and run out of
town on a rail.
on probation.
Kathy Boudin (pronounced Boo-din), a radical fugitive
who pleaded guilty for her role in a 1981 armored car rob-
state.”
shot wounds but lived.
EER.
instead of two white women.
fo A
i
‘
|
a
i Now there's the spectacle of a cop killer being released
:
bery and shootout which left a guard and two police offi-
cers dead, was paroled from prison last month after serv-
ing 22 years of a life sentence.
Boudin was born with the proverbial silver spoon,
given everything her father, prominent NYC attorney
Leonard Boudin, could give her, she decided instead to
pursue a life of lawlessness and radicalism.
Boudin attended the finest schools and was a graduate
of Bryn Mawr College. After her acceptance into law
school, she joined the radical Students for a Democratic
Society and devoted her life to “toppling the imperialist
A members of the Weather Underground, she frequently
joined in violent protests, and even wrote a book about
how to get away with committing crimes.
On Oct. 20, 1981, a bunch of radical terrorists assaulted
a Brink’s armored car in broad daylight, killing guard
Peter Paige in the process. Two other guards suffered gun-
The gang fled, ditched their getaway car a few miles
away and jumped into a U-Haul being driven by Kathy
Boudin. The robbers were black, while the U-Haul occu-
pants were both white. That was designed to confuse
everybody, and have the cops looking for two black men
Unfortunately for them, a high school student saw the
switch and reported it. Boudin was stopped at a road-
block. She told the police officers that guns made her
See Heffner, 5A
LOOK BACK
Cop honored
for saving child
Kings Mountain Ptl.
from drowning.
October 1 is the cut-on
date for the new county-
wide 911 emergency sys-
tem.
stand to lose 3.5 state
teaching positions if the
current enrollment trend
of school figures were
down 95 from the same
period last year.
Seven King Mountain
businesses that sell beer
and wine were fined
for ABC violations.
59, prominent Kings
Mountain businessman,
at 10:30 a.m. on a fishing
Winnsboro, SC.
Fund kicked off the 1990
campaign for a record
$121,500.00 Monday.
SSS
grams.
Housing Authority wel-
comed two women on
their board Tuesday
Night is planned by the
a
Sept. 25 at B.N. Barnes
Auditorium.
SN
S
SE
been in the automobile
business in Kings
Mountain for 42 years.
Community Missions
Director of the Kings
Mountain Baptist
Association, asked for
medical leave at the
September 5 Executive
‘Committee meeting.
Mountain receives $6.9
million from the sale of
for utility improvements.
SHR
HN
Junior wide out Darius
“NulNu” Ross electrified
down catches and a pass
interception which he
£0
to lead the Mountaineers
to a.30-6 victory at East
Lincoln Friday.
in September ‘89
From the September 14,
1989 edition of The Herald:
Derek Roper was honored
by a special resolution by
City Council for saving the
life of a two-year-old child
Kings Mountain Schools
continues throughout the
school year. The 10th day
Friday and one drug store
lost its permit for five days
George Thomas Ruppe,
drowned Tuesday morning
trip on Lake Wateree near
Kings Mountain United
Churches are launching a
war on drugs following an
appeal by President Bush
to curb drug abuse through
community awareness pro-
Kings Mountain Public
pre iAeiCphe a
A “Meet The Candidates”
Kings Mountain Chamber
of Commerce on Monday,
Wade Ford welcomes J.
Tracy McGinnis to its sales
department. McGinnis has
Bob Davis, Church and
Tuesday is the day Kings
bonds approved by voters
the crowd with two touch-
returned for a touchdown
SIDEWALK
SURVEY
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
THE HERALD
What would
help the
economy of
Kings
Mountain?
. would tithe.”
“The traffic lights need to
be programmed better,
have some turning lanes.
We are getting bigger.”
“The economy would
flourish if church people
Doug Allen
pastor Penley Chapel Daniel Freeman
Church Kings Mountain
Kings Mountain
“Efforts should be made by
the whole region. Across the
state line there seems to be a
lot of growth. Government
has to have some incentives
to get business to come here.
What the council did is a
good start.”
Diane Proffitt
Kings Mountain
“A commitment to the
local community.
Corporations have no loy-
alty. Buy local.”
Gary White
Kings Mountain
“Focus on the resources it
has - Lake Davidson, City
Lake, connections to the
parks, senior center, good
schools. The quality of life
will make people want to
move here.”
Dr. John Still
Kings Mountain