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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2008 BARROW JOURNAL PAGE 5A Says nation needs to unite for a change Dear Editor: The newly elected President of the United States, while promising change and hope, made it abundantly clear not to expect over-night quick fixes to all of our problems, and rightly so. There are those, and they are all too plentiful, who don’t intend to cut the new presi dent any slack whatsoever. Right-wing columnists like Cal Thomas and Bill O’Reilly will continue to denigrate and vilify President Elect Barack Obama, regardless of how he executes his decisions and performs his duties. So be it. The important thing is that the people have spoken and their voices did not emanate from the prejudicial and vehe ment bile of these columnists. Every new man on a job deserves a period of trust and confidence unless and until he proves unworthy of his position. A good case in point was the outpouring of approval given to George Bush right after 9/11. The American peo ple stood staunchly behind the President up until his leader ship began to erode due to misguided and faulty deci sions that resulted in tragic consequences. Action based upon erroneous and misguid ed information seldom results in a happy ending. Hopefully, the new captain of our ship of state will heed the lessons of the past and keep us from sailing into tur bulent seas. Surely we will soon learn how well or how poorly the end game will play. In the meantime, we as a people should unite around the promises of change and hope and at tre same time hold our new leader’s feet to the fire in delivering on those promises. Sincerely, George Morin Auburn Barrow County Fire Services offers more than ‘red trucks ’ Objective approach needed in all issues Dear Editor: Thank you for providing an interesting read appealing to a wide variety of interests. I look forward to future issues. That being said, I would like to respond to last week’s let ter to the editor dismissing the findings of the paranor mal research society here in Barrow. My response begins with one word: Objective. My Webster’s defines “objective” as “without bias.” That means without bias for or against an issue. The first step in the scien tific process is to identify the problem, not to deny the exis tence of the problem without any viewing of evidence or data. The fact that I have never seen or spoken with anyone named Chris Poole does not scientifically disprove his/her earthly presence. Of course, not being a sci entist, my opinion is based only on a cursory experience to logic; i.e., if I forget to pay my electric bill, my wardrobe had better include a parka. Unfortunately, my limited powers of deduction are not enough to understand afore mentioned citizen’s grave concern that investigation of paranormal claims will degenerate into necromancy, black magic, and - GASP!- an alarming preference for B-movie horror schlock. As for a limited interest in read ing, those with curious minds are often avid readers. The use of the Bible to “scientifically” disprove the existence of various paranor mal claims especially escapes my logic. Although there are con stantly archaeological finds uncovering potential evidence of Biblical events, science is generally slow and pains taking and acceptance of the Bible as truth is initially based on faith not by waiting for results by scientific journals. Besides, as a Christian and science buff, the last thing I an going to recommend is that one should only believe what one can personally see. In conclusion, I encour age the objective and careful investigation of anything from miracles to string theory. I personally believe that is why God gave us imagination, curiosity and reason. Sincerely, K. Dorado Auburn Barrow Journal Letters to the Editor Policies The Barrow Journal will accept letters to the editor where readers wish to discuss current local, state or national events. The deadline for letters to the editor is 5 p.m. Monday for that week’s publication. Letters should be addressed to the editor and not to third parties. Letters should be brief, less than 500 words. All letters must have the name of the person writing it, their address and contact information, such as a phone number and email address. That information will not be published. Letters to thank a long list of businesses or people who donate to a cause will not be published. General letters thanking people for support of a cause are fine, but listing individual donors cannot be accommodated. Crude or vulgar language should not be used in a letter to the editor. Writers should also refrain from making criminal accusations against anyone unless that person has been charged with a crime in the courts. Letters that simply cut and paste email content, or content from websites, will be reject ed. Letters should express the thoughts of the writer, not of someone else. Letters should not employ quotations from religious texts to sermonize. During election seasons, let ters endorsing or criticizing individual candidates will not be published. Those wishing to engage in political advertis ing for or against a candidate may purchase space for such content. Writers are free to discuss or debate issues. All letters are subject to edit ing for length and clarity. By Chief Robert J. Post Special to the Barrow Journal Do you really know what the Barrow County Department of Fire and Emergency Services is all about? Most people don’t know and even fewer care until there is an emergency. That’s when the members of the Barrow County Department of Fire and Emergency Services go into action. Barrow County residents are served by an 89 member career (fully paid) department operating from 6 emergency service delivery locations strategically located throughout the county. Fire Station 1 is located in the City of Statham, Station 3 is in Bethlehem, Station 4 is the Auburn Station, Station 5 is in the County Line region, and the Holsenbeck area is served by Station 6, while the Apalachee area is protected by Fire Station 7. The department responds to more than 6,500 calls for ser vice each year with a majority being medical in nature. The department is orga nized into two divisions. Administrative and Operations, with several operating sections and units providing a variety of emergency and non-emergency services to the public and the department. The Operations Division is the department’s largest divi sion. Under the direction of Assistant Chief Mark Melvin, Operations is responsible for fire suppression, emergency medical response, hazardous materials, training and educa tion and safety. There are 81 employees assigned to the fire stations, working a 24 hour on and 48 hour off schedule. The Deputy Chief of Education and Safety and the Training Captain round out personnel assigned to the division. The Administrative Division responsibilities include the over all management of the depart ment, human resources, budget administration, fire preven tion, fire investigations, public information and resource man agement. Personnel assigned include the Fire Chief, two administrative assistants, the fire marshal and the resource manager. In addition to the traditional services offered by the depart ment, members participate in The Partners in Education pro gram at Bethlehem, County Line, Holsenbeck and Yargo Elementary schools. Members of the department also work in conjunction with other agencies to coordinate the Children after the Fire Program. The mission of the depart ment of Fire and Emergency Services is to protect and pre serve life and property. Our Vision is: We will endeavor to deliver professional service to all who request it. As I said, we are a lot more than just “red trucks.” EVANS JEWEL BOX 52 nd Anniversary Sale 1956-2008 “Selling Quality and Service For Over 52 Years” 20% to 40% Off Sale,,,, Entire Stock WATCHES Seiko, Bulova, Cyma and Accutron ALL DIAMOND JEWELRY 25% ■ 30% OFF ALL HONORA |& LOPENZOI JEWELRY All Christmas GIFTWARE | By Gam, Blue Sky, Lenox, \ Peggy Karr, Waterford and Fitz & Floyd Diamond Rings, Pendants, Earrings, Bracelets, Emeralds, Sapphires & Rubies with Diamonds. 20% OFF Have you met our new physicians? 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