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4A ♦ THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 Mmxstan ißailg OPINION Daniel F. Evans Editor and Publisher Julie B. Evans Vice President Don Moncrief Managing Editor Something to be proud of Who are the best people to pass judgment on quality of service in a hospital? The answer, of course, is the patients. That is why we are impressed with the results of a survey that was conducted recently by Houston Healthcare. More than 90 percent of patients who responded to the survey were pleased with four categories in the survey, and anyone familiar with patients’ reaction to hospital care recognizes that this is quite high. Patients overwhelmingly are pleased with quality of physicians, customer service, qual ity of nursing and are will ing to return as a patient. Our appre ciation of Houston Healthcare’s services has been acquired over a long period of time, actu ally from the time Houston County Hospital opened in Warner Robins in the mid-19505. At the time of its opening, the hospital had 50 patient beds. There was a lim ited number of doctors on the staff. In the beginning there was the need for a surgeon and Dr. VW McEver Jr. left town and went to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta to acquire the skill while his partners kept a practice going back home. From the beginning there was the feel ing that this was a hometown hospital where patients came first. Only a few of the doctors and nurses who opened Houston County Hospital are alive today, but we are sure that they are proud of the healthcare complex that has been developed during the past half century. And, we believe, they are proud that the tradition they established so long ago continues today. A spokesperson for Houston Healthcare says that “the top priority of our organi zation is patient satisfaction.” That is what everyone who might become a patient likes to hear. After all, everything considered, the only reason for having a hospital is to serve patients so well that they are satisfied. It looks like Houston Healthcare is liv ing up to that goal. Worihßeppcting “It is not merely for today, but for all time to come that we should perpetuate for our children’s children this great and free government, which we have enjoyed all our lives. I beg you to remember this, not merely for my sake, but for yours. I happen to occupy temporarily this big White House. I am a living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father’s child has. It is in order that each one of you may have, through this free government which we have enjoyed, an open field and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise and intelligence: that you may all have equal privileges in the race of life, with all its desirable human aspirations. It is for this the struggle should be maintained, that we may not lose our birthright. The nation is worth fighting for, to secure such an inestimable jewel.” Abraham Lincoln, 1809-186§ 16th President of the United States (Republican, IL) Send your Letters to the Editor to: The Houston Home Journal P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com Foy S. Evans Editor Emeritus Only a few of the doctors and nurses who opened Houston County Hospital are aHve today, but we are sure that they are proud of the healthcare complex that has been developed during the past haH century. And, we believe, they are proud that the tradition they established so long ago continues today. TV is an addiction we can't kick The sign in the case read, “Too much ain’t enough.” It could apply to almost any thing. For some reason, I equated the sign with television. It seems that today too much television “just ain’t enough” for most people. Especially young people. Television has opened new vistas. It has brought information and enter tainment into our homes to an extent unimaginable not many years ago. For the elderly and house bound it has been a godsend. Their worlds were bleak, indeed, when confined to home alone before television brought the entire world into their living rooms. For some it “just ain’t enough.” There are too many channels on cable to count. There will be hundreds more in years to come. The demand for all that diversity seems insatiable. But is this really good? I’m convinced that television is a curse placed upon us and it may be the worst thing that ever happened to human beings. It certainly has changed our view of the world and it has an abnormal influ ence on the conduct of wars. Television takes us to the front lines. We are given pictures that sway public opinion. The enemy needs only to watch tele vision in this country to know every national security secret. Television has deprived generations of young people of imagination. It "Oh, you'll be OK. All you have to do is swallow those!" / WroSk / ° *. ''nk \ 0 / /<X\ \ kVm\¥ 1 MfJXf \ \ ,*•' \v / it: If \TCT \V 0 b/r Americans sure know their Stooges! I don’t pay much attention to polls, or polka music for that matter, but a recent survey caught my very limited attention. The Zogby International poll sur veyed Americans’ understanding of pop culture, and how it compared to their general knowledge of civics, lit erature, and science. For instance, of the 1,200 adults sur veyed, 60 percent of them were able to name Bart as Homer Simpson’s son on “The Simpsons” television program. Meanwhile, just over 20 percent were able to identify one of Greek poet Homer’s epic poems. The same 60 percent knew Superman’s home planet (Krypton) but only 37 percent knew Mercury was the planet closest to the sun. Nearly 80 percent of respondents could name at least two dwarfs from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” while only 24 percent could name two U.S. Supreme Court Justices (Ruth Bader Ginsberg and David Souter were correct answers to both questions). And the one that had all the curmud geons crowing: 74 percent of Americans surveyed could identify Moe, Larry and Curly as the Three Stooges, while only 42 percent could identify the three branches of the U.S. government. This poll had all the bloggers blog- OPINION has deprived them of initiative. It has turned generations into lazy couch potatoes with eyes glued to a screen, while eating their way to obesity. The same can be said for most adults, too. Look at the legs of most young peo ple today. Except for athletes, they are soft. Almost unused. Before television young people got out and walked and ran and played. Their bodies were firmer, their legs harder. And the minds of everyone? We used to read a lot. What has happened to reading for pure pleasure today? Some people do. Most people don’t. It is easier to plop down on a chair or sofa or bed and watch a story unfold. Do you know many young people who don’t believe they must have tele vision going full force while studying? Are they smart enough to watch a tele vision show and do their homework at the same time? I never was that smart, but we did not have television when I was young. We didn’t even have radio. Most of what you see on television is garbage. Shows are becoming more ging and the columnists columnizing about how “stupid” Americans are, and how we are dumber than the rest of the world, and how we are stupid dummies, and stupidheads, and stupid dummies too, and other words I found too hard to read and stuff. Allow me to offer some alternative observations. First of all, one reason more people could name the Three Stooges than the three branches of our government is that the Stooges are much more com petent than our government has ever been. Americans recognize and appre ciate competency, unless, of course, they are voting. Secondly, 42 percent knew the three branches of the government to be the, uh, (looking it up), ah, yes, executive, legislative, and judicial. I think that’s great! That’s almost (looking it up again) half! But I was absolutely elated that Foy Evans Columnist foyevansl9@cox.net L _ Len Robbins Columnist airpub@planttel.net HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL vulgar by the day. Talking heads who pretend they are smarter than anyone else spout their versions of what is going on around the world and you bet ter not believe most of what they say. Can we get along without television today? Surely, we can. But we won’t. Without television we would not see those pictures from all over the world that tear at our hearts and make our leaders send soldiers all over the world to solve unsolvable problems. Without television, wars would be fought on the battlefield instead of in the political arena. We would see the problems around us and spend our money and our ener gy on them. Television, in its way, is a blessing and a curse. It is here to stay., There is no going back to simpler, saner days. As a people, we will become, genera tion after generation, more sedentary, more dependent on the television set to bring us information and to control our lives, more willing to accept what others tell us, instead of learning for ourselves, more dependent and less independent. That doesn’t sound very good. But if what has happened in the decades since television became a reality, it is easy to see how devastating its effect can become in the years ahead. 74 percent could name three of the Stooges. Curly died in 1952 and last appeared in a Three Stooges feature in 1947, and people still recognize him nearly 60 years later. That’s quite a legacy, and memory for those of you who answered it cor rectly. Congratulations! My third observation is that the question itself is rather deceptive, and thus, the results highly questionable. For instance, if you answered “Moe, Larry and Joe Besser,” was that con sidered correct? Or instead of Curly, you responded with Shemp or Curly Joe? All of those answers are, liter ally, right, although Shemp, Curly Joe and Joe Besser were poor excuses for Stooges, and certainly not in Curly Howard’s comedic category. And the three branches of govern ment question is also faulty. Title II of the Patriot Act actually changed the three branches of the U.S. government from the executive, legislative, and judicial to the executive, legislative, and Karl Rove’s office. See how that could be confusing to some poll participants? They could have answered George W. Bush, Congress, and Karl Rove and, technically, gotten both questions correct. Now you know why I don’t pay much attention to polls.