Newspaper Page Text
4A
4 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2006
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Doit Moncrief Foy S. Evans
Managing Editor Editor Emeritus
Crackdown that is needed
Federal regulators plan to crack down
on retail businesses that issue gift
cards (certificates), something that
is long Overdue.
Ciistoitiers who purchase gift cards, as
well as recipients, expect the cards to be
just as good as cash. At most businesses
they ard. But at some there are hidden
rules that steal from the value of the gift
cards when they are used.
Comptroller of the Currency John C.
Dugan gays that “the gift card market
is growing rapidly, and the terms and
conditiohs of various cards can vary
widely.”
He says that
it is impor
tant that
anyone issu
ing gift Cards
“disclose pol
icies so that
consumers
understand
what they
are getting
wheh they
buy bne.”
We have
heard stories
locally from persons who say that when
they used their gift cards or certificates
they fouhd that their value had dimin
ished.
Gift catds issued by some companies
dimihish in value each month. Some gift
.cards actually have an expiration date,
-even though persons purchasing the gift
cards paid full price for them.
Owners of gift cards do not have any
recourse at the present time. They are
victims of policies that are not disclosed
to them dr, if they are disclosed, are done
so in very small type.
The assumption of customers who pur
chase gift cards to be used at a store or
restaurant is that they are giving some
thing of the same value as the money
they speiid.
Federal regulators already have issued
regulations to financial institutions that
issue gift cards and soon will, according
to Ddgan, include retail establishments.
“Issuers should not advertise a gift card
as having ‘no expiration date’ if monthly
service ol* maintenance fees, dormancy
fees or sitnilar charges can consume the
card balance,” Dugan said.
Customers have every right to expect
and receive full value of gift cards or
certificates that have been purchased by
somedne and given to them.
Customers who have told us about gift
cards and certificates diminishing in
value not only annoys them but turns
them against the businesses that issue
them.
As We said, this unscrupulous practice
is not widespread. However, there are
businesses in Houston County whose
gift certificates do diminish in value
after k designated period of time.
It is wrong and, hopefully, federal regu
lators will plug this loophole.
WoßTti Repeating
“The man who by swindling or wrongdoing acquires
great wealth for himself at the expense of his fellow,
stands ds low morally as any predatory medieval noble
man .... Any law which will enable the community to
punish him either by taking away his great wealth or by
imprisonment should be welcome.”
Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919
26th President of the United States (Republican, NY)
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or
Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
Owners of gift cards do
not have any recourse
at the present time.
They are victims of
policies that are not
disclosed to them or, if
they are disclosed, are
done so in very small
type.
On golden pond not so pretty
Many people are waking up to
the potential problems that
will be created by so many
holding ponds in Houston County in
the future.
One of the largest land developers
in Houston County called this to my
attention several years ago.
“Some day there will be hundreds
of holding ponds all over the county,”
he told me. “As developers fill up new
subdivisibns they will move on and the
ponds will still be there for someone to
maintain.”
He told me that someone should be
looking ahead and figuring out some
way to keep these ponds from being
unattended, mosquito breeding ponds,
surrounded by weeds and under
growth.
Homeowners, he said, just are not
going to assume responsibility for
maintaining these ponds. They do not
believe that they are buying this kind
of responsibility and costs when they
purchase new homes.
Clearly, the county will wind up with
this problem. It may not cost a lot to
maintain one holding pond, but multi
ply the cost by hundreds and this can
become a very expensive necessity.
Perhaps the county commissioners
already are working on an answer to
the problem, which comes up almost
every time a new commercial building
goes up or a new subdivision is devel
oped.
On a recent ride around the north
ern part of Houston County recently
I saw what the developer was talking
"No.. I haven't seen any either.."
*
7 v \ A*,
Naked teens expose controversy
Most of our nation’s towns, cit
ies, villages and municipalities
struggle with the same kinds
of issues.
Go to any city council meeting and
they’re talking about similar problems
- garbage, water, infrastructure, taxes,
how to rein in the town Peeping Tom,
etc., etc.
But in the small town of Brattleboro,
Vermont, they’ve got a conundrum not
shared by many of their sister cities -
naked teenagers roaming the streets.
A recent Associated Press story
reports that this summer, “a group of
teenagers has disrobed near restau
rants, bookstores and galleries, ignit
ing a debate...”
According to the story, nudity is
allowed in Brattleboro. Vermont has
no state laws against public nudity,
with only a few towns in the state
passing their own anti-nudity ordi
nances. Let me stress that again - it’s
perfectly legal to walk down the street
naked in Vermont, even if you’re Bea
Arthur. Maybe former Vermont gov
ernor Howard Dean would have got
ten a few more votes when he ran for
President if his campaign slogan was
“Let’s Get Naked, America!”
It couldn’t have hurt.
Anyway, the story states that last
month, in a fit of rebelliousness, a half
dozen (which, in Vermont, is 9) teens
OPINION
about. There are many of these hold
ing ponds already, and they certainly
do not add to the attractiveness of the
areas where you see them.
■ ■■
The Houston County Comprehensive
Planning Committee is offering all of
us an opportunity to say how our coun
ty should develop in the future.
Houston County and the three cit
ies - Warner Robins, Centerville and
Perry - will listen to residents and
business representatives.
These two hearings will be a chance
to speak out before a determination on
future land use is made.
People who attend the so-called open
houses will see what is being proposed
and they can provide input for consid
eration.
Now is the time to speak up. After
the committee makes its decision will
be too late.
■ ■■
Much is being made of the fact that
Georgia’s public schools do not all have
were hanging out stark-naked in a
downtown parking lot. A few months
prior, a music festival in the same
parking lot attracted nude hula hoop
ers, whom I hope were female.
The story goes on to say that nudity
is gaining popularity in Vermont as a
form of protest. This summer, nude
bicyclists rode through Burlington,
Vermont, to protest our country’s reli
ance on oil. “Elsewhere, nudity has
been used to oppose the Iraq war
and treatment of animals,” the story
states.
Okay, I understand the connection
between riding a bike to protest our
country’s reliance on oil. I get that
- but why naked? Can’t you do that
with clothes on? Did the bikes have
seats specifically designed for riding
naked? I certainly hope so.
If I see a bunch of naked people rid
ing bikes, the first thing that comes to
my mind isn’t foreign oil. I’m thinking
about what’s going to happen if that
IBSr wg|J
Foy
Evans
Columnist
loyevansl9@cox.net
Len
Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
the same calendar. Each school system
decides when to begin classes, when to
take breaks and when to end school.
The only consistency is that all
schools must hold classes 136 days a
year.
When I went to school our classes
began the Tuesday after Labor Day.
The school year ended in late May. One
benefit in Houston County of letting
local school boards set the calendar is
that it is possible to take a break for
the week of the Georgia National Fair.
Things have changed. There’s a lot
more to educating children today. I
have been exposed to kindergarten and
the first grade recently and I wonder if
I can pass.
It takes more teachers today because
of the fixation on small classes and
the idea that no child should be left
behind. It takes a lot of administra
tors, too. The only administrator we
had in Americus was the school super
intendent and he had one secretary.
That wouldn’t work today, if only for
the reason it takes many secretaries to
make all the reports required by the
state and federal governments.
Probably one of the most difficult
adjustments people my age have to
make is accepting changes that have
been made everywhere we turn and
accept the fact we are prone to live in a
different time and place.
Even the newspaper business has
changed so much since I published my
own newspaper that I wonder if I could
make all the necessary adjustments to
do the job right.
dude hits a bump - and, where’s my
camera?
While the idea of legal nudity is
indeed intriguing on many levels, I just
don’t think it would work down here in
Georgia.
Unfortunately, attractive people
wouldn’t be the ones engaging in such
unclad frolic in the South. I’m afraid
the folks more likely to bask publicly
in their own birthday suit would look
less like Christie Brinkley and more
like David Brinkley. We’d see old dudes
with hairy backs fishing on the side
of the road naked, in their driveways
changing their oil naked, coaching pee
wee football naked. You’re just asking
for all sorts of problems with legalized
nudity here - shopping at Wal-mart
would be impossible without nausea
medicine; the police would be besieged
with reports of gorillas terrorizing
neighborhoods only to find out that
it was Jamie Farr jogging nude; the
career of Larry the Cable Guy would
undoubtedly be kaput.
I just don’t see it as plausible.
And in Vermont, it won’t be plausible
for long either.
“As soon as winter comes, there won’t
be a story anymore,” said Brattleboro
Town Clerk Annette Cappy in the AP
story.
Let’s hope they don’t move South for
the winter - for our own good.