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4A 4 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2006 Jtcrushm ©ai% 3Jmmtal 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.