Newspaper Page Text
♦ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13,2006
4A
Houston flatly .fjourttai
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Parents have to walk the
(side)walk
A lot has been made in Houston County
of sidewalks lately - with angry par
ents who want to ensure there are
sidewalks in all school areas - particularly
theirs, however - being the most vocal.
That’s a good cause, no a great cause.
Awesome is the parent who is lobbying on
this issue. Protecting our children is of the
utmost importance. You cannot put a price
tag on their safety. Further, school board
members - those in place and those who
are candidates in contention - have made
it known they agree. Not only in regard to
sidewalks but
in every facet
of their safety.
The only
problem is
school officials
can only pro
tect our chil
dren while
they’re at
school. The rest is up to us.
Case in point: Public schools were out this
week. Children were everywhere. Now, par
ent, resident , citizen, how many of you were
able to drive down your or a nearby street
without having to slow or stop while wait
ing for a gaggle of children - mainly in their
early teens - to take a timeout from their
football or basketball or whatever game to
temporarily move out of the street?
Or at least that was the case within a two
block radius in one particular area of town
where it was noted there were three (no
kidding) separate football games going on
simultaneously.
All the while it was also noted sidewalks
were but a few feet away.
Letter to the Editor
School safety comes first
In the past weeks, tragic events across the state and
country have raised concerns about the safety of our
students getting to school and their safety once inside
the schools.
I want to assure the community that your Houston
County Board of Education is deeply concerned about
these issues and that the safety of students is our top
priority.
We are dedicated to the well-being of each one of our
25,000-plus students.
We are committed to constantly assessing the effectiveness
of our programs and working with other agencies to create
and implement the best practices to protect our children.
Although we cannot predict when or where an incident
may happen, it is our job to be prepared.
Houston County schools comply with all state and federal
laws and have many additional programs in place. Each
of our 34 schools has a quality safety plan that has been
approved and commended by the Georgia Emergency
Management Agency and the Office of Homeland Security.
All of our high schools have a full-time school resource
officer, and officers are assigned to our middle and ele
mentary schools.
Our staff is trained in how to react and manage situa
tions that arise. The number of entrances to many of our
schools has been limited.
Our employees are all issued IDs, as are our high
school students. When an incident occurs, we will use
our automated phone system to contact all parents
concerned to quickly provide accurate information.
We have had great success with the Student Crimestoppers
program.
All of our middle and high school students know that
they can anonymously report any crime that they have
knowledge of.
And they are making those calls.
This is National School Bus Safety month. We are work
ing to educate students, parents and drivers about bus
safety, including children getting to the bus, riding to
school, and getting off in the afternoon. Our bus drivers
are dedicated to getting students to school safely each day
and are all certified and trained to do so.
Our nation’s schools and streets are still safe places,
but we must be watchful and mindful of risks. We must
all take responsibility for watching over our children,
teaching them about safety at every opportunity and
modeling safe behavior.
The best thing we can do is prepare our children and
provide them with the knowledge to protect themselves.
Our world is becoming more frightening every day, but
we cannot live our lives in fear.
I worry about the children of Houston County just as I
worry about my own children. We will continue our mis
sion to provide our children with world-class education in
a safe environment.
Pamela Greenway, Chairman,
Houston County Board of Education
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
The only problem Is
school officials can only
protect our children
while they're at school.
The rest is up to us.
Does it have to be this way?
Let’s start off, today, with a little
test. Or, should I say, a choice.
What I’m going to ask you to do
is to choose between two personality
types - two different kinds of people.
Let’s call the first person, “Choice A”.
A is outwardly a very confident person.
Seldom does he acknowledge a mis
take - just doesn’t make any (at least
that’s how he acts). He has a quick and
ready answer to the most complicated
question. He is also critical of those
who do not agree with his positions,
and he is very adept at pointing out
other’s shortcomings. He is clever and
quick, but can be caustic, especially in
describing those with whom he does
not agree.
Then, there is “Choice B”. B is a
hard worker and accomplishes much.
Still, he makes mistakes and acknowl
edges them. He is tolerant of other’s
mistakes and seldom criticizes others.
He is quick to praise others and often
acknowledges their superior ideas. He
is not afraid to use the best that oth
ers offer in order to do a better job. He
is confident, but not arrogant. He is
quiet, but not without good ideas and
the ability to articulate his thoughts.
Do you choose A or B? I suspect that
100% of you selected B. Nobody likes
a ‘know-it-all’. Few are attracted to a
person who thinks he is perfect. We all
make mistakes and know that we do.
We like people who admit when they
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Ga. soldier tries to get back to business
It has been one year since I was in
Iraq with Georgia’s 48th Brigade
Combat Team in the infamous
Triangle of Death. Unlike any experi
ence I have had before or since, this
one gets more vivid with each day that
passes.
I got eyeball-to-eyeball with the war
when an IED lmprovised Explosive
Device narrowly missed putting
some serious hurt on our Humvee
while we were on patrol. I can still hear
the explosion. The crew yelling, “Get
out of here! Get out of here!” Smoke
everywhere. Gun ships thumping over
head trying to locate the bad guys who
set it off. It seemed like a scene out of
a movie, only it was real. Very real.
We later saw the crater the bomb had
created. It was huge. Thank God, the
bombers were about two seconds too
slow. Timing is everything.
In our crew that day were Sgts.
James Rackley of Montezuma, Eric
Farmborough and Mahlon Williams,
both of Statesboro, and Bruce Robinson
of Buena Vista. Sgt. Robinson was the
gunner, a particularly dangerous job
because he is exposed and is an easier
and more immediate target for snip
ers.
I called Bruce Robinson at home the
other day to see how he is doing and
to ask him if he remembered that day.
“I do,” he said, “because it was not a
place where we expected them to have
a bomb. Most of the IEDs were on
the main roads.” When we were hit,
we were on a winding ramp leading
OPINION
are wrong, if .they are wrong. And, we
don’t like rudeness.
This test was a no-brainer, right?
Everyone selected B. B won. B will
always win in this scenario, correct?
I’m not sure. Case in point: politics. At
least, current politics. Would A win, or
would B prevail?
Let’s look at the Marshall-Collins
congressional race. If you read the
newspapers and watch their politi
cal ads on television, you would have
to conclude that neither one of the
candidates is any good; that neither is
capable of serving in Congress. Truth
to tell, both are good folks, and either
could and would do a good job. One,
Marshall, has proven this for the past
two years, and the other, Collins, proved
it several years ago. I know them both
and both are fine and capable, but nei
ther of them seems to think the other
is. Oh, they both would argue as to
whom started slinging mud, first, but
they are both doing it. Isn’t that right
‘Senor’ Collins and ‘Liberal’ Marshall?
up to a treacherous highway known
as Tampa Road. He added that he
had experienced about 10 other such
incidents while on patrol. I told him I
had received a Combat Action badge,
signifying that I had officially been in
battle. “Good for you,” Robinson said.
“You earned it.” I thought so, too, but
it was nice to hear it from a real war
rior.
Robinson was an independent truck
driver in Georgia before being called to
active duty. He told me in Iraq he wasn’t
sure what it would be like to drive on
our highways when he returned home
without worrying about a bomb going
off under him, or someone dropping a
grenade from a bridge. After all, this
was a way of life for him and the other
members of Georgia’s 48th.
Robinson told me that he was, in fact,
on the road again. He is driving a long
haul route throughout the Southeast
for Yellow Transportation. How does
he feel now that he is back behind the
wheel? “I still get spooked,” he admits,
“I am constantly scanning the road,
just like I did in Iraq. I am still looking
to see if there is anybody on the side of
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Larry
Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whgb-law.com
jUmP" i
Dick
Yarbrough
Columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Let me tell you about Choice C.
C is running for high public office.
He has served in public office before.
He acknowledges that he made some
mistakes, before, and will make some
more if elected to the present office. He
admits he doesn’t have all the answers.
C never attacks his opponent. C just
tells the voters what he will try to do,
with the help of others, if he is elect
ed. He brags on his opponent, points
out good things about his opponent,
and even promises to use some of his
opponent’s ideas if he (C) is elected. In
fact, he promises to ask his opponent
to chair an important task-force if the
voters elect him to the office.
You liked B better than A and you
probably think C would make a good
senator, or governor or congressman.
You say you would vote for a candidate
like C. Then, why is it, C cannot win?
Why do C’s advisers and consultants
and handlers tell him he has to “go
negative” and attack and point out his
opponent’s vulnerabilities and short
comings if he/she wants to win? That’s
what they do, you know.
Well, maybe the consultants are
wrong. Perhaps the voters have had
enough. Possibly, a good guy can win.
Is there any candidate out there will
ing to try? Maybe it doesn’t have to be
like it seems to be, today. Then, again,
maybe I am just living in a dream
world.
the road or on the overpasses. It is just
something that takes a long time to
get over, and I’m not sure I ever will.”
Robinson says before he could bring
himself to get back to his old career, he
had to take some “downtime.” I’m sure
he is not alone.
Robinson recalled for me the bad
days in Iraq retrieving wounded com
rades in the field and rushing them to
landing pads to be airlifted to medi
cal facilities, and the good days of the
intense volleyball competition in camp
after having spent the day surviving
Iraq’s mean roads.
. He says he still isn’t sleeping well,
even though he has been home for
almost six months. No wonder. In Iraq,
you sleep with one eye open. If you
weren’t ambushed on the road during
the day, you worried about being mor
tared in the camp at night. Who can
sleep in conditions like that?
It was good to hear his voice again.
Bruce Robinson is an ordinary Georgian
who, like his 4,800 comrades from one
end of the state to the other, left his
job and family, was put in a danger
ous situation not of his choosing and
did everything that was asked of him
while there. I don’t know if our paths
will ever cross again, but I will never
forget that for one fateful moment last
October, he and I were brothers. And
forever will be.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net, P.O. Box
725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139, or
Web site: www.dickyarbrough.com.