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♦ 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 , , mm Brt*(*llurPßE4loeMT!!s| " I Whvrcj to eee what 1 mm&M 1 , P “ FF ' /I 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 wBL \ ' j A I 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.