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4A THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2006 Jiuu&ian ©uilti Sourtuil OPINION Daniel F. Evans Editor and Publisher Julie B. Evans Vice President Don Moncrief Managing Editor Save the trees U T think that I shall never see a poem I as lovely as a tree.” That well-known line from a Joyce Kilmer poem died with progress. Rare - make that almost non-existent - is the developer who looks out over the land scape of what will soon be his or her latest and greatest housing development and sees anything but flat. We build gas stations. We bulldoze the land flat first. We build hotels. We bulldoze the land flat first. We build business after business after business - an all too common sight in Houston County these days - and each and every time, we bulldoze the land first. Years and years ago we blazed America by “going around.” Look at our vast network of roads. Unless you’re on an interstate, you can’t get from point A to point B with out first wind- ing through a serpentine world. Today, however, we see straight. And we plow straight - right over oaks and maples and birch and more. We destroy trees that have more rings than we’ve had presidents. Then we go out to wherever and whatever store and bring in more trees - all the same kind, all the same size ... which is “small.” They could be enjoying shade now. They could be saving energy now. But, oh well, we must make sure our little utopia is all the same. It doesn’t make sense. Bulldozers can go left and/or right. We’ve popularized the catchphrase “think outside of the box.” Well, wouldn’t it be nice for someone to look out across a landscape and have the vision to see around things and do just that? Letter to toe Editor Other issues trump Foley As important as the Mark Foley affair is, there are for more important issues which need to be addressed by our Congressional representatives. One is the looming crisis in Social Security. Section 201 (a) of the 1935 Act created an “Old Age Reserve Account” in the Treasury (changed by the 1939 Amendment to Trust Accounts) and provides for Congress to appropriate an amount sufficient to provide payments required under this title. Also, part (b) directs the Secretary of the Treasury to invest such portion of the amounts “credited” to the account not needed for the annual disbursement of checks. The invested funds must be in interest-bearing obligations of the United States or in obligations guar anteed as to both principal and interest by the United States and must be secured at “the market price.” However, part (c) of the 1935 law authorizes a, “special obligations issued exclusively to the Account” which is a non-marketable obligation instrument issued by the Treasury to the Social Security Trust Funds in exchange for Trust money. There is no “Trust Fund” money balance! The Social Security Administration only has appropriated funds from Congress for current payments and operations and cannot touch the Trust funds for entitlements or for investments. Why? Because all excess taxes received are spent by Congress using Part (c) for authority! Is this deceit legal? The answer is yes. The Supreme Court made an interesting comment in the decision of the Helvering v Davis case on 24 May 1937. The court decided that Title Two of the Social security Act establishing “spe cial accounts” outside the Treasury was Constitutional and commented in part - “It creates an “Old-Age Reserve Account” in the Treasury and authorizes future appro priations to provide for the required old-age payments, but, in itself, neither appropriates money nor brings money into the Treasury.” This part not only legalized the Social Security concept; the Decision left the matter of tax administration to Congress via Part (c). Now, the question is why did the Supreme Court decide to allow Congress to spend the Social Security taxes instead requiring the taxes to be invested in obligations guaranteed by the United States government at “market prices” according to Part (b)? The Court addressed this point by acknowledging that the Social Security tax is simply an income tax (a flat tax if you will) and the “employer contribution” is nothing more than a business excise tax based on payroll costs. See LETTER, page $A Foy S. Evans Editor Emeritus Year* and years ago we blazed America by "going around." Look at our vast network of roads. Unless you’re on an Interstate, you can’t get from point A to point B without first winding through a serpentine world. Should we promote failing students? It didn’t happen in Houston County, but I have been hearing a lot of talk about the fact that the Bibb County public schools promoted 462 eighth grade students who failed the CRCT test twice into high school. Logically students who do not pass the test after two tries should be required to repeat the grade. But, as I pointed out in a recent col umn, there are two exceptions, which turns the state requirement into a farce. Either teachers or parents can say that a student really has what it takes to be promoted to the next grade. Apparently, every one of those in Bibb County who were unable to pass the CRCT test have been beneficiaries of the exceptions. There are two schools of thought on the subject requiring students to repeat a grade. Advocates of this process insist that students who are unprepared for promotion will fall behind and stay behind as long as they are in school. Critics of such a policy claim that making students repeat a grade is non productive and can result in most of them dropping out of school. These conflicting views are at the root of the issue. There’s no doubt that older children, held back in grade, may not fit into a class of younger students. His or her presence could be disruptive for other students. But at the same time this older student will learn skills needed to advance in school in a productive manner. Promoting students who obviously are unqualified for promotion puts "I'm glad all the candidates want to cut taxes. What worries me is how many different kinds of taxes there are to cut!" 1 xM> K>^ y yJ Curing the dogs - dress for success Vanderbilt University was invit ed to join the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in 1932 for one reason and one reason only: To serve as a Homecoming patsy for the real football schools. And for the last 74 years, the Commodores have served that admi rable purpose ably, becoming the SEC’s own Washington Generals in terms of Homecoming bait. But every once in a while, the law of averages, or perhaps voodoo, steps in, and the Commodores spoil an SEC Homecoming with a gridiron upset. Such was the case last Saturday in Athens, as the ‘Dores topped the Georgia Bulldogs, 24-22, in Athens. This loss, coupled with the Dogs’ defeat the week prior to Tennessee, has the Bulldog Nation in a state of hysterical tizzy not seen since the days of, well, their last Homecoming loss to Vanderbilt, in 1994. On the popular DawgVent, and other Internet message boards devoted to following Georgia football, the Bulldog faithful, or faithless, are calling for all sorts of drastic changes: “Fire the defensive coordinator!”; “Run the ball more!”; “Pass the ball more!”; “Bench the quarterback!”; Bench the head coach!:” “Drink more pickle juice!;” and “IMHO, CMR GATA, ROTFLMAO,” which is Internet acronymic jargon for... something. As a UGA grad and a follower of the game myself, I don’t think anything drastic, like drinking more pickle juice, OPINION them at a disadvantage. They are unprepared for subjects they are tak ing. They will have to struggle every step of the way. And how many young people are capable of dealing with this? I am having a front row seat observ ing how much young people are expect ed to learn early. I have seen what first graders are doing and what they are learning and I am impressed. Without support as well as encour agement at home I do not know how students, especially in the early grades, can keep up. Unfortunately, there are about as many one-parent households as those with a father and mother. Of course, there are grandparents who are caring for hundreds of young children in their homes in Houston County and providing the support they need. But what about the single family homes? Usually, of course, the one par ent is a mother. Most of them need to work. They do not have much time to devote to helping their children with school work, though some of them per form remarkably in this role. If students are learning at a pace far faster than when I was young they is the elixir for Bulldog gridiron suc cess this season. Methinks the solution is more simple, more superficial. What, for instance, do Vince Lombardi, Bear Bryant, George Halas, and Tom Landry all have in common? All legendary football coaches, right? You betcha. But they also had something else in common. On the sidelines, they dressed for success. They wore suits, and ties, and hats, like Bear Bryant’s famous hound’s tooth hat. Have you seen what pro and col lege football coaches wear today? Sweatshirts and gaudy polyester “golf shirts” made by an athletic apparel company. If they wear a hat, it’s of the baseball variety or a visor, not a chic chapeau culled from the teeth of a hound. So, my recommendation, since every one seems to have one, is that Georgia head coach Mark Richt improve his manner of fashion, and his team will improve their manner of play. Science has proven that men are more likely to take orders and accept criticism from a gentleman in a crisp, §V| ■ •-.*§ Foy Evans Columnist loyevansl9@cox net isoL - Len Robbins Columnist airpub@planttel.net HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL have to keep up with homework and reading and arithmetic on a daily basis. From my observation, it would be easy to get behind and never catch up. What to do about the students who fall into the category of those who do not learn enough to pass the CRCT tests is a challenge that still has not been answered. Promote them? Hold them back? Create separate classes for those who cannot keep up and do not hold hack other students. Teachers in regular classrooms do not need to devote an inordinately amount of time to one or a few stu dents who are unprepared to deal with a grade. I think about something a grand mother told me. She enrolled her grandson for swim ming lessons. Five children were in the swimming class. Unfortunately, one of the children was a crybaby and should have been kept home, instead of being turned over to the swimming instruc tor. So what happened? For six lessons the instructor had to spend so much time baby sitting the crying child that the other children did not learn to swim. I think of that when I consider unprepared students in the classroom with others who are moving ahead. Will the unprepared student monopo lize a teacher’s time at the expense of others? It is an interesting subject, certainly one that will receive more study and attention as the number of students who fail one of the CRCT tests grows. tailored suit than a chump wearing a Nike mock turtleneck (which also doubles as a dentist’s uniform). My suggested fashion makeover for Coach Richt would include the follow ing: ■ First, put on a tie. Go with some thing red and black. I’m sure he can find one somewhere in Athens. ■ Secondly, instead of going with a suit, let’s try a black sports jacket with some silver britches, perhaps jodhpurs. A basic white dress shirt completes the ensemble. ■ Now, we need a hat. Fedoras have been done by football coaches, as have cowboy hats. I suggest a tall, black top hat, with a red band around the bot tom. ■ Cap off the look with a monocle. Nothing spells leadership like a mon ocle, as followers of Colonel Klink and Charlie McCarthy can attest. Such sartorial splendor is bound to elicit respect, or, at least, attention, from the players - and opponents’ fans as well. Dressed in such dashing refinement, a football coach could utter “Boy, you ain’t hustlin’ as hard as a tree,” and still sound Cary Grant suave. Or, if Coach Richt doesn’t like the top hat/monocle/Mr. Peanut look, he can try a pirate motif with a patch on his eye and a parrot on his shoulder. He can teach the parrot to say things like “Fumble, and ye will walk the plank.” Hey, we lost to Vandy. It’s worth a try.