Newspaper Page Text
i ♦ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20,2006
4A
3Ruush.ni
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans
Managing Editor Editor Emeritus
It's for their good
This is a true story that happened
less than six months ago. One of our
reporters was making a normal pur
chase - actually in the X number of items
fast lane - at a major department store (an
enormously large chain in fact, but who
they are is really only one part in this par
ticular equation) when the computer kicked
out an error.
It was your standard run of the mill - i.e.
item didn’t scan the first time and then
showed up twice (something we’ve grown
quite accustomed to).
The problem came in sorting it all out. You
see the person running the register, at that
point, couldn’t
rely on the
computer to
do the math.
And the math
turned out to
be subtracting
37 cents from
a dollar.
The cashier
couldn’t do
it. Not in her
head. Not on a piece of paper. In fact, the
cashier had to call a manager - a good
three-minute wait - to do the math.
The cashier could not do subtraction stu
dents in the second grade are learning.
There’s been some press lately about how
students in Bibb County were being pro
moted to the next grade despite the fact
they didn’t pass the Criterion-Referenced
Competency Test.
The question was raised: Should they
have been?
Was this cashier just a high school drop
out, maybe? Not if you read the require
ments for employment from the company’s
website. It doesn’t specifically say a high
school diploma is required but it reads that
way. In fact, according to the website, you
had to be in your junior or senior year at a
four-year college just to be an intern.
Did she then fall through the cracks or
was she indeed one promoted when she
shouldn’t have been?
It’s unknown, but one thing is true. If she
was, on the sheer embarrassment factor
alone, nobody did her any favors by doing
so.
Letters to the Editor
Marshall proven winner
After hearing Mac Collins speak in person I have
yet to get over his negativism! Surely Calder Clay
must be one of his campaign workers. While berat
ing the misnamed “death tax” he neglects to tell us
what abolishing this wonderful source of billions of
taxes would do to our already growing deficit.
The Estate Tax affects only one in 200 estates and the
exemptions for a married couple are $4 million and $2
million for single taxpayers.
It’s abolition would be the cause of drastic reductions
in federal and state programs that are paid for by Uncle
Sam. Most of these huge inheritances have never been
taxed.
Our poorest citizens would be seriously harmed by pro
gram cuts caused by the end of this fair.
Collins is a negativist whose platform would be harmful
to our nation and further divide us.
Jim Marshall is a proven winner who cares for all of us!
Jim’s constituency service is excellent.
Frank W. Gadbois. Warner Robins
Pilots judgement
This information could well be placed in the trivia cat
egory.
However, if it’s known and utilized in that “once in a
life time” opportune moment, I don’t think it would be
considered too trivial .
I’m assuming that it’s true about what the experts
expect happened when the small plane crashed into the
high-rise building recently while attempting to execute
a 180 degree turn within the confines of a corridor too
small to accommodate the maneuver.
It calls to mind a most important fact that the pilot
never learned, or forgot, or else he simply ran out of air
speed, altitude and expertise at the same time.
There were other ways the pilot could have safely rem
edied the situation other than the turn he attempted.
But, since the turn was his decision, and he was then
confronted with the frightening realization that it couldn’t
be successfully completed, he obviously increased his
See LETTERS, page *4
The problem came in
sorting it all out. You
see the person running
the register, at that
point, couldn't rely on
the computer to do the
math.
Thank'em when you see'em
The Fair: By the time you read
this, the 17th Annual Georgia
National Fair will be history.
It’s hard for me to believe that we’ve
had 17 fairs, and it’s almost impos
sible for me to fathom how well it’s all
gone. Well over 400,000 in attendance
this year! Much credit should go to
the Ag Authority Board, led by Gene
Sutherland and Foster Rhodes, and
the staff with Michael Froehlich and
Randy Moore in charge. And then,
there is my friend, Jerry Horton, not
only the Ag Center’s longest tenured
employee, but one of its best. We are
all quick to criticize our governments.
This is a great example of something
that the government has done cor
rectly. Thank those responsible when
you see them.
■ Music: Last week, according to
iTunes Music Store, the artists with
the top five tunes were The Fray, Weird
A 1 Yankovic, Akon, Snow Patrol, and
Hinder. Ever heard of any of them? I’ve
only heard of Weird A 1 Yankovic but
know absolutely nothing about him
- didn’t even know he was a singer or
player or whatever. I just thought he
was weird. Hardly anyone who reads
this column knows these artists. People
who read newspapers don’t listen to
Akon and Snow Patrol. Whatever hap
pened to groups like the Supremes
and the Commodores and singers like
Frank Sinatra and Barr ’ White?
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Athletic tail still wags the academic Dawg at UGA
Terrific. I spend all my waking
hours defending the academic
integrity of my beloved alma
mater, the University of Georgia the
oldest state-chartered university in the
nation, located in Athens, the Classic
City of the South and now this: The
NCAA has issued its yearly report on
how many athletes earned their degree
within six years of enrolling.
Our men’s basketball team ranks
second-to-last among 318 Division I
men’s basketball teams with a measly
9 percent graduation rate. The UGA
football team was dead last in the
Southeastern Conference with a 41
percent graduation rate.
There are a lot of “yeah, huts” in
those statistics regarding the years
covered by the rankings. The num
bers go back to the late ‘9os, and the
current athletes are doing better in
today’s environment, but the fact that
it even happened should embarrass
anybody who loves the University of
Georgia. But alas, a large number of
Bulldog supporters don’t really give
a damn. The majority of people who
show up at Sanford Stadium dressed in
red and black each Saturday and woof
ing their heads off didn’t even go to
Georgia. Why should they care if any of
the so-called scholar-athletes graduate
or can even read or write? They just
want to win, baby, win.
Perhaps that is why über-Athletic
Director Michael Adams, who also
doubles as president of the university,
decried the results but said he intend
ed to keep admitting athletes who oth
erwise wouldn’t qualify to attend the
University of Georgia, because “We still
have to compete in the [Southeastern
OPINION
■ Water: I went to a meeting, last
week, that had to do with Houston
County’s water. Contamination
and quantity were both discussed.
Fortunately, for Houston Countians,
we apparently have a good supply and
the water sources are largely contained
within the county (resulting in fewer
chances of contamination). Still, with
our tremendous population growth,
water will be an increasingly complex
and controversial issue with which our
local government officials will have to
deal. Air quality, water quantity and
quality, growth, garbage, traffic, taxa
tion, annexation, zoning, etc., etc. Why
don’t you consider running for city
council or county commissioner?
■ Children: Two groups of people
are very good at telling those with
children how to “raise” them, to wit:
young marrieds without children and
old folks who have already had and
raised theirs. I fall into the latter
category, so here goes. Turn off the
television, limit the computer use, and
restrict the cell-phone to certain situa-
Conference].” Somehow, I am not com
forted by his statement. I suspect the
faculty isn’t either. I had thought we
were in business to provide our stu
dents a superior education so they
could compete in the real world, not
the SEC.
Recall that Adams’ brand of logic
led him to bring his good buddy from
his Pepperdine days, Jim Harrick, to
coach the men’s basketball team. We all
know what a rousing success that was,
particularly since we got Harrick’s son
and noted educator Jim Jr. in the bar
gain. Young Harrick will go down in the
3Rs Hall of Fame for his famous exam
that included a question on how many
points does a three-point shot account
for in a game. (On second thought,
given the basketball team’s graduation
rate, I must presume that some of the
players missed the answer.)
In his enthusiasm to deflect blame
from this mess that happened on his
watch, Adams and his palace guard
took a predictable shot at arch-nem
esis Vince Dooley, insinuating that
when Dooley was athletic director “the
philosophy was ‘athletic eligibility,’
not graduation. That philosophy has
changed.”
Now, Adams says he misspoke and
that he was wrong also in saying that
f.”
ii
Larry
Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whgb-lawcom
WHEN THE TWIN TOWERS FELL, WE ASKED
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■» x
Dick
Yarbrough
Columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
tions. Put 'em out in the yard playing
ball and climbing trees.- If they are
old enough, make 'em work. Summer
jobs are great teachers. How long has
it been since a young person knocked
on your door asking to cut your grass
or rake your lawn or weed your flower
bed? If one did come to your house,
your first inclination might be to call
the police. How sad.
■ Television: Speaking of televi
sion, I’m sick of the national media and
the hypocrisy of their coverage. Take
the ‘Mark Foley matter’ and how it is
totally out of control: The media wants
to report how bad it is and yet, to me,
it seems that they love it. Each report
contains more lurid information. Each
network tries to out-do the other. I
believe that most informed Americans
understand what happened. I’m not
sure we need all the graphic details.
It’s like the networks first tell you how
graphic it is, that certain aspects can
not be reported, and they try to keep
you watching by teasing you with more
and more dirt. By the way, now refer to
children above and the part that has to
do with television.
■ Fall: Let’s end on positive notes.
The weather is great, our part of God s
world is beautiful, and most of us have
plenty to eat and a warm place to sleep.
It’s time to get out in the woods and
fields and look for arrowheads - which,
I intend to do in the next few days.
How lucky I am.
the academic counseling program had
been moved out of the athletic depart
ment to the provost’s office, Dang,
being über-athletic director isn’t as
easy as it looks.
The sad fact is that the athletic
tail still wags the academic Dawg in
Georgia. The governor got his shorts
in a wad over a negative headline in
the Atlanta Newspapers following the
Bulldogs’ loss to Tennessee, but hasn’t
said much about the abysmal gradua
tion rates.
The Board of Regents is a politi
cal joke, and they won’t do squat.
Newspapers across the state have
been harrumphing over the situation
in Athens on their editorial pages,
but many of these same papers have
devoted more column inches to who
will start at quarterback on Saturday
than to UGA’s impressive academic
achievements. They know that is what
the majority of readers are most inter
ested in. To those of us who care deeply
about seeing the University of Georgia
continue to prosper where it counts
most the classroom it is a los
ing battle.
So, the hell with it. If we are going
to continue to d,umb down UGA, at
least get enough unqualified “schol
ar athletes” enrolled so we can beat
Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, Georgia
Tech and Vanderbilt all in the
same year. Then the effort will not
have been in vain. If you agree, I’ll get
our über-athletic director working on
that immediately.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough at
yarb24oo(wbellsouth.net P.O. Box
725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139, or
Web site: www.dickyarbrough.com.