Newspaper Page Text
♦ TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2007
4A
Powsfam 38a% journal
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Group Marketing
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Remembering Dr. King
Former Perry High School athletic
director Chuck Conley once told of his
firsthand experience with segregation
in the mid-to-late ’sos.
In the movie Remember the Titans, black
football players are given plenty of scowls
by whites as they’re getting on or off the
school bus. The movie does depict there was
plenty of hate behind those looks but, based
on Conley’s recollection, it fell a bit short of
telling what life was actually like for those
caught in the middle.
He remembers it more as a time of when
actions spoke louder than words, because
he also
remembered
whites not
just scowling
but also pick
ing up rocks
and throwing
them at the
windows.
Conley never
made him
self out to be
a hero for liv
ing through
this period
although (a
case could
certainly be
made for him
and the rest in
that regard).
Rather, this
small, small example - history teaches us it
was just one of so very many - does provide
a small glimpse of the courage Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., had to have had to stand
against oppression.
King was born Jan. 15, 1929 in Atlanta.
He was the son of a minister, as was his
grandfather.
He joined the civil rights movement upon
hearing Rosa Parks had been arrested for
refusing to give her bus seat to a white
rider.
He led a protest against the bus com
pany that eventually ended when the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that Alabama’s state
and local laws requiring segregation on
buses were illegal.
In January 1957 the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference was formed with
King as their president. As a result of his
efforts that followed, the U.S. Congress cre
ated the Civil Rights Commission and the
Civil Rights Division of the Department of
Justice, an official body with the authority
to investigate voting irregularities.
There were many more victories for 1964 s
Nobel Peace Prize winner, but they were
far from easy. Hate-mongers tried and tried
and tried to silence him in numerous ways.
He was arrested over and over for a variety
of chump charges. His Montgomery, Ala.,
home was the target of a bomb at least
twice. He was stabbed and ultimately on
April 4, 1969, he was assassinated.
Monday was Martin Luther King Jr., Day.
We sincerely hope you were able to spend
it with your families and had a great day.
We also hope you took at least a moment to
pause and reflect, however, on the ultimate
sacrifices of this great man and what he has
meant to our country.
Worth Repeating
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up
and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,
the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave
owners will be able to sit down together at the table
of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the
state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of
injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be
transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have
a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their
skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream
today!
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Aug. 18,1963
Audrey Evans
Vice President
Marketing!Advertising
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Monday was Martin
Luther King Jr., Day.
We sincerely hope you
were able to spend
it with your families
and had a great day.
We also hope you took
at least a moment to
pause and reflect,
however, on the
ultimate sacrifices of
this great man and what
he has meant to our
country.
Carpenter to be commended
I doubt that many people understand
or appreciate the impact for good
that Danny Carpenter has had as
superintendent of Houston County
schools during the past three years.
He came into the job when morale
was low and, in a sense, the school sys
tem was in shambles.
Now, a few months before he retires,
Carpenter runs a school system com
posed of happy teachers and adminis
trators working for a school board that
has overcome its problems and sets an
example to be admired.
Until several years ago the Houston
County school superintendent was
elected by the voters. He had to work
with a school board that was elect
ed. It seemed to work pretty good in
our county, though there were a few
instances when things became tense.
For some reason there was a move
ment to change the superintendent
from an elected official to an employee
hired by the school board.
The decision, approved by voters,
was to accomplish two things: (1) By
making the superintendent an employ
ee hired by the school board friction
was supposed to be eliminated and (2)
a superintendent could be hired from
anywhere in the United States and not
limited to Houston County as elected
superintendents were.
So a search for a new superintendent
was conducted. And a superintendent
came here from Texas with outstand
ing credentials.
( "See...this is what worries me
F about the Genera I Assembly
overhauling the state tax system!"
The few jerks that make everybody suffer
To many Americans, The Home
Depot epitomizes the American
entrepreneurial dream. Co
founders Arthur Blank and Bernie
Marcus added to the luster surround
ing their names by eventually becom
ing legendary local philanthropists.
Blank owns the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons,
and Marcus donated the money to cre
ate the world’s largest aquarium, also
in this town.
They made the company successful
with sound business sense, including
searing into the heads of every employ
ee the old adage that the customer is
always right.
By nothing more than happy coin
cidence - happy for me - the highway
overpass bridge leading to The Home
Depot’s world headquarters is named
after yours truly. I mention that out of
pride, sure, but also to point out that
it’s only natural for me to want to keep
my ear to the ground on developments
surrounding the company so near the
bridge.
Thickening the plot and the irony is
the fact that I live a stone’s throw from
a man I’m about to characterize in less
than the most flattering terms. It prob
ably doesn’t matter. I’m sure his gated
estate will soon be up for sale anyway.
Last week it became public that
Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli would
be leaving the company. First, let me
point out fairly that Nardelli shepherd
ed The Home Depot to increased earn
ings. Too few other CEOs have done
that in recent years. In fact, Nardelli
was among the handful of the Dow
30 CEOs to deliver 20-percent-earn
ings-per-share growth for four years
running.
That was the good side of Nardelli.
Everything else was a disaster. Start
with his management style, or lack of
it. Aloof and arrogant are the words
most folks in town use to describe
him.
OPINION
But things did not work out. Either
he did not understand us or we did not
understand him. There was friction
with a board, which was fractured at
the time, and morale throughout the
school system and in the central office
plummeted.
Things were not good.
The school board, to its credit, took
action to improve the situation.
When it came time to hire a new
superintendent the board looked with
in the system for a man who already
was heading for retirement. They per
suaded Danny Carpenter to stay on
as superintendent. I understand he
agreed to work on the job for a year,
but he has stayed for three. Now he
intends to retire in June.
I had occasion to visit the central
office in Perry not long after Danny
Carpenter became superintendent.
The tension that had prevailed seemed
to have evaporated and there was a
feeling of peace and contentment you
get in a happy work place.
Carpenter’s laid back style began to
permeate the entire school system. He
and the school board got on the same
The Home Depot once brimmed with
enthusiastic “mini-entrepreneurs” who
reflected the people-friendly mindset of
the company’s founders. Now these
loyal legions have grown scared of
their own shadows. Friends and busi
ness acquaintances of mine who had
any dealings with the company’s home
office described the place as paralyzed
by fear and bureaucracy.
What really nettles everyone from
Main Street here to Wall Street is
that while The Home Depot’s price
per share had languished for too long,
Nardelli was reaping almost incompre
hensible compensation - $156 million
in pay from 2000 to 2005, plus stock
options pegged to the benchmarks he
met. To add insult to injury, The Home
Depot’s board, in deciding last week
to part ways with Nardelli, awarded
the former General Electric whiz an
additional $2lO million in cash and
options!
An Insider Advantage poll conducted
this past week in The Home Depot’s
home state of Georgia found that near
ly 80 percent of respondents consid
ered Nardelli’s compensation exces
sive. Most of the others didn’t know
who he was.
Now for the part that really hurts
most Americans, and most annoys
political conservatives: Every time a
Nardelli-type in effect pillages a pub
licly held company, it provides more
fodder for Democrats and liberals who
perpetually seek to “tax the rich.”
In “rich,” of course, they usually
IPBk
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
Matt
Towery
Columnist
Morris News Service
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
page and significant improvements
in the entire school system became
apparent. I have visited schools in
the past year or so and they seem to
be “happy schools”, as reflected by
the attitudes of teachers, administra
tors and students. Carpenter’s three
years as superintendent have put the
Houston County school system on track
to assume its rightful place as one of
the state’s best and most progressive.
In a sense, his success stems from
the fact that he is “one of us.” He is a
product of the Houston County school
system, where he was a student. He
knows what we expect. He fits in. His
no-nonsense approach combined with
his laid back style inspires confidence
in him.
Now the school board faces the
important decision of selecting a new
superintendent of schools.
I hope and truly believe that
members of the school board will look
within the school system at several
eminently qualified candidates for the
job. The lesson of bringing in someone
unfamiliar with us, our county and our
way of doing things clearly has been
learned.
It is an important decision. Members
of the school board undoubtedly will
look for someone in whom they can
place confidence and with whom they
can work in harmony. Such a person
surely is available in the capable and
talented pool of educators now working
in our school system.
include families with three kids and
parents who are not multimillion
aires, but who might make a com
bined $250,000 yearly. In fact, the new
Democratic Congress may shove into
higher tax brackets families earning
far less than that.
Isn’t it time for us to differenti
ate between the huge sums “earned”
by the likes of Bob Nardelli, Oprah
Winfrey and star professional athletes,
and the far more numerous Americans
who have worked their rear ends off
earning professional degrees or oth
erwise training for jobs that allow
them to attain their own American
dream, but don’t entitle them to fan
tasy wages? The Home Depot’s new
leader is also a former GE man. He
insists that he wants to hear from the
public and his employees for advice on
how to set things right at the home
improvement giant.
Here’s a thought: Start talking to
flesh-and-blood human beings in the
community that the company serves.
As I often note, public opinion really
matters, in business as well as politics.
But Nardelli left the impression that
he could have cared less what anybody
thought.
Oh, and by the way, here’s a small
request for the new Home Depot CEO.
Could you leave a dollar on “my bridge”
each time you cross it? I could use the
cash.
Matt Towery served as the chairman
of former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s
political organization from 1992 until
Gingrich left Congress. He is a former
Georgia state representative, the author
of several books and currently heads the
polling and political information firm
Insider Advantage. To find out more
about Matthew Towery and read fea
tures by other Creators Syndicate writ
ers and cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate Web site at www.creators.
com.