Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007
Houston 39atlg Ijauxtml
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Group Marketing
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Guest Editorial
Learning about future fuel
Last week I spoke to the Georgia/Florida
Soybean Association at Georgia
Southern University in Statesboro. As
chairman of the Senate Natural Resources
and Environment Committee,
I have learned a lot over the
past two years about ethanol
and bio-diesel fuel.
I think we will all agree that
we must reduce, or stop all
together, our dependence on
foreign oil. For far too long,
we have been held hostage by
other nations because of our
energy dependence and it is
time that we do something about it.
The U. S. consumes about 20 million bar
rels of oil or 400 million gallons of gasoline
each day. Most of that is produced outside of
this country.
There cur
rently are
88 plants in
this country
that produced
about 225 mil
lion gallons of
bio-diesel fuel
last year. That
is triple what
this country
produced in
2005. Between 79 and 90 percent of bio-die
sel produced in the United States comes
See TOLLESON, page fA
Letter to the Editor
Carpenter gets my vote
We the people no longer vote for school superintendent
but if we did, my vote would proudly be cast for David
Carpenter. I would even get on the campaign trail for
him. I came to know Mr. Carpenter when he was princi
pal of Bonaire Elementary School and have great respect
for him.
I am hoping David Carpenter will be the next “D.C.” to
become Houston County School Superintendent.
Earline R. Cole
Column draws responses
I take issue with the arrogant tone of Billy Powell’s
article “Can Non-Christians Go To Heaven,” (in the
Feb 2 edition of the Houston Daily Journal ). My argu
ment against Mr. Powell is that if we agree that God
created everything; He created Muslims, Jews, Hindu’s,
Buddhist, Animist and all the rest. I can only assume
there is some reason for this diversity. Who is Mr. Powell
to argue? Shakespeare got it right, “A rose by any other
name is still a rose.” I know God recognizes any person of
any faith acting in a spiritual way. Lose the labels!
Eric Hudnall, Warner Robins
Regarding Billy Powell’s question in the Feb. 2 Houston
Daily Journal, “Can non-Christians go to Heaven?” I
have some great good news! The answer is a resounding
"yes."
How? By becoming a Christian and accepting God’s
perfect gift, Jesus Christ, as his or her savior and Lord.
Sound simple? It is. God made it simple on purpose so
that every person could know and choose to believe or
not, to accept or not.
God loves us perfectly and completely. He waits for His
love to be returned to him through us as we surrender
ourselves to Him and seek His perfect plan for our lives.
He is not pushy or demanding that anyone accept His’gift
and he never forces anyone. It is a love gift He offers and
must we accept and take into our hearts and lives with
loving, grateful thanksgiving. God does not leave us to
fend for ourselves once we belong to Him. As we travel
through this troubled world, He is with us all the way He
promises never to leave us or forsake us he also provides
His “owners manual,” the Bible, to lead and guide us. His
Holy Spirit is there also, infdling our hearts with power
to make the Word real and alive in our daily walk.
All truth, light and life are in Him. All true wisdom is
His and He holds all things together. He is faithful and
true in His promises. His promise of Heaven is joy beyond
anything we can hope for or imagine. Why would we take
a chance and miss being His dear children? What is there
in Hell that anyone would want?
Leslie Pasquini, Elko
Doubting O'Neal’s innocence
I read Representative Larry O’Neal’s explanation
regarding the ethics complaint against him in local news
papers (some newspapers being political machines for
local, past and present, politicians). I BELIEVE HIM ...
but, I also believe in the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and
Santa Claus!
Maurice L, Braswell, Kathleen
Audrey Evans
Vice President
Marketing!Advertising
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
The 11. S. consumes
about 20 million
barrels of oil or 400
million gallons of
gasoline each day. Most
of that is produced
outside of this country.
' jS
Ross Tolleson
Georgia State
Senetor
Education bill stirs passions
Few topics stir passions like the
topic of education. Especially,
when government leaders
attempt some sort of change, great or
small. That makes sense, of course.
We parents care deeply about our chil
dren’s education because we clearly
recognize that our children’s wellbeing
is tied in a significant way to educa
tion.
We know that not all kids are equally
gifted, but we at least want to know
that they have been given the best
opportunity to develop and maximize
the gifts they do have. Most work
- factory worker, farmhand, teacher,
lawyer, data entry specialist, doctor or
mother raising kids (to name a small
few) - is significant and is enhanced
through education.
So it’s not a surprise that a bill before
the Georgia legislature this week elic
ited such strong emotions during a
recent hearing in the state senate. If
passed, Senate Bill (SB) 10 would pro
vide the parents of special needs kids
with the option - remember that word,
option - to apply for a state-funded
scholarship that could be used outside
the public schools.
SB 10 was inspired by a similar law
in Florida. The rationale for both
the Florida bill and the Georgia bill
is simple - while most special needs
children are having their needs met by
the public schools, there are many who
are not. Under current law, however,
the child whose education is proving
to be inadequate has no other options
- unless his or her family is fairly
wealthy. SB 10 expands options for all
families of special needs children.
Some will argue that this bill would
damage public schools and increase the
"Honey, gas prices are down! Quick, go buy us an SUV!"
‘ 'fysg ft
Private horrors not always for public scrutiny
In the sorry continuum that is crime,
nothing fuels our outrage like a
damaged child. When it happens,
we shudder. We weave our fear into a
cloak of anger. We talk about evil.
We see it as an assault on the inno
cent, on the smallest and most vulner
able, on the most trusting of souls. We
demand an explanation, an accounting,
a reason, a special place in hell.
It’s more than that, too. After all,
assaults are nearly always on the inno
cent and many people, especially the
elderly or infirm, are vulnerable. Nor is
trust the exclusive purview of kids.
But hurting a child is different. When
we do, we not only break bones and rob
trust and terrify.
We extinguish hope. We steal child
hoods. We defer spirits and dreams. We
guarantee nightmares.
When we injure a child, we move the
very edges of his world.
A child like 15-year-old Shawn
Hornbeck, kidnapped at 11 and held
for four years within an hour of his
Missouri home. This month, the man
accused of taking him brought home
anotheV boy, 13-year-old Ben Owensby.
Both boys were found a week later.
While Shawn’s story is revolting, a
part of it is compelling. It causes us to
wonder what force, what power was
used against him, a hold so debilitat
ing that a cell phone, a bicycle, the
Internet and the latitude to use all
three freely were not enough for him
to break the horrible bonds of his cap
tivity. Even during a conversation with
the police about curfew, he chose to not
make a run for it.
Frightening grip
I’ll leave the analysis of such behav
ior to smarter people. At the very
OPINION
burden on the state. It’s hard to imag
ine how that would be true. The fact
is that Georgia is already required by
law to provide an education for special
needs kids. This bill simply requires
the state to give parents an option to
keep their special needs child in public
school or to seek another option out
side the public schools.
If parents choose the latter option,
they will be given a portion - not all
- of the money currently being spent
on their special needs child in a public
school to spend on another private
school program that’s better suited to
the child’s need.
In evaluating the need for SB 10 we
need to consider the kinds of children
who are identified as “special needs”
kids.
They range from kids with minor
learning disabilities to others with
major intellectual and physical chal
lenges. They include kids with low IQs
and high IQs. We have an obligation to
see to it that every child has an oppor
tunity to succeed and, importantly, to
give parents more options in pursu
ing the program that is best suited
for maximizing the abilities of their
children.
While many public schools are doing
an outstanding job of meeting the
needs of these children, others are
minimum, however, Shawn’s ordeal
reminds us that a cunning adult can
hold a child in a powerful psychologi
cal and physical vise, a grip so real, so
frightening, so terrible that it para
lyzes - even for four years.
Troubling, too, has been the pub
lic/private tightrope we all walk when
someone hurts a child.
I cringed when, within six days of his
return, Shawn and his parents showed
up on “Oprah,” during which the TV
star asked, among other things, wheth
er Shawn had been sexually abused.
His parents nodded their heads “yes.”
Imagine being held for four years,
under whatever horrendous arrange
ment his captor had devised, then to
have the ugliest chapter of his painful
journey opened on national TV No
15-year-old, even in the best of circum
stances, deserves that.
What were the adults in Shawn’s life
thinking? Even if it’s Oprah and even
if the question was on all our minds,
why is it asked in front of millions? So
we can watch him squirm? Or watch
him stare vacantly, shocked, despon
dent, not understanding or some of all
three? Shawn Hornbeck has suffered
mightily, in ways we can hardly imag
ine and details we simply do not need
to know. A billion people may know
his name, but he’s not Tom Cruise or
Randy
Hicks
Columnist
Georgia Family Council
George
Ayoub
Columnist
Morris News Service
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
not. It would seem shortsighted and
irresponsible to allow special needs
children to languish simply because
some in power don’t like the scholar
ship idea. We shouldn’t sacrifice this
group of kids - and further burden
their families - simply to accommodate
a rigid ideology that, in these cases,
harms real children with real needs.
Interestingly enough, and clearly
unbeknownst to herself, a state sena
tor who voted against SB 10 last week
actually gave a compelling argument
for the bill in a response to a letter
she had received from a mother of a
girl with Down Syndrome. The mother
wrote the following:
“We are parents of a 13 year old
with Down syndrome who is in private
school. She has been let down by lour
public] Schools to the point of declining
in her test scores. We had no choice
but to remove her, and put her in a
place where she can be properly and
adequately educated. We’ve already
seen her scores increase. This private
schooling is not in our budget and has
put a hardship on our family. We need
the support that Senate Bill 10 can
provide. Let these kids have the option
of being educated where they can truly
receive an appropriate education.”
The senator wrote back:
“My personal experience is different.
My niece is Downs [sic | - my sister
put her in a private school and she
was mistreated. Other children would
hit, scratch, bite her, and when she
defended herself, my sister was told
that she is violent and could not stay.
Then...when my sister would pick up
her daughter - she would be in a corner
all by herself while the others
See HICKS , page fA
James Frey.
Being obvious
That said, Shawn, like the 115 or so
kids taken each year in what experts
call “stereotypical kidnapping” - taken
and hurt or even killed - in an odd
sense belongs to all of us. Not him,
actually, but his story.
And therein lies the public/private
conundrum. When a child is taken, it
is that very public who is called upon
to assist in finding him.
We issue Amber Alerts so the public
can watch for a child or his abductor.
We put computer-aged photos on milk
cartons. News reports and fliers and
posters and Web sites all ask the public
for help. We are quick to offer it, to
share information.
Indeed, in Shawn’s case, we wonder
where that public was for four years.
We wonder how police officers did not
recognize him, how several neighbors
disobeyed their instincts.
We wonder because he’s our kid,
taken from a family, a family like ours
or our neighbors. We want to be part of
finding him.
But when he is found, we - you, me,
Oprah, his parents, anyone - must also
realize that being public has its limits.
No child chooses kidnapping, impris
onment and abuse. Obviously.
It should be obvious to us, too, that
after the miracle of a child’s rescue
- in part because of the public - he
should not have to explain himself to
the whole world.
George Ayoub is senior writer at The
Grand Island (Neb.) Independent. Hise
mail is george.ayoub@theindependent.
com. Read his sports blog, “Bawls and
Bats," at http./lbawlsandbats.blogspot.
com /