Newspaper Page Text
Griffin Daily News Wednesday, February 26,1975
Page 4
We’re
Listening
The Griffin Daily News’ policy is to be fair to everyone. The editor’s opinions are confined
to this page, and its columns are open to every subscriber. Letters to the editor are
published every Wednesday.
Jury duty
Dear Mr. Melton: I was called to jury
duty February 10-13, as were ap
proximately eighty-three other persons.
Monday, February 10, was completely
taken with the hearing of pleas and
motions, as were portions of the other
days. A jury was not required for this, yet
the eighty-four people sat in the cour
troom, losing time from their jobs and
being paid tax money. The salary for a
juror is sls per day; this amounts to $5,040
for the four days of service by the jurors.
I am by no means an expert on the
judicial system, but I do feel that this
money could be spent more wisely, and the
jurors lose less time from work. Perhaps a
day or two could be set aside for the
hearing of pleas and motions, and jurors
not be called during this time. There
certainly must be some solution to this
wasteful use of time and money. Sincerely,
(Signed) Arthur W. Sauley, Route 3, Box 23
RESPONSE: We asked Judge Andrew
Whalen Jr., of Superior Court to respond to
the above. Here is his letter:
Dear Quimby: Regarding our discussion
concerning arraignment of defendants in
criminal cases and the taking of pleas,
there seems to be no happy solution to the
constantly recurring problem of having
jurors present while the mandatory
procedual processes, prior to actual trial
before a jury, are carried out.
Trial jurors do not have to be present
during arraignment, but if all arraign
ments were held at some time other than
when jurors are required to be present
(pre-supposing a separate arraignment
day could be arranged), there is no
assurance that it would necessarily result
in a saving of time for jurors or the court.
It is a fact that few defendants plead guilty
before they have to, and a defendant can
plead “not guilty”, go to trial before a
jury, and still change that plea to “guilty"
at any time before the jury makes a
verdict. He can plead not guilty on an
arraignment day, whenever it is held, and
thus postpone sentencing which would
result from a plea of guilty at that time,
until such time as he is finally brought on
for trial before a jury, then, if he desires,
change his plea to guilty and not be in any
worse position than he would have been in
had he plead guilty a week or a month
sooner on a separate arraignment day.
The law (Acts 1862-3, pp. 138, 140; Ga.
Code Ann., Sec. 27-1902) requires that:
“The State shall be required in every case
to announce ready or not for trial, except
in those cases where the defendant is
entitled by law to demand a trial, before
the defendant shall be called on to make
such announcement.”
Os course, the State cannot announce
“ready” unless there are jurors present to
try the case. Thus, if a defendant is called
up for arraignment with jurors present,
and with the State thereby being in a
position to immediately proceed to a jury
trial at that time in the event the accused
pleads “not guilty”, the efforts of those
charged with the duty of processing the
case through the court are apt to fructify
instanter, where, otherwise, they would
probably not.
The questions raised and suggested by
your correspondent are certainly nothing
new or novel to the courts. They are
considered constantly and met in any
practical way that may present itself. It is
understandable, of course, that laymen
who view only the tip of the legal iceburg
might be somewhat disgruntled by
procedure. Judges, prosecuting attorneys,
and lawyers in general, share the feeling
upon occasion. Be that as it may, the
system has been developing since about
1166, and we will live with it until
something better comes along.
I appreciate the opportunity to comment
on this situation, as the Court belongs to
the public, and it is always gratifying to be
in a position to share our problems with
others who aid in the administration of
justice, as do jurors, and solicit their aid,
support, and understanding in seeking a
solution to those problems.
Jury service is an essential part of our
system of justice. Unless jurors are
present when needed, the system cannot
go forward. Jurors are serving just as
important a function whether they are
sitting in the jury box or sitting in the
audience while arraignments are being
held. Without going into more elaboration,
which neither space nor patience would
permit, and with the plight of jurors in
mind, allow me to close with a thought
expressed by another who suffered a
similar disquietude many years ago:
“Who best bear his mild yoke, they serve
him best; his State is Kingly; Thousands
at his bidding speed, and post over land
‘The voice
of Griffin ’
and ocean without rest; They also serve
who only stand and wait.” Milton: On His
Blindness (1652)
With kindest personal regards, I remain,
Sincerely, (Signed) Andrew J. Whalen,
Jr., Judge, 'Superior Courts Griffin
Judicial Circuit
Stork Club
Dear Mr. Editor: In reading and looking
in our Daily News, it has come to my at
tention in our Griffin and Spalding County
“Stork Club” each month, there are
pictures of some of our Griffinite babies.
My concern is each month there are only
White babies’ pictures advertised. As
many Black Citizens as there are living in
this community, who have given birth to
their babies, I have never seen a picture of
the first black baby in the Stork Club.
I am sure there are more black citizens
wondering the reason why. Sincerely
yours, A Wondering Citizen and Mother.
Mrs. E.S. Parks
RESPONSE: We publish numerous
pictures of black citizens of Griffin:
basketball players, school children,
adults, clubs, groups, individuals, other
athletes— in fact, black as well as white
citizens in every walk of life who make the
news. As for “The Stork Club”: We print it
every day when there is a new baby and do
not know (or care) which ones are white
and which are black. The same goes for
funerals, engagement announcements,
weddings, everything. Once a month we
publish the summary of births that month
under the heading “Stork Club”. None of
the babies pictured are actual Griffin
babies. They are mere illustrations used
for decorations, and if you will check back
you will see the same ones are used over
and over, month after month. Pictures of
at least four black and four white female
basketball players are on the opposite side
of the “Stork Club” page of Monday, Feb.
17 to which you referred. Hope this ex
plains the matter. It seems hard
sometimes to please some of you folks, but
I think that misunderstanding through
lack of communication is responsible more
often than not, so we are glad that you
communicated with us. Actually, we had
not noticed the “white only” baby pictures
and will add the one of a black baby
printed here to next month’s “Stork Club”.
The other day I asked a white teacher how
many blacks he has in his class. He said,
“I don’t know. I’ve never counted them.”
When all of us—black as well as white—get
to his point we will have licked the
oroblem.
Crime
Dear Sir: I pastor a church in our city. I
have lived here almost five years and have
grown to love Griffin. Over these years,
however, the rising crime rate has come to
disturb me greatly. I have watched and
waited for something to be done; for some
new idea that would be tried, and yet all I
have heard is just more of the same. More
men, more cars, more money. Our
economy seems to be such that it just
cannot make this reality and so the spiral
continues.
Now in church we have what are called
“sacred cows”. These are procedures and
programs which have long been obsolete
or useless, and yet we are so very
reluctant to “slay” them. I also believe
that there are also many “sacred cows” in
our public safety system which also need
to be slain. I propose that the following
steps would drastically reduce the crime
rate in our city, making it once again a
safe place to live. I believe that these can
be done for the same or less meney than
we are now spending on public safety and
law enforcement over a long haul.
1. That we reorganize our city police and
fire departments into a Public Safety
Force. We pay far too much money for
firemen who basically just sit and wait for
a fire. These men could be trained in the
tactics of fire fighting as well as crime
prevention and public safety methods. At
the same time police could be trained in
Letters
The Griffin Daily News welcomes letters
to the editor and features them on this
page every Wednesday.
Here are the ground rules:
All must be signed. We may withhold a
name upon request, but only with the
understanding that we will provide it to
anyone with a good reason for asking. We
will not withhold a name signed to any let
ter critical of any individual.
Letters concerning race, creed or
religion are not acceptable. Nor are letters
for or against political candidates.
the tactics of fire fighting as well as crime
prevention and public safety methods.
This force with a dual capacity should
greatly reduce the number of needed
personnel, allowing those participating to
be paid an upgraded salary. This type
force would have other benefits as well. In
times of community disaster, this extra
training could prove of great value, and it
should be obvious that a properly trained
person cruising the city would often be
able to arrive at the scene of a fire enough
quicker to save those critical few minutes
which may mean life or death, minimal
property loss or maximum property loss.
Os course one objection to this would be
that present firemen don’t want to be
policemen and present policemen don’t
want to be firemen. This can be handled by
starting the “Force” with volunteers
(added pay will increase the incentive to
volunteer), and as men either retire or
quit, willing men could be hired to replace
them.
2. That a substantial amount of our
police vehicle fleet be replaced with
“street” cars (not plain cars which are
just as obvious to the criminal element as
are regular police cars), these of course to
be equipped with the necessary equipment
for law enforcement and public safety
work, there was a time when just a lot of
police cars cruising was a real deterent to
crime, but I believe times have changed.
It’s sort of like my fear of a snake. As long
as I can see him or know I can spot him
before he bites me, I have no real fear, but
when I know he’s there, but I just can’t
quickly spot him, I am terribly afraid!
3. That we consider the feasibility of
acquiring a helicopter to patrol our city. It
would seem that one “chopper” could do
the work of three cars (which would
probably made it no more expensive) and
would create a real fear in the potential
criminal because it would add a com
pletely new dimension in his attempts to
avoid detection and to elude law en
forcement officers.
4. That we equip a very select group of
volunteers who, by the nature of their work
daily travel all over the city, with radios to
report suspicious activities immediately to
headquarters so that they can be checked
out immediately by regular officers. As I
travel around the city in my pastoral work,
I see more pot smoking, drunk driving,
fighting, etc. than you could ever imagine.
Twice I have seen people breaking and
entering but by the time I could get to a
phone and call the police, they arrived too
late. I do believe you would find a great
number of capable people willing to
perform this service to the community if
given the opportunity.
Some of these ideas are neither new, nor
are they mine, but have been proven in
other cities. Some are mine. However, it
does not matter where an idea comes
from, if it has merit it should be considered
and tried. I hope these at least will be
considered for a better Griffin. Sincerely
yours, (Signed) A Pastor
Dear Sir: I am writing in regards to the
trouble at the parks.
I have lived in Griffin all my life and love
my home town very much. I am married
and have a son 10 years old who loves to go
to the city park and play, but we will not let
him because of all the trouble. I ask God to
help us learn to get along better.
I would also like to say that I do not think
that the county commissioners should be
so badly critized, because they only
wanted to know where the money is going.
God be with us all. A true Reader.
(Signed) W. Stewart, 505 East Mclntosh
Road
Dentist
Dear Mr. Melton: A very disturbing
thing happened in my dental office as a
result of a recent news article. One of my
patients called and suddenly cancelled an
appointment to have his child’s teeth
cleaned with the explanation that
“cleaning teeth is no longer neccessary!”
Later that same day a second patient also
refused to have her child’s teeth cleaned
and further stated that she was no longer
going to require her little girl to brush her
teeth.
Both of these well-meaning people,
based their new dental philosophy on an.
article which appeared on the front page of
the Griffin Daily News entitled: “British
report says brushing doesn’t help teeth
that much.”
The report based on a study of 13,000
children said that there is no significant
difference between groups of children who
brush their teeth three times per day and
groups who brush less than one time per
day. So why bother to brush?
I would like to present a few facts which
may help your readers to evaluate this
report and decide this very important
matter for themselves.
First we should consider the source of
this information, the British Government.
Britain has had a national Health Service
for over 25 years. Die manner in which
this government controlled dental care is
administered discourages any form of
preventive dentistry, and in fact en
courages the early loss of natural teeth.
Another recent British Health Education
Council report stated that 37 percent of the
population over 16 years in England and
Wales were without any natural teeth at
all. Think about that! That means that one
out of every 2.7 people over 16 years old in
Brittan is toothless. It would appear that
they practice what they preach.
Are the conclusions in the British report
valid? Let me briefly outline the causes of
dental decay and let your readers decide
whether or not they want to encourage
their children to brush.
For tooth to decay we must have three
things, (1) plaque, (2) bacteria, and (3)
sugar.
Plaque is a sticky substance which
forms on the teeth. We cannot see it except
by the use of special dyes or disclosing
solutions.
The bacteria called Lactobacillus, are
present in the saliva of each of us. Sugar is
present in the majority of foods consumed
by the average American.
Simply stated, decay progresses in this
manner.
(A) The plaque attaches itself to the
teeth forming a sticky coating.
(B) The bacteria form colonies on thig
plaque. The bacteria do not colonize on a
freshly cleaned, smooth surface. It is only
after plaque has begun to accumulate that
the bacteria can stick to a tooth.
(C) The bacteria then ingest the sugar
and secrete waste products in the form of
acids.
It is these acids that disolve the outer
surface of the teeth to begin what we call a
cavity.
Reducing any one of the three basic
items will definitely reduce the incidence
of dental decay.
For all practical purposes it is im
possible to eliminate the bacteria so let’s
look at the elimination of sugar and
plaque.
Cutting down on sweets is an excellent
beginning and can easily reduce the decay
rate by at least one-third but there is some
form of sugar available in virtually every
meal we eat.
The third alternative in eliminating
tooth decay would be to completely
eliminate the plaque thereby effectively
destroying the bacteria’s home. Bacteria
floating loose in the mouth do not harm the
teeth. It is only when they attach them
selves to the plaque and excrete waste
acids directly on the tooth that we find
tooth decay. Brushing and flossing is the
best way to remove plaque.
Why then did the British children still
get cavities? The real answer was that the
children were not brushing properly! They
did not completely clean all surfaces of
their teeth, especially around the gum line,
between the teeth, and in the deep grooves.
A soft tooth brush, dental floss and proper
instruction would over come most of these
problems.
In these inflationary times the most
sensible thing to do is to avoid dental
decay, and costly repairing due to dental
neglect.
Even if I am wrong, and brushing
doesn’t reduce decay we still need to brush
and floss to prevent diseases of the gums
and have fresh clean breath.
But what if I’m right! Sincerely.
(Signed) Dr. A. K. Weathers Jr. D.D.S.
Youth
Dear Mr. Melton: After having read yet
another anti-youth letter in your “We’re
listening” column, my extrovertism has
overcome my introvertism and forced me
to write this letter. It is in response to the
letter February 12th suggesting raising the
legal driving age from 16 to 18.
I try to look at both sides of any
argument. To even suggest, however, that
Georgians 16-and 17-year-old drivers burn
4.9 million gallons of gas monthly pleasure
riding (that’s over 68 hundred gallons
hourly) is ridiculous.
“Look at the lives and wrecks we would
save a150...” the letter said in reference to
raising the driving age. Each time I hear
this I think of a friend of mine who was
permanently disabled when a seventy
five-year-old driver pulled out in front of
him. The reader mentioned maturity and
associated it with age. I know many
fourteen-year-olds more rational and
mature than some adults.
Biology tells us that slowness of mind
and muscle comes with age. If anything,
perhaps there should be a maximum
driving age.
My last question of the letter is of
“pleasure-driving”. Adult drivers out-
number 16-and-17-year-old drivers by a
great majority. Therefore, their wasted
gas on pleasure-driving is probably much
more than ours. Please withold my name.
(Signed) Thank you
Informed
Dear Mr. Melton, Jr.: In regard to your
columns “View Point” and “We’re
Listening,” I would like to compliment
your staff and yourself for keeping the
people of Griffin and Spalding County
informed about just about everything.
These articles have really cheered up a
lot of fans, players, and coaches at Griffin
High School. This is in all sports; although
I an a senior and did play on the 6-AAA
Championship football team in 1972 and
again this year, I feel that all teams should
get the same recognition and no one sport
get more than others. Our school takes
pride in every area we perform in whether
it be clubs, sports, or studying.
With the support of your staff at the
Griffin Daily News and the local radio
stations I truly feel that we have the most
informed city and county. Thanks to the
Griffin Daily News and WHIE, WGRI, and
WKEU we have grown to be a great
community. Thank you, (Signed) Grant
Crawford
P.S. Please respond.
RESPONSE: Many thanks to you. We
try hard, and a letter like this re-charges
our battery.
Recreation
Dear Mr. Melton: I’m writing this letter
because I’m becoming very concerned
about the future of the citizens of Spalding
County.
The disagreement between our city
commissioners and county commissioners
has become somewhat less than funny.
Ever since the county started questioning
the amount of money spent on recreation
in Griffin, things have gone from bad to
worse. Their (both boards of com
missioners) actions made me think of two
groups of children arguing, with one group
saying, “If you don’t play our way, you
can’t use our ball.”
Now, the city commissioners have said
that effective July Ist, only city residents
can participate in the recreational
program. Needless to say, there will be
many children in the county who will be
affected by this. It bothers me to think of
the county child who cannot play ball while
an adult who lives in the city can learn to
belly-dance.
Perhaps, it would not hurt to charge a
fee for adult recreation programs to make
them self-supporting. I feel that it is much
better for adults to pay their way rather
than leave our children out.
As I write this, I can’t help but wonder
what service the county will now refuse to
residents of the city. I wonder how long
residents of both city and county will allow
themselves to be used by the elected of
ficials who are supposed to be serving
them.
For the record, I live in the city limits of
Griffin. Therefore, my child will not be
affected by this ruling, but many innocent
children will have nothing to do, come
July. Thank you, (Signed) Chloris
Hudgins, 210 West Avenue
*44
Dear Quimby: I had the opportunity to
attend the recent night meeting of the
County Commissioners. Although my
purpose in attending was not primarily an
interest in recreation, some facts were
disclosed regarding recreation which
prompt this comment. -
In the initial information released the
cost of operation of the golf course was
approximately $1,400. In the meeting it
was revealed to be in excess of $24,000
Additional information brought out that
the total cost of three programs: Golf
Course, Ceramics-Arts and Crafts and
Christmas Decorations and Slimnastics
cost in excess of $60,000 in addition to in
come from these programs.
Participants in these programs are
almost totally adults, many of whom
could pay an equitable fee for the service
they receive.
Acceptance of the idea that government
has a responsibility to provide leisure
activity, in the name of recreation, for
those of us who participate can become a
burden of many who can ill afford such a
luxury, for the pleasure of a smaller
segment of citizens.
The position of the County Com
missioners seems to me to be to continue
all programs, make adult programs self
supporting where possible — strive for
efficiency and expand recreation as
needed.
I agree with that position. Sincerely,
(Signed) P. H. (Roy) Bass, Jr.
Continued on
next page