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Perspectives
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Brand new form of censorship
Don't ask, don't tell It has
become the overriding theme of a
new brand of censorship that has
begun to dominate the once open
and free marketplace of ideas In
practice, it is censorship by
controversy In reality, it is the
stifling of the type of public
debate that is the cornerstone of
an open and free society.
For anyone who does not
believe that the controversy
censor is alive, well and
expanding, raise the
impeachment at the next visit to
the “water cooler " Any group
that may have gathered quickly
dissipates at the mere possibility
of controversy or a difference of
opinion As one woman recently
put it, “it is just too
controversial *
Although there were many
other reasons as well, one of the
nagging problems Newt Gingnch
faced in attempting to resurrect
his sagging poll numbers was
the identification of Newt
Gingrich with controversy.
Unlike the past, today, the
virtual political death knell for
any politician is the tag of
“controversial * (Oddly, any
politician who openly stands for
anything is deemed controversial
by media The result is an entire
class of politicians who stand for
nothing and refuse to talk about
it.)
Weekend college recent edition at FVSU
Welcome to the first ever
FVSU Positive Side column
sponsored by the Minority
Advisement Program which is a
part of the FVSU Office of
Recruitment.
Join me each week at we
‘accentuate the positive" at Fori
Valley State University Debbie
Faccento. the director of the
MAP (Minority Advisement
Program) of the University, has
long thought a Leader Tribune
column would be good for
recruiting and as “there is no
time like the present” she and I
set to work making it happen If
you have suggestions let us
know Nothing will be too small
or too big, providing it is
positive for this column
This week’s focus is on the
Weekend College, the First in
the middle-Georgia area.
recently begun by Fort Valley
The Meeting Place
P ea ch County Commission - • every second
Tuesday of month, jury room of courthouse, 6 p m
Fort VeHey City Council -- -every third Thursday of
month, courtroom at Oty HaH. 6:30 p m
Board of Education - -every first Tuesday of
month m doasd oJKoe, Vtnevdte 6:00 p.m
Byron CBy Council -- - every first Monday of
monti at old school, 600 pm
UMRy Commission - - every seoond Monday of
month, courtroom at City Had. 7:30 p.m
Hospital Authority -- - every fourth Thursday of
month in hospital conference room, 9:00 am
PC Water It Swer Authority- first Thursday ol
month, 2 pm in new courthouse annex. Fort Valey. or
tie Byron Depot
PC Ti - first Thursday of month. 6
p.m.. Commission meeting room, new courthouse
PC Development Authority - second Thursday of
monti, 8 am , Chamber of Commerce office. Vnevde
St, Fort Vatoy
- *|r liAtt -trikuac Wednesday, 8, II
Political analyst Kandy Evans H
No one is completely exempt
from the controversy censor.
Even the self-proclaimed (or at
least WSB Radio-proclaimed)
“Mouth of the South" Neal
Boom is not immune Although
many believe that Neal Boortz
will say anything, anytime,
anywhere, the controversy
censor has struck him as well.
For him. it is abortion Just not
going to talk about it - no way,
no how
The preference now for the vast
majority of Americans is just to
not talk about it Whatever
anyone else believes is their own
business, especially if it is
controverseaJ' Just do not need
to talk about it. After all what
everyone else believes will be
reflected in the next set of polling
numbers reported on the evening
news
This approach is just so much
easier It eliminates the hassle
factor Rather than engaging in
any type of exchange of differing
ideas, the easier thing is simply
to talk about some neutral
subject In fact, most people do
The positive side
by Jane Winston
side of Warner Robins near the
Galleria Mall. Call Claude
Lucas, the director of the
Weekend College 825-6652 for
information on courses to be
offered in the future and
procedures for registering for
One Final positive note:
Teacher Recruitment day ts this
Friday, March 5, at the
Pettigrew Center on the
campus. Put on your best
clothes, bring several copies of
your resume', and join those
educators from across the
United States and locally who
come looking for teachers for
their school systems on this day.
State This program makes it
possible for working students to
complete courses for credit at a
time and place more convenient
for them Because these courses
are offered on Friday evenings
and Saturday mornings, this
mini-mester lasts only ten
weeks
This semester’s offerings are
English, Criminal Justice,
Computer and Accounting
courses Summer Weekend
College is projected to offer a
Criminal Justice, Computer and
English course. The FVSU
program is housed at the
Educational Center in the
Industrial Park on the West
®jje leafcer -Cribune
The official legal organ of Peach County, the City of Byron and the City of Fort
VaNay
PO Box 1060, Fort Valley, GA 31030 • 825-2432
Member qf the Georgia Preis Anociaium and the National Newspoor r Assouanon
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech, or of Ihe press, or the oghi of Un¬
people peacefully asaembte, and petition the Government for redress of ”
to to a grievances
77te Leader-Tribune Staff The Leader-Tribune (USPS No. 307740)
Vicky Whitehead General Manager it published weekly at 109 Anderson
Jerry Murtagh Staff Reporter Avenue, Fort Valley, GA 31030.
Stacey Shy Office Manager Subscription rates; $21.60 per year in
Jody Robinson Advettumg Director Peach County, $29,15 elsewhere in
Marc Robinson Typesetting/Graphic An Georgia, $45 out-of-state.
Lisa Mathews Dirt room/ Assistant Pressman Periodical postage paid at Fort Valley,
Ronnie Bowden GA. POSTMASTER: send address
Gary Foskey changes to The Leader-Tribune. PO Box
Danse Jackson Circulation Fort Valley, GA 31030.
Joyce Matthews 1060,
Cringing at brain overloa
Brain meltdown. Too many
things to remember and going
on at one time so your brain
selectively shuts down from
time to time. That’s the only
way ! know how to explain
how we let two errors in
headlines get by us last week
Believe it or not we do
proofread more than once and
most of the time by more than
one person. Still, errors can
get through and believe you
me we cringe and fuss at
ourselves when they do get by
us. You see, when we make
mistakes they are in black
and white for the whole
community to see and man,
does that sting
And sometimes, proof
reading three papers, your
eyes get crossed and things
just slip past you We promise
to do better. 1 have to
apologize to Mrs Joyce
because one of the errors was
in her headline She called me
to remind me about the “i*
before “e" rule just in case I
had forgotten, which I hadn't.
What kind of ride would you choose?
not even want anyone talking
about “controversial* topics
around them
Apart from the negative impact
on the development of new ideas
(as well as the de facto
concealment of just flat wrong
ideas), the controversy censor
operates as an enormous tool for
those who oppose any ideas that
are out of sync with their own
Want to silence someone or their
ideas - label them or their ideas
“controversial" and then watch
how quickly they drop off the
public discussion radar screen If
that does not work, then juat
disagree with them and watch
everyone leave to avoid any
possibility of confrontation.
Mission accomplished; ideas
censored
The result is a nation full of
Ralph Cramdens whose idea of
public debate ia airing their
views on the Falcons’ chances of
returning to the Super Bowl.
Beyond that, I won’t ask; you
don’t tell; and, we will all get
along. So, “how 'bout them
dawgrf”
The story is told about this
young boy who asked his dad if
he could used the family car to
go out on a date His father told
him he would not let him use
the car until he got a haircut
The father said, “111 never let
you have the car until you try to
look decent and get your hair
cut. Have you ever known
anyone with hair like yours to
amount to anything?" The
young boy said, “Yep, Jesus had
long hair and he did pretty
weB " The father replied, “Yeah,
and he walked everywhere he
went too"
In today’s times it would be
pretty safe to say that the
majority of our young people
don't have to worry about
walking too many places They
are either fortunate enough to
have their own vehicles, use the
family car when needed or ride
most places they want to go
with a friend
But it hasn't always been
that way Back when 1 was m
high school not very many
students had an automobile
Most of those who did
purchased their own old cars
with a few dollars they made
working after school and on
Saturdays at some local
business
When our family came to
Manchester in 1951, my Aunt
Maggie Hull, who seemed to
know most everyone in town,
was able to get me a job for a
few hours each week at the 1
Rogers Grocery Store on the
east side of Main Street E.J
“Junior" Bowen as the young,
new manager of the store being
transferred to Manchester from
Roanoke, Ala As their business
grew, Rogers later moved across
Main Street to the budding
formerly occupied by Dollar
General Store and became
Colonial Stores Later, of course,
they moved on to the Fifth
Avenue Shopping Center
becoming Big Star and then on
tKIje leader tribune
Editorial Opinion... Yours and ours
Day At A time r k
Vicky
Whitehead
Please bear with us when
these things happen and try
to understand hard we work
how easy it is for a
mistake to be made
Now, with little sleep this
P«»t weekend 1 have the
audacity to think I can write a
column which makes sense
My father-in-law had a
heart attack Sunday night
and we had been visiting my
father that weekend, who also
i* ill We came home to Find
the message on our answering
machine and rushed to the
hospital. Hopefully, this week,
feeling like a zombie. 1 will
dill be able to detect errors as
I proofread
From where I sit
%ob Tribble
to the Town and Country
Shopping Center where A&P is
now
The point 1 am getting to is
that 1 was able to take some of
those dollars earned on the job
with the grocery store and buy a
1934 Chevrolet we named
“Clairabelle" to drive around
town I don't recall driving over
five miles from town in that car
because we were afraid we
would not get back
Let me tell you that old
Chevrolet apparently really
appealed to the young ladies
back in those days. We had a
teenage club where the Senior
Citizens meet now at the old
fairgrounds A friend of mine
from Warm Springs, Eddie
Hunter, drove an almost new
Nash Rambler We would meet
at the* club with Clairabelle and
the Rambler parked side by
side. When the evening’s
activities were over and it was
time to take a ride around town
before dropping the* young ladies
at their homes by curfew time,
my old car would Fill up with
cute, young ladies and many
times Eddie would be the only
one in his Rambler We would
ride around town singing and
having a good time before
heading home
We drove old Clairabelle for
well over a year but she finally
put us down First, the reverse
gear went out so we would
always have to park where we
wouldn't have to back up Next,
first gear vanished and we went
with second and “high" gear as
long as they lasted and then she
wound up in the junk yard
After all, Mr Bowen sold me
that car for less than $1000
OUR GOAL;
The l^eader-Tnbunt - is published proudly for the citizens
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Our goal is to produce a quality, profitable, commumty
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OIK PULllia?;
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e-mail ua at ttpeachpubOaol.com
Please say a prayer for ua.
and especially Da
Whitehead We havi
witnessed our share o
miracles in the last few yean
and are praying for anothei
one. God is in the mirach
business so this is not toi
much to ask
When it rains, it seems really] toj
pour and our family has
been in the downpour of
family three misfortune the past]
years Just have to keen
reminding myself these things]
make us stronger '
It’s March! 1 can't believe it.
But to usher the new month
in the winds were mightjn
strong Sunday
X
Many of you have stores you
could tell, 1 am sure, about your
means of transportation when
you were growing up, so as 1
conclude today, let me tell you
another story relating to
automobiles j
These three ladies went to
heaven and St. Peter was going
to give them any type ear they
desired, depending on they type
of life they had lived on earth. ]
The first lady said she went to
church every Sunday and did a
lot for her neighbors, so he gave
her a Cadillac
The second lady said she was
a Christian too, maybe not so
good as the first lady, hut she
was all right St Peter gave her!
a Ford.
The third lady said, “Well, III
tell you. 1 wasn't nearly as good
as the other two ladies, but I
wasn't all that bad either " St.
Peter gave her a Volkswagen
That night the three ladies
were discussing their means of
transportation Once of them
said to the lady with the
Volkswagen, “Aren’t you
ashamed to be riding around in
that 'bug up here in heaven?"
To which she replied, "I was
until I saw the preacher ndmg
on a bicycle
Think about this When we
meet St Peter at the Golden
Gate one day, if we were given
the means of transportation in
heaven according to the way we
have lived our lives on earth,
would we be riding in a Cadillac,
a Ford, a Volkswagen , a 1934
Chevrolet, on a bicycle or would
we be walking or maybe
crawling everywhere we went?
A very* good question for us all to
ponder