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Protecting Parklands
The U.S. Department of Inte
rior has exhibited a severe lack
of logic in its efforts to have
federal strip-mining regula
tions altered in such a way as to
allow strip-mining for coal in
some national parklands.
The idea is absurd and we
urge that it be dropped or re
jected or whatever else is nec
essary to put it permanently to
rest.
The idea of tearing up na
tional parkland to mine under
lying beds of coal is crazy for
several reasons, not the least of
which is an absence of need.
There is quite an ample supply
of coal elsewhere in this vast
nation, available for strip-min
ing, without once touching a
national parkland area.
Also, experts say the coal
market is solidly supplied with
a depressed demand right now.
What the Department of Inte
rior wants is to make a change
in federal strip-mining regula
tions that, in the opinion of the
National Park Service, could
open 1.7 million acres of park
land to mining.
The Park Service has said
Prepare To Use The 911
Emergency Call Number
Forsyth Countians should
alert all family members that
the 911 Emergency call num
bers can now be used and
should be prepared to use the
number when necessary.
Effective Oct. 15, the number
can be used for the Ambulance
Service. An Atlanta exchange
of 659-1911 can be used for am
bulance service.
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Department recently began a
campaign to distribute stickers
with the 911 emergency phone
Rules Of Communism Have
Made Their Way Across U.S.
In May 1919, at Dusseldorf, Germany,
Allied Forces captured a document
titled “Communist Rules for Revolu
tion.” Today they are a lot more mean
ingful to us than they were at that time.
Let me share them with you.
(1) Corrupt the young; get them
away from religion. Get them inter
ested in sex. Make them superficial;
destroy their ruggedness.
(2) Get control of all means of public
ity thereby:
• Get people’s minds off their govern
ment by focusing their attention on
athletics, sexy books, plays and other
trivialities.
instruments of tortus
School Enrollment, Costs Going Up
Oftentimes, we are left to fight some
one else’s battles. They might be big
ones, or small ones, but nevertheless,
they can be time consuming.
Sometimes the unpredictable can
happen to put a wrinkle in our better
laid plans, and that can rapidly add to
the woes.
There’s probably been little doubt in
many of out local leader’s minds that
growth is upon us. It might be moving a
little faster than we thought, but re
gardless, it has to be dealt with.
In the past, local leaders may have
used their best intentions, the best
knowledge they had at the time and the
best projections available to make deci
sions. Who knows, however, what to
morrow will bring?
Let’s take (he Forsyth County School
system as an example. Follow this
closely, so as not to get confused.
Current enrollment in our elemen
more than two dozen parks
could be affected including
Bryce Canyon in Utah, Fort
Necessity in Pennsylvania,
Cumberland Gap in Kentucky
and Tennessee and Abraham
Lincoln’s boyhood farm in In
diana.
In each case, some private
concern owns the rights to coal
beneath the surface. Current
regulations prohibit mining on
parklands unless the company
owning the coal rights obtained
strip-mining permits before
federal strip-mining controls
went into effect, Aug. 3,1977.
The new proposal would re
quire only that the companies
have acquired the coal rights
before Aug. 3,1977.
Coal is reportedly the most
abundant source of fuel avail
able in the United States. So, it
hardly seems logical to even
consider critically wounding
any of our valuable parklands.
A day might come when it is
truly necessary to do such
things. That would be a differ
ent story. Then we can think
about changing the laws. The
Gwinnett Daily News
number showing in large nu
merals.
Those who have these stick
ers are encouraged to place
them by the phone and in areas
where they can be seen by all
family members. Younger
family members are encour
aged to learn the number so
they will be able to handle an
emergency situation.
If you don’t have a sticker,
one can be obtained from the
sheriff’s department.
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• Divide the people into hostile groups
by constantly harping on controversial
matters of no importance.
• Destroy the people’s faith in their
tary schools is 3,562. The current capac
ity is 4,050. That means utilization is at
88 percent.
Current enrollment in our junior high
schools is 1,400. Current capacity is 2,-
600 which makes utilization at 54 per
cent.
Current enrollment in our high
schools is 1,183. The capacity is 1,125,
which makes the utilization at 105 per
cent.
Overall, enrollment is 6,145, capacity
is 7,775 and the utilization is 79 percent.
These statistics came from the school
superintendent’s office.
Now, what does the future hold?
Cumming-Forsyth County Chamber
of Commerce Executive Director Mac
Berston has made some projections. If
all students now in junior high go to
high school, utilization in high school
will increase from 105 percent to 124
percent in the next three years.
Driving over Big Creek, on Shiloh
Road, you can’t help but wonder why
anyone would use the area for dumping
garbage and unwanted household
items.
The road runs right through the
swampy area you see on Georgia 400,
just above McFarland Road. I realize
each individual sees things differently,
but to me, this is one of the most unique
and beautiful areas in the county.
Why? Because it adds to the diverse
ness of Forsyth County. One could drive
through a number of areas in the
county, and each will appear different
from the other.
The “swamp,” as I call it, is also a
natural area, and for the most part, has
been left untouched by the hand of man.
Why then, would anyone wish to use
such an area for dumping garbage?
There are two reasons. First of all, the
area is isolated, and as some would
believe beyond the reach of the law.
natural leaders by holding the latter up
to contempt, ridicule and obloquy
(blame).
• Always preach true democracy, but
seize power as fast and as ruthlessly as
possible.
• By encouraging government ex
travagance, destroy its credit, produce
fear of inflation with rising prices and
general discontent.
• Promote unnecessary strikes in
vital industries, encourage civil disor
ders and foster a lenient and soft atti
tude on the part of the government’
towards such disorders.
• By specious argument cause the
breakdown of the old moral virtues,
honesty and sobriety.
(3) Cause the registration of all fire
arms on some pretext with a view to
confiscating them and leaving the pop
ulation helpless.
The above rules of Communism have
nearly gone full circle in the United
States. We have seen the decay of the
standards of our young. We have
watched the destruction of faith and
trust in our leaders. We have been
witnesses to the strikes, extrava
gances, criminals going unpunished,
and the moral standards of adults and
children become no standards at all.
It seems ridiculous that in 1919 we
were aware of the rules for revolution
by the Communist nations and here it is
63 years later and we are watching the
results of our lack of foresight.
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If all students now in elementary
school go to junior high school, then on
to high school, utilization at the junior
highs would jimip from 54 percent to 64
percent and in high school from 105
percent to a scarey 158 percent.
If school enrollment increases at the
same rate as population growth in
Forsyth County an average of 7.5
percent per year from 1970 to I96o—the
Those Who Dump Garbage
Are Subject To Punishment
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Secondly, the county landfill is cen
trally located, but is just too far to
drive, when an illegal dumping area is
so near. After all, if someone has no
regard for the law, he/she won’t go one
mile out of the way to obey it.
You’d think that because so many
individuals have been caught dumping
garbage illegally, others would take
time to use the county landfill. Perhaps
the urge, though, is just too great, even
when the penalty for illegal dumping
can be as severe as a 12-month jail
sentence, or a SI,OOO fine.
Isolated areas of Forsyth County
have been used for dumping everything
from dead chickens to unwanted furni
ture and appliances.
With that in mind, let’s consider how
many individuals have been punished
for illegally dumping garbage in For
syth County. In many cases, individuals
were required to clean up the area they
dumped garbage in, or have a case
made against them.
How would you feel if your neighbor,
employer or pastor drove by while you
iflir FORSYTH RTWIAfg
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USPS 205-540
(Established 1908)
P.O. Box 210, Cumming, Georgia 30130
Telephone - 887-3126
EDDIE STOWE PUBLISHER & EDITOR
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SHIRLEY PAGE OFFICE
Published every Wednesday by The Forsyth County News
Company. Second Class Postage paid at: Post Office in
Cumming, Georgia under act of March Bth in 1897.
Subscription rates in Forsyth and adjacent counties $10.40 per
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out-of-state $15.60 per year, includes sales tax.
News and Ad Copy Deadline is 1 p.m. Mondays.
ADVERTISING RATES UPON REQUEST
overall utilization will be 126 percent by
1990.
The obvious question is, if these fig
ures hold true, where will the students
be put?
Our current school board members
are certainly aware of the growth under
way in Forsyth County. They have been
dealing with the problem since most of
them were in office.
Do these figures point out the need for
future school expansion programs in
the immediate future? There has to be
time for financing, there has to be time
for construction. There has to be proper
plans made and all this takes time.
There’s no insinuation here that the
current school board isn’t aware of
these potential problems. We know they
are near.
Long-range plans will be necessary to
PAGE 4A
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were being forced to clean up an area
you’d used as a dump? Experience
should tell you that encounters often
occur at the most inopportune times.
Let’s also consider what kind of indi
viduals dump garbage illegally. Your
opinion of such a person probably con
sists of an unshaven, unemployed, un
clean being, whose yard looks as bad as
the areas he dumps garbage in.
There may, however, be some well
paid professionals involved. The main
consideration is disrespect for the law,
which can be found in all classes of
society. Lack of respect for the law,
however, has resulted in well-deserved
punishments for those individuals who
would attempt to destroy the natural
beauty of Forsyth County.
Some of the most popular dumping
areas in Forsyth County are being kept
under surveillance, and many people
will likely be caught, even though
they’ve been asked to cease, and
warned about the penalties for illegal
dumping.
The commissioners have put forth an
effort to make the county landfill as
convenient as possible, by installing a
dumpster for bagged garbage. Now,
county residents can drive their cars
up, and throw bagged garbage down
into the dumpster, which is positioned
below the car parking area.
Heavier garbage can be carried down
into the lower section of the dump.
When disposing of your garbage has
been made so simple, you won’t have
any excuse when you stand before
Forsyth County authorities.
-THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS—WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1982
handle future potential growth prob
lems in Forsyth County, as they are for
neighboring counties.
Additional statistics compiled by the
school system show that in 1981, the
cost per student a year was $1,459. In
1982, that had risen to $1,755 per student
each year. The difference is $296 or 20.3
percent.
The projected costs, figured by
Berston, showed that if the cost per
student rises with inflation, and assum
ing a 5 percent inflation rate cost per
student, by 1990 that would rise to $2,457
a year.
If the population growth is main
tained and the projected cost of $2,457
holds true and the two are combined,
the cost of education would be $24,157,-
224 by 1990. This compares to $10,784,-
475 in 1982 or an increase of $13,372,749
equal to 124 percent.
What’s one to do?
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Exercising
Can Be An
Experience
Last week, a co-worker of mine (she
made me promise not to use her real
name, so I’ll call her “Cookie”), walked
into my office and asked me if I wanted
to join a health spa with her. Being on
such short notice, I had to think up a
good excuse... and quick. So I told her I
didn’t have any money.
Actually, that was a pretty lousy
excuse, since I still clutched my pay
check in my hand. About that time,
another co-worker (I’ll call him
George), who has been trying to per
suade us to join the health spa ever
since I came to work here, volunteered
to lend me the money. He must have
robbed a bank the night before, because
he’s usually complaining about how
broke he is. And he already was lending
Cookie the money. He said the loan
would be at 100 percent interest, which
didn’t make the offer too enticing.
Making it a policy never to borrow
money, I declined George’s generous
offer, and wrote a check out on my own
account to join the fitness program.
(Now you know why I had to take out a
short term loan from mom and dad.
Hopefully they don’t charge the same
kind of interest George does.)
As it was, Cookie and I went to the spa
for the first time, and to put it bluntly,
the whole ordeal was somewhat of a
joke.
We arrived at the fitness center all
dressed up in our “warm-up” suits, on
the advice of George. She was in blue
and I was in pink. In all reality, we
looked more like two little children in
our pajama’s than anything else. By the
end of the session however, our ridicu
lous looking outfits were the least of our
problems.
Thankfully, we were lucky enough to
have one of the nicest instructors in the
world, and he had the patience of a
saint. Of course for all we know, he
caught the next bus for the nearest
mental institution after we left. Any
way, he had us begin our program on
the bicycle, and it was really pretty
easy at first... until our kind instructor
turned this little knob, which made
pedalling the bicycle next to impossi
ble. We were to ride for five minutes. I
was going to be lucky to last five
seconds. By some miracle though, we
survived through the bicycle ride (after
loosening the little knob considerably),
and it was down hill for us the rest of the
way. About this time a man came to
inform our saintly instructor that his
dinner had arrived. Being the nice man
he is, he opted to wait until Cookie and I
had finished our program to eat. If he
had only known...
Well, Cookie and I spent more time
laughing at each other and ourselves
than we ever did excersising.
Two hours later, Cookie and I com
pleted our workout. The average time is
about 45 minutes. I wonder if our in
structor ever got to eat his supper? By
the time we left he had probably lost his
appetite, anyway.
And the next morning? All I can say
is Cookie and I both made it to work
with no more than the usual amount of
aches and pains, moans and groans one
usually experiences after he usues mus
cles he didn’t even know he had.
We go back tonight. I think...
YOUR LETTERS
ARE WELCOME
The Forsyth County News welcomes
letters to the editor concerning opinions
or columns on this page, or concerning
local, area, state, or national issues.
Letters that cannot be verified nor
carry a signature will not be used.
Writers should include their address
and telephone numbers must be added
for verification.
All letters must bear the writer’s
signature.
Letters should be addressed to The
Editor and mailed to:. The Forsyth
County News, Post Office Box 210,
Cumming, Ga„ .30130.
On Your Payroll
Senator Mack Mattingly, Senate Of
fice Building, Washington, D.C., 20510.'
Congressman Ed Jenkins, 217 Cannon
Building, Washington, D.C.* 20515.
Senator Sam Nunn, Senate Office
Building, Washington, D.C., 20510.
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