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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS-WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1989
Opinion
Ethics in government
is no laughing matter
There is an old joke that says
the phrase Ethics in Govern
ment is a contradiction in
terms. Unfortunately, in recent
years especially at the federal
level, that phrase has been far
from a laughing matter.
But local officials of city gov
ernments from around the
country were given a bit of ad
vice last weekend about how to
avoid the peril that has befallen
their counterparts at the feder
al level.
Disclose everything was the
key advice given by Michael Jo
sephson, president of the Jo
sephson Institute for the Ad
vancement of Ethics when he
addressed officials at the Na
A way to save on costs?
Pooling of resources to get a
better bargain is good business
sense and could be good
government.
That is why county commis
sioners and school board mem
bers are wise to move ahead
with the proposal to see if the
purchasing of both govern
ments can be combined under
one department.
The goal would be for both
like items to be bought at the
same time in bulk in hopes of
getting good price, which
KNOW YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. Senator Sam Nunn
303 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510. Tele
phone: 1-202-224-3521. Atlanta number: 331-4811
U.S. Senator Wyche Fowler
320 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510. Telephone:
1-202-224-3643. Atlanta number:33l-0647
U.S. Rep. Ed Jenkins, 9th District
2427 Rayburn Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. Telephone: 1-202-
225-5211; Gainesville number: 1-404-536-2531.
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
Rep. Bill Barnett, District 10
P.O. Box 755, Cumming, Ga. 30330. Telephone: 887-6582.
Sen. Nathan Deal, District 49
P.O. Box. 2522, Gainesville, Ga. 30503. Telephone: 1-404-522-9978
Sen. Sallie Newbill, District 49
7205 Riverside Drive, Atlanta, Ga. 30503. Telephone: 1-404-394-5676
Gov. Joe Frank Harris
203 State Capitol, Atlanta, Ga. 30334, Telephone: 1-404-656-1776
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Street Talk What do you think schools will be like in the future?.. .Cumming Elementary
Jessica Jordan
There could be robots who teach you
in the schools.
tional League of Cities.
While some bristled at the
idea, Josephson wisely noted
that it is easier to reveal every
thing rather than being caught
doing something wrong.
Strengthening of ethics ordi
nances is one way to do that, Jo
sephson said, so that for in
stance, officeholders would be
required to give more detailed
accounts about their landhold
ings, donations, etc.
The Forsyth County Commis
sion recently shot down a tough
er ethics ordinance proposed by
Commissioner Barry Hill
gartner, preferring instead to
go with a less restrictive one.
Maybe, the commission should
invite Josephson here for a talk.
means saving taxpayers mon
ey. There will undoubtedly be
some costs involved in getting a
storage area for the items and a
staff to oversee the operation.
Hopefully though, those costs
will be recouped by the savings
in having one operation. It
might further be helped if city
officials were also asked if they
were interested in such an idea.
It is this type of cooperation
between governments that not
only makes good sense but good
cents as well.
PUBLISHER-SCOTT M. BROWN
MANAGING EDITOR-LEONARD KRANSDORF
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR-HARRIET H VINCEN
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR - GREG B. SLOAN
Courtney Smith
Desks will be computerized and there
won’t be a need for books ’cause the
desk will teach you.
Putting Christmas back into perspective
About this time of year most folks feel
they’re on a roller-coaster, perched right on
top, just about to rush headlong down the
steep side into Christmas, arriving there
much too fast.
I’ve been trying to remember when the.
days between Thanksgiving and Christmas
sped up. As a child I remember it seemed
the longest month of the year!
Sometime along in my adult life when I
was raising two daughters, holding down a
job, trying to keep the house more or less in
order, doing church and community work, I
suddenly realized there seemed to be fewer
days between the end of November and
Christmas.
My husband, who always helps me keep
things in perspective, informed me the oth
er morning at the breakfast table that there
are still the same number of days in
December.
I thanked him for that, remarking that I
realize the sun comes up, the sun goes
down, and it’s another day! What I didn’t
say was that I have a harder time cram
ming things that need to be done between
sunrise and sunset into that time period.
One reason for that is that I have deliber
ately slowed down some in order to appreci
ate the days more. Some of the slowing
down is not deliberate, but no one wants to
talk about what happens to your brain, your
body, and your energy as time relentlessly
coue^sr
©(fg? after
Planning a huge, expensive, stressful party
By David Grimes
New York Times Regional Newspapers
The holiday season is fast approaching,
and that means it’s time to start making
plans for a huge, expensive, incredibly
stressful party in your home.
While it is true that some people do not
look forward to holiday entertaining as
much as others, there is no reason why you
and your family should allow party prepa
rations to become a traumatic experience.
OK. Maybe there are a few reasons.
The first reason is the nature of the party
itself. Should it be a small party or a large
party? Should you serve food? If so, how
much food? Should you serve liquor? How
much liquor? That much liquor? Boy, your
friends sound like a bunch of lushes.
No, I am not being judgmental. What do
you mean you’ve heard my parties are bor
ing? At least I’ve never had the neighbors
call the cops on me, which apparently is
standard procedure at your parties. Oh,
yeah? Well, happy holidays to you, too,
landfill breath.
Once you’ve established the nature of the
party, the next step is to select a date and
Eric Knight
You could go to school, do your daily
lessons. Then if you want, you could
either take the bus home or go to the
day care. You wouldn’t have to stay at
school all day.
Joyce
Jordan
Columnist
marches on!
I think the biggest reason for the “roller
coaster” syndrome this time of year is that
“they” keep telling you to hurry. Christmas
advertising and promotions begin around
Halloween and if you pay attention to the
barrage coming at you from all sides, you’ll
be a nervous wreck if all your Christmas
shopping isn’t done by the day after Thanks
giving, at the latest.
I noticed Christmas-tree lots already
stocked here in town days before Thanks
giving. Working in the media, I started re
cording Christmas ads weeks ago.
Of course, at church, we began preparing
our Christmas cantata weeks ago, also, and
I admit I already ordered some gifts and
paper from one of the grandchildren to help
with a school project. But that’s it! I refuse
to rush out and finish all my Christmas
preparations before December 24th. I savor
the season.
time.
It is important that you pick a date that
does not conflict with someone else’s holi
day party because, let’s face it, nobody’s
going to come to your party if there’s anoth
er party somewhere else that might actual
ly be fun. So it’s probably a bad idea to
schedule your party at popular party times
such as Friday or Saturday night.
Thursday night’s out because the Ronatel
lis are entertaining, and Wednesday’s no
good because the Furmans are throwing
some sort of bash. The office party is Tues
day, and Monday there’s something going
on at the school. In fact, if you look at the
calendar, you’ll see that the only possible
time for your holiday party is Sunday, June
17, 1990.
You also want to give some thought to the
time you want your guest(s) to arrive. You
do this by putting a different time on the
invitations than the time you actually want
the guests to begin arriving at your door.
While this may sound confusing, you can
figure it out in a jiffy by consulting the Offi
cial Party Time Conversion Table. For ex
ample, if you want your guests to begin ar
Mike Renzi
I think there should be a computer or
TV at home like a robot teacher. Sub
jects could be on disks and you could
study your subjects at whatever times
and order you want.
£7l
tA
I love it. Even with all the commercializa
tion, which I have been a part of for my 25
years in radio, I still enjoy it. And there can
only be one reason for that.
Thanks to my good upbringing, I remem
ber the reason for the season. I just don’t
think I could still look forward to Christmas,
thrill at the music, enjoy the giving and the
fellowship and fun, and feel the spirit if
there was not more to it than noise. I’m
certain it’s the birthday we celebrate that
keeps the spirit alive in my heart and in my
home.
I agree with my husband that things have
certainly gotten out of hand when it comes
to celebrating Christmas.
But in trying to put it into perspective, I
remember something that happened when
my oldest daughter Shelley was a little girl.
Every year, in the midst of the feverish
activity surrounding the holidays, one thing
held her interest. We had decorations and
the tree and the presents underneath and
goodies of all kinds all over the house.
But I would find her in some quiet comer,
holding the tiny figure of the Baby Jesus in
the manger. She would take it from the Na
tivity scene, and just simply take Him away
where it was still, so she could tell Him
Happy Birthday. Modem-day hype can turn
you off to Christmas, unless you can find a
quiet comer, and remember.
riving at, say, 8 p.m., the correct time to put
on the invitation, according to the Conver
sion Table, is 4 p.m.
Here are some other times and their
conversions:
Desired arrival time: 10 p.m.
Converted time: 8 p.m.
Desired arrival time: 5 p.m.
Converted time: Noon.
Be advised that this conversion table is
only accurate in situations where you finish
your party preparations on time. If you in
vite guests to arrive at 9 p.m. and you are
still taking a bubble bath at 8:55 p.m., that
is the signal to guests that they should start
arriving at 7 p.m.
The reward of careful party planning is
the party itself. The food is great, the con
versation is lively and everyone has a won
derful time.
As you say goodnight to the last guest,
take a moment to savor the meaning of the
holiday season, the warmth and the magic
and the love. And, above all, be thankful if
none of your friends ground their cigarettes
into the arm of the couch.
(David Grimes is a columnist for the Sar
asota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune.)
Melissa Powers
I think there would be computerized
desks at school. You can learn at your
own rate and if you are smart enough,
you can graduate to the next grade all
in one year.