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OpEd
Farming in changing times
Last summer is reported to be the
hottest in recorded history. As the 90-
degree temperatures give way to a
cooler fall, the climate change debate
will continue to be an energized topic.
Changing weather patterns con
tinue to make headlines across the
world and people are wondering
about the role global warming may
have on local weather events.
Although much of the attention sur
rounding climate change is focused
on a global scale, the potential
impacts and strategies to deal with the
problem will be felt and implemented
at the regional level.
The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), Region 4, has been
working with Southface Energy
Institute in the development of a
series of articles that cover a broad
spectrum of issues and the potential
impacts that are of importance to the
Southeast.
Climate change affecting
southeastern crop production
For fanners in the Southeast, high
temperatures combined with little rain
have led to crop failure and financial
disaster this summer. So far, Georgia
alone has recorded $406 million in
crop losses. President Clinton
declared Florida and all but four
Georgia counties agricultural disaster
areas; crops such as com, cotton and
peanuts have been especially hard-hit
by the blistering heat. Even green
eThis summer's heat wave has caused billions of
dollars in crop losses. Florida and all but four
Georgia counties have been declared agricul
tural disaster areas.
Farmers suffered almost $4 billion in damages
during the Southern Plains drought in 1996.
Energy saving in the South has a significant
©impact on national energy usage, since the
region uses energy at almost twice the national
rate. In the South, insulating an attic to an R
value of R-30 or greater can save $225 in
annual energy bills and reduce emissions of
carbon dioxide (CO2) by 4,286 pounds.
www.epa.gov/reglon4
A Few Degrees Make a World of Difference.
Making some predictions for 1999
New Year celebrations give
us some pause in our otherwise
hectic lives to catch our breath
and reflect both on the year that
has just passed and the year
which stretches out before us.
People celebrate the passing of
the old year in a variety of
ways. Some families have made
it a tradition to be together as
they literally ring in the New
Year. My fami-
ly and I were privileged this year to celebrate New
Years with some friends and their family. There
were fireworks, hugs, kisses, festive toasts (even
though they were dry Baptists) and a literal ringing
in of the New Year. It was a wonderful experience to
welcome the New Year with good friends and fami
ly-
I have often wandered what it would be like to be
packed in Times Square with a million other people
who were for the most part strangers to me. That
type of New Year’s celebration has never appealed
to me. It makes more sense to me to celebrate
together with those I love and with whom I share
my life.
The New Year always brings predictions by
those who call themselves psychic and by other
prognosticators who are usually no better than the
palm readers and fortune tellers. Since I am no bet
ter Qualified than others to predict what may occur
in 1999,1 thought I would make my own top 20 pre
dictions’ some serious and some less than serious
for this year. So, for whatever they’re worth, (not
much by any accounts), here are my predictions for
1999. Remember, I make no claim of psychic
knowledge or even intelligent insight in this regard.
I predict that in 1999:
1. President Clinton will be acquitted of all
charges and will not sign any censure resolution or
bill.
2. Monica Lewinsky will produce a book about
her experiences in the oval office and it will make
her a lot of money.
3 Hillary Clinton will have a scandal of her own
during 1999. This scandal will be part of the vast
right wing conspiracy against her and her husband.
4. Jesse Ventura will do a good job as Governor
of Minnesota to the disappointment of the media
and other politicians who would like us to believe
that you have to be a political insider to be success
ful at governing.
5. Al Gore will lose the support of significant
democrats in his bid for the presidential nomination.
pasture for livestock is scarce.
“More worrisome than last sum
mer’s heat is the possibility that glob
al warming is changing growing pat
terns,” says Southeast Regional
Administrator John H. Hankinson Jr.,
of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. This man-made heating of
the earth could slowly change where,
when and what crops will grow in the
Southeast. If carbon dioxide levels
continue to increase at their current
rate, parts of the Southeast could
change from forested woodland areas
to arid grassland by the year 2100.
The water cycle - when water
evaporates into the atmosphere, con
denses, returns to earth as rain and is
used by plants and animals - may
also change as the earth’s air tempera
ture increases. This increase in tem
perature is thought to be a result of
increased carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere from burning fossil fuels.
A warmer climate would make
moisture evaporate more quickly, cre
ating drier soil and droughts in some
areas, and heavier rains and flooding
in others. Scientists predict that
droughts and flooding could become
more frequent if current climate
trends continue.
For the latest information on glob
al climate change and its effect on the
Southeast, or for more tips on reduc
ing greenhouse gas emissions, visit
the EPA’s Region 4 Web site at:
www.epa.gov/region4.
A,
Phil jfSr
Danner
rortsrn or suicides caused by
fringe religious groups around the world.
9. There will be more than one serious terrorist
attack on Americans by Islamic extremists.
10. There will be major mergers within the auto
mobile industry involving Japanese and American
companies.
11. There will be “sightings” of several dead
movie stars including Elvis, Marilyn Monroe and
Jimmy Dean.
12. Reports of alien sightings will abound in
1999.
13. Y2K problem will be for the most part
solved and the world will not come to an end on
Jan.l, 2000. This will be to the dismay of some and
relief of most.
14. There will be some major outbreaks of infec-
tious diseases in Eastern Europe which will result in
immigration restrictions. /
15. The Braves will win the Wdrld Series.
16. Skinny women will will lost their privileged
status as objects of beauty in 1999.
17. Beanie Babies will lose some momentum in
1999, but Ty Warner will produce at least one super
Beanie which every collector will be after.
18. The CEO of Disney will resign mysteriously
and will be replaced by Robin Williams.
19. Cigarette companies will invest heavily in
companies producing products to help people stop
smoking.
20. My column will become nationally syndicat
ed and I will replace Sam Donaldson on “Meet the
Press.”
1 do not know where I get this stuff from, but
neither do all the other so-called prognosticators
which abound at this time of year. The only thing
that anyone can know with certainty about 1999, is
that it will bring both joy and pain for all of us. My
personal prayer is that whatever this new year may
bring, that I may face it with dignity and the person
al resolve to do what is right. This is the best that
any of us can do.
What do you think?
Mother of American invention: Ingenuity
These recent cold days after an
exceptionally warm fall and early
winter make us realize how lucky
we are and how far Americans have
come in such a short period of
time.
When Thomas Tyndall, an
English scientist, came to this
country in 1872 to lecture on elec
tricity, so little was known about
the subject in this country that he
had to bring his own batteries.
In just a few years, Thomas
Edison and other Americans led
America in the invention of other
appliances which we take for grant
ed today.
The telephone and electric
welder were invented in 1876 and
1877.
In 1882, American inventors
Budgeting your way toward financial security
For many people, the “B” word
brings to mind unpleasant
thoughts of self-denial and end
less recordkeeping. However, bud
geting does not have to be a
thankless chore. The Georgia
Society of CPAs points out that a
budget is basically a saving and
spending plan that can help you
reach your financial goals. And
with a computer and a personal
finance software package, you can
make the task easier and enhance
your ability to analyze the results.
Whether you go the automated
route or stick with the pencil and
paper approach, the act of creating
a budget is basically the same.
You start by listing all sources of
monthly income, including wages
and salary, bonuses and commis
sions, interest, dividends and
rental income. Next, you identify
your major expense categories.
Consider fixed monthly expenses
such as mortgage or rent, insur
ance premiums, child care, and
utilities, as well as your more
flexible and intermittent expenses
like food, clothing, dental bills,
gifts, and car repairs. (If you’re
using a computer, you can scroll
through the list of default cate
gories.) Then, grab your pay
stubs, checkbook register and
credit card statements and begin
to allocate your expenses to the
different categories you created.
6. The stock market will hit
10,000 and then, to the dismay
of everyone, suffer a signifi
cant adjustment of 3,000
points. Kenneth Starr will be
blamed for this.
7. There will be a major cri
sis involving Russia and the
United States during 1999.
8. There will be more than
one major event involving ter
m azx ma Z1 11 oA /I < 1
made the electric fan and the next
year, the electric engine. In 1884
through 1887, an AC transformer
was built and soon the electric trol
ley car, the railroad telegraph, the
comptometer and the phonograph
made appearances. The automobile
was invented in 1885, but it was
1892 before an American-built one
that operated on electricity
appeared.
Between 1887 and the end of
the century, American inventors
gave us the camera, an accounting
system that used punch cards,
which was the grandfather of the
modem computer systems and the
electric stove.
Soon after the turn of the centu
ry came the electric vacuum clean
er, washer and the radio.
You are likely to find that some
spending is hard to reconstruct.
Many budget builders find that
their records reflect only a portion
of their spending and, for some
people, it’s a relatively small por
tion. What happens is that all those
cash outlays for gourmet coffees,
video rentals and magazines seem
to fall between the cracks.
If you can’t account for a large
chunk of your income, try for a
few months to carry around a
small notebook and record every
dime you spend. While spending
$5 a day on incidentals may seem
trivial, the $1,825 you could have
at the end of a year if you did not
spend it certainly is not.
Look for expenses that can be
cut back so you’ll have more
money for investing, vacations,
your children’s college fund and
other purposes. A key strategy for
meeting your financial goals is to
get in the habit of paying yourself
first. Rather than paying all the
bills and allocating what is left
over, if anything, to savings, you
should determine the amount you
wish to save each before you pay
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Wednesday, JmuMy 13,1333
Take a bath? Who wants to take
a bath on cold days like these? We
all do! Just two centuries before the
inventions which we take for grant
ed took place, Queen Elizabeth of
England was ridiculed by the gos
sip sheets because she had a bath
tub built. “The queen hath built
herself a bath,” said one gossip
sheet, “where she doth bathe her
self once a month, whether she
require it or not.”
The first bathtub in the United
States was built in Cincinnati in
1842 and exhibited at a Christmas
party. Os course, the local papers
denounced it as luxurious and unde
mocratic vanity.
Doctors and other medical people
denounced the bathtub as unhealthy.
Soon after the public started
other bills.
It is important that you monitor
your budget on a regular basis.
Once a month, or more frequently
if you prefer, record and catego
rize the current month’s income
and expenses. Then take a look at
how you have done. Here is where
the power of a computer can come
into play. Personal finance pro
grams can depict your budget
graphically. Budget charts and
graphs vary from program to pro
gram, but all allow you to com
pare the budgeted amounts in each
category to your family’s actual
expenses and income. And you
also can choose how you want to
view the data.
When you compare your income
and expenses consider several
things. If you find that your spend
ing is outpacing your income, you
may need to rework the numbers.
Try to squeeze a little out of sever
al categories rather than taking a
bigger chunk out of one. And don’t
ignore cuts to your seemingly fixed
expenses. For example, it is possi
ble for you to reduce your mort
gage payment by refinancing, and
Alton I
Bridges wk
using the bathtub, some cities levied
a tax on these useless and luxurious
items.
So when we get up these cold
mornings and turn on an electrical
appliance to get warm, take a bath,
prepare food or ride to work, it is
good to know that many of these
conveniences were made or
improved by American inventors.
And many of the inventors and gad
gets they made were ridiculed.
your homeowners’ or automobile
insurance premiums by raising the
deductible.
Personal finance software not
only makes it easy to see whether
you’re staying within your overall
budget but, more importantly, ;
charts the success of your budget
by category. Just click on a month
where you’ve blown the budget
and the program quickly highlights
the categories that contributed to
your downfall.
Personal finance software also can
serve as a planning tool. Suppose
you want to celebrate your tenth ;
anniversary on a cruise in the
Mediterranean. Assign an estimat
ed cost and a date, and most pro
grams will show you how much ;
you have to save each month to
meet your goal.
CPAs say that it could take several
months or more before you arrive
at a budget you can live with. The
key is to be. flexible. If you find you
are spending more than planned,
you may have to strengthen your
resolve. On the other hand, maybe
your goal was unrealistic and needs
to be adjusted.
PAGE 11A