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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010
Named the best weekly editorial page in the nation for 2007, 2008
Opinions
“Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent. ”
- Henry Ward Beecher ~
Mike Buffington, editor • Email: Mike@mainstreetnews.com
our views
Early
intervention
on bullying
important
T HE recent death by suicide
of a 13-year-old boy has
gotten a lot of attention in
Jackson County. Much of the spec
ulation surrounding the incident
involves allegations that the boy had
been bullied or harassed by peers
at school.
We may never know for certain if
that’s the case. It’s impossible now
to know exactly what was going
through the child’s mind, or if there
were external factors that led to his
death.
But bullying and other forms of
harassment are, unfortunately, com
mon among certain peer groups.
While some of that is harmless jok
ing — kids being kids — some is per
vasive and hard-core physical and
verbal abuse.
Ironically, psychologists tell us
that it is often the bully and his or
her followers that often have seri
ous self-esteem issues. By bullying
others, those with low self-esteem
feel empowered by tearing down
someone perceived to be weaker. If
that weaker person also has serious
psychological issues, the constant
harassment can sometimes lead to
tragic outcomes.
Of course, it’s very difficult to see
all of this on the surface. Bullies
mostly do their work in the dark,
away from adults or other figures
of authority. And those who receive
such abuse are often unwilling to
alert adults, fearing they would look
weak. Even when adults notice some
of these problems, it’s difficult to dis
tinguish the serious problems from
normal childhood interactions.
So what should be done about
this? Many local schools have tried
to address the problem over the
years with anti-bullying campaigns.
Sometimes, those implode because
they are fraught with an excess of
political correctness; nevertheless,
efforts have been made in many
local schools to have victims of bul
lying come forward.
Perhaps even more important,
however, would be for the bystanders
of bullying to step forward. Although
not directly involved in these events,
other children often know of and
witness bullying episodes. If those
kids could be motivated to alert
teachers and other adults, perhaps
some of these situations could be
stopped early.
There are no simple answers
in this problem. But parents and
school officials, along with anyone
who works with youth groups in
churches and other institutions,
should be alert to those who bully
or who may be the victim of bullies.
Early intervention may stop a trag
edy from happening later.
The Jackson Herald
Founded 1875 • The Official Legal
Organ of Jackson County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher & Editor
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher &
Advertising Manager
News Department
Angela Gary Associate Editor
Jana Adams Mitcham Features Editor
Brandon Reed Sports Editor
Kerri Testement Reporter
Sharon Hogan Reporter
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letters
Jefferson Library expansion a necessity
Dear Editor:
Lady Bird Johnson once said “Perhaps no place in
any community is so totally democratic as the town
library. The only entrance requirement is interest.”
The Jefferson Public Library has been an integral part
of the community for many years. It has been housed
in the current location since 1992. When the facility
was constructed, it was anticipated that it would be
adequate to serve the community well into the future.
That was almost two decades ago and much has
changed.
The population has increased over two and a half
times the 1992 count. Demands on the facility have
grown faster than the number of residents in Jefferson.
In 2009, people in the community visited this library
over 80,000 times. The limited number of computers
supported in excess of 17,000 user sessions. Circulation
of books and materials was close to 130,000 pieces.
The library has made numerous changes to maximize
the current space and there is simply no room for
additional shelving to house more books or space for
public use computers. The summer series for local
children has grown to the point that programs must be
held off site at the Civic Center in order to accommo
date the extraordinary number of participants.
The need for a larger facility is because the demands
of the community have exceeded the current loca
tion’s ability to serve fully, not because of some desire
for a larger building. What a wonderful challenge this
presents, certainly proof of the dynamic nature of the
people that live in this city.
A new or expanded library is a long-term project.
The city council voted to seek a state grant to help
build a larger building. This step was just the first
one in a process that will take at least five years to
see a result and that is not guaranteed. However, it
only makes sense to pursue this possible opportunity.
There are other options, perhaps and I am confident
that one way or another, the Jefferson community will
find a way to meet this challenge.
Sincerely,
Nancy Solie
Friends of the Jefferson Public Library
We’ll be fighting water wars for a long time
WITH all the bad news coming out of the state capitol
in recent weeks, it’s tempting to think that Georgia’s leg
islators have accomplished nothing for this session.
That is not entirely the case. Our lawmakers made
some progress on a vital issue last week when they
passed the water conservation bill (SB 370) originally
proposed by Gov. Sonny Perdue. By the time you read
this column, Perdue could have
already signed the bill into law.
SB 370 is the state’s first seri
ous attempt to take a coordinat
ed approach toward using our
water resources more wisely.
The bill limits hours of out
door watering, encourages vol
untary conservation programs,
and mandates low-flow plumb
ing fixtures to be installed in
newly constructed buildings.
It requires state agencies to
review their consumption prac
tices and develop incentives to
encourage more water conservation.
These are not huge steps and the Legislature should
have taken them years ago. The bill also imposes no
restrictions on one of the state’s largest consumers
of water, the Georgia Power Co. When you consider
that Georgia Power effectively controls the legislative
and executive branches of state government, that’s not
really a big surprise.
But the bill’s provisions are at least a step in the right
direction and the passage of SB 370 could even score
some points for Georgia in its negotiations with Florida
and Alabama over the withdrawal of water from Lake
Lanier.
There was one major issue not addressed by the
water bill, however. SB 370 contains no provisions
dealing with proposed transfers of water to Metro
Atlanta from sources such as Lake Hartwell and Lake
Burton in Northeast Georgia, the Flint River basin in
South Georgia, or the Coosa River basin in the state’s
northwestern corner.
This issue matters because Metro Atlanta, the center
of growth in Georgia, has just about reached the limits
of what its available water resources can support in
terms of new development and construction.
If the business interests in Atlanta cannot regain
full access to the water in Lake Lanier, their only real
option is to pipe in water from river basins outside the
region. That poses a very real threat to water supplies
in rural Georgia.
When Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell) tried to offer
an amendment to SB 370 to address the inter-basin
transfer issue, he was told that no amendments to the
bill would be allowed.
Powell and several other North Georgia lawmakers
- Reps. Tom McCall, Michael Harden and Stephen
Allison - have since introduced a bill that would
require a full review and issuance of a permit by the
Environmental Protection Division before any water
is moved from one river basin to another. The bill
probably won’t go very far because the House natural
resources committee doesn’t plan to hold any meet
ings in the near future.
The business community’s interest in water from out
side Atlanta was evident when the Georgia Chamber of
Commerce issued a statement opposing the inter-basin
transfer bill within hours of its introduction.
“This bill creates new regulations and criteria that
will not only make that goal (of solving the water prob
lem) more difficult, it will immediately threaten access
to water for communities in every region,” said Tim
Lowe, who chairs the chamber’s environment and
energy committee.
Powell contended that draining Lake Hartwell and
Lake Burton for the benefit of developers in Metro
Atlanta will damage any prospects for growth in
Northeast Georgia.
“It’s about fairness to the rural areas of the state,”
Powell said. “Any water transfers can have a negative
impact on economic development (in the Hartwell and
Burton regions). It would have an impact downstream
of the Savannah River basin to the port of Savannah.”
“Pulling that water into other basins isn’t the way to
solve the problem,” Harden said. “That can be done
through conservation.”
“Interbasin transfers that are used to supplement
systems that haven’t taken care of the water resources
within their own basins are not in the best interest
of any part of Georgia, especially the donor basin,”
McCall added.
There aren’t any easy answers to the water dilemma,
but legislators should have had the gumption to start
addressing the inter-basin transfer issue in this session.
If they continue to ignore the issue, the rural areas will
be fighting water wars with Metro Atlanta for years to
come.
Tom Crawford is the editor of The Georgia Report.
He can be reached at tcrawford@caDitolimDact. net.
We shouldn’t
be surprised
at ObamaCare
I F THERE was a time in
American history where the
public was more pessimistic
and cynical, I’d hate to see it. On a
sojourn to Washington DC last week, I
found the mood dispirited and sober.
ObamaCare was all the talk, although
most of
what I
heard was
negative.
But it’s
not that
attempt
to reform
health
care that
I heard
people
complain
ing about
so much.
It was the
tone of the
debate and the extreme expansion of
government that was the real focus.
It has been at least one generation
since the nation has lurched with
such an expansion of federal power.
Although a majority of Americans
don’t support ObamaCare, a fair num
ber actually believe government can
solve health care problems.
We shouldn’t be surprised. This
nation has become a country of
thumb-suckers, dependent on govern
ment to solve all its problems. Nearly
half of Americans no longer pay taxes,
but are rather the beneficiaries of gov
ernment largess.
And so now health care will
become an entitlement and Uncle
Sam will dictate who gets what kind of
health services. The proponents deny
that, but in a decade, we will all see
the bitter fmit of this unholy alliance
and federal takeover.
Should we have expected anything
less? In a spasm of celebrity worship
two years ago, the nation elected a
president whose agenda was clear
from the start. President Obama had
no real-world experience; he is a crea
ture of a political culture run amuck.
He believes in big government and in
using government power to shape the
world in his liberal image.
Now he has. Whatever the political
fallout — next November will tell us a
lot — Obama has thrown the nation
into uncharted territory.
And it’s all a sham. The cost savings
are a sham. The increased access
to health care is a sham. Improving
health care is a shame. The unintend
ed consequences of this action will
echo for generations. We are leaving
the nation worse than we found it and
our children will pay the price for our
hubris.
In the larger picture, ObamaCare is
just another symptom of our cultural
dysfunction. The economy is in sham
bles, largely due to big government
demands (CRA for banks to loan
money who couldn’t afford it); Wall
Street greed and fraud; and the explo
sion of government at every level.
Meanwhile, Americans are con
tent to sit at home and watch March
Madness and American Idol. And we
wonder why we feel like “victims” of
others?
We have reached a tipping point in
this country. The producers — those
who have jobs, pay taxes and are
engaged in civic life — are a minority
whose labor is propping up the lazy,
uneducated and unmotivated. This
unproductive majority believes they
are entitled to have “government” pay
for their every need.
But government cannot afford it.
Who will pay when the productive citi
zens decide they’re tired of laboring
for their neighbors’ welfare?
There are essentially two views in
America: Those who believe govern
ment will do good, and those who
believe it will abuse its power to do
bad.
I’m in the latter camp. Without
restraint, a powerful, large government
will abuse its citizens in ways that we
cannot today believe.
Just wait.
Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson
Herald. He can be reached at mike@main-
streetnews.com.
mike
buffington