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PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JULY 26. 2007
As kids head back to school, we say
“Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em”
Ah-hah, the truth is out—and just as the
school year is set to open. A national study
confirms what most of us have known a long
time: teenagers don't listen to a thing you tell
them.
Worse, this study (by a UGA professor, no
less) shows half the time teens will do exact
ly the opposite of what you tell them to
do—in order to spite you, to be rebellious or
for whatever reasons kids do the crazy things
that they do.
This is especially true of middle schoolers,
many of whom (according to UGA's Hye-Jin
Paek's study) start smoking in response to
hearing some old buzzard present them an
anti-smoking campaign.
The UGA prof and a
University of Wisconsin
researcher surveyed 1,700
middle school students regard
ing anti-smoking efforts and
the kids’ intentions to light
up—this according to a news
story about the study in the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The professors found cam
paigns telling kids they
shouldn't smoke had little pos
itive effect and that many of
the kids surveyed planned to
pick up a pack of Camels after
realizing something adults try
so hai'd to discourage must be
cool.
In the article, Paek was quoted as saying,
"They don't want to hear what they should or
should not do." Come to think of it, who
does?
Have some golden advice? Save your
breath. Kids aren't listening. To borrow a
line: “What we have heyah is a failure to
communicate.” Kids don't want to hear what
we’re saying, and half the time, maybe for a
darn good reason. Look who is offering the
advice.
No matter how many advanced degrees,
honors or even lessons from the school of
hai'd knocks you’ve acquired, fourteen-year-
olds aren't impressed. If you can’t dunk a
basketball or rhyme a rapp, forget about it.
Try saying something really important that
begins with "When I was your age" or "If I
were you," and instead of hearing you, that
precious child is thinking "Like, after my dad
goes to bed, if I put the car in neutral and roll
it to the street will he hear, or what-ever?"
That’s not to say every kid is intent on the
destruction of western society. But adults
should know by now that telling teens what
they should or shouldn’t do is about as effec
tive as presenting your dog a PowerPoint
presentation. (Maybe that’s unfair—to dogs,
I mean. At least with Fido you’d get a
response, a wag or something.)
The study suggests a more
effective way to communicate
with teens might be techniques
applied at Abu Gharib prison.
(Just kidding—that would be
sure to get you in trouble with
DFACS and Amnesty
International.)
Actually, the study found
exploiting peer pressure is the
best way to get a message to
teens.
In other words (according to
the study, to be published in
the journal Communication
Research), instead of saying
“Thou shalt not smoke, drink
or fornicate,” tell kids, something like, “Cool
kids aren’t smoking, drinking or fornicating,”
or “Queen Bees don’t want their Wannabes
doing those nasty things.”
That might work as well as the old-school
method, but not likely. Kids are pretty smart.
An alternate approach: resort to old-fash
ioned reverse psychology. If kids are going to
do the opposite of what you tell them to do
anyway, then tell them to do the opposite of
what you really want them to do in the first
place. Sound insane? In teen-speak this
makes perfect sense.
So our advice to teenagers: “Smoke ‘em if
you got ‘em!”
If kids are going
to do the opposite
of what you say,
then tell them the
opposite of what
you want them to
do.
In teen-speak this
makes perfect
sense.
Agree or Disagree? Tell us your thoughts on this week’s editorial either online at
the message board on the Progress Online (www.pickensprogress.com) or with a letter to the
editor that will be published next week. Letters may be e-mailed to news@picken-
sprogress.com. All letters must have a valid e-mail address, full name and a telephone num
ber for verification. Phone numbers are not published. Letters may also be sent regular mail
to Pickens Progress - P.O. Box 67 - Jasper, GA 30143. All names are published. The
Deadline for letters is each Monday at noon.
Keeping kids safe
on World Wide Web
By Sharon Omahen
University of Georgia
Communicating through
social networking websites like
MySpace is the newest teenage
rage. Despite its popularity, this
new technology is fraught with
potential dangers.
“If a parent allows their child
to have a personal page on web
sites like MySpace, they should
stay aware of what they’re post
ing and who they’re talking to,”
said Cheryl Varnadoe, a
University of Georgia
Cooperative Extension 4-H and
youth development specialist.
When building content for
their web page, teenagers
should make every effort to
remain as anonymous as possi
ble, she said.
“Avoid posting anything that
could enable a stranger to locate
you,” Varnadoe said. “This
includes your last name, the
name of your school, sports
teams, the town you live in and
places you hang out.”
Remember this, too, when
posting photographs to your
website.
Be sure items in your photo
graphs don’t reveal your school
name or your location, she said.
“Look at the background of
your photos to make sure you
aren’t accidentally giving out
identifying information,”
Varnadoe said. “The name of a
mall, the license plate on your
parents’ car or your team jer
sey all contain information that
can reveal your location.”
Teenagers should also
remember that information
posted to a website can be
downloaded or reposted to
another website.
“Before you upload a pho
tograph, ask yourself how
you’d feel if your parents,
grandparents, teachers or
future boss saw the photo,” she
said.
If your personal website
contains a comment section,
check and monitor the content
often.
“Don't respond to mean or
embarrassing comments,”
Varnadoe said. “Delete them.
And, if possible, block offen
sive people from commenting
further.”
Inappropriate comments
should also be reported to the
networking site’s administra
tor.
“The best rule of thumb is
not to say anything online that
you would not say offline,” she
said.
If the website offers this
feature, create a “friends” list
to control who can and cannot
post comments to your site.
Only allow people you know
and trust to be on your list.
“If you don't use privacy
features, anyone can see your
info,” Varnadoe said. “This
includes people with bad
intentions.”
Don’t plan to meet someone
in person that you meet over
the Internet unless you are cer
tain of their actual identity, she
said.
“It’s still not risk-free,” she
said. “But take along some
friends if you do plan a meet
ing. And make sure you meet
in a public place.”
For this, and other reasons,
teenagers should not sign up
for membership to websites
designed for adults.
“Be honest about your age,”
Varnadoe said. “If you are too
young to sign up on a site,
don’t lie about your age. Talk
with your parents about alter
native websites that may be
more age-appropriate for you.”
Sharon Omahen is a news
editor with the University of
Georgia College of
Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.
"Honest... I don't even know Vick! 1
Pcfeettfi Count? flrogress
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main St. P.O. Box 67 Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457 FAX (706) 253-9738
www.pickensprogress.com
JOHN R. POOL DAN POOL
Publisher Editor
WILLIAM E. POOL
Managing Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia.
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of Second Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE
PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS, P. O. Box 67, Jasper, GA
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OTHER VOICES
Would You Buy a Used Car from
Alberto Gonzales?
By John W. Whitehead
The U.S. Attorney General
has, with good reason, histori
cally been considered the “peo
ple’s lawyer.”
Charged with the weighty
task of blindly pursuing justice,
the Attorney General is respon
sible for making sure that the
rule of law prevails over gov
ernment corruption. This holds
true even when justice requires
the Attorney General, an
unelected government official,
to bring to account political
allies and personal friends
because the rule of law is no
friend of nepotism.
According to its mission
statement on the Department of
Justice’s website, the office of
the Attorney General is sup
posed to enforce the law and
“ensure fair and impartial
administration of justice for all
Americans.” In other words, the
Attorney General is accountable
to “we the people.”
By this standard, our current
Attorney General, Alberto
Gonzales, has been a huge dis
appointment. Time and again,
he has shown himself to be a
political “yes-man,” more com
mitted to protecting his political
friends than upholding the rule
of law.
Gonzales’ misplaced alle
giance dates back to his tenure
as White House Counsel, where
he advocated the use of torture
on captured detainees and insist
ed that the president can indefi
nitely detain U.S. citizens by
labeling them “enemy combat
ants.” These assertions have
since been seriously attacked by
legal experts and, in some
instances, refuted by the courts.
Unfortunately, not much has
changed since Gonzales’
appointment to Attorney
General. To the extent that he
can evade, justify, fabricate and
parse, Gonzales has remained
the president’s man. This has
been clearly illustrated each
time Gonzales has testified
before Congress.
Whether testifying on the gov
ernment’s domestic spying pro
gram, the torture of detainees or
the firing of federal prosecutors,
Gonzales’ outright refusal to
answer a direct question with a
straight answer has become
something of a running joke
among late-night talk show
hosts.
During testimony in April
2007 regarding his role in the
questionable firing of nine U.S.
attorneys, Gonzales routinely
responded with variations on the
theme of “I don’t recall” (as in
“I don’t recall,” “I have no rec
ollection” and “I have n o
memory”) a reported 64 times.
His evasions became so comical
that at one point a Marine
onlooker replaced his placard
protesting the Iraq war with a
running “I don’t recall” tally.
And while Gonzales was not
even sanctioned for his defi
ance, the average citizen would
have been hauled off to jail for
contempt.
Now, recently released FBI
documents indicate that
Gonzales lied under oath in his
testimony to Congress on at
least one occasion. Appearing
before Congress to urge the
renewal of the USA Patriot Act
in April 2005, Gonzales assured
senators that the FBI had not
abused its potent new terrorism-
fighting powers under that law.
“There has not been one verified
case of civil liberties abuse,”
Gonzales declared.
In fact, just six days earlier,
the FBI had reported to
Gonzales that its agents had
obtained personal information
they were not entitled to have.
That was one of at least half a
dozen reports of legal or proce
dural violations that Gonzales
received in the three months
prior to his testimony before
Congress, each of which was
serious enough to require notifi
cation of the President’s
Intelligence Oversight Board.
But Gonzales apparently did
nothing.
Perhaps Gonzales believes
he is acting in the best interests
of the American people, but I
highly doubt it. The ends do not
justify the means, especially if it
means forsaking the rule of law.
As John Adams remarked in
a December 5, 1777, letter to
Elbridge Gerry, “Let justice be
done though the heavens should
fall.”
America’s founders under
stood that a precious balance
would have to be maintained
between the people and their
elected rulers in order that the
nation not give way to anarchy
or, at the other extreme, tyranny.
They recognized that men in
power often become corrupt.
Thus, they looked to the
Constitution as the foundation
for our rule of law. “In questions
of power let no more be heard of
the confidence in man,” Thomas
Jefferson warned, “but bind
them down from mischief by the
chains of the constitution.”
Hence, we require govern
ment leaders—from the presi
dent to the Attorney General to
law enforcement officials—to
take an oath of office in which
they swear to uphold and defend
the Constitution. In so doing,
they agree to be held account
able to the people.
Accountability means open
ness—in meetings and records,
but it also means that no man is
above the law.
Whatever else might be said
about Alberto Gonzales, at the
very least, he has shown him
self to be either utterly incompe
tent as head of the Justice
Department, contemptible for
lying under oath, a political
hack with no qualms about put
ting politics before the law or all
of the above.
Either way, his presence at
the Justice Department under
mines the rule of law and the
credibility of his office. Thus, if
the rule of law means anything
in America, Gonzales must go.
[Constitutional attorney and
author John W. Whitehead is
founder and president of The
Rutherford Institute.]
Advertisement for Bids
Pickens County Government is soliciting sealed bids proposals from qualified general
contractors for the renovation of the Pickens County Courthouse Annex Building
located at 52 North Main Street, Jasper, Georgia.
Sealed bid proposals will be received until 3:00 p.m. (eastern standard time) on Thursday,
August 23, 2007. Any proposal received after this date and time will not be accepted.
Bid proposals will opened and read aloud at 3:00 p.m. (eastern standard time) on
Thursday, August 23, 2007 in the Commissioner’s office located at 1266 East Church St,
Suite 188, Jasper, Georgia. Fax proposals are not acceptable. Address your bid proposal
to:
Mr. Robert P. Jones
Pickens County
Office of Commissioner
“General Contractors”
1266 East Church Street, Suite 188
Jasper, GA 30143
Bid proposal packages and plans may be obtained for a cost of $25 from the office of the
Commissioner of Pickens County, Attn: Deborah Watson, County Clerk (706) 253-8817.
There will be a MANDATORY PRE BID CONFERENCE on Friday, August 10,
2007, at 2:00 p.m. (eastern standard time) at the Courthouse Annex located at 52 North
Main Street, Jasper, Georgia. This will be the only scheduled time for contractors to
view and inspect the existing building.
All contractors submitting a bid proposal must attend the PRE BID
CONFERENCE. Any bid proposal from a contractor not present for the PRE BID
CONFERENCE on August 10, 2007 will not be accepted or considered.
All bid proposals must be accompanied by a BID BOND in the amount of five percent
(5%) of the total proposal amount and PAYMENT/PERFORMANCE BONDS for the
project. Said bonds shall be provided in the envelope with the sealed proposal made to
the order of Pickens County Government.
Pickens County Government reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid proposals
and to waive technicalities and make an award as deemed in its best interests.