Newspaper Page Text
Letters To The Editor
War On Counterfeit Money
Dear Editor,
Chattooga County has counterfeit money ev
erywhere. I demand the Sheriff declare war on
counterfeit money just like he did on drugs. I also
demand that he take all the counterfeit money he
can collect to the dump and burn it.
Now I will tell the Sheriff what counterfeit
money is so he will know what to look for.
Look at the large tyfieface at the top of the
bill. In bold letters you will read The United States
of America. Down at the bottom One Dollar. Both
phrases are criminally, fraudulently deceptive.
This bill ma[\)' be printed by an agency of the
Federal Grabit, but only on the orders of a pri
vately owned banking monopoly called the Fed-
Volunteers
Dear Editor,
lam writingbin response to Ms. Childer’s let
ter last week. February is National Heart Aware
ness Month. The Chattooga Chapter of the Ameri
can Heart Association is very busy. Heart Walk
2000 is Feb. 26 beginning at 12:30 in The Chat
tooga High School Gym.
We will be holding Activities inside the
aswell as a walk around the football field if weagg:
permits. The Chattooga County School System is
also holding “Jump Rope For Heart” Activities at
various schools. We are very excited and proud of
the community support thus far.
However, we need your help to assure a suc
cessful event. We are asking for your support for
these events. We are also seeking information —
names and addresses of county residents who suf
fer from heart disease and/or stroke. Past and
Disagrees With Article
Dear Editor,
As a student of Chattooga High School I'd like
to address the article in the “Our Opinion” sec
tion of last week’s newspaper. For the author of
the story, “School Discipliine Needed” to form an
opinion concerning CHS students after only one
wvisit to the school is wrong. Concerning students
wearing headgear inside the building on Fridays:
students are a%lowed to wear hats or caps as a kind
of areward. Friday is hat-day. Monday through
Thursday hats are not allowed to be worn inside
the building.
As a hardworking student and a responsible,
respectful individual I was personally outraged
after reading that story that labeled CHS students
as undisciplined and disrespectful. Heated discus
sions were held in many of my classes Thursday
by angered students who were simply in disbelief
that anyone could pass judgment on an entire
school because of a few “bad apples.”
As for this female student with her head on
her desk. Did anyone think to ask her how she was
feeling? We are in the middle of winter and the
flu is going around. Yes, a sick student shouldn’t
even be at school but rules concerning absence al
most require perfect attendance just to pass a
class, regardless of their grades.
Stugents at Chattooga High School are of the
most respectful and most talented of any in the
state, but why should you take my word for it? I
am sure principal Waits would agree with me.
As well as all teachers and ot%ner staff at CHS.
But if the opinions of the very people we are dis
respectful to still aren’t enough I can provide fur
ther proof.
Just last semester Mr. and Miss Citizenship
Responds To Editorial
Dear Editor,
We were appalled at the editorial in the Feb
ruary 3, 2000, issue of The Summerville News
regarding lack of school discipline at ChattooEa
High School. We disagree with the content of the
article, which was made to sound like an inter
view, while it was merely an observation backed
by no corresponding facts. As upstanding, well
disciplined students of Chattooga Hi§h School, we
would like to clear up some OF the fallacies con
tained in the mean-spirited editorial.
Fridays at CHS are designated as “Hat Days”.
This is the only time that students are allowed to
wear head cover in the building. “Hat Day” is used
as a means to promote school spirit. There are
several teachers who choose to not allow their stu
dents to participate with “Hat Day” while in their
class. Students comply willingly. In addition, we
would like for it to be known that several students
witnessed Mr. Toles, of The Summerville News,
wearing his head cover in our building while vis
iting a classroom recently.
In regard to the “sleeping student” observed
by our visitor, another student in that class con
firmed that she was sick the day of Mr. Floyd’s
presentation. Mr. Floyd also confirmed that al
though she had to be asked to stand, the student
was not sleeping and, in fact, kept eye contact with
Mr. Floyd during the entire presentation. It is our
belief tgat lack of participation as a result of ill
ness does not constitute a lack of discipline.
While it is certainly true that every student
at CHS is not a model of perfect discipline and
respect, we believe that those students are in the
minority. The majority of CHS students hold dear
the meaning of our words of the week: pride, re
spect, integrity, honor, and positive attitude. Our
school resource officer, Mr. Jack Floyd, was
quoted as s?'ing, “I continue to be amazed at the
courtesy and respect with which students at CHS
treat me. I say surprised because of the negative
attitude that I have heard from some people in
the community.”
We are disappointed that, once again, asingle
observer chose to make a blanket statement re
garding the discipline of all CHS faculty from ob
serving one classroom on one day. It is our ho
that in the future, visitors who are perturbed g;
things they witness will ask questions first and
write editorials later.
With pride,
Mrs. Blichelle Broome’s Writer's Workshop
Class, Michelle Broome, Karla Brown, Anthony
Brown, Jennifer Dawson, Libby Hettick, Charles
Ule'd like to remind you that the
uncensored content of this
neuspaper is made possible by the
Constitution of the United States.
eral Reserve, which is solely responsible for actu
ally issuing it. This is why it is called a “Federal
Reserve Note” in smaller text at the top left says
“this note is legal tender for all debts, gublic and
private,” which is con‘\ipletely and utterly false.
Even the United States Congress has no
power to make anythinfi legal tender other than
gold and silver coins. And it certainly has no power
to delegate such authority to the l'privatel{ owned
corporation which make up the Federal Reserve.
This bill is not money and it is not legal ten
der. Sheriff, it's counterfeit. Will I see you at the
duma';
illiam Bell
Lyerly
resent, also the names and addresses of those
E)ved ones who have lost their battle and passed
on. We are planning to honor and remember as
many residents as S\ossible the day of the event.
But we cannot do this without community sup
port. Send as many names and addresses as you
wish. All will be appreciated.
Mail to: Renee Ware or Donna McGuire, P.O.
Box 553 Trion, GA 30753. ;
If you, your famil{, church group, business
or organization would like to form a team to raise
money for Heart Walk 2000 Feb. 26, call 857-
3031. .
Renee Ware
Secretary Chattooga Co.
Chapter of AHA
Trion
awards were given to CHS seniors. Professors from
Floß'd College come to CHS every morning to teach
col e%e classes to Chattooga’s more gifted students.
Let’s look back to last Christmas. Students at CHS
donated over 10,000 pounds in food for the less
fortunate. Many students at Chattooga use their
time after school to tutor students in lesser grades
who need extra help. Members of a leadershifi
team at Chattooga are currently mentoring fourt
graders at the various school around the county.
We are sick and tired of 'this stero-typical
Generation X label that we have to grow up with.
The majority of high school students everywhere
are kind, decent, respectable young men and
women. We are the lenders o{tomorrow and
frankli; we deserve a little respect.
Chattooga High School is full of great stu
dents and wonder§ul people. I will admit, to my
})ersonal shame, that there are students who do
all into the descriptions the writer chose in his
story last week. But for him to stero-type the en
tire school because of one or two cases is wrong
and I think that a retraction is in order.
Stricter rules would only create frustration
among students therefore increasing the chances
of rebellion. By having rules that aren’t as hard
on the students pressure is relieved and students
work harder because they want to, not because
they are forced to. :
I'm not outraged for students at CHS, I'm
outraged for teenagers everywhere! We are
smarter and better educated than the generations
before us. All we ask is a little respect and a proper
chance to grove ourselves.
Daniel Bell
Summerville
Ingle, Jesse Jackson, Bonnie Kinnamont, Amy
Prince, Dawn Skates, Becky Spraggins and Peggy
Stephenson.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The signers of this letter
missed the entire point of the editorial. The goal
of that editorial and many others we publish is to
get people to think, and if they wish, to respond
verbally or in writing.
We must reiterate that last week’s editorial
stated: “In fact, the majority of students at local
schools are well-behaved.” Too, if one were to add
up the number of so-called “good” photos and
news copy about CHS and other local schools, one
would find that the “good” outnumbers the so
called “bad” by an overwhelming margin.
cipline of all CHS faculty.” Read it again,
Also, “positive” attitudes are to be com
mended except when they overshadow reality.
The main - and apparently the only - issue
bothering those who are upset about the editorial
was our criticism of males wearing caps inside the
CGHSbuilding @~ = i
Itis noteworthy that the verbal critics ignored
our comments %fialnst students talking while be
ing instructed. They ignored our view on how stu
dents should address teachers and administrators.
They ignored our view on not allowing shorts to
be worn. They i(fnored our view that printed im
ages of any kind should not be allowed on cloth
ing worn to school. All were constructive criti
cisms.
The “mean-spirited editorial” crack in the
above letter is the parrotin%, of a typical
Clintonesque response to the truth.
The students’ reaction is one based on incor
rect information, wrong assumptions, erroneous
conclusions and a defense of the indefensible.
The information on which our editorial was
based came from a published news story and a
photo, observations not reported in that story and
information obtained later by the newspaper — as
The reporter who covered the event said he
did not wear headgear in the classroom.
Also, he said he was stationed directly across
from the student with her head on a desk. He said
her eyes were closed for most of Mr. Floyd's les
son. Mr. Floyd was looking around the entire class
room during his presentation. Eye contact was not
maintained.
A /
il Also, it isn'tlogical to conclude that the writer ] l l fthe editorial
the SOVEREIGN STATE of AFFAIRS
| UNDERSTAND THAT PRESIDENTIAL
HOPEFUL GARY BAUER HAS DROPPED
OUT OF THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL
PRIMARY RACE. HOW DO YOU THINK
HIS WITHDRAWL WILL IMPACT THE
OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION PROCESS?
///l . \ / 5
A 0
WHO'S
GARY BAUER?
7
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L) T 2
N
By David Boyd Y S j///
Guest Column
By U.S. Sen. Paul Coverdell
Broken Promises
IN HIS FINAL State of the Union Address, President
Clinton once again made claims that he alone ensured and
protected the state of our nation. Forgetting his many broken
promises, he took credit for Republican solutions to many of
our nation’s problems. To illustrate this point, let’s review the
past seven Clinton State of the Union Addresses.
In 1993, President Clinton promised to deliver a com
prehensive health care plan that placed cost control as its high
est priority. Instead, the Clinton/Gore Administration pro
posed a plan that would have placed the federal government
in control of your health care at a cost of about $l5B billion in
higher taxes.
In 1994 President Clinton promised that he'd reform the
nation’s welfare system. Instead, he vetoed three welfare re
form bills before public opinion polls forced him to sign a Re
publican-inspired bill that helped a full six million Americans
get off of welfare and find jobs. . .
In 1995, President Clinton claimed he was for tax cuts.
Instead, he vetoed a Republican bill that would have provided
a SSOO per-child tax credit and much-needed Marriage Pen
alty tax relief. ;
In 1996, none of us could forget President Clinton’s claim
that “the era of big government was over.” Oh how I wanted to
believe he meant it. But, in the last three years, the Clinton-
Gore Administration has repeatedly tried to increase the size
and scope of the federal government. Last year, they proposed
140 new federal programs that would have cost the American
taxpayer a whopping $172 billion in new federal income taxes.
Despite President Clinton’s empty promises, as well as
his attempts to force huge increases in federal spending, enact
socialized medicine, increase taxes, and grow the federal gov
ernment, Republican majorities in the Senate and House have
been successful in reducing the size and scope of government,
balancing the federal budget, enacting real tax relief, saving
Social Security and Medicare, restoring our nation’s defense
infrastructure, putting Americans who had previously been
trapped in an endless cycle of dependency back to work, and
returning education decision-making power to parents. This
important groundwork will enable Republicans in the Senate
and House to continue our commitment to secure America’s
future not just for this generation, but for future generations
as well.
% % &
RATHER THAN focusing on Clinton’s promises —
which have shown over the past seven years to be empty — I
will focus on Republican goals for the remainder of the con
gress and the future.
First, we will hold true to our pledge to protect Social
Security and Medicare. We recognize that for many seniors
prescription drugs are too expensive. Republicans will work
to reach a bipartisan solution that protects seniors who already
have coverage, while ensuring assistance for those who do not.
Most importantly, we will not jeopardize the security of the
Medicare program on which all seniors depend.
Second, we will continue making the education of our
nation’s children a top priority. We will give parents and com
munities the flexibility to use federal education dollars in ways
that address the unique needs of individual students and com
munities — whether its for new school construction in Augusta
and enhanced reading programs in Atlanta or increasing the
number of computers in schools in Dalton -the local school,
community and state should decide.
We will also work to provide greater incentives for our
teachers, as well ensure that the classroom environment is safe
by eliminating drugs and crime. We challenge the Clinton-Gore
Administration to enforce existing gun laws, rather than al
lowing unpunished offenders to put innocent children and
teachers at risk.
Third, we challenge the President to join us in wiping
out the national debt. We've already made a significant down
payment, and our fiscal restraint — through the passage of three
consecutive balanced federal budgets — has enabled us to se
cure a more than $1 trillion surplus. That’s money that should,
in part, be returned to the American people in limited but
meaningful tax relief like the marriage penalty relief, educa
tion savings accounts, and other bipartisan reform proposals.
* % »
WE WILL NOT allow Clinton’s endless stream of new
federal spending proposals to stop us from reducing the size
of the federal government and returning the benefits to hard
working Americans. 7 0
Fourth, the retention of U.S. service personnel has con
tinued to deteriorate under this Administration. Republicans
will continue building upon achievements reached last session
to provide increased incentives, appropriate wages and other
benefits that make it economically feasible for them to serve
their country. These proud patriots should be rewarded for
their service and commitment to the protection of our democ
racy. Additionally, they should have adequate funding for
equipment and resources needed to increase and maintain our
nation’s military superiority and readiness. A large factor in
that readiness is developing and maintaining a state-of-art air
craft supply. To that end, I will continue to fight for the critical
C-130 and F-22 aircraft, produced in Marietta.
Also vital to our national security, is the protection of a
safe and affordable food supply. International trade, afford
able crop insurance and the expedient distribution of federal
disaster aid are top priorities because each ensure the contin
ued survival farms in Georgia and across the nation.
These are some of the most critical challenges we, as
Republicans, pose to President Clinton as he completes his fi
nal days in ofgz.
Guest Column
Clinton’s State-0f-
The=-Union Grab Bag
ONCE AGAIN, President Clinton’s
State of the Union speech consisted of a
lengthy effort to throw as many programs as
possible against the wall and hope something
sticks. Inside this year’s Clinton grab bag,
there are dozens of new and expanded, waste
ful big government programs, a few frontal
assaults on our Constitution, and a handful
of possibly worthwhile programs.
Taking the last category first, there were
some bright points in the President’s speech.
His call for passage of legislation to protect
the rights of patients is one I support, which
is why I voted for the Norwood-Dingell pa
tient protection legislation in the last Con
gress. I am also pleased to see the President
belatedly endorsing substantial increases in
defense spending that Congress has fought
with him to get for the past seven years. Fi
nally, it is good to see the President endors
ing at least some expansion in educational
choice via the charter school concept.
Sadly, these few high points were offset
by an overwhelming avalanche of proposals
for new government bureaucracies. For ex
ample, instead of working with Republicans
to help needy seniors purchase prescription
drugs, the President proposes creating a mas
sive government-run program that could lead
to deadly consequences; including price con
trols which inevitably will decrease drug
availability.
Right now, almost half of the new medi
cines discovered in the world every year come
from U.S. companies, because our system
fosters research and innovation. Conversely,
in Great Britain’s government-run system,
the discovery rate is less than half of ours.
Even worse, The World Health Organization
estimates there are 25,000 unnecessary
deaths a year in Britain because of the denial
of cancer care. If we accept the latest incar
nation of “Clinton Care we risk ending up
with a similar situation here. This is but one
Guest Column
First In The Hearts
Of His Countrymen
IN 1783, a triumphant George Wash
ington resigned his commission as general of
the Continental Army and returned to his
Mount Vernon farm, little knowing that he
would soon be called back to public life to
serve as the first President of the United
States. In his famous tribute to Washington,
written and published that same year, Ameri
can poet Philip Freneau extolled the hero
whose deeds could never be repaid, and who
sought no payment for them: “O Washing
ton! thrice glorious name, What due rewards
can man decree? Empires are far below thy
aim, And scepters have no charms for thee;
Virtue alone has your regard, And she must
be your great reward...”
Representative Richard Henry Lee, an
American hero in his own right, marked the
passing of our first president 16 years later.
“The founder of our federate republic — our
bulwark in war, our guide in peace - is no
more”! Lee affirmed to his fellow members
of Congress on December 26, 1799. His eu
logy on Washington, written by Chief Justice
to-be John Marshall, emphasized that the
fame of our first President survives, “bounded
only by the limits of the earth, and by the ex
tent of the human mind. He survives in our
hearts, in the growing knowledge of our chil
dren, in the affection of the good throughout
the w0r1d...”
* % *
WASHINGTON’S fame survives to
this day, though greatly diminished by the
deliberate neglect and distortion of our heri
tage. A new book from the Intercollegiate
Studies Institute, however, featuring essays
on Washington by more than a dozen lead
ing scholars, should help restore the luster
to his reputation. In a chapter contributed to
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The Summerville News, Thursday, February 10, 2000 —
By U.S. Rep. Bob Barr
By K. R. Duplantier
example of the unintended consequences of
the dozens of new budget-busting, big gov
ernment programs that filled President
Clinton’s speech.
* * »
THE FINAL CATEGORY of propos
alsin Clinton’s speech is those proposals that
directly attack the cherished constitutional
rights of Americans. The worst example was
a proposal for federally-mandated licensing
and registration of gun owners. Not only is it
illegal under federal law to compile a data
base of gun owners, such as proposal also
promises to do nothing to reduce crime. Af
ter all, how many criminals are going to walk
into their neighborhood police office, submit
to a background check, and pay a user fee in
order to get a license to legally purchase a fire
arm? The power to license is the power to
deny, and the government should never be
able to so limit and express constitutional
right. Would the media endorse a proposal
calling for a license to editorialize? Or a li
cense to attend church? Of course not, but,
of course, consistency has never been the
hallmark of liberal politicians or media out
lets.
All things considered, the President’s
agenda for this session of Congress is disap
pointingly, but predictably, similar to those
of previous years. There are a few okay ideas,
a lot of bad ideas, and a handful of very bad
ideas. I look forward to working with him on
the few areas where we agree, but under no
circumstances will I support government
spending that blocks tax cuts and endangers
Social Security; nor will I sign on to any pro
posals that sacrifice the civil liberties of
Americans.
Barr, a former United States Attorney,
represents Georgia’s Seventh District. He
serves on the House Judiciary, Government
Reform, and Banking Committees.
Patriot Sage, Gary Gregg of the McConnell
Center for Political Leadership at the Univer
sity of Louisville in Kentucky explains the
importance of the example set by Washing
ton while serving as our nation’s first chief
executive. “The questions, the challenges, the
opportunities, and the dangers were almost
endless,” he emphasizes. “At any time, im
proper precedent could have collapsed the of
fice into irrelevancy or elevated it to nearly
despotic heights of authority.” Gregg affirms
that Washington was “well cognizant of the
importance of the situation that fortune had
placed about him and the awesome respon
sibility that weighed upon his shoulders.”
Washington’s greatest example may
have been an act of omission, rather than
commission. “In doing the most unnatural
of acts, ceding power peacefully, even with
relief and reverent joy, he became the sym
bol of republican restraint,” Gregg declares.
“In retiring to Mount Vernon after his sec
ond term, he became the living symbol of the
two-term President, a cultural expectation so
powerfully set that no president dared to
challenge it for more than 130 years. In the
end, because of who he was, when he lived,
and how he carried himself in and out of of
fice, he largely became the face of the presi
dency itself,” Gregg concludes. “He became
an essential part of our national self-under
standing and the major figure of our national
lore.”
Behind The Headlines is syndicated to
newspapers and radio stations free of charge,
by America’s Future, a nonprofit educational
organization founded in 1946 and dedicated
to the preservation of our free-enterprise sys
tem and our constitutional form of govern
ment.
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