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PAGE 4A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2008 Editor: Angela Gary Phone: 706-367-2490 E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com Website: www.mainstreetnews.com Opinions “Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.” — Thomas Jefferson Going by the wayside A s I was driving down the road last week, I noticed flashing blue lights and a caravan of cars heading toward me in oncoming traffic. A funeral procession. The driver of the car in front of me flipped on the blinker and pulled off to the side of the road. I did the same. Because we were driving on a four-lane road, motorists who didn’t want to stop passed us by and kept on going about their busi ness. It’s an old tradition, that momen tary show of sympathy for a fam ily you likely don’t know and will never meet, but you know they are people who must be suffering at that time. It’s a show of respect for some one who will never again meet a stranger or a friend. It is an old Southern tradition — at least I thought so, although I’ve since heard of it happening in other parts of the country, as well — but it’s one that seems to be going by the wayside. And quickly. I watched as the cars sped past, one after the next, with drivers in a hurry to get on with their lives. When I see that solemn procession, my throat feels tight. When I hear a siren or hear the report of a wreck come across the police scanner here at the paper, I have the same reaction, that sudden sense of impend ing doom for someone out there. (After all these years of hearing the police scanner, I want to know what kinds of vehicles were involved. Could it have been someone I know and love?) So, it’s not you or your family and you are thankful. You are sympathetic. Or, you zoom past, in a hurry, “invincible” in a sense. I’ve read that in years past, people would get out of their cars and stand in silence as a funeral procession passed. Granted, the roads are a lot busier than they used to be, so that’s probably not the wisest course of action these days, but I’ve read complaints that even hav ing cars pull off the roadway as a funeral procession passes by is a hazard. Some people suggest that it is safer to merely slow down, rather than actually stop, although I can’t see how a slowly moving car would be less of a threat than a parked car to those whizzing past at the speed limit or above. Some states have laws pertaining not only to the actual funeral procession itself, which is required to follow the rules of road, but also to how other motor ists should proceed. For example, in Tennessee, drivers say the law requires motorists in oncoming lanes to continue mov ing. In Massachusetts, drivers report it is against the law not to pull over. There goes that strictly Southern angle. So, some people don’t pull over. Or slow down. But some even go so far as to pass members of the funeral procession, winding their way in and out of the line of cars driven by mourners. In Georgia, that’s against the law. Everywhere, it’s common decency going by the wayside. jana a. mitcham Jana Adams Mitcham is features editor of The Jackson Herald, a sister publication of The Banks County News. E-mail comments about this column to jana@mainstreetnews.com. The Banks County News Founded 1968 The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga. Mike Buffington Co-Publisher (Editorial) Scott Buffington Co-Publisher (Advertising) Angela Gary Editor Chris Bridges Sports Editor Sharon Hogan Reporter Anelia Chambers Receptionist Suzanne Reed Church News Phones (all 706 area code): Angela Gary Phone 367-2490 Angela Gary Fax 367-9355 Homer Office Phone 677-3491 Homer Office Fax 677-3263 (SCED 547160) Published weekly by MainStreet Newspapers, Inc., P.O. Box908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549 Subscription i Subscription in stati Subscription out of stati Military with APO address . $19.75 $38.85 $44.20 $42.20 Senior citizens get a $2 discount Periodicals postage paid at Homer, Ga. Postmaster, send address changes to: Subscriptions, The Banks County News, P.O. Box 920, Homer, Ga. 30547 The riddle that is Hillary Clinton T he presidential primary sea son ought to end Tuesday, and I finally figured out the answer to the riddle of the ages: Why did Hillary run? Before I share the Hillary solution with you, dear readers, a bit of back ground is in order. Hillary Clinton is probably the most focused and energetic govern ment wonk ever to seek the presi dency. She also may have had more nega tive marks against her than any major presidential candidate in modern his tory, more than even Bob Barr. A former Georgia congress man told me months before she announced, “She’ll never run. Sure, she’s dedicated and talented. She’ll tell anybody who listens how much she wants to be president and serve. But she knows better. She knows her negatives are so high that she can never win. Bill knows, and he will tell her.” Ha! She ran anyway. Blame it on Bill. He encouraged her. The notion that Bill wanted to be a co-president or something like that is pure bull. Bill wanted one thing. He wanted out of the doghouse more than he wanted back in the White House. Any married man who wants to stay wed knows the rule: Do any thing, say anything and promise anything to get out of the doghouse. Talk about appeasement. You don’t know the meaning until you have lis tened to a guy begging his way back into his wife’s good graces. We’ve all been there — well, most of us anyway. Think about it: Bill Clinton, prob ably the most gifted politician of our time, must have looked at the num bers and tested the wind long ago. He knew that Hillary couldn’t win, but he couldn’t bear to tell her. Instead, he was determined to help her cam paign for presi dent. By golly, if that would not help Hillary for get Monica and those other bim bos, nothing would. Bill wouldn’t let her down this time. He would once again become her shining knight, just like when they were young. He would put the stars back in her eyes. He would man the ramparts and tell the media to take a flying leap. It was the least he could do. After all, Hillary stood by her man when many thought she should have kicked his butt. Can you imagine the embarrass ment and chagrin she must have suf fered? Day after day after day she listened to details of her husband’s dalliances. It was all over TV all the time. He even tried to argue with a straight face that oral sex was not really sex. She must have been livid, and stayed that way for a long, long time. Who could blame her? Then she suddenly needed Bill again. She needed him at her side, trashing her enemies as the two of them stuck it out for the White House. The last thing in the world she needed from Bill was the harsh truth: “Run for president? Are you kidding? With your negatives, you won’t stand a chance. Even a black kid from Chicago could beat you.” Bill, being the smart politician, took a different tack. “I’m with you, Hillary. Whatever you want from me, you’ve got it. Of course you can win. Look me straight in the eye and say after me: ‘I can do it. I can do it. I can win the nomination. I can win the White House.’” That is precisely what Hillary wanted to hear her Bill say. Suddenly, old Bill is out of the doghouse. Life is pleasant again. Even if Hillary is out of the race after Tuesday, she can run another day, and old Bill will jump right in again — before any one has a chance to bring up Monica again. Footnote: The death of political wise man Hamilton Jordan brought back memories of a situation kindred to the present never-say-die Obama- Clinton primary battle. In the 1986 Georgia Democratic primary for the Senate, Hamilton finished second (32 percent) to Wyche Fowler Jr. (49 percent) and thus found himself in a runoff three weeks later. However, Jordan saw that his chance of a runoff victory was slim. For the good of the mission to oust a GOP senator, Hamilton agreed to drop out of the race, thus allow ing Fowler to avoid the expense and bloodletting of three more weeks of campaigning. That is Fowler’s ver sion of the story. However Jordon’s folks say their man barely lost out right, so they endorsed the frontrun ner. Democrat Fowler defeated GOP incumbent Mack Mattingly 51 per cent to 49 percent. Perhaps someone should have told Hillary the Jordan story months ago. You can reach Bill Shipp at P.O. Box 2520, Kennesaw, GA 30156, e-mail: shipp1@bellsouth.net, or Web address: billshipponline.com. bill shipp Letters to the editor policy given The Banks County News has estab lished a policy on printing Letters to the editor. We must have an original copy of all letters that are submitted to us for publication. Members of our staff will not type out or hand-write letters for people who stop by the office and ask them to do so. Letters to the editor must also be signed with the address and phone number of the person who wrote them. The address and phone number will be for our verification purposes only and will not be printed unless the writer requests it. Mail to, The Banks County News, P.O. Box 920, Homer, Ga. 30547. E-mailed letters will be accepted, but we must have a contact phone number and address. Letters that are libelous will not be printed. Letters may also be edited to meet space requirements. Anyone with questions on the policy is asked to contact editor Angela Gary at AngieEditor@aol.com or by call ing 706-367-2490. News department contact numbers Anyone with general story ideas, complaints or comments about the news department is asked to call edi tor Angela Gary at 706-367-2490. She can also be reached by e-mail at AngieEditor@aol.com. Anyone with comments, questions or suggestions relating to the coun ty board of commissioners, county government, county board of educa tion and crime and courts is asked to contact staff reporter Chris Bridges at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at chris@mainstreetnews.com. Bridges also is sports edi tor of the paper and covers local high school, middle school and recreation sports. Anyone with comments, ques tions or suggestions relating to Alto, Lula, Baldwin and Gillsville, should contact Sharon Hogan at 706-367-5233 or by e-mail at sharon@mainstreetnews.com. Calls for information about the church page should go to Suzanne Reed at 706-677-3491. Church news may also be e-mailed to churchnews@mainstreetnews.com. The Banks County News website is updated each Thursday and can be accessed on the Internet at www.mainstreetnews.com. Motivation, quality teaching keys to success I t came as no surprise to me that the test scores from Banks County Middle School surpassed many of the systems in this area and across the state. The Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) has gained plenty of pub licity in recent weeks and most of it bad. However, the news was certainly not all bad at the local level as BCMS students seemed to handle the controversial test better than many. State-wide, approximately 50,000 students failed and will be attending summer school and retaking the portions test before becoming eligible to advance to the ninth grade. BCMS, on the other hand, will have only a few students (less than 50) attending sum mer session. Looking closer at the numbers sees almost 62 percent of state-wide eighth graders passing the math portion of the test. At BCMS, that pass rate was close to 80 percent. What’s the secret to success at BCMS? Is it some magical formula put in the school lunches? Is it simply a stroke of good luck? Hardly. You have to start at the top at BCMS with principal Matthew Cooper, who is the best educational motivator I have met. Cooper’s enthusiastic approach to learning is contagious. When listen ing to him speak at Board of Education meetings, I am ready to take out pen and paper and go to work. Motivation is so vital to any student, but especially at the middle school level. Cooper has what it takes to make learning fun but he also doesn’t let his students lose track of what’s important. Testing of this nature can be very stressful. Many students who realistically know the material they are being testing on are apt to freeze up when they see the test in front of them. Cooper has found ways to take the stress out of testing (not just on the CRCT but in all aspects of daily learning). In the end, students are more relaxed and are able to excel on the CRCT. BCMS is also blessed with quality teachers who implement Cooper’s game plan on education. Without the teach ers, success would not be possible. The teachers put in countless hours of work. Their jobs go so far beyond the time they are actually in the classroom. They take high levels of pride in teaching the students and their ultimate goal is to see each one of them succeed at a high rate. How well is the formula working at BCMS? Almost immediately after this year’s CRCT preliminary results were released, other school systems in the Northeast Georgia area were looking into visiting BCMS to see its game plan for success. When you are successful year after year, you are obviously doing some thing right. Other educators realize this and will be making their way to Banks County to visit with Cooper and his teachers. While parents in other school systems across Georgia have been protesting the poor CRCT results, the parents of BCMS students have to be pleased with how well their children are performing. Even with the state school superinten dent throwing out results because they were so poor overall, students at BCMS were overall moving right along and continuing their past success. It’s easy to criticize education offi cials when even the smallest of things aren’t to our liking. However, something very positive is taking place at BCMS. Students are excelling year after year. That’s something worth celebrating. A tip of the hat to Cooper and his teachers for all they have accomplished in helping their students succeed with each passing school year. They deserve a high level of praise for all they have been able to accomplish. Other systems may be struggling, but the stars are shining brightly at BCMS. Chris Bridges is a reporter for The Banks County News. Contact him at 706-367-2745 or e-mail comments to chris@mainstreetnews.com.