Newspaper Page Text
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2003
ti Houston 3Hmuc I i
(lije JJiuututl
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Rex Gambill
Vice President Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Small Classes Are Not Cheap
When taxpayers gripe about the cost of
operating schools in Houston County,
they should stop to consider that when
you have a relatively small number of
students per teacher it can cost a lot of
money.
Elementary schools in Houston County
have an average of something like 14 to
16 students per teacher. If there is a
teacher’s aide in the room, the cost per
pupil goes up.
Middle and high schools have about two
more students per teacher.
This is what educators say is needed. A
few decades ago there were between 25
and 30 students per teacher.
Some handicapped students receive one
on-one instruction.
Whether students are learning more
today is subject to debate.
President Bush’s plan for schools is to
reduce the number of students per class
even more.
Parents who protest what they are pay
ing in taxes should keep in mind that
small classes call for more teachers and
their salaries, plus more classrooms,
which are costly to construct.
While we complain about the amount of
local taxes we pay for schools,we are
prone to overlook the large amount of
money that comes from the federal and
state governments. Half of the state of
Georgia’s budget goes to education.
Attempts are being made to demand
results in our schools. Some educators
question President Bush’s No Child Left
Behind program as unrealistic. Gov.
Sonny Perdue wants to demand more of
students who seek HOPE scholarships
and he is under attack for it.
The struggle between forces that want
more and better education for less and
those who believe that throwing more
and more money at education will solve
all problems is heating up and will con
tinue.
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The Houston Home Journal at P.O. Box / /
1910, Perry, GA 31069, or drop it off at one Lj
of our two convenient locations - 1210 7
Washington St. in Perry, or 2060 Watson / /
Blvd. in Warner Robins - between 8 a.m. S' "3
and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. O' -
Habitat building
home on tiny lot
Editor:
IS YOUR NEIGHBOR
HOOD NEXT? Houston
County Habitat for
Humanity is drastically
under building in my mid
dle class neighborhood in
the center of the Warner
Robins area generally
known as Shirley Hills.
This area consists of
numerous subdivisions of
similar size homes and con
struction that gives a good
neighborhood character.
This Habitat house is
being built on a lot that
was considered un-build
able since the development
of my subdivision in the
early 1960 s because of the
size of the lot. This lot is
almost 40 percent smaller
than Warner Robins mini
mum lot size for R-l desig
nation. The last owner of
the lot donated it to
Habitat because he could
not build a house of the
size and construction of
existing houses. Habitat is
building a 1,200-square
foot, three-bedroom, two
bath, single-level frame
house on a hillside, which
will have a concrete block
foundation approximately
13 feet on the lower side.
This house will have NO
carport or garage as is nor
mal in this neighborhood
Sharing their smoke is no fun
I WISH I could think of
something that would annoy
smokers as much as they
annoy me when they insist
on sharing their smoke with
me ... It used to be that
spouses who were not get
ting along could wiretap
each other. No longer. A fed
eral appeals court has ruled
that doing so will be a crime
in the future. It does away
with a longtime method of
getting evidence to use in
divorces ... Georgia is still
grappling with whether to
join in the so-called Matrix
crime fighting database.
Opponents insist the infor
mation, which includes just
about everything about you
that can be gathered, would
be an invasion of privacy ...
An ex-POW from Lithia
Springs is planning to co
write a book in which he will
be highly critical of his supe
riors for their planning and
execution of missions.
Seems to me that a lieu
tenant pilot is hardly quali
fied to be considered an
expert on military strategy
... If you try to board an air
plane at an airport and have
a knife or some other poten
tial weapon in your carry-on
bag you can be in real trou
ble. On the other hand,
some airlines are now let
ting passengers in first class
-
Where did Mom and Dad go wrong?
This dialogue has hap
pened, on numerous occa
sions, in my office. I don’t
mean to belittle anyone by
discussing this, but instead I
hope to prevent future
occurrences of this same
episode.
Dad: “Kelly, you see, this
situation has taken years to
get to this point. We know
we should have done some
thing with her before now,
but we love her, and making
her toe the line was so hard
to do. She really objected
anytime I threatened to hold
her accountable for her
actions. It was just easier to
do what she wanted. I kept
thinking she’d grow out of
it. But now I guess we’ve got
to do something.”
Kelly: “So how come she’s
been hanging around with
this guy?”
Mom: “Well, we don’t real
ly know him. He’s been over
to the house a couple of
times, but he never comes in
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
and many have both, NO
brick siding as all homes in
the area have and be closer
to the street than any
house on the street, as well
as being half the size of
some homes and much
smaller than the smallest
home. This neighborhood
would welcome Habitat
and even allow a variance
IF Habitat would only
build to the existing stan
dards of the area.
The typical Habitat home
is not landscaped and the
grounds remains about the
same as at the end of con
struction - look at other
Habitat homes in Warner
Robins. Habitat
International in Americus
pp
Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevans 19@cox.nct
use knives and forks to eat.
The moral: Terrorists don’t
travel first class ... An
Atlanta sportswriter
watched Northside High of
Warner Robins defeat Mt.
Zion last Friday night and
came to the conclusion that
high school teams south of
Atlanta are not capable of
competing with the giants in
the Atlanta area. No doubt
about it, the mega high
schools around Atlanta have
twice as many students to
draw from, but only 11 play
ers can get on the field at
one time ... It was stupid of
an Army general in charge
of hunting down Osama bin
Laden and Saddam Hussein
to say that the war in Iraq is
a war between Christianity
Kelly Burke
District Attorney
distatty@houstonda.org
the house.”
Kelly: “He’s a known drug
abuser. He’s been cooking
methamphetamine for a few
months, we suspect.”
Dad: “What’s that?”
Kelly:
“Methamphetamine is com
monly called crank. It’s a
big-time upper. Have you
seen any changes in your
daughter’s appearance or
says they do not get
involved in local “not in my
back yard issues.” I urge
everyone to look at
www.npr.org and
www.bocaratonnews.com
and type “habitat” in the
search block and be
shocked at what Habitat is
doing across the nation to
existing middle and upper
income neighborhoods.
Next, you need to call
Habitat and your local gov
ernment officials about
your concerns of under
building by Habitat or any
one else in your neighbor
hood or your neighborhood
may be next and soon.
Robert R. Cummins
Warner Robins
and Islam. The Muslims
believe that, but I don’t
believe that the people in
this country consider it a
religious war ... A
University of Florida study
has come to the conclusion
that short people earn less
money in a lifetime than tall
people. This may be so, but I
can point to some noticeable
examples of short people
who make me feel like a
pauper ... Did you notice, or
were you told, that last
month the soaring deficit of
the federal government
went down by something
like SBS billion? It’s an indi
cation that the economy is
growing and that the tax
cuts, so reviled by
Democrats in Washington,
are beginning to take effect
... Have you noticed that
many inner-city churches in
our area are moving out and
building new facilities
where all the growth is
occurring? ... Those that
have moved are experienc
ing unprecedented growth
in membership ... Expect to
see the quality of high
school football programs to
improve even more in
Houston County once feeder
systems are reinstituted ... I
attended a football rally at
Westfield Schools last
Friday and have never seen
demeanor over the past few
months?”
Mom: “Oh, she’s lost some
weight. And she stays up a
lot. But she’s had more
energy than I’ve ever seen
her have, so we haven’t said
anything to her. She’s so
irritable, we dare not say
anything.”
Kelly: “So, what can I do
for you?”
Dad: “This is the first
time she’s been arrested,
and we don’t know how all
this works. Will she really
have to go to court for sell
ing drugs?”
And so goes the discus
sion. What the parents are
struggling with is “where
did they go wrong?” As you
read the dialogue, you
doubtlessly saw the error in
their ways. But when you’re
living it, it’s harder to see it
happening I guess.
After the shock of the
arrest of their daughter
wears off, they’ll undoubted
A debt of gratitude
Editor:
I have just returned to San
Antonio from Perry after
attending the funeral of my
third brother in four years -
Jerry, October 2003; Jack,
September 2001; Jimmy,
August 1999. They were pre
ceded in death by sister
Margaret 1994; mother
Eunice, 1979; and father
Sam, 1959. Many of the same
relatives and friends have
been with us through each of
these ordeals, as well as new
friends and associates who
have attended those individ
ual services and provided
their support. Many have
traveled long distances to
express their sorrow.
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
such enthusiasm as the stu
dents demonstrated, espe
cially the younger ones ... I
also was given an opportuni
ty to observe a class of man
agers from Robins Air Force
Base who were learning
about LEAN at the Warner
Robins campus of Macon
State College. It was impres
sive ... LEAN, as I learned,
is vital to Robins AFB
remaining a vital cog in our
nation’s military establish
ment ... After experiencing
gorgeous weather for the
past couple of weeks I won
der why anyone would want
to leave Middle Georgia for a
vacation somewhere else ...
It took the question of
whether a city council candi
date actually lives in the dis
trict he wants to represent
to bring the Warner Robins
election to the attention of
voters. Maybe when the
election is held next month
voters will be more attentive
... What do you reckon
Centerville voters would
have said if they had been
told before their mayoral
election that they would face
a big tax increase as soon as
the election was over? ... In
an ideal world candidates
will tell voters what to
expect, but in the real world
they can’t be so forthright if
they want to win.
ly want the criminal justice
system to simply forget that
the whole thing ever hap
pened. I believe that simply
ignoring the episode only
ensures that she will be
back again, with even more
serious charges. However,
we’re not looking to make
hardened criminals out of a
first-time drug offender. We
almost always agree to give
them a probated sentence,
with first offender treat
ment, so that if they com
plete their sentence success
fully they will have no con
victions. But in order to get
that favorable treatment,
we require that the offender
accept accountability for
their actions. Being held
accountable for one’s
actions is therapeutic.
Next week, I’ll discuss the
inevitable second visit from
these same parents.
Each occasion has been an
absolutely humbling experi
ence as we witnessed the out
pouring of sympathy, the
continuous support, and the
unbelievable supply of food,
flowers, cards and any other
item needed to help relieve
the anguish of the occasion.
These have been given
through the compassion of
the people of Perry and
friends from far and near.
They can never be totally
repaid, but they are sincerely
appreciated. Thanks to each
and every one who has con
tributed in the least way.
We are truly blessed by our
families, our friends and our
associates.
Mark “Bo” Wilson
San Antonio, Texas