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♦ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2004
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Rex Gambill
Vice President Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Supreme Court Rights A Wrong
Several years ago, when the federal government
split up Ma Bell, the regional telephone compa
nies were forced to sell use of their telephone
lines to upstart competitors at discount rates.
The competitors, such as MCI, Sprint, AT&T
and others, took advantage of this ruling and
were able to resell telephone service at rates
below what the regional telephone companies,
which are regulated by the FCC and state com
missions, were able to.
Consequently, companies like Bell South lost
hundreds of thousands of customers to competi
tors who did not have to invest a dime in estab
lishing a system to serve their customers.
It was an unfair arrangement. It is comparable
to someone opening a store, stocking it with mer
chandise and then having a competitor come in
and do business in the store without an invest
ment.
Finally, the United States Supreme Court has
recognized the unfairness of this requirement
and ruled that the Baby Bells can negotiate for a
fair return with competitors who want to use
their networks.
The companies that have benefited from this
arrangement are crying foul. But they have
enjoyed their competitive advantage at the
expense of the Baby Bells too long.
Intersection Needs Better Signals
The intersection of U.S. 41 and the Ga. 247
Connector has been the site of numerous auto
mobile accidents in the past.
It was worse prior to the installation of traffic
lights at the intersection, but it has continued to
be a dangerous one.
Now that a commercial business soon will go up
on the northwest corner of this intersection it is
logical to assume that other development in the
area will follow.
Traffic created by a business could possibly add
to the danger at this intersection. At the present
time the traffic light does not have left-turn sig
nals on the U.S. 41 sides, which daily makes for
some interesting cases of dodge-or-get-hit as
motorists attempt to make left turns.
More traffic at this intersection clearly will cre
ate more opportunities for accidents.
Perhaps now left-turn signals, which have been
needed for a long time, will be added by the time
the new business opens.
CORRECTION
A quote was incorrectly attributed to Houston County
Development Authority member Draper Watson in an Oct.
10 Houston Home Journal article entitled “Houston
County Development Authority plans secret meeting,” and
in the Wednesday, Oct. 13, editorial “Sometimes a meeting
is not a meeting.” It was authority member Tee Tolleson,
not Watson, who said, “We want frankness. It won’t happen
when the press is here,” during the board’s discussion on
Oct. 7. It is the policy of the newspaper to correct errors of
fact. The Houston Home Journal apologizes for the error.
we must take diseases like smallpox, flu more seriously
The medic wielding the
tiny smallpox vaccination
needle jabbed my left arm a
dozen times. Satisfied with
his handiwork, he slapped a
large butterfly bandage over
the brand-new sore and gave
me a stack of replacement
bandages. I had to keep the
vaccination covered, to aid
the healing process. The last
bandage came off three days
before I flew to Iraq.
Once upon a time, the
World Health Organization
(WHO) thought smallpox
would be eradicated. We no
longer believe that fairytale,
so military, emergency
response and medical per
sonnel now get smallpox
vaccinations. Here’s why:
Despots, crooks and mad
men invoking the wrath of
God value weapons that kill
en masse. Bacteria and
viruses fit that bill, and
packed sis bio-weapons are
much cheaper to produce
than a nuclear bomb.
Smallpox used to kill
humans by the millions, and
AT I
Austin Bay
Military Affairs
Creators Syndicate
now we fear it could do so
again.
However, the United
States stopped mass inocu
lations for smallpox in the
19705. Most young
Americans are unvaccinat
ed. When I pressed one of
the doctors about the possi
bility of “shedding” vaccine
and infecting an unvaccinat
ed child, he assured me the
chance of that was infinites
imally small. But he was
Scoop the Snoop and PHS Hit Parade
It was Perry High School’s
answer to The National
Enquirer or perhaps
“People” magazine. Perhaps
not as sophisticated as
“People” magazine - if
sophisticated is the right
word - but just as titillating
- if titillating is the right
word. For years, it appeared
in every edition of The
Houston Home Journal
when school was in session.
That is, it came out on
Thursdays just like the
paper was put out on
Thursdays. And let me tell
you, adults read it just as
much as did the students.
Case on point, but at the end
of this column.
What it was: Scoop the
Snoop and PHS Hit Parade
in the Perri-Scope. The
Perri-Scope was the school
news from Perry High
School. The school news was
somewhat interesting, but it
was the Scoop the Snoop
and PHS Hit Parade that
had the big readership. For
the sophisticated (there is
that word again) reader,
information on who was
going with whom, who was
in love, what couples had
broken up, who was in trou
ble or had almost gotten
into trouble, who had a new
ring or a new car, etc., was to
be had. In other words, gos
sip. Yes, people loved gossip
even back then. And, you
thought that “Hollywood
News” and Joan Dorsett’s
“Just Vistin’” invented the
genre?
Return with me now to a
few of those scoops and hits
between 1955 and 1960:
Scoop the Snoop, Nov. 1 7,
1955:
TRENT, WHY WERE
YOU SHAKING AT THE
WIGWAM SATURDAY
NIGHT ? (This had to be
Trent Turner, and how
many of you remember the
Wigwam ?)
VIRGIL AND ED, IT
DIDN’T WORK. WHAT
AM I GOING TO DO
NOW? (Ed Beckham and
More powerful than a locomotive
A hero died this week.
He wasn’t just a hero
because he played one as he
donned a red cape and was
faster than a speeding bullet
on movie screens across the
country.
He wasn’t a hero for being
prominent in the entertain
ment world for being an
accomplished actor and
director.
He wasn’t a hero because
he made women ogle at the
sight of him in the infamous
Superman garb, and dream
of being Lois Lane.
He was a hero to me
because of his unbounding
sense of hope in the face of a
drastic accident.
He was a hero for believ
ing and continuing to
believe until his death he
would walk again.
I remember watching him
also uncomfortable with the
larger issue of societal vul
nerability.
“At some point we need to
start inoculating everyone
again,” he said. “It’s the
smart thing to do.”
One expert told me that
America probably has a high
degree of “herd immunity”
against small pox - a statis
tically significant slice of the
American population retains
enough immunity to blunt
the spread of the disease.
Still, relying on herd
immunity instead of human
intelligence is a poor way to
defend against smallpox, or
for that matter, any disease,
including the flu.
Our vaccine production
system, however, is flimsy.
Moreover, our ability to
“surge” vaccine production
(in the event of a bio-attack
or pandemic) is even weaker.
Witness the sudden short
age of flu vaccine with flu
season less than 60 days
away. Two companies,
Chiron Corp. and Aventis
I fPi? '-t i
Larry Walker
Columnist
lwalker<@whgbc .com
Virgil Peavy?)
PHS Hit Parade. Nov. 24,
1955:
“SEVENTEEN”
MARTHA (Martha Evans?)
“WITCHCRAFT”
CHEERLEADERS (who
were the Cheerleaders in
November 1955?)
“IT WON’T BE THIS
WAY ALWAYS’’ - MYRA
(must have been Myra
Wilder)
Incidentally, Laurie
Anderson was the editor of
the Perri-Scope in 1955-
1956. Mrs. J. T. Moss (Molly
C.) was the sponsor.
More examples:
Scoop the Snoop, Jan. 12,
1956:
SCOOP HEARS THAT
MARGE IS “CHICKEN.’’
(Marge Nunn?)
DIANE, WHO WAS
THAT? (could be Diane
Fesmire)
Scoop the Snoop, Jan. 19,
1956:
MRS. HARRISON, DO
YOU GET GOOD MILK
SERVICE AT SCHOOL?
(Florence Harrison, the best
English teacher in America!)
SCOOP WONDERS
HOW MANY WRECKS
THERE WERE AT THE
WIGWAM FRIDAY
NIGHT WITH ALL
THOSE GALS AT THE
Teresa D. Southern
Staff Writer
tsouthern@evansnewspapers.com
in a television interview and
feeling an enormous amount
of respect for him. He
talked about his hopes for
stem cell research and
vowed to walk again. That
night I prayed for him like
he was q family member or
Pasteur, manufacture
America’s flu vaccine. Last
week, the British govern
ment shut down Chiron
after regulators discovered
bacterial contamination in
its vaccines and other prob
lems in the manufacturing
process. The regulators
were doing their job, but the
shutdown has knocked out
half of America’s flu vaccine
supply.
Flu vaccine preparation is
a tough business, for many
reasons. Despite advances in
gene-splicing techniques,
most flu vaccine is produced
using chicken eggs as a cul
ture medium. The process
takes six months to produce
vaccines, so manufacturers
have to make several tricky
calls. In order to make an
effective vaccine, they have
to make some astute guesses
regarding the genetic char
acteristics of the flu strain -
there are new flus every
year. They must also predict
demand for the vaccine. The
WHEEL. (Your guess is as
good as mine, and how
about that word “gals”?)
PHS Hit Parade, March
22, 1956:
“DOWN IN MEXICO” -
FOR ALL THE BOYS
WHO WENT TO DAY
TONA. (Daytona was
1956’s Cancun, Mexico)
“LONG TALL SALLY” -
HORACE, RONNIE, AND
DAN (could it be Horace
Evans, Ronnie Hall, and
Danny Hughes?)
Scoop the Snoop, Oct. 15,
1959:
MARIANNE AND
SANDY, DID YOU HAVE
A BACON FIGHT? (I bet it
was Marianne Moody and
Sandy Crumley)
WHO GOT DROWNED
SATURDAY NIGHT? (who
did get drowned?)
STAND UP DOZIER!
(Dozier Hasty?)
Scoop the Snoop, Oct. 22,
1959:
FRIDAY NIGHT, EH,
JANICE K. AND ?
(Yeah, Janice, who were
you with Friday night?)
PHS Hit Parade, Oct. 22,
1959:
“LOVE WALKED IN”
- JANICE AND LARRY
(That’s us).
“WATERLOO”
LARRY W. (That’s me)
PHS Hit Parade, Dec. 19,
1959:
“DITTLE, DITTLE,
DUMPLING” - JERRY H.
(bless Jerry Horton’s sweet
little heart)
Jean Norman was our edi
tor-in-chief in 1959-1960.
Nancy Boler was the feature
editor and Lee Cotten was
the sports editor. Earle
Smith was the advisor. My
someone I knew personally.
I wonder, could I be this
strong in face of such adver
sity? Could I be in a wheel
chair moving nothing but
my eyes, and eventually see
ing hope when acquiring the
ability to move a few fin
gers?
Could I look at a loved one
and not be able to touch or
feel them? Could I give up a
full lifestyle, a celebrity
lifestyle at that, to spend my
days in therapy doing exer
cises? Could I have spent
over $400,000 on my health
care expenses?
Sadly, I don’t believe I
could have done any of these
things. I would have given
up and prayed to die.
But Christopher Reeve
didn’t, and I believe that’s
what makes him a hero.
Often I pass by a bus
Wall Street Journal reported
that several pharmaceutical
companies quit the U.S. flu
vaccine market because
forecasting demand is so dif
ficult. Companies cannot
afford to be left with several
million unused (and unsold)
vaccine doses.
Flu vaccines aren’t the
only problem - fragility is
endemic to the entire vac
cine industry. In 2002, the
Government Accounting
Office issued a report that
said in 1967 26 companies
made children’s (pediatric)
vaccines. In 2004, only five
are in the business, and for
some specific vaccines there
are only one or two suppli
ers.
Slender profit margins are
one reason manufacturers
avoid the pediatric vaccine
market. Manufacturers also
fear multimillion-dollar law
suits filed on behalf of those
who suffer negative reac
tions to vaccines, and nega
tive reactions are a statisti-
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
class’ last edition was May
26, 1960, and here are some
of the gems from that
installment.
Scoop the Snoop:
TRYING TO HIDE, FAY
AND BETTY. (I bet it was
Faye Moody, although she
had an “e” on Faye, and
Betty Kersey)
PHS Hit Parade:
“SIXTEEN REASONS”
- JANIE AND DERRY
(They are still going strong
after all these years)
“GOOD TIMIN’” -
JUDY P., CAROLE E.,
AND JAN B. (What about
Judy Peavy, Carol Etheridge
and Jan Brown?)
“GRADUATION DAY” -
SENIOR CLASS. (What
great memories!)
I almost forgot. It is my
contention that adults read
Scoop the Snoop and PHS
Hit Parade as much or more
than did the students. Case
on point (see the first para
graph) - sometime when I
was in high school, this was
in the Scoop the Snoop:
WHAT DOES LARRY W.
HAVE THAT NO ONE
ELSE HAS? The adults
tried to guess or get me to
tell - several of them did. I
had delicious thoughts as to
what they must be thinking.
But, I wouldn’t tell.
Truthfully, I was a little too
embarrassed to tell. And
how Snoop found out, I do
not know. But I am now
going to let it out. Not
because I am any less
embarrassed, but because it
shows what an enticing lit
tle journalistic exercise all of
this was. The answer: a
small mole in my navel!
Isn’t that something, and
don’t you wish our local
paper had information like
this today? Scoop the Snoop
and PHS Hit Parade. Now
Danny, that was real jour
nalism.
bench in Macon that has a
picture of Reeve’s face on it.
For the life of me I can’t
remember what the adver
tisement was for, but as I
looked at his still-handsome
face, I couldn’t help but
think of his plight.
In 1995 I was in ninth
grade and remember hear
ing about the awful horse
riding accident that began a
new life for Christopher
Reeve.
He overcame so much
since then. Though they
were small improvements
he saw hope in them, and
made even us think he
would his feet would touch
level ground and make those
simple movements we take
for granted.
cal certainty.
The flu vaccine shortage
ought to jolt human intelli
gence. I don’t expect anoth
er Great Plague this winter,
but the flu epidemic of 1918-
1919 did kill well over 20
million people. This is an
issue we must address now.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
(CDC) says there are simply
too few manufacturers and
the CDC’s director, Julie
Gerberding, argues that the
U.S. government may have
to offer “incentives” to com
panies to produce vaccines.
Those might take the form
of tax credits for investment
in new manufacturing
processes (e.g., cell culture),
immunity from vaccine
related lawsuits or a guaran
teed market for unused vac
cines.
To find out more about
Austin Bay, visit the
Creators Syndicate web page
at www.creators.com.