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♦ TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2005
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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
Harmony On School Board
The Houston County Board of Education mem
bers were sworn in for another term last week and
the silence was deafening.
One new member joins the team, which has
demonstrated the past year that it is possible to
conduct the business of operating a first-class
school system without acrimony or newsworthy dis
agreements.
There are plenty of challenges that lie ahead as
the number of students continues to climb faster
than classrooms can be provided.
As has been noted before, the state provides fund
ing for school systems based on average daily atten
dance the previous school year. This means that
local money must be raised to provide for approxi
mately 600 new students each year before more
money from the state kicks in.
Toby Hill, the new member of the school board,
brings a lifetime of educational experience to the
table. Her has a reputation of working well within
the system and with others. He should be a valuable
addition to the school board.
With everyone apparently operating on the same
page, time and energies can be devoted to carrying
out the awesome responsibilities that go with the
job of school board member.
Billboard Control Needed
Perry City Council’s determination to control bill
boards and signs in the city is commendable.
It is long overdue, but as in many instances things
get out of control before there is realization a prob
lem exists.
The billboard industry in Georgia is powerful.
Attempts to control the number of billboards on
interstate highways have run into strong opposition
in the Georgia legislature as a result of the indus
try’s powerful lobbying.
Warner Robins has seen a proliferation of bill
boards in recent years. As the city’s population
grows and as vehicle traffic increases more and
more billboards have gone up. Watson Boulevard
(247 Connector) is a deplorable example.
Signs of all kinds everywhere you look are pollu
tion to the eyes. Signs are important. But control
ling the number, size and location is important, too.
Anyone who has traveled 1-65 in Alabama from
Montgomery to Mobile can appreciate the scenic
beauty of more than a hundred miles without bill
boards cluttering the scenery. It is a stark contrast
to 1-75 in Georgia.
Warner Robins has an opportunity to keep the
recently opened Russell Parkway extension attrac
tive and uncluttered. We hope it is not turned into
another Watson Boulevard.
Is It So Hard To Sell?
The federal Education Department has paid a
radio personality about a quarter of a million dol
lars to plug the No Child Left Behind Act.
It makes you wonder: Is NCLB a solid education
al goal or a publicity stunt?
Some educators applaud No Child Left Behind.
Some find fault with it.
We applaud any effort that is made to provide bet
ter, more meaningful education to our children. We
are in no position to pass judgment on programs
that are instituted. We will wait to see the results.
But we do question the spending of taxpayer
money to a radio talk show host so that he will
speak well of it several times during each broadcast.
Salter was a standardbearer
Editor:
Rev. Rastus Salter, pastor of Second
Baptist Church passed away this date ...
Jan. 7.
Standardbearer: used just one time in the
Bible. One that carried the banner, the
ensign, the flag, the standard into battle.
Rastus Salter, standardbearer, lifted high
the royal banner of Christ through five
decades.
Today, Jan. 7, this standardbearer has
fallen, and ere the standard even dip down
ward, we pray to God that there might be
one to snatch up the royal banner and carry
on where this great and good standardbear
er fell.
It must not... It must not... It must not
suffer loss.
Teachers' jobs have changed through the years
Gov. Sonny Perdue has
proposed a 2-percent pay
raise for Georgia’s public
school teachers. They say it
is not enough. I agree. If you
consider what teachers have
to put up with nowadays it
is difficult to come up with
enough money to pay them
what they are worth.
Today’s schoolteachers
are not poorly paid on aver
age for a normal job, and
certainly they are not over
paid, as some people con
tend, because teachers work
a nine-months year.
My two sisters were
schoolteachers. They have
been retired for several
years after something like
half a century each in the
classroom.
When they began teaching
it was entirely different
than it is today. Children
‘went to school because they
wanted to learn. They did
not present a disciplinary
problem.
Most of us older folks are
quick to point out that our
parents told us the day we
entered school that we
Knowing the essential current events
Recently, I read an inves
tigative report detailing how
little young people knew
about current events, poli
tics and government.
The disturbing story,
which I believe was in last
month’s Tiger Beat, stated
that more than 50 percent of
teens didn’t even know who
the president of the United
States was, you know, that
guy on TV
As a newspaperman, cur
rent events are my business.
If our young people aren’t
concerned or interested in
current events and what’s
going on in their world and
community, I’m toast.
So I cornered two young
people to test theii knowl
edge of current events - to
see if Tiger Beat got it right,
or if they were once again
engaging in muckraking
tabloid journalism.
Below is the transcript of
my interview:
Me: OK, for the record,
please state your ages as of
today.
My daughter: Five.
My son: (Holding up two
fingers and his thumb)
Three!
Me: Good. You each got at
least one answer correct.
That’s a good start. OK, now
on to the tough stuff. What
country do you live in?
Daughter: Georgia.
Son: Firefighter!
Me: Wrong. But you were
close, honey. The answer is
United States of America.
OK, now, who is the presi
dent of the United States of
America?
Daughter: George
Washington.
Son: Batman!
Me: Wrong, although
George Washington was
close. His name is George W.
Bush. OK, now the vice
president. Who is the vice
president?
Daughter: What’s a vice
precedent?
Me: It’s like the assistant
president.
Daughter: What does a
precedent do?
Me: He’s the boss of the
country.
Daughter: No he isn’t.
Herb DeGroot
Warner Robins
Injured but proud
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letter
was sent to Larry Walker in response to his
column in Friday’s edition of The Houston
Home Journal. Walker graciously shared it
with us.)
I think it is extremely unfair and libelous
to have published in your county organ an
article denigrating arguably the best shot on
the “bird hunt” referenced to Seminole
County.
Although I take serious offense to the
Seminole County “bird hunt,” I cannot
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
m
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8K £
Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevans 19@cox.net
would be respectful of our
teachers and we would not
be a disciplinary problem or
we would regret it. And if
any of us stepped over the
line we really did regret it.
When political correctness
emerged and it became nec
essary for schools to cater to
the lowest common denomi
nator, the slide toward
today’s problems began.
When my sisters began
teaching it would have been
inconceivable for teachers to
be fired or hauled into court
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-M. :
Len Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
God is the boss of the coun
try.
Me: OK, yeah, I guess
you’re right. But who is the
vice president?
Daughter: Abraham
Lincoln.
Son: Spider-Man!
Me: No, it’s not Abraham
Lincoln or Spider-Man. It’s
Dick Cheney.
Daughter: So, Mr. George
is the vice precedent’s boss?
Son: No, Spider-Man!
Me: Yes, and that’s exactly
how Mr. George pronounces
vice president. OK, what
state do you live in?
Daughter: Homerville.
Son: Firefighter!
argue that such a sterling shot as former U
of M President Billy “Bulls eye” Bulger
overshadows all except perhaps some vaunt
ed heroes of the Old West.
I will not speak of lawsuits at this writing
if a retraction of this article is made on a
timely basis, say sometime before my death!
Otherwise, you leave me no choice except to
contact the local personality I believe to be
in the John Deere tractor business there in
Perry. When he joins with me, we will be
successful in what, I believe, to be a sizeable
lawsuit encompassing any number of
charges with which you are most familiar
being both a former politician of some note
and a lawyer of some (dubious) repute. You
may have even had a hand in the passage of
some of the many laws we intend to invoke
to restore, at least, my reputation.
As far as the tractor dealer from Perry, his
for punishing or touching a
student. In those days socie
ty was on the side of teach
ers, not students. People
recognized that children
were children and their
rights were subservient to
rights of adults, including
parents and teachers.
I have written before that
one of the most beloved
teachers ever in Warner
Robins was Joe
Musselwhite. As assistant
football coach at Warner
Robins High School and
principal of Warner Robins
Junior High School, he was
a strict disciplinarian.
He administered his
“board of education” when
it was needed in the days
before school officials’ hands
were tied. Danny told me
that he was one of the stu
dents to be punished by
Joe’s “board of education”
and he will tell you today
that Joe was one of his
favorite and most admired
teachers.
Today’s teachers have to
put up with too much. They
have to attempt to maintain
Me: No, Homerville is the
city you live in. And
Homerville is in the state of
Georgia.
Daughter: Are we done
yet? Where’s the cookies you
promised?
Me: Hold on. Just a few
more questions. OK, what
year is it? Now remember,
the year just changed.
Daughter: 1999.
Son: Three!
Me: No, it just changed to
2005.
Daughter: Why?
Me: Because at the end of
December, it becomes
January and a new year.
Daughter: Why?
Me: I don’t know. That’s
just the way it is. Let’s move
on. OK, what country were
we recently at war with?
Daughter: The United
Steaks of America.
Son: Superman!
Me: It’s United States of
America, honey. And we live
in the United States of
America.
Daughter: Why are we at
war with where we live?
Me: No, we were at war
with Iraq.
Daughter: A rock? Why
were we at war with a rock?
shooting reputation need not be restored
since it appears that he never built one on
which to start.
Please check with your professional liabil
ity carrier that insures that Houston
County fish wrapper for which you compose
a column. Check with your law firm’s pro
fessional liability carrier and let me know
the limits of both, as I can fashion my
awards. I expect to retire in comfort from
your libelous and frivolous writings. The
presß must be held accountable, as you hurt
innocent people’s well-deserved reputa
tions. You might as well be writing for the
Enquirer.
I’m through for now, but I’m not through.
Sincerely,
Injured but proud
(aka Clark Fain)
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
discipline with their hands
tied and they have to coddle
students who should be
placed in another school
with others with their same
attitudes and abilities. And
then they are expected to
teach in their spare time.
I do not recall a year that
teachers have asked not for
more money. Teachers are a
powerful political force. Ask
Gov. Roy Barnes. He got out
of favor with them and they
contributed mightily to his
defeat by Gov. Perdue. At
the present time teachers
are rumbling about not get
ting as much money as they
want but Perdue has time to
get in their good graces
before the next election.
Meanwhile, all of us who
believe education is the
most important thing we
can give our young people
should revolt against pres
ent day political correctness
and give teachers the sup
port they need - and deserve
- to do their jobs in the
classroom.
Me: No, I-rack. It’s a coun
try a long way away.
Son: My butt just burped!
Me: OK, OK. Let’s move
on to something else.
Daughter: So, does the
precedent decide what year
it is, or God?
Me: Who played recently
for the college football
national championship?
Daughter: What division?
Me: Division 1-A.
Daughter: USC and
Oklahoma.
Son: No! Trojans and
Sooners!
Me: Yes and yes. You’re
both right. And you both
passed your current events
quiz with flying colors.
Hugs and cookies fol
lowed.
The future of America,
and newspapering, is indeed
bright - as long as we keep
having a sports page.
Len Robbins is editor and
publisher of The Clinch
County News in Homerville,
whose award-winning week
ly column appears in over a
dozen newspapers. A proud
University of Georgia gradu
ate, Robbins and his wife
have three young children.