Copyright 2002 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution  

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
March 9, 2002 Saturday, Home Edition
SECTION: Editorial; Pg. 13A

LENGTH: 1974 words

HEADLINE: Saturday Talk

BYLINE: DEBRA BLUM, BRUCE CLEVENGER, ROBERT BILLEAUD, TOM FERGUSON, SUSAN WOODS, WOODY BARTLETT, SAM BURSTON, DR. FREDDIE ASINOR, BRONWEN WAGNER, SYD COLE, MARC SHERMAN

SOURCE: For the Journal-Constitution

BODY:
GOOD NEIGHBORS: Sales clerk's kindness makes ordeal bearable

Recently, I traveled to Alpharetta to get a sweeper fixed at the Hoover Sales and Service Shop. Pulling into the parking lot, I noticed steam billowing from under the hood of my car.

I parked the car, opened the hood, went into the store and encountered one of the nicest people I will ever meet: Brian Gouge, the Hoover salesperson.

I told him that I was having car trouble and asked if I could call my auto club to get a tow truck. After I arranged the tow truck, Gouge asked if he could take a look at the car. He recognized the trouble (which was substantial) and made several phone calls to local mechanics and a parts store to help me assess the cost and where the car should be towed. All the while, he served customers and answered phone calls to the store.

With every call he made, he referred to me as a good friend with car trouble and asked what's the best price they could give.

I got my car to a great shop, Harrison Motors, just across from the Hoover store. The car was fixed within three hours, and I was given a loaner car to use in the meantime.

Brian made all that happen. What began as a stressful ordeal turned into an experience of kindness that I will never forget. He went above and beyond what many others would do. Thanks Brian, for being one of the good guys. BRONWEN WAGNER, Lawrenceville
 
United States has no need to apologize

A recent letter completely misses the facts ("Daniel Pearl's murderers shame their religion," March 2). While correct in stating that all persons of the Islamic faith should be ashamed of such a senseless murder, the letter suggests that our American policy-makers should examine their flaw in U.S. foreign policy toward radicals.

Our only flaw is to be the most successful, humane, diversified country in the world. The United States has unsparingly helped those countries that harbor the "radicals" whose only desire is to kill or maim the infidel. SYD COLE, Blairsville
 
Atlanta welcome sign's personal touch offensive

I love Mayor Shirley Franklin and think she is wonderful so far, but she should take her name off the airport welcome sign. It has always bothered me that on driving away from Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, there was a sign that said: "Mayor Bill Campbell welcomes you to Atlanta."

How egotistical this is! This is not a kingdom or dictatorship. It's our city and our airport, and we all should welcome visitors and returning Atlantans.

I would love to see this sign changed to: "The residents of Atlanta welcome you," or "The residents of Georgia welcome you" or "Welcome to Atlanta." Get the idea? MARC SHERMAN, Atlanta
 
Those found insane don't get any breaks

A recent letter suggested the law is easier on people who are found not guilty by reason of insanity ("Remove this excuse from law books," March 2). As a professional experienced in this area of the law, I can tell you that this is not the case.

People found not guilty by reason of insanity spend much more time institutionalized in state hospitals than people found guilty of the same offenses spend in prison. What's more, those found insane are given treatment, and if they are allowed off hospital premises or released, they are transitioned carefully under the eyes of the court and treatment personnel.

People found guilty are not necessarily given treatment and are generally released without any transition or individualized monitoring. Those found insane are under scrutiny long after any symptoms of mental illness have disappeared or are treated. DEBRA BLUM Blum is director of the Mental Health Advocacy Division, Georgia Indigent Defense Council.
 
Classifying vehicles would boost conservation

Regarding dependence on foreign oil: To expect the automakers to be our saviors is absurd. These are for-profit companies, and they must pursue profitability.

How, then, do we encourage conservation? We could raise the price of gas to $5 a gallon, but this would have traumatic ripples in our economy and could widen the gap between "haves" and "have-nots."

We should encourage conservation by rewarding those who do so. I propose that all vehicles be separated into three classes: fuel-efficient vehicles (FEVs); intense-consumption vehicles (ICVs); and moderate-consumption vehicles (MCVs).

We could have FEV lanes on interstates. We could require that all ICVs follow truck-lane requirements that limit them to the right-hand lanes of interstates. And we should require parking lots to have zones that would make all good spots exclusively for FEVs and require all ICVs to park in the most inconvenient places.

These small changes would cost very little and would not significantly alter anyone's quality of life. However, I am quite sure that after episodes of being stuck in traffic among big rigs, and after a few long treks through grocery store parking lots, a lot of those who now thumb their noses at conservation would be ready to forgo their gas guzzlers. BRUCE CLEVENGER, Atlanta
 
U.S. is a convenient scapegoat for oppressed

The hatred directed toward the United States by the Taliban, the Iraqi people, et al. is just another case of the malady of modern life --- misplaced accountability.

Rather than blame those truly responsible, in most cases oppressive authoritarian regimes, the people look elsewhere. The easiest target is those of us who live in relative comfort and prosperity here in the United States.

This is not to say that the U.S. government and multinational corporations have not tried to pull fast ones as often as possible in pursuit of the almighty dollar. But the United States in general, and Americans in particular, have not destroyed Afghanistan or any other state identified as supporting terrorists.

Sure, poverty is a tremendous problem for many of these nations, but we are not the cause of that poverty. It is true that U.S. companies are interested in the possibilities there, but can foreign investment in such an impoverished land be a bad thing?

So, if the so-called victims of "U.S. oppression" want to find a real solution to their problems, they need only to look in the mirror. ROBERT BILLEAUD, Duluth
 
Pro-nuclear policy will prove disastrous

When a radioactive cloud from the burning nuclear plant at Chernobyl passed over Western Europe in 1986 and proceeded to circle the globe, there began a sobering re-evaluation of the nuclear project. Sweden, Germany and now Belgium have decided to phase out nuclear power. Those invested in nuclear power, like addicts everywhere, tend to enter into an iron denial when the dangers of their breadwinner are raised.

Now we have our very own deniers in Washington putting forth an Enron energy policy that promotes nukes as if there's no Chernobyl (and no terrorists).

We who will pay for this corruption, in taxes and fallout, should just say, loudly and clearly: NO! TOM FERGUSON, Atlanta
 
Students' progress more than a test score

Whoever said that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb must have known that standardized testing begins this month across most of Georgia.

I've seen teachers nervously scanning their textbooks, fearful that they might not have covered all the topics, and warily eyeing their co-workers, wondering whether that person did a better job preparing their students.

We remind ourselves there is much more to teaching than test scores, and deep in our hearts, we know that no standardized test will ever reveal the influence we have on students' lives every day: the smile of a shy child who with your gentle prodding has read aloud his book report in front of the class for the first time; the look of triumph from that one who, with your encouragement, has finally mastered his multiplication tables; the squeeze of a child who hugs you goodbye at the end of the day.

It's easy to understand why more teachers are leaving the profession and more children than ever are exhibiting signs of stress at younger ages. We pace, worry and growl like the lion of March and only hope the lamb will come when testing ends. SUSAN WOODS, Cleveland
 
Environment important to all living things

I grew up in Georgia enthralled by the brown thrasher, our state songbird. Now we learn that its existence here is threatened by global warming ("Georgia's songbird in jeopardy, study says," News, March 5).

We can do something about this. The principal cause of global warming is increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the air, the result largely of all of our automobiles.

The U.S. Senate is about to start debate on an energy bill that will increase fuel-efficiency standards for our cars, thus reducing emissions of carbon dioxide. We have the technology to increase those standards. All we need is the political will.

I write as a clergyman because this is a moral question about the continuation of life, not only for the brown thrasher but also for us. It is finally about the preservation of the Creation, which God has so generously given us. WOODY BARTLETT, Atlanta
 
State legislators due payback for deregulation

I am among the many Georgians who feel completely ripped off by the natural gas deregulation fiasco. The politicians, in typical fashion, will not admit they were wrong. They simply need to fix the problem by re-regulating the industry.

Any politician, Republican or Democrat, who has done nothing about this matter needs to be voted out of office. And what does Gov. Roy Barnes do to deflect attention from the matter but create a task force to tell us what we already know?

How is it possible for my monthly budgeted bill of $75 to double and triple? Nearly $66 of those charges I never would have incurred under the old system.

When are Georgians really going to get mad about this issue and hold the state Legislature accountable? SAM BURSTON, Atlanta
 
Gloster personified dignity, determination

It is unbelievable to think that Hugh Morris Gloster Sr., president emeritus of Morehouse College, is no longer alive. He seemed larger than life in higher education administration.

When I arrived on campus in August 1981, it was Gloster who literally walked me through registration.

At the end of every semester, I would detail my activities in a letter to Gloster and his wife. He kept track of my academic record, knew where I was failing and offered fatherly advice so that I might succeed.

Gloster was a father, teacher, gracious friend and administrator who was relentless in his effort to change those attitudes associated with black men by stressing excellence and "personal gut performance." And it seemed that no obstacle could prevent him from pushing the so-called Gloster Boys to achieve our goals.

In many ways, Gloster was the Jackie Robinson of higher education administration and public service --- making history through his quiet dignity, his iron determination and his ability to walk through doors that opened to his insistent knock.

In 1986, when I returned to Morehouse as the first director of student activities for the institution, it was Gloster who called me in and instructed that I continue my education.

I will miss his fatherly advice, but I am just a bit richer and better off for having known him and worked for him.

And it is our duty, we Gloster Boys in higher education administration, to carry on his legacy by continuing the work he has started and to strive every day, as he did, to be the best father, teacher and administrator. DR. FREDDIE ASINOR Asinor, of Baltimore, is an associate faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and associate director of Community Education programs at the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute in Baltimore.

GRAPHIC: Photo:
Hoover employee Brian Gouge went to great lengths to help a customer.

LOAD-DATE: March 09, 2002