Letters to the editor: 12/28/00

Gifts greatly appreciated

To the Editor:

Your gifts have helped to provide food, clothing, toys, wood and kerosene for heating and joy. One mom cried when she received a bike for her 9-year-old son. Others spoke of how these were the only gifts their children would receive this year.

I watched faces light up with joy as they realized that though they had only asked for clothing to keep them warm, they also had dolls, toy cars, crafts, books and other toys for their kids.

As the days toward Christmas drew near and the temperature dropped, wood and kerosene were greatly appreciated. Many families received not only food for today, but gift certificates to purchase more. Other gift certificates will provide many of special items, like the shoes for school one 11-year-old boy requested.

It is easy to get comfortable in our homes, surrounded by our families and our creature comforts. It is easy to deny that in our community there is hunger, families without heat or children who don't have the clothing they need, let alone toys for Christmas or their birthdays. Your loving gifts have helped to alleviate some of the need during the holiday season.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Hooper

Director of Client Services

REACH of Jackson County

SPIR supports Canary Coalition

To the Editor:

Clean air is indeed an issue with which all of us in Western North Carolina should be concerned. To put it plainly, all of us must breathe the same air regardless of our differences as individuals. The issue of clean air thus affects all citizens equally.

In response to all the alarming reports of poor air quality in Western North Carolina, SPIR feels that the Canary Coalition is taking the right steps in publicizing the issue and, ultimately, bringing it to the attention of government officials. If we are to see any improvement in our air quality, such a proactive, grassroots effort becomes most necessary. It clearly requires concerted efforts and commitment among those of us affected by the problem. It is a representation of the people, and by the people, that will make the difference between success and failure.

SPIR understands this philosophy well. As a non-profit organization dedicated to the revitalization of downtown Sylva, our success depends upon the commitment of local citizens to the cause of community improvement. It doesn't mean simply making our town look "pretty" through historic preservation. It doesn't mean simply improving our downtown economy by helping business owners bring in more customers.

It also does not mean simply putting on parades and festivals from time to time to drum up "community spirit." Rather, it is about ensuring that all these elements work together over the course of time. More importantly, these objectives - noble as they may be - are useless without a foundation of community understanding and support.

From the big picture perspective, SPIR exists not simply to promote any one of the above elements. Instead, it serves to build a better community based on a "tapestry" of all those elements. In conjunction, and over time, they collectively provide us with a sense of place through improved social and economic conditions.

This is what your local Main Street Program is all about. In essence, we are talking about true "community," the concept of which is being lost all across our nation through uncontrolled physical sprawl.

Through grassroots groups such as SPIR and the Canary Coalition, the mission remains to work towards a better way of life for all of us. However, a most important point is that if things are to change for the better, and not for the worse, we must realize that no one is going to stand up for our community but ourselves.

Issues such as clean air and uncontrolled suburban sprawl require a strong community such as Sylva to stand up for itself as a cohesive unit. Rather than focusing on all the negatives involved with all our local issues, it is better to courageously unite and state the case for improvement.

Winston Churchill once said "The price of greatness is responsibility." I believe this statement has never possessed more power or truth than it does in today's society where we are called upon to make tougher public decisions each day. SPIR thus commends and supports the Canary Coalition for this clean-air initiative. As our own name implies, all of us are indeed partners in renewing and improving upon the standards of living and working in our community.

Sincerely,

Richard McHargue

SPIR Executive Director

Sylva

North Carolinians raise funds for ALS research

To the Editor:

We, the Zullos, wish to express our sincerest appreciation and gratitude to the generous and unselfish shoppers of Wal-Mart, Ingles, Food Lion and Harold's Supermarket who gave $1,900. In addition, we thank immensely all our wonderful friends and family not in Sylva, but those from New England to the Midwest and Florida for the remainder of the donations to reach the total of $10,982.80.

Even though Marilyn - who passed away peacefully from ALS on Dec. 7, after a courageous and valiant battle of two and a half years - will not benefit from the generosity of her friends and family who gave the donations in her name, we know that as she looks down on us from Heaven and is pleased that the funds given will assist other ALS patients and research in the future.

If she could speak to us, she would say, "Please continue to give and to support the fight against ALS until the cause of the disease and a cure are discovered."

Most sincerely,

Tony Zullo

Sylva

Reid knew 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was wrong

To the Editor:

One writer came the closest when explaining that memorizing these lyrics assists "our teens in realizing that this is real life and they should avoid 'getting caught in a landslide, no escape from reality.'" I agree that the nihilism presented in this song is an all-too-real reflection of "real life" for a great many teens today.

However, my point was that having teenagers memorize these lyrics is inappropriate and irresponsible given what is taking place in the world around us. Mr. Reid himself tacitly agreed with my position when, prior to the song being sung, he apologized for the graphic nature of the lyrics and asked the audience to forgive him. If he really believed the song to be appropriate, why did he ask forgiveness for having the young people perform it? Do not an apology and the asking of forgiveness by Mr. Reid at least insinuate some sense of inappropriateness on his part? Shouldn't the educational system be able to come up with a more positive way of teaching the students the negative effects of killing people, perhaps even one that would not have to be apologized for before it is repeated in public?

The young person who writes that I should be able to "sit through one song without feeling the need to criticize..." and who asks "whatever happened to the First Amendment?" should realize that the First Amendment also extends to me and my letter questioning the appropriateness of the song. If as she suggests on the one hand, "people have a right to their own opinions and not be put down for them" then she must also agree on the other, that I have a right to express my opinion. If so, then by her own standard, she is by putting down my opinion denying me the very First Amendment rights she claims for Mr. Reid.

The issue, however, isn't Mr. Reid's First Amendment rights - he has the right to say whatever the law will allow - the issue is the appropriateness of a person, acting not as an individual, but as a person in a position of public trust, utilizing a song with such graphically violent lyrics as a part of a high school music curriculum.

More to the point, if this young person's "understanding" is representative of Mr. Reid's teaching concerning the song's lyrics, there is more than enough reason for grave concern. She states, "(the song) isn't about death and suicide, it's about a man who made a wrong choice and shot a guy" (put a gun up against his head, pulled the trigger and blew his brains out to be precise).

It would appear that Mr. Reid has, with the help of the song in question, taught at least this young person that murder is about nothing more than a "wrong choice," nothing to do with "death," not about the needless or senseless taking of another individual's life - no horror, no revulsion, just a "wrong choice."

Lastly, what do you think would happen if Mr. Reid's students wore T-shirts to school with "Mama just killed a man/ Put a gun against his head/ pulled my trigger/ now he's dead" printed in bold letters across the front and back? Am I wrong, or would we see some students being sent home to change? Why then is it OK for Mr. Reid to print it in bold letters across their minds?

Mr. Reid may be a great person, he may even be a great music teacher, but that has nothing to do with whether or not it was appropriate for him to have the teenagers memorize a song that even those who agree with his choice say is filled with violence, murder and nihilism. The fact is Mr. Reid was dead wrong in selecting this song to use in the high school music program - he knew it when he apologized and asked the audience to forgive him.

Lee F. Mallory

Whittier

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