The Allen American (Allen, Tex.), Vol. 23, No. 145, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 30, 1993 Page: 4 of 63
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Page 4A — The Allen American — Sunday, May 30, 1993
Opinion PAGE
Plano Star Courier
A Harte-Hanks Community Newspaper
Lynn Dickerson
Publisher
Wayne Epperson
Editor
Gary Smith
Financial Director
Beth Roddy
Advertising Director
Steve Jordan
Circulation Director
Tim Watterson, Managing Editor/News
Dollie Turpin, Managing Editor/Design
David May, News Editor
Doug Layton, Photo Editor
John Nagle, Sports Editor
Liaqat Ali Khan, Production Director
Don Olson, Composition Director
Leslie Mascari, Marketing Services Director
Sandie Hines, Telecenter Director
Memorial Day perfect opportunity
to glorify peace won by patriots
By ROGER A. MUNSON
defense of freedom. boats on the high seas to reach our
Today, in tens of thousands of shores?
The observance of Memorial Day homes, a carefully folded and loving- The answer, of course, is free-
offers an opportunity for all Amer- ly preserved American Flag rests in dom. It's the freedom which the pat-
• icans to stop and reflect on the uni- a place of honor — a token of a loved riots of this country established with 1
que history of the United States and one’s sacrifice for their country, their lives. Freedom of speech, free- -
our rights and responsibilities as That flag, which once draped the dom of religion, freedom of the S
citizens. coffin of a service man or woman, press, and our rights to life, liberty
As the national commander of the holds tears and a lifetime of memor- and the pursuit of happiness are uni-
American Legion, I represent more ies. It offered pride to accompany que throughout the world.
than 3.1 million men and women who the pain and sorrow of those whom Our Constitution, our great
have served this nation during a time the fallen had left behind. democratic process, has survived
of war. We know firsthand the sacri- It is fitting that we celebrate on over the centuries while the un-
fices that all of America’s veterans Memorial Day the freedom that has sound governments of many other
have made to preserve our way of been won and sustained by these lands are but the dust of history. Our
life. fallen heroes. I hey answered their country has endured because it was
Make no mistake, Memorial Day country’s call, put themselves in founded on principles that are right
doesn’t glorify war, for no one hates harm’s way, placed the welfare of and true and worth dying for.
war more than those who’ve fought their comrades ahead of their own Let us never forget that Amer-
the battles. To the contrary, Memo- safety, and put duty ahead of person- icans have given their lives in de-
rial Day glorifies peace by reminding al interests. Their sacrifice must fense of these fragile freedoms that
Americans that we are entrusted never be forgotten. we, in America, have the luxury of
with remembering those who paid As we pay tribute to America’s referring to as “rights.” Let us never
the ultimate price so that our great fallen sons and daughters, let us take for granted what America’s pat-
country would endure. realize that the United States re- riots have died to preserve. Let us
Their selfless sacrifice spans the mains the envy of the world. humbly celebrate these freedoms
history of America, from the Revolu- What is it about America that has today. That is the best memorial,
tionary War to Desert Storm. These drawn citizens of foreign lands for
patriots left their homes and families more than two centuries? Why do Roger A. Munson is national comrnan-
when their country called and gave people to this day leave their home- der of The American Legion, the world’s
their last full measure of devotion in lands and risk death aboard rickety largest wartime veterans organization.
andy is now more of a chat
When I was a kid, my neighbor-
hood buddies and I would collect re-
turnable cola bottles, lug them down
to the neighborhood convenience
store and buy a whole bag full of
candy. At 5 cents a bottle, we would
. end up with a bag full of bubble gum,
1 suckers, chocolate bars and various
Sharon
LEDDICK
Commentary
to contort.
You couldn’t pay my kids enough
to get them to eat broccoli or
squash, but challenge them with a
gum ball that brings them to tears
and they’ll eat them like there’s no
tomorrow.
The novelty candy isn’t any bet-
other goodies. mints, one right after the other, ter. Tongue Splashers have been
Back then we ate all that candy sometimes two at a time. There was called “The Sherwin-Williams of
because it tasted good. Today kids also the challenge of eating a Sugar gum.” Chew these colorful gumballs
are devouring candy for the novelty Daddy without losing a filling, but we and your mouth becomes colored to
and challenge of it. didn’t have anything like today’s kids match.
Sure we had a few “novelty” can- have. Just when I thought candy makers
dies in my day — the little wax soda Today, my kids are chewing gum- had gone as far as they could, they
bottles filled with colored sugar wa- balls with names like “Tear Jerkers” went and outdid themselves again,
ter and the big red wax lips. These and Eye Poppers.” They suck on As if gum that paints your kids’
weren’t purchased because they hard candy called “War Heads” and mouth isn’t enough, how about some
tasted good. We could have eaten a “Screamin’ Saucers,” This is chal- Super Nauseating Obnoxious Treat
box of birthday candles and they lenging candy. (You can figure out the acronym for
would have tasted just as good. It Being the candy connoisseur that this candy’s true name). This treat is
was just the novelty of it. For the I am, I had to try one of the “Tear a thick, sugary liquid which comes in
most part though, we bought candy Jerkers” and I must say it is well a container shaped like a nose,
because we wanted something named. This small unassuming gum We’ve come a long way from the
sweet and good tasting to eat. ball has the sour intensity of a big wax lips of my day, I shudder to
The most challenging candy we thousand tart lemons. During the think about the “candy” my grand-
had as kids were Atomic Fire Balls, first few seconds you chew it your children will be eating.
The toughest kid on my block would mouth begins to water, your eyes
eat these like they were tasty breath begin to water and your face begins Sharon Leddick is a resident of Allen.
Letters to the Editor
Republicans should
vote in election
Trye DIM TT00 I I OVE IT fr V.
I CAHO PULI I IVO. I LOYD 11 if +kte re-
Clinton asserts environmental goals
If we do not change our direc-
tion, an ancient proverb says, we
are likely to end up where we are
headed.
That’s what last year’s Earth
Summit in Rio de Janeiro was all
about, steering away from the
course of ecological damage, and
where the United States stumbled means changing, in some fun-
badly. Now, in his Earth Day damental ways, our appetite for
address, President Clinton has the land.
taken the first steps toward re- It also means persuading by ex-
deeming the promise of Rio and ample, not exhortation. If we seek
reasserting U.S. environmental others to tread more lightly on the
leadership on the international land, then we need to start by
stage. . . looking after the plants and anim-
Ihe president has committed als that share space with us, and
the United States to signing the keeping their most diverse habi-
Rio treaty to protect global biolo- tats, like the nation’s remaining
gical diversity. He also announced ancient forests, intact.
a national commitment “to reduc- Climate change is equally daunt-
ing our emissions of greenhouse ing, and the president’s initiative is
gases to their 1990 levels by the
year 2000,” thus setting a reduc-
tion target and a timetable to begin
implementing the international
convention on global climate
change signed at Rio.
The job now is to see that the
word does not become substitute
for the deed.
Botanists are already talkingab- and its Energy Department, and
out the Sixth Great Extinction. It’s left unchallenged by a timid Office
a reference to the past five natu- of Science and Technology.
ral, and the current human-caused There is no scientific uncertain-
episode of mass species extinc- ty that greenhouse gases warm
tion. 1 he damage is most rampant the earth’s surface temperature,
where the diversity of life is most The planet could not sustain life
abundant, the world’s tropical rain were that not true. There are
forests. . many unanswered questions, to
1 he Biological Diversity Trea- be sure, about how, when, where,
ty s intent is to first restrain, and and by how much the current rate
then reverse, the juggernaut of of human-caused greenhouse
habitat destruction that is snuffing emissions will push temperatures
out life forms like stars being ex- upward to levels last experienced
tinguished in the night. Persever- hundreds of thousands to millions
ance, money to pay for the job, and of years in the past.
an unprecedented level of interna- Climate scientists need to be
tional cooperation are all essential encouraged to pursue their re-
to make the treaty work, this is search vigorously to narrow the
not a goal that can be declared by uncertainties. Their findings and
enactment of a three-point plan. It formulas must also be translated
into language we all understand.
Mr. Clinton has already initiated
several policy changes to get on
with the practical task of reducing
greenhouse emissions. It is vital
that every step, from buying low-
energy computers to mass manu-
facturing of electric cars, be seen
not just as an efficiency measure to
lower oil import costs. They need
be recognized as commitments to
stop the wholesale transfer of car-
bon, stored in the ground for
aeons as coal beds and oil fields,
back into the atmosphere from
whence it originally came.
Tax policy in this nation is de-
bated without reference, or only
scant of late, to the environment.
That can change. Mr. Clinton’s
energy tax within his economic
package is a modest bow in this
JAY D.
HAIR
Commentary
equally welcome. direction. Increasing the cost of
The greenhouse emissions cap fossil fuels responsible for the
announced by the president is an majority of greenhouse emissions
act that by itself can begin to dispel discourages their use. That’s part
doubts about global warming, of the logic behind the proposed
Those doubts, in large measure, Btu tax.
were deliberately magnified by the — , • . .
oil, coal and utility industries,The same logic can increasingly
abetted by the Bush White House ,le, le need for national revenue
(whatever total the public debate
resolves upon) to the need to dis-
courage burning fossil fuels. More
taxes on labor that discourage hir-
ing — which is what the recently
floated value added tax for health-
care financing really is — are
anachronisms in this era. Real cuts
in taxes on labor and income by
shifting to equally real increases in
taxes on fossil fuel energy use
should now receive the considera-
tion they warrant.
In redeeming Rio, Mr. Clinton
has set a mark worthy to be judged
by.
Jay D. Hair has a Ph.D. in the study of
animal life and has been president of
the National Wildlife Federation since
1981. His column is distributed by
Newspaper Enterprise Association.
a litmus test for any court appoint- to sell increased taxes. It is ironic second largest tax increase in 1990. discussions. This action denied U.S. tax bracket, double-digit inflation, 25
ments. There should not be any that Mrs. Clinton’s 1992 income I believe the deficit reduction goal citizens their constitutional repre- percent interest rate and high unem-
doubt about a stand on abortion. classifies them as members of weal- was 25 percent by 1994. President sentation. The Republicans have ployment?
Candidate Clinton promised a thy elite. He has now stated that all Bush signed the tax bill and the de- met the Clinton challenge for budget Fv rv H II t k d
To the editor: middle class tax cut. The Democra- joint incomes above $30,000 and ficit continues to grow because the alternatives, but the Democrats widen Oi ta oungot an trot-
tic administration has promised new single incomes above $15,000 must Democrats did not keep their prom- have denied them an opportunity to Donal . % amn on ander
Anyone who has voted Republican taxes and a potential deficit reduc- be taxed. I wonder if he and VP Gore ise. President Clinton used the debt present them. ■ c a Essuces eco-
and is not planning to vote in the tion. The current published ratio is can say, “Dan Quayle was right but growth as an excuse to trash the The Democratic Clinton-Clinton 1 T° Broth - onae 0e6n0
special election should give serious $3 tax for $1 deficit reduction and the optimistic.” promise to the middle class, administration and the Democratic : no a ic ru er
consideration to that decision. The deficit reduction is proposed at least The Democratic controlled House Chairman Rostenkowski (D-Ill.) controlled House and Senate appear 5 amp ax raiser.
Democratic administration will five years away. It appears that and Senate promised that the deficit locked Republicans out of committee to be working hard to create Jimmy
appoint at least one Supreme Court President Clinton is trying to create would be reduced by a stated per- meetings. Republicans were not Carter II economy. Do you remem-
justice. Candidate Clinton promised an atmosphere of class envy and fear centage if President Bush signed the able to participate in House budget ber the wonderful days of 60 percent
Tom Courtney
Allen
V
A.
Boomers suffer from collective amnesia
By Chuck Stone
To the class of 1993: We’ve be-
queathed a cruddy world to you.
Most of 1993‘s world is not of our
doing, but much of it is a creation of
our rigidity and bigotry. We’re still
fighting yesterday’s wars — both at ---------------------. . • . ”
home and abroad, historical amnesia. We forget what a teaching in an academically superior sence.
For starters, you graduate at a bunch of irresponsible knuckleheads university. In myclasses at the Uni- ou may not protest as much as
time of prolonged uncertainty. One we were at your age. versity of North Carolina, I have the previous generations did, but you
national consumer expert, Richard But I do think we had great love usual share of dull students. But S 1 have strong convictions about
T. Curtin, says you’ve been living in affairs with books and newspapers, when the Socratic dialectic is work- reec om of speech freedom of gen-
a period of “diminished expecta- You’re in bed with television. And ing, the classes soar. er association and abortion rights,
tions.” - , newspapers are only your weekend Most of them write very well and AuduranSavewhlend ndx mad™he
You face a depressed economy, assignations. several write, as Cyrano would say, Ts o ar murminchai men
escalating political hostility, height- I can’t fault you for not reading magnificently. One student began Wes miserable
ened class and ethnic tensions, the newspapers. Most of them are exer- his paper about a prominent South- paol atha cover denar
decline of the MBA as a ticket to cises in elitist arrogance. They ern authority as “the Boswell of 6id „ Word Cross Nen other’s
corporate heaven, and the absence spend as much time talking to each Southern culture.” I rhapsodized ab- marsie and cultured You’re forced to
of something our generation took for other as they do to you.. out his lead. But when blank stares mar de with ess but or ess till
granted: sustained optimism. A few weeks ago, a sociology pro- greeted me, I asked how many knew as hearts feel’ no and S
One of my students capsuled part fessor at Rutgers University, Jack- who James Boswell was. Nobody. oinr five venrs n.80 Soh
of the problem in his final paper, son Toby, wrote an op-ed piece for In another class, I cited the Rall henry ocas vour wry of
“Generation X: The Lost Genera- the Wall Street Journal called “Col- Thucydidean theory of history to ex- scholars coroorate executives and
tion?” “Ever since this generation lege Students Are a Poor Invest- plain the cycles of censorship but I ars, corporate exe /
1 k r u . cycics 04 O uui humanitarians. Like Louis Arm-
was born, the media have found fault ment. his name touched no mnemonic strong promises «TP a wonderful
with it. They declared war on Amer- What nonsense. Are high-school chords, one, pro mises, S a wonde
ica’s youth,” wrote Tristan Louis, graduates and functional illiterates So what! You kids have other wor d.n a e it even better. I know
And they haven’t let up yet. better investments? Please! cognitive strengths. Many of you
That s because both my generation Toby cited three students — one play your computers as if you were Chuck Stone s column is distributed by
and the baby boomers suffer from who didn’t know what “allegiance” composing a sonata. Your the Newspapers Enterprise Associa-
Chuck
STONE
Commentary
meant, one who spent most of her metaphors are audaciously elo-
weekdays watching television, and a quent: “rolling green hills that rise
senior who wrote papers filled with and fall like a baby’s silent breath”;
spelling mistakes (and wrote out the "The (Yosemite) falls gush like a
days of the week with lower-case Harlem fire hydrant in the middle of a
letters).
New York summer”; “A sky so blue
His problem may be that he’s not that it seems to confirm God’s pre-
Notice to our readers
The
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Voice
line is now open
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To express your views, pose questions
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call 881-1425. r
Callers must leave their name
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names may be omitted on request.
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comes letters to the editor on
subjects of interest to our read-
ers. Short letters are most like-
ly to be chosen for publication,
but the use of any material is at
the discretion of the editor.
Submissions should be sent
to: Editor, The Allen Amer-
ican, P.O. Box27, Allen, Texas
75002. The deadline for the
weekend issue is noon
Wednesday.
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Epperson, Wayne. The Allen American (Allen, Tex.), Vol. 23, No. 145, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 30, 1993, newspaper, May 30, 1993; Allen, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1670734/m1/4/?q=deberry: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Allen Public Library.