05-27-2010-Thursday - Wise County Messenger

6A WISE COUNTY MESSENGER, Decatur, Texas, Thursday, May 27, 2010
OPINION
OUR VIEWS
College-bound students: home is never far away
By KRISTEN TRIBE
I didn’t cry at my high school
graduation.
You laugh, but I know people who
did.
Not me.
I was ready to go.
Like many local seniors preparing
to graduate within the next week, I
was ready to spread my wings outside
the confines of Wise County.
It was time to exchange my Alvord
High letter jacket for a 12th
Man towel at Texas A&M University.
And I couldn’t wait.
I was leaving behind a class of 28
to join a group of 6,000 peers, just in
the freshman class. A place where I
knew no one.
Luckily, it didn’t take long, and I
found myself surrounded by a great
group of friends. We stood proudly
at football games together, took
pride in finding the cheapest places
to eat and kept each other out of
trouble – or in trouble – depending
on the day.
Sure, I missed the comfort
of my parents and
sister, but College Station
was feeling more and more
like home.
Not long after the spring
semester started my freshman
year, I was in a minor
accident. It didn’t involve a
car, but an Aerobie, which
is similar to a frisbee with
a hole in the middle.
My friends and I were playing a
good, old-fashioned game of keep
away. No points were involved,
just throwing the Aerobie back and
forth, trying to prevent the other
team from grabbing it.
As the Aerobie glided to the
ground, I saw an opportunity to
seize it and sprinted toward the
disc. The problem was,
one of my friends on the
opposing team had the
same idea and ran toward
the Aerobie from the other
side of the field.
My plan was to run by
and scoop it up without
ever stopping. Her plan
– the same.
I kept thinking she
would stop. I thought she
TRIBE
would see me coming and
chicken out.
She didn’t.
We arrived at the Aerobie at the
exact same moment. She went low
for the disc about the time I slipped
on the wet grass, and we crashed.
We were a tangled disaster, but
essentially, my face smashed into
the top of her head.
The result: one super-fat lip and a
chipped tooth.
By the next day, I looked like the
loser of a fist fight, and it was obvious
my tooth needed repair.
Suddenly, home seemed really
far away. In my mind, there was
no dentist in College Station that
would do.
I needed Dr. Fred Renfro, the
man who pulled my first tooth, to
fix this. I was convinced he was the
one and only dentist that would do
it right.
After I made a flying trip home
one Friday, he did. Dr. Renfro was
kind enough to meet me at his office
that night after the high school
basketball game and repair it.
Despite my independence and effort
to start a new life, my fat lip
made me realize the value of home
and the people here, not just my
parents, but all those who shaped
me, even if the circumstances were
silly.
Graduates, as you happily depart
Wise County in the coming weeks,
with dust boiling up behind your
back tires, know that everyone here
– your parents, teachers, preachers,
youth ministers, doctors, dentists
and the like – are cheering you on
and wishing you well.
But they’ll also be ready when
times are tough to temporarily welcome
you back, to hug your neck
– or fix the tooth – then send you
back, recharged and ready to conquer
your new world.
!
E-mail Kristen at ktribe@wcmessenger.com.
YOUR VIEWS
Thanks for
devotion to veterans
This is merely a humble thank you owed to a true
American, Ms. Laura Spain.
While words can never express my sincere appreciation,
I must take the time to recognize a truly
caring, dedicated and committed professional.
Ms. Laura Spain was the only individual that took
the time to educate, and assist me with my Veteran
Affairs issues/concerns. I visited, called and e-mailed
several offices and individuals, all of which were
either too busy, had no idea or just did not care.
The wealth of information and advice Ms. Spain
provided, as well as the connections she shared were
invaluable. Ms. Spain’s expertise and aid have been
extremely useful and crucial during this process.
I am truly grateful to Ms. Spain and wish there was
something more that could be done for this devoted
patriot. I salute Ms. Spain and wish her Godspeed.
Tyler Boyd
Weatherford
All seniors
to receive diploma
On June 4, Boyd High School’s class of 2010 will
be graduating. This class has a special distinction for
which they deserve praise. In 2003, the state began
requiring students to pass the TAKS test to graduate.
Every year since, there have been Boyd High School
seniors that have completed their coursework but not
received a diploma at graduation.
Not this year.
I am very proud to announce that every member
of the class of 2010 will graduate. If you know any
Boyd High School seniors, please take the time to
congratulate them. This really is a very special group
of young men and women that represent the Boyd
community with pride.
The graduation ceremony will be at 7 p.m. Friday,
June 4, in the Weatherford High School auditorium.
Our special guest speaker will be former Boyd High
School principal Mr. Jerry Howard. With the new
school opening, this night will mark the end of an era
at Boyd High School and the beginning of an exciting
future. The class of 2010 would be honored with your
attendance.
John Emshoff
Boyd High School Principal
Politician
proved point
For a short few days the Tea Party was all agog,
crowing and preening over the ascension and primary
victory of their favorite Kentucky dentist. Then
he opened his mouth and let his deepest ideals and
standards flow forth.
Rand Paul actually thought he was sufficiently
prepared to cross political intellectual swords with
Rachel Maddow. His stumbling words and facial expressions
revealed a man who had come to an intellectual
hatchet-fight armed with a pen knife.
In so doing, Paul exposed the true nature of the
Tea Party and revealed the true depth of its bigotry.
I suggest the rest of us call them the TPaliban for
their clearly bigoted and fundamentalist religious
roots and the society they clearly seek to establish in
America.
Even if one truly feels that way, it is sheer idiocy
for a politician wannabe in 2010 America to criticize
the 1964 Civil Rights Act and other federal laws de-
Continued on page 7A
By WILLIS WEBB
Time takes care of many things.
Sometimes it’s even kind.
It has placed Harry S. Truman on
the list of exceptional presidents
in U.S. history.
Like many who held that
office, he was reviled during
his tenure and for some
period after leaving office.
Truman had less formal
education than most presidents
of the last century, but
he was a voracious reader
and obviously very intelligent.
Today’s mood in the U.S. is
troubling. There is much hatred expressed,
a great deal rooted in racial
or religious intolerance.
One Truman remark seemed
particularly fitting and, in true HST
tradition, to the point: “Religious and
racial persecution is moronic at all
times, perhaps the most idiotic of human
stupidities.”
“When I was president, many
people advised me not to raise the
whole question of civil rights. They
said it would make things worse.
But you can’t cure a moral problem
by ignoring it.” (Italic emphasis by
OTHER VIEWS
We’d be wise to listen to President Truman
the writer). “It is no service to the
country to turn away from the hard
problems — to ignore injustice and
human suffering. It is simply not the
American way of doing things.”
Truman always identified
with regular folks — little
fellows, underdogs, someone
without advantages.
He had an opinion on
everything and, when asked,
would share his thoughts.
Truman said of Abraham
Lincoln: “Lincoln was just
himself, and that’s the sort of
man I admire.”
WEBB
Of Calvin Coolidge: “The
man got more rest than any
previous president.”
Truman said of then Vice President
Richard Nixon: “Mr. Nixon lacks the
moral sensitivity which the occupant
of the White House should possess...
he is impetuous, quick to act, rash
and on occasion his conduct is irresponsible.
He is a dangerous man.
Never has there been one like him so
close to the presidency. A mean, nasty
fellow. I don’t like Nixon and I never
will.”
His only asset when he died was
the house in which he and his wife
lived in Independence, Mo. When
Truman left office, there was no such
thing as a pension, much less allowances
for some staff, an office and
office supplies as there is now.
Truman’s retirement consisted of
an Army pension, by today’s standards
much less than today’s poverty
level. Some in Congress learned he
was paying for his own stamps and
applying them himself. He was granted
an allowance and later a pension,
which was retroactive to the time he
left office. Truman and his wife, Bess,
drove themselves to their home, without
a Secret Service detail.
Contrary to today’s practices, he
refused large salaries to enter the
corporate world. Truman’s reason
was, “You don’t want me. You want
the office of the President, and that
doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the
people, and it’s not for sale.”
So strong was his belief that, when
he was designated by Congress to receive
a medal, he declined once more,
saying, “I don’t consider that I have
done anything which should be the
reason for any award, Congressional
or otherwise.”
Modern-day presidents become
wealthy after leaving office, if they
Continued on page 7A