Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 44

ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES rniLsrirr-BBcaip Wr rmmmgrnomm i VrfiyWf J'' ft $pfiM -I v' to s- jh? y-i Dedicated to this Upbuilding of Western North Carolina LUTHER B. THIGPEN, Executive Editor WILLIAM M. MEBANE Associate Editor JOHN Q. SCHELL, General Manager Sunday, July 18, 1971 Asheville's Nasty Branch Should Be Wiped Off The Map If you've seen Nasty Branch, you know how it got its name. Nasty Branch is a stream that flows through the middle of Asheville's principal black residential areas, the Valley Street and Southside Avenue sections.

From several points along its banks, you can see City Hall and the Courthouse, but from those places it's hard to see Nasty Branch. In fact, not many white Ashevilleans have seen it. It's off the main streets, hidden from view and few take notice. The people who live along its banks notice, however. It is something most of them have lived with all their lives and it is hard not to be aware that its there.

Nasty Branch is an ugly scar that slashes across the city's middle. It is filled with debris, trash and junk, most of it thrown there by those who live along its banks. The inclination might be to say that they threw it in, let them clean it up. But that ignores the economics of poverty. The same conditions that motivate people to litter the streams seems to keep them from cleaning it up and keeping it clean.

Many who would prefer to keep their homes and surroundings neat and clean are victims of circumstances. Outside help is needed to come up with an answer, a better solution than an open, litter-filled ditch. More than just an occasional clean-up that solves the problem for only a few days. We don't know what the answer should be; perhaps a covered sewer line, perhaps something else. Probably, too, an attitude of interest and concern that would give people hope, even assurance, that their environment can be improved.

The Asheville-Buncombe County Youth Council has recently undertaken to focus attention on this problem. We applaud them for being willing to tackle a tough job that needs doing. The Asheville Housing Authority also has expressed its concern in a letter to City Council, noting that it can take measures to correct the problem in the sector located within the East Riverside Urban Renewal project, but pointing out that this will not remedy the situation along the entire length of Nasty Branch. The Model Cities agency should be able to play a key role in finding a solution. It isn't an easy matter; private ownership of much of the land probably complicates an already sticky problem.

But it can't be ignored. Nasty Branch, at least by that name, should be wiped off the map. a a Staff Photo by Malcolm Gamble Summer Scene: Young Corn In The Newfound Section Of Buncamlbe County Education System Needs Improvement Dem Revenue Sharing Plan Backtalk of Congress which does not include this control feature. In both the House and the Senate there is the strongest kind of bi-partisan opposition to any form of revenue sharing which gives the state and local governments complete control over how the money appropriated by Congress will be spent. Members of Congress are fond of pointing out that the fact that some federally appropriated money has been miss-spent by the states and localities is proof that they cannot be trusted to put funds to work in the way intended.

There are some reasons for granting this view, but for the moment the question is academic There just won't be any local funding without congressional control This being the case, and the fiscal plight of the cities being desperate, it behooves both Democrats and Republicans in Congress to come up with an adequate revenue sharing bill. If the Democrats having scuttled the Nixon proposals, don't lead the way in this they will suffer politically, and they know it. Something very much like this Democratic revenue sharing bill will probably be passed. It should be. Democrats in the House, where President Nixon's revenue sharing proposals were killed in the Ways and Means Committee, are in the process of introducing their own revenue sharing plan.

The Democrats' proposal includes: a three-year, $7.5 billion program of block grants for housing development in metropolitan areas; a $1.5 billion program for housing in towns' and counties; special mortgage insurance for housing rehabilitation; grants to states for studies on reforming state and local governments; and an Urban Development Bank to provide a ready market for municipal obligations. There is one big and expectable difference between the bill of the House Democrats and what President Nixon had been asking for in the way of revenue sharing with state and local governments. This is that the House bill keeps the reins of Congress tied tight to the federal funds the local and state governments would be getting. It is absolutely certain that no revenue sharing measure will get through this session Now that school has closed for summer vacation, it is time tor all of us who are involved in education, directly and indirectly, to do some serious thinking about many of the educational practices that are being used in our schools. The New York Times Magazine, April 4, 1971 edition, cited in the article, "The Joy of Learning, the Open Corridor," excerpts from the Carnegie Foundation's report on American public education.

The report, "Crisis in the Classroom," states that "Most American public schools are "grim" "intellectually sterile," "es-thetically barren places," governed by "oppressive" and "petty" rules. There are better ways of providing mass education. Some schools in America and Europe have done away with the rigid-formal curriculum, report cards, grades, and one-teacher classrooms. Child psychologists and educators realize that childrens' minds are not tape recorders or photographic lens which upon the very first exposure, can perceive, record, and reproduce situations upon immediate request. Consequently, the teacher's role must be changed from that of the "authoritarian lecturer figure," to that of the organizer of the learning environment and the supervisor and instructor of meaningful situations which promote maximum effectiveness.

The child's role must become one of total self-directed, controlled involvement, in which he competes with himself and members of his peer group, but at his own rate of speed. Exposure to an environment which places the burden of responsibility of learning on the children, yet provides a well planned, flexible atmosphere conducive to learning, usually results in those children making standardized test scores that are above the national average. Franclne Delany 36 Bartlett St. Asheville. change the tire, he had us follow him to two'' different stations, seven miles apart, in Ashes ville, to make sure we got a good tire to use' the rest of the way.

He was not only kind, he was courteous. My daughter and I think he deserves a public recognition. Juanita Parker (Box 58 Gilbe, Ohio Love And Protect Are the Montford Park hippies our young people? I feel we have a responsibility toward' them for they are human beings and we care for our birds and animals. I believe we could get enough people interested to contribute to a fund to build a screened camp for these people to live in. Perhaps if we showed them enough love and protection it would help them and us to achieve a better understanding of each other.

Mrs. P. Williams 37-F Cordova St. Asheville. Sees Gun Craze In a recent issue of The Citizen the motion picture advertisements on the theatre page showed a total of eight pistols, two rifles and two submachine guns.

Why are Americans so gun crazy? Why does Hollywood seem to feel that no western movie is complete without a few gory scenes of bloodshed? When are we going to grow up and shed our mania for armed slaughter? Keith D. Christiansen Route 1, Lakey Gap Road Black Mountain. Editor's Note: Letters must be brief, signed, typed or written legibly on one side of paper and include street address. We reserve the right to reject, edit, or condense. wmmammmmmmmm Why Afraid? I have heard it said many times that the youth of America have little faith in the country's political leaders.

A recent quote of an Asheville city councilman Illustrates why there is this lack of faith. The councilman was quoted as saying that before a meeting Sunday at Montford Park, he was "scared of hippies." I can't have faith in a man that was "scared" of people because of their length of hair or the way they dress. Can this city'leader be so blind that he can't look beyond a person's outward appearance? I sincerely hope that in the future the councilman will put his personal dress code aside when making vital city decisions. Gene Carter 50 Church Road Asheville. He Helped Out I was helping my daughter, with her infant son, move from Burton, S.

C. Along 1-26 we had a blowout on a rear tire. Many cars zoomed by, but one stopped. I figure with all the talk about the younger people going to the dogs, something should be said about the young man, Ray Marble, who stopped to assist us. Not only did he North Carolina's No.

2 Job On Losing Your Golden Shields No Republicans have yet announced for the Number 2 job in state government, but it is said that Rep. James Johnson of Cabarrus County is available. He will have competition if the GOP's prospects look good next year. Beginning in 1973, the lieutenant governor's job will be full time and his salary or six times as much as the post now pays. There was a movement in the Senate, led by Sen.

Frank Patterson, D-Stanly, to take away from the lieutenant governor his power to appoint Senate committees and give it to the president pro tempore of the Senate. That appears unlikely to happen, however. A lieutenant governor probably will want such powers, who ever he is. Tar Heel voters might bear that in mind when they cast their votes for lieutenant governor in the primary and general elections. The man they choose will almost certainly be back four years later to ask for a promotion.

Greensboro Dally News Quiet Interlude Women can refrain from talking when there's a good reason. This was proved in Whitehall, England, when 200 wives sat silent in a church for three hours in answer to a challenge from their husbands as a feature in a charity-raising effort. The trouble about a stunt like that is that if the average woman holds her tongue that long, the chances are she'll be so pent up with unspoken words she'll really cut loose on reaching home in order to make up for the time lost. Greenville News Once upon a time being elected lieutenant governor of North Carolina was equivalent to winning a one-way ticket to oblivion. Running for that job was normally the last gasp of a politician who had despaired of ever being governor.

But the then Lt. Gov. Robert Scott changed all that in 1968 when he won the Democratic nomination for governor and went on to defeat Republican James Gardner in the general election. Lt. Gov.

Pat Taylor is expected to follow that example and announce soon for governor. Today it begins to appear that most ambitious Tar Heel politicians who aren't thinking of running for governor are eyeing the second spot on the ticket. Two of the Democrats expected to announce soon for lieutenant governor probably are also running for governor, once removed. They are House Speaker Phil Godwin of Gates County and James D. Hunt, the young chairman of the Democratic Study Commission that rewrote the party's plan of organization in 1969.

Rep. Ike Andrews, D-Chatham, also is said to be considering the lieutenant governor's race, perhaps as a launching pad for higher office. That goes, too, for Sen. Hector Mc-Geachy of Cumberland County. The chances are that the one announced Democratic candidate, Rep.

Allen Barbee of Nash County, an amiaible if. not particularly distinguished legislator, isn't planning to use the lieutenant governorship as a stepping stone to the Governor's Mansion. If elected, he'd be 61 when he took office in 1973 and doubtless would be content to wind up his government career presiding over the Senate for the next four years. did what at first appears to be a cheap and shabby trick. He had his artisans fashion shields of brass which were replicas of the golden shields.

These were hung in the guardroom covering the vacant pots on the walls, and carried by the palace guards as once they had proudly borne the golden shields. Why did the historian, drawing religious lessons from his people's past, think it worthwhile to include this incident? Was he merely underscoring Rehoboam's ineptness? Was he laughing at Solomon's son when he told of the guards marching along elegantly dressed and carrying those brass shields? Was he trying to say that Rehoboam didn't fool anybody but himself? Maybe so. Plenty of people get their kicks from calling attention to other people's misfortune. But lt is possible that the brass shields story has another meaning altogether. The scribe responsible for preserving this inglorious moment may have done to In order to say that there was something admirable about Rohoboam.

Perhaps he was pointing out that the one mark of nobility in this ordinary man's life was his courageous act of making brass shields when the golden shields were gone. It was no good bemoaning their loss. They were no more. But he could make brass substitutes and continue to hold his head up, facing his duties with a certain kingly grace, is not the middle-aged Rehoboam, accepting his limitations and continuing to function after the power and glory were gone, a more gallant figure than some scoffer on the sideline who has never known what it is either to rise or fall? By L. D.

JOHNSON Chaplain, Furman University The walls of the Temple of Karnak, four hundred miles up the Nile River at the sight of ancient Thebes, are decorated with drawings -celebrating the military exploits of a relatively minor pharaoh named Shishak. Among his victims was Rehoboam of Israel, whose humiliation is recorded on the wall. Rehoboam had the misfortune to be born at a bad time. He was never the man his father, Solomon, or his grandfather, David had been. But when he came to the throne trouble was already brewing.

The people were weary of oppressive taxation levied to support Solomon and his large collection of foreign-born wives in the manner of an Oriental potentate. They resented having to give one month in three to work on the king's ambitious building projects, in addition to their taxes. Solomon's death brought threats of rebellion. Older and wiser advisors suggested reform, but Rehoboam chose to listen to those who told him to talk tough. He did, saying that his little finger was thicker than his father's tnigh.

Ten of the twelve tribes of Israel withdrew and formed their own nation, leaving the king with his capital, Jerusalem, and the country immediately surrounding. Soon the inevitable occurred. Defenseless, Rehoboam's land was invaded and conquered by Shishak, who exacted heavy tribute. Among the prizes taken were three hundred golden shields which had hung in the palace guardroom in Solomon's day and had been carried by the palace guards on state occasions. When the shields were gone, Rehoboam This is no mere isolated incident out of the dusty past.

It is the story enacted in every life. Does anyone ever get to the Pnd without having the golden shields snatched off the walls of his life at some time or other? What do you do then? Sit down and become a chronic complainer, or give up and' collapse in self-pity, or like Rehoboam-set about to iind a supply of brass shields? Whatever real greatness there Is In life, we suspect, is achieved in the fashioning of those brass shields. Look around. If you are observant you will see many brass shield adorning the walls of peoples lives. And the chances are that these are the people worth knowing.

How does one set about making those brass shields? To begin with, one must resist the temptation to give in to bitterness and cynicism. Those are luxuries few of us can affordrWe may never get over the loss of the golden shields If we keep staring at the blank spaces on the walls where they once hung. Rather, assess your resources and determine what can be done with what' is left. If Rehoboam could have done no better than make wooden shields and paint them gold we would have to admire him for the best he could. Maybe nothing better than brass remains.

So make shields of You may find that they have a strength, beauty and durability you could not have I'll tell you what, I would rather make- my own brass shields than just enjoy somebody else's golden ones. And I would prefer to be remembered for brass shields than for no shields at all. i.