THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 7, 1996 TAG: 9604040170
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Long : 127 lines
A revolution is under way in America - in the world - that is changing forever the way you and I get the information we need to lead our lives. In fact, nothing else happening today offers more challenge and more opportunity for our nation than the vast network of computer databases known as the information superhighway.
As promising as this new technology is, it also poses a threat: a threat to those who don't have access to the information superhighway, to those who can't afford computers and to those who don't know how to use them.
That's where the libraries come in. Just as they have always been points of entry to the world of learning and information, libraries are the natural on-ramps to the information superhighway. By serving all citizens, regardless of age, background or ability to pay, libraries act as the great equalizers of knowledge and are thereby one of the greatest defenders of our democratic society.
To help maintain this traditional role for libraries, the American Library Association is sponsoring a national petition drive to collect signatures from those who agree there must be equity on the information superhighway and that it must begin with our nation's libraries. These petitions will be delivered to members of Congress on National Library Legislative Day on May 7.
The Equity Petition reads as follows:
I believe that free and open access to information is vital to a democratic society.
I believe that connecting every school, public, college and university library to the information superhighway is the most logical and economical way of ensuring public access to electronic information.
I want my local, state and federal tax dollars used to help connect libraries. And I urge the president, Congress, my state and local representatives to support policies that ensure Americans in the 21st century will enjoy free and open access to information.
Information is the currency of democracy. Our jobs, education, health and self-governance depend on it. Just as libraries have always provided books and other information for all people regardless of ability to pay, today's libraries must also offer public access to electronic sources.
Speak out for the future of information equity in America today by signing the Equity Petition. Visit the Pasquotank-Camden Library in Elizabeth City, the Currituck County Library in Barco or one of the Dare County libraries in Manteo, Kill Devil Hills and Hatteras.
Jane C. Marshall
Librarian
Currituck County Public Library Candidate revises view
I am Cheryl Byrd, candidate for the Dare County Board of Commissioners from District 3 (Duck, Kitty Hawk and Southern Shores). As a result of early thinking about large areas of government cost in Dare County, in my first campaign flier I suggested that PERHAPS some areas, such as ambulance services, should be considered for privatization.
The feedback from those fliers is that both EMS employees and Dare County citizens are very happy with the EMS services currently being provided by the county. I now realize that no private EMS system could serve our citizens as well as the one we already have. Thus, I have removed that item from my campaign flier and from the list of concerns I would have as a county commissioner.
I remain concerned about the low level of collection of fees for EMS services in the county, and I hope the new billing and collection process now being implemented will achieve a better level of cost reimbursement for Dare County taxpayers.
Cheryl L. Byrd
Southern Shores Words to live by
To live in the South, one must have patience.
Bud Koehler
``Damn Yankee''
Kill Devil Hills A hostile attitude
According to news accounts, we have among us a multimillionaire professional basketball player who insists that the American flag is a symbol of ``oppression and tyranny.'' The name he uses suggests that our athlete has adopted an Arab persona, probably motivated by his ``oppression and tyranny'' perception, which, in turn, stems from the fact that slavery was an institution in a portion of this country before 1865.
The genuine pity is that a rich and obviously talented person would allow an abysmal ignorance of history, both ancient and modern, to shape his hostile attitude toward the nation that made his success possible. The common perception of such people appears to be that only black Africans have been the victims of slavery. The viewpoint is demonstrably erroneous.
In truth, slavery, in its various forms, is as old as mankind, and has existed worldwide. Romans enslaved Greeks. For centuries, Europeans were captured and chained to the benches of sea-going galleys, destined to pull an oar until they died. Danes raided the coasts of Ireland and forced their captives into slavery in Iceland. Serfs in Russia, who were bought and sold as attachments to the land, were not emancipated until 1861, a year or so before Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. In the World War II era, Korean females were forced to become ``sex-slaves'' for an occupying army. And various Communist nations have euphemistically dubbed their brand of slavery ``forced labor.''
One of the pitiful ironies in this country has been the practice of some descendants of slaves to adopt names associated with things Arab, apparently oblivious to the role Arab traders played in the African slave trade. In Africa, slaves were commonly a by-product of tribal warfare. The victorious sold the defeated to Arab ``middlemen'' who then transported their human chattel in chains to coastal points for re-sale to European ship operators for transshipment to the Americas, more frequently to Brazil than to North America.
On a more modest scale, the slave trade continues in Africa to this day. A growing number of print media accounts have detailed the role of the Arab traders currently in the capture, sale and enslavement of black Africans in such places as the Sudan and Mozambique. The denials are there, of course, but the proof continues to mount.
In my opinion, our wealthy and talented dissident would do well to inform himself about such things. The fact is that no nation in recorded history has committed as much effort as the United States to promoting the interests of minority groups, even to the extent of skewing established legal principles and historical institutions. If our wealthy athlete believes this statement to be false, I challenge him, through diligent study, to identify a nation with greater right to acclaim in such matters. In the process, he might ask himself why, over so many decades, the world's downtrodden of all races have sought refuge in this land of ``oppression and tyranny.''
John C. Bradley
Kitty Hawk by CNB