THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609120255
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 40 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 103 lines
Thank you for the article by Lane DeGregory regarding the preliminary recommendations of the North Carolina Fisheries Moratorium Steering Committee.
I believe that Ms. DeGregory's article may well serve to prompt the citizens of the Outer Banks to pay closer attention to the recommendations which, if implemented, would bring change in the management of our resources.
Susan B. West
Nags Head Thanks for Babe Ruth
All of the citizens of Dare County can feel very proud of the way the Babe Ruth baseball series was put together and held together for those few glorious days when we were able to see some wonderful young men compete for the World Series Championship.
The games were pure baseball - and some of the best seen by those who were fortunate enough to attend. I have talked to people from all over the county and have heard nothing but praise for the volunteers who worked to make this series a memorable time for everyone.
The businessmen with whom I have discussed this agree that the benefits to this county will go on far into the future due to the exposure we had in the media and the direct exposure we had with the teams from many areas of the county.
Thanks to cable television sports, thousands saw our county at its best and were stunned by the beauty we enjoy and take for granted.
If there is one person who should be given the bulk of the credit for this most successful project, that person is Terry Wheeler. He worked without letting up to bring our communities and our citizens together in the largest single project ever completed in our county. Thanks to him and those he put in charge of committees, we have an opportunity to become the center of baseball activities in this state.
The least we can do for Wheeler is to let him know we appreciate his vision and to thank him for the pure pleasure afforded all those who reaped the benefits of his labors.
Mollie A. Fearing
Manteo Priorities out of focus
Mayor Lee Tugwell and Commissioners Melvin Jackson, Bill Buell and Stuart Wescott already has sounded a hollow note. They have sold land held in trust for more than half a century intended for the town's future growth for the short-sighted purposes of Manteo's Centennial Celebration and capital ``improvements'' - such as a shed to store a new chipper and tractor and tearing down buildings on the waterfront.
Furthermore, the mayor said the sale was needed because of his concerns about the state of the town's finances. Yet his ``winning team'' voted themselves a 100 percent pay raise this summer.
This board's priorities are out of focus.
Terry McDowell
Manteo Looking at SAT scores
I am writing concerning the article recently published in the North Carolina news section about the SAT scores at Camden High County School, and in particular the comments of Mr. Pennell, who was quick to give credit to the curriculum improvements in the schools.
While not doubting that changes have been made over the past several years, I feel that Mr. Pennell also should have acknowledged that the scores of last year's class are most likely to prove a statistical anomaly because that particular class was a once-in-a-generation collection of brilliant students. In a group of just over 70 graduates, there was a Morehead Scholar (Connie Sawyer III), two North Carolina Teaching Fellows (Brandon Bair and Stephanie Hoover), and a North Carolina School of Science and Math scholar who returned to graduate (Derek Autrey) - plus many other gifted students represented among the over $200,000 in scholarships announced at last year's graduation.
It took approximately a 3.8 GPA to graduate with honors in this class. And several students who would have easily been honors grads at surrounding schools received little recognition because they were lost in this group of academic stars.
A simple comparison is last year's group at Perquimans, whose graduation I also attended. They had about 110 graduates and the group received about $130,000 in scholarships. I believe that a check of the other surrounding schools would reveal this to be a much more typical performance. And if you go back to the previous year's Camden County class, you will find much the same change.
Warren D. Hoover
Shiloh Still no WAVY-TV on cable
Just a note to update your readers and commercial supporters of WAVY-TV that we are still without NBC coverage in northeastern North Carolina. WAVY cut us off on Jan. 15 because Cablevision would not pay their rebroadcast fee for a signal we receive free with an antenna. It's expensive to pay a cable bill and upkeep an antenna system too.
No other Tidewater station charges this rebroadcast fee. This fee is legal. But is it ethical? I would be curious to know if WAVY-TV reduced their commercial rates to reflect their reduced viewing audience in northeastern North Carolina.
Bob Dail
Camden by CNB