The Times Herald from Port Huron, Michigan • Page 19

SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 200C TIMES HERALD, PORT HURON. MICHIGAN 9B ILK Times Herald welcomes new roster of community columnists m7 VE1Q I1E1-T1! ME Today marks the debut of the Times Herald's new community columnists. I'm anxious to work with this fresh group of writers. But I hate to let the current group go. Since 1997, the Times Herald Opinion Page has provided a standing forum to community columnists.

The purpose was to give readers a regular place to express their views at Some made you angry-But every one of them made you think. Like you, Tve come to know these columnists. Whether or not I agreed with them, I respected their points of view. I'm delighted that they shared them through the Times Herald Opinion pages. Their successors have a difficult act to follow.

But the departing roster had the same challenge the TCM OXER OPINION PAGE EDITOR Midwest 150 Plan P)95 month 150 FREE Minutes Plus 150 Bonus Minutes FREE Nokia Phone NO Long Distance or 1 Regional Roaming Charges 5 STATE COVERAGE: Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana Wisconsin Free Activation on any 2-Year Plan b3M Local Plan $095 month FREE Nokia 918 Phone FREE Activation on any 2-Year Plan 2000 Afnovilscli Covp Frac DIGITAL DYNAMITE DISH TV 0 33 month 2 Receivers (Models 4922 2700) America's Top 150 Proqramminq (a $39.99 monthly value!) FT" In-Home Service Plan (a $3 monthly value') $99 Installation Fee Includes 1st Month A greater length than letters to the editor. As a result, a dialogue has developed between those columnists and our readers. It also has sparked a few debates between readers and columnists and sometimes among the columnists themselves. The quality of the feature has grown with each new group of writers. That is especially true for the roster that made its debut last May.

They are: Vany Wells, Weston Macintosh, Bob Weir, Dr. Mohammad Saeed, Leslie Bailey, Gordon Stephens, Kim Smith, Gary B. Harbaugh, Johannes Spreen, Suzanne K. Richardson, Gary Armstrong, Theresa Newman, Sheri McAfee, Robert E. Barber, Pat Hudson and Lisa Gervais.

Their respective views on subjects local and international were varied and sometimes controversial. Some made you laugh. Some made you cry. Local 500 Plan o)95 i month UNLIMITED Usage All Day, Every Day Until 2001! FREE Nokia Phone FREE Activation on any 2-Year Plan vjftav wt Ito US RoomnQ tfwM I FREE Activation 95 year long dMm tpKtut IB cefa ptacod fcwn Nfltfwi 0m MnSwmI Roqmvi te PACKAGE! Vl (JJJ'Jb, viSuI JL 20" fT7-y S3 95 3 Motorola LS Flex technology $gg month sJ t3 350 pager pager w'rth extended battery life 30 number memory with time stamp Extended 248, 810, 313 734 coverage area (ft) MOTOROLA Payment! "AW pricM. packaoat and programming aubfact to ehanga without notica Local and atata aalaa taaaa may apply Stgnrficant raatnctaona apply to DtSH Natworii hardware and programming availability and fe aH oMara Saa your OSM Natwork ratattor.

DISH product htoratura or tha DtSH Natworti Wabaito at LEADER 1 FOR THE STORE NEAREST YOU Birchwood Mall, 4350 24th Ave. (810) 385-6913 rttVt I -k -fit 7 vy 7 fmmwiitfcs-ji-N. www.bignet.net Smm rtttrictiMi ifp sn itin tw Mailt. Elizabeth Schreiner is a Marine City High School junior and member of the rimes Herald Student Editorial Board. You probably want to know more about them.

I don't blame you. But I'd rather let them tell you themselves. James Wallace is the first His column appears on this page today. His fellow columnists will take their turns Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. I'm looking forward to reading them.

You should, too. And if you have an interest in becoming a community columnist, please give me a call: 989-5956. Send me three 500-word sample columns in care of the Times Herald, P.O. Box 5009, Port Huron 48061-5009. You can e-mail them to tmshrldic.net.

You also can fax them to (810) 989-6294. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. I won't choose a new roster of columnists for another year. But it won't hurt to get your bid in early. In fact, I encourage you to get your submissions in as soon as possible.

And if you think you'll miss the departing roster of community columnists, not to worry. They are free to write occasional columns, too. But the new folks have the main spotlight now. I know they're going to impress you. Tom Walker is the Times Herald opinion page editor.

You can reach him at 989-6278. Now I know that by this time I have raised a bit of dander with some readers. But hear me out. Looking at a coin in my pocket, I read the statement "In God we trust." If I were a taxpaying atheist, I might take strong objection to that statement appearing on coins and other things. But the atheist doesn't have the power of the NAACP.

So nothing is done. Doesn't the NAACP have anything better to do with its time than draw attention to a symbol and then present it in a derogatory way? This only continues to aggravate relationships with the white population? When is this going to end? We all know about the history of the Civil War and slavery. Yet, there are some things I have always wondered about. Did the little Southerner, who couldn't even afford a slave, fight to preserve slavery? Do you think that the Northerner, who was just as poor, put on a uniform and faced his southern enemy to free slaves? Another very cold thought is that slavery was a legal institution at that time and had been since time began. It's legal for someone to have an abortion.

Perhaps in 135 years, it will seem very barbaric. I am tired of being blamed for slavery and hearing African Americans continue to perpetuate the hatred that existed way back then. Man's indifference to his fellow man is endless. On the other hand, I agree with Deborah's conclusion about the flag: "If it bothers you, sir, we'll take the flag down." James W. Wallace of China Township is a retired auto industry accounting supervisor.

Community columns appear Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. year before. I think you'll like this new group. It's my pleasure to introduce them: Ray Denison of Port Sanilac worked in congressional relations in Washington, D.G, Marguerite Stanley of Port Huron is a community activist and historian. Debby Packard of Port Huron is a bookkeeper and a part-time musician.

James W. Wallace of China Township is a retired auto industry accounting supervisor. Chris Webster of Port Huron works for a computer store. Tom Gilan of Fort Gratiot is an elementary school teacher. Mary Coulter of Port Huron is a single mother and a community activist.

Kerry Hale is a graduating Port Huron Northern High School senior and a former member of the Times Herald Student Editorial Board. South Carolina flying the Confederate flag, the Stars and Bars, over the state capital. NAACP leaders want it taken down because it has no business on a government building supported by taxpayers, many of whom are African Americans. Then, here comes Deborah Mathis with her column, "Confederate flag supporters blind to slavery's descendants." Deborah makes a strong argu ment that supports the position of the NAACP. But I doubt it has such an impact on the majority of slavery's descendants.

I seldom get a chance to see the Confederate flag, except in the South. To me, it is a symbol of the South and a symbol of the Civil War. It is a symbol of history. If I were an African American, I would see the Confederate flag as a symbol of the Civil War and freedom. Yes, FREEDOM.

This was a war where thousands of white and black soldiers gave their lives for the freedom of African Americans. By TONY PITTS, Times Herald READY TO MAKE THEIR MARKS: The Times Herald's new community columnists met Tuesday at the newspaper's offices with Opinion Page Editor Tom Walker. They are, from left: James W. Wallace, Chris Webster, Ray Denison, Tom Gilan, Debby Packard, Mary Coulter and Larry Thomson. Marguerite Stanley, Kerry Hale and Elizabeth Schreiner also are community columnists.

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