The Times

6 TIMES/GUIDE Weekend of September 11/12, 1976

opinion

| editorials | commentary | letters

Drugs bad news for prying eyes

Being a parent is not an easy job. We try to teach our children right from wrong, see to it that they get a good education, give them love and tell them not to take candy from strangers. On the other hand, being a child is not entirely a bed of roses either. Children are faced with temptation from the first time they hear someone say, "don't do that" and they want to find out why not. Most of life is a challenge and it doesn't seem fair somehow for people to keep putting obstacles and temptation in the way. However, this is exactly what some unthinking South Dade citizens are doing. Within the past month we have reported on children who have discovered discarded drugs, both prescription and non-prescription. In the first instance, the youngsters were found rummaging in a trash pile which contained them. In the second instance, two little girls had already learned the contents of a trash pile and had come away with a bucket-full of drugs and were attempting to sell them, innocently enough, to a gentleman who had the good sense to call the police. In neither instance, after investigation, was it learned where the drugs had come from or who had dumped them. Perhaps those people who are getting rid of medicines by dumping them in the nearest vacant lot, or behind a store, don't think small kids are smart enough not to try them out. They don't reckon with a kid's curiosity. Perhaps they don't realize that youngsters like to experiment. (Not to mention the older kids who will find them and KNOW what the drugs will do.) Perhaps they don't realize that they might be contributing to the death of a small child who couldn't resist the pretty pills that looked good enough to eat. One of the curious youngsters we wrote about said he was rummaging through a trash pile and "just getting the good stuff." What's good and what's bad is only a matter of opinion to a kid in a trash pile. Please, please, whoever you are, think twice. . . think again before you throw away drugs indiscriminately. Burn them, flush them, put them in the disposal, but don't throw them on a trash pile or any place else that inquisitive eyes and hands can find them. You may be saving a life without realizing it.

the gables publishing company

serving south dade and coral gables since 1926 jim storey general manager gary gibbs news editor bill mc hugh circulation bea moss managing editor carole myers advertising manager yvonne moss classified manager address: 4627 ponce de leon blvd. coral gables, fla. 33146 telephone: 666-7981

Ibis will visit bank to deposit free UM football game tickets

I knew I was back from vacation when Al Friedman from the Flagship First National Bank of Coral Gables walked into my office. It's just about this time every year when he stops by to tell us the University of Miami mascot will visit his establishment. The familiar Ibis whose Orange Bowl sideline antics are known to thousands of Hurricane football fans, will not be present to make a savings account deposit. Instead, he will deposit into the hands of the first 150 pigskin lovers, free tickets to the opening game of the season on Sept. 18, in which the Hurricanes will meet Florida State. For those patrons who don't know a touchdown from a downtown, there will be UM cheerleaders present to decorate the bank lobby. Remember, the tickets are free. First come, first served.

More visitors

Miss Isabel Ogle, visiting Coral Gables recently from Chiefland in North Central Florida, was pleased to note that the street which was named after her family still exists today. Anderson Road, which runs from Coral Way to Bird Road, was part of the 30-acre tract purchased by her father, J.W. Anderson, from George Merrick's uncle, after the family moved to Miami in 1911 from Baltimore, Md. They also owned about 100 acres west of Red Road in what is now Palm Springs. Mrs. Ogle's entire family, including a son who was killed on duty as a deputy sheriff in Miami nine years ago, are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, for which her father supervised the clearing of the land.

eye on south dade . . . bea moss

Vet honored We always like to hear about honors bestowed upon South Dade folks and this one is no exception. Dr. Edward W. Swarthout has been named Veterinarian of the Year by the Florida Veterinary Medical Association. Dr. Swarthout, whose Animal Medical Clinic is located at 10961 Bird Road, was honored at the annual convention of the FVMA last week for his work with the South Florida Veterinary Medical Association, in rabies awareness programs and helping to create a veterinary technician curriculum for Miami-Dade Community College. . . . and by the way Kendall resident Mrs. Barbara Sieger has been elected president of the Women's Architectural League. She'll serve during the 1976-77 term. Other South Dade residents who are newly-elected officers of the organization, are: Mrs. Jacqueline Koger, Suniland Mrs. Susi Marmorstein, Coral Gables, Mrs. Mimi Freedman, Mrs. Joy Buff, Cutler Ridge and Mrs. Mary Maureen Ziegler, South Miami.

reader response | Taxes rise to meet level of income

reader response Taxes rise to meet level of income EDITOR: Recently one of Miami's liberal television stations advocated a personal income tax for the State of Florida. Apparently these people have never learned one of the most basic economic facts; that government expenditures rise to meet income. Some years ago I visited a state which had both a sales and a personal income tax which my home state did not have at that time. I checked a home similar to mine only to discover that this state's property tax was higher than my property tax. Unfortunately my state of former residence now has a sales tax and a personal income tax with no apparent improvement in government services. The sales tax went into effect before I moved to Florida and the politicians promised us relief from property tax. My property taxes went up every year, since the state politicians did nothing but spend the extra money. The television editorialist told us that Florida needs more government services, and he tried to make Florida residents feel ashamed because Florida is near the bottom in the amount of taxes collected from each resident. How sad he fails to see what happens in states which tax the most, such as New York and cities such as New York. Florida should be proud to be at the bottom of the list of states in the amount of tax extracted from its residents. The television editorialist stated that state revenues from sales tax fall during recessions. The same thing happens to private enterprise, and private enterprise solves this problem by reducing expenses. Government should do likewise and have less government, which would satisfy the great majority of people. The federal government is going the way of New York City, and a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget is badly needed. No individual, firm, state or local government can consistently spend more than it takes in without being destroyed. The federal government will destroy itself with inflation as the dollar gets more worthless each and every year as more and more dollars are printed without a comparable increase in production. Uncle Sam is legally robbing us, and it is time we put a stop to such robbery. WILLIAM R. ANGLE 15600 SW 77th Ct.