Monday Morning Musings

Drama Camp is officially over. We had our last production yesterday and the response from the audiences was great. We had over 80 in attendance Saturday night and about 70 on Sunday. It is quite a challenge to put a show together in just two weeks, but it always seems to work. The kids did a terrific job and garnered lots of laughs and applause throughout.

Now I have my routine back and when I came into my office this morning I saw a very large spider. Maybe it wasn't as big as my fear made it, but thank goodness for my cat, John. He must have thought the spider was a small rodent because he pounced on it and killed it.

In last Thursday's Dallas Morning News I read a column written by Leonard Pitts in which he took journalists to task over the lack of integrity in the profession. The article was in response to the recent debacle at News of the World.  According to a Gallup poll quoted by Pitts, the general public ranks journalists between auto mechanics and lawyers in terms of ethics.

It is apparent that that code has been severely diluted in recent history. It used to be that the tabloids were the newpapaers known for sleazy journalism and reporters who crossed every line to get a good story. More recently we have heard of reporters from major publications fabricating stories or plagiarizing in attempts to further their careers.

The code that I learned early in my career, and that Pitts reminds us in his article is that "One avoids conflicts of interest. One does not plagiarize. One does not buy information. And one does not hack the voice mail of a missing child."

Okay, that last one was not specifically in the code that I learned, but I was taught to respect the dignity of the people in the stories I was pursuing. In that way I protected my integrity, as well as the integrity of the publication for which I was working.

Someone to look up to

Young people can look up to Caron Butler for a lot of reasons. He is 6-feet-7, so one would have to look up to see his face. He is a star basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks. He has been on Oprah's show and the cover of Sports Illustrated.

He is a true celebrity.

But what Caron wants young people to know about him isn't related to his celebrity status. He wants young people to know that he once was in prison. He was arrested numerous times before he was 15. His life was spiraling downward until Jameel Ghauri, executive director of the George Bray Neighborhood Center in Racine Wisconsin stepped into Caron's life.

Ghauri stood by the young boy as he served various sentences and then helped him get out of the criminal element altogether. He also introduced the boy to serious basketball, and soon recognized a special talent.

Now Caron is at the peak of success professionally and personally. He is married and is determined to be an active participant in his children's lives, unlike his own father who abandoned the family.

Caron speaks to young people about his past and encourages them to take a different road in their lives. He is also a volunteer with Habitat For Humanity. He conducts Youth Clinics and bicycle, coat, and school supply drives.

In a recent interview in the Dallas Morning News Caron had this to say, "I get paid millions of dollars doing something that I love. Whenever I get the opportunity to share my story and influence others, be a pillar in the community, I embrace it."

I would like to embrace Caron for becoming a man of such character and integrity. That is something that the young people can really look up to him for.

The Day After

Just like the changing of the year from one to the next, the changing of a presidential name takes some time to get used to. Several times today as I was updating WinnsboroToday.com with news, I had to stop and remind myself to write "President Obama" as opposed to "President Bush".

I suppose in time I will get used to it. It only took me two weeks to stop writing 2008 and get with the current year.

But Obama is not having trouble getting used to being president. He really hit the floor running today, and it will be interesting to see where he takes us in the near future, as well as for the long haul.

Last night, a group of about 30 people gathered here in East Texas at a coffee shop, Art & Espresso, that is owned by The Winnsboro Gallery We were there to celebrate the inauguration and it was interesting that not everyone had voted for Obama. But everyone came to show their support, which I thought was particualarly nice.

I also thought it was particularly nice that despite the fact that millions of people were crowded into the Mall area in Washington on that freezing January day to watch the swearing in, there was not one outbreak of anger or violence. No protests. No hate. Nothing ugly.

Gosh, could this mean that we are finally learning how to get along?

If Obama accomplishes nothing else in his presidency, the fact that he has set a high standard of personal integrity will be a fitting legacy. Let's just hope we continue to strive to live up to it.