This is a column

about intellectual honesty.

year later, school reform reexamined

One

Citizen's Perspective

It has been a year

since Governor Barnes' hotly contested A-plus Education Reform Act was

unveiled. It eventually passed muster and became law. Since the 2000

legislative session, educators and parents have scrambled to understand

the law and just how the new rules may impact their local systems.

post office support group

MURPHY

Laugh Lines

This is no joke.

I am starting a support group for victims of post office stress syndrome.

There are support groups for other abuse victims, so if you have had

to experience the long lines, discourteous service and overall bad "vibes"

in the government's equivalent to Russia's Gulag, then please join me

in mutual therapy.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Mayor

Lenox responds to column, commission

[Editor's

note: The Citizen received two faxes Monday from Peachtree City Mayor

Bob Lenox. The first is addressed to the publisher and the second to

Fayette County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn.]

Lenox:

Definition of gall?

Concerning Mayor

Bob Lenox's questions and comments regarding the rezoning of Fayette

County land on Ga. Hwy. 74 for a proposed commercial endeavor: I am

wondering if Webster's would include his photo as an illustration for

gall, impudence, impertinence, effrontery, audacity, brashness, etc.,

etc., etc.

Thanks,

commissioners, for doing your jobs well

No news is usually

good news when we're talking about people who serve in elected office

and the job they do taking care of their responsibilities.

Fayette

needs bike lanes

Thanks so much for

your forward-looking article on bike lanes. Statistics say that almost

every home in the state has a bicycle stored away; people are afraid

to ride on the roads with cars, and rightly so.

How

can any fair-minded person approve of current state flag?

Thank you for the

courage of saying what so many of us black folks feel about the state

flag. As a Viet Nam veteran, a retired firemen of 28 years, and a productive

Georgia citizen, I feel insulted, sometimes angry, each time I see the

current state flag.

Which

is compassionate party?

And Democratic leaders

say they are the compassionate party. I don't think so.

Tennant

explains his vote on city clerk

At the last city

council meeting, council voted 4-1 to appoint City Manager Jim Basinger

city clerk while the city charter is reviewed. The role of the city

clerk is among those things being reviewed.

Why

are lame ducks tinkering with PTC's charter?

This Thursday the

Peachtree City Council will begin discussions on making changes to our

city charter. I believe that our charter does need some changes. However,

I want to see changes that give the citizenry more power like the ability

to have a popular vote on annexation requests.

School

board, county need better planning for the future

I have been a resident

of Peachtree City since 1970, when the official U.S. census reported

the population to be 793 persons. Today I am highly pleased to be living

in a residential community so desirable.

We

Americans may need to reexamine our definition of 'success'

I have spent a significant

portion of my work life in efforts to develop leaders in nonprofit settings

(particularly ministries and churches). Yet I write to question the

perspectives of an opinion piece by the Reverend David Epps in the Jan.

5 edition of your newspaper concerning 10 common traits of "America's

most successful people." I do not mean to be merely contentious

or even quibbling, but I have serious reservations about the underlying

thought and value structures in the article.

Jitterbuggers

gets another shot

Three wonderful

occurrences took place during December since the announcement of the

closing of Jitterbuggers Teen club due to the building it was located

in being sold.

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