Up & Coming Weekly

4 UCW NOVEMBER 18-24, 2009 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM PUBLISHER Bill Bowman bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS Janice Burton Joy Kirkpatrick editor@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Tabitha Kidd tabitha@upandcomingweekly.com OFFICE MANAGER Suzy Patterson suzy@upandcomingweekly.com –––––––––––––– GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Soni Martin, D.G. Mar tin, Pitt Dick ey, Margaret Dickson, Bob Cogswell, John Hood, Shanessa Fenner, Erinn Crider, Shannen Dill, Karen Poppele, Takeema Hoffman –––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: (910) 484-6200 FAX: (910) 484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and infor- mation on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per per- son. Subscriptions can be purchased for $30 for six months or $60 for 12 months, delivered weekly by first class mail. ©2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. STAFF Internet Directory ............................ 12 Calendar ........................................... 18 Concert Connection ........................ 24 TV ..................................................... 26 Movie Review .................................. 28 Movie Schedule ............................... 29 Free Wheelin' Feelin' ....................... 30 News of the Weird ........................... 31 Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 31 Classifieds ........................................ 32 Games .............................................. 34 Dining Guide .................................... 35 INSIDE The Time For Gamesmanship Is Over by JANICE BURTON JANICE BURTON, Associate Publisher COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN writ-er [rahy-ter] – noun 1. a person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., esp. as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist. If you see yourself in that light, Up & Coming Weekly would love you to join our creative, talented, community-oriented line-up of contributing writ- ers. If you are interested in joining our writing team, e-mail sample articles or questions to: editor@upandcomingweekly.com For more informtion, call 910-484-6200. The community has been treated to a big display of gamesmanship over the past week. And yes, for those of you who were hoping it would pass without comment, I'm talking about the Terry Sanford football saga — but that's not all I'm talking about. Last week the court stepped into the educational arena, over- riding the decision by the North Carolina High School Athletic Associa- tion's ruling that Terry San- ford was ineligible to play in the state 4-A playoffs. Unless you've been under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you know the initial suspension came after school administrators self-reported irregularities with a football players eligibility to play. The decision by school offi cials to "come clean," resulted in the team being stripped of all of its season's wins and be- ing knocked out of the playoffs. Students were shocked. Football play- ers were heartbroken and parents were angry. No one really expected it to stop there, and we were not disappointed. A few Terry Sanford parents took the decision to court and a Cumberland County judge saw it their way and fi led an injunction against the state's ruling. The rest, is history. Terry Sanford played Pine Forest in a tough game on Saturday night. Terry Sanford won, but, until Monday, that win was in question, awaiting a decision by yet another judge. I'm not sure who really won or lost here. I agree it is heartbreaking for the seniors who played such a stellar season to have to pay for bad decisions by adults. As a parent, I also understand the desire of the parents to ensure that their children were not robbed of an honor they fought hard to win. But what lessons were learned here? What if the parents involved did not have the wherewithal to seek justice for their children? Would those players have been forced to simply suck it up? Did Pine For- est, who from all accounts played by the rules, get a raw deal? Again, I'm not passing judgment, I'm just wondering. And while I'm wondering, my thoughts turn to the recent announcement by the Fayetteville Museum of Art Board of Directors. The board came public with what many in the community have known for a while. The museum is hanging on by a shoe string. Staff salaries have been cut, and programming has been impacted. The board says that unless the fi nancial situation picks up in the next 30 days, the museum will be forced to close its doors. All of this, they note, is tied in some way to the decision by the Fayetteville City Council to look into the museum's fi nanc- es before deciding whether or not to allow the museum to build in Festival Park. The board notes that they had to write off pledges for the building due to the controversey, glossing over the fact that the biggest loss of funds came from grants withheld by the Arts Council of Fayette- ville-Cumberland County due to poor bookkeeping and fi nancial management. The Arts Council withheld the grants in hopes the mu- seum would get its fi nancial house in order. Maybe donors did the same. But again, the time for gamesmanship is over. The museum has been looking at its fi nances. They have streamlined their operations. Financial oversight has become more stringent. But the mess wasn't made over night, and it can't be fi xed over night. If the community wants its museum, it's time to step up to the plate and sup- port it. The Arts Council must show its true commitment to the arts in our com- munity, and step up and help the museum out. Donors who have been withholding funds need to think hard about whether it's better to have a less than perfect mu- seum or no museum at all.

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