Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/689373
22 UCW JUNE 8-14, 2016 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM "Any jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build one." Using a saying from the University of North Carolina President Margaret Spellings's native Texas, one attributed to Sam Rayburn, the long- time speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tom Lambeth was beginning his tribute to Spellings's predecessor, Tom Ross. In an evening filled with irony, Spellings and the UNC Board of Governors, with genuine grace, hosted a dinner last Thursday honoring Ross with the university's highest award, the University Award. The words describing Ross' leadership and demeanor as a judge, foundation executive and higher education leader contrasted profoundly with the styles of some currently competing for the nation's highest office. In an eloquent opening prayer, Ross' minister, Robert Dunham, gave God thanks, "This night, among all the gifts you provide, we give particular thanks for the life and of the mind in the pursuit of truth and for learning as a doorway to a civil society. We give particular thanks for Tom Ross, who has embodied such gifts throughout his life, and especially his leadership of the University these last years. We give thanks for his integrity, his wise heart, his embodiment of decency and civility, his passion for justice and fairness. And we pray that you would strengthen him for the important task now before him in the arena of public policy and government. We pray, too, for President Spellings and the Board of Governors, whose charge it is to keep our universities true to their heritage, get poised for the future ever opening before them. In these demanding and contentious times we pray for their good judgment and wise discretion." Later came Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation director emeritus Tom Lambeth's tribute to Ross that began with Sam Rayburn's story. Lambeth continued, "Throughout our history we have never suffered from a lack of jackasses; but we have found our salvation in a host of accomplished carpenters. Tom is one of those carpenters. "Two legendary North Carolina governors provide for us the best human summation of the state that Tom Ross has served so well. In quoting them I can describe Tom as well. One, Zeb Vance, found us a people of sober second thought; the other, Terry Sanford, found us a people of outrageous ambitions. "We meet tonight at a university that was this state's first outrageous ambition. Its creation dared to assert that a relatively poor state could build a university that is both excellent and accessible. And so it is. Tom has had something to do with that. "Somewhere between the sober second thought of North Carolinians and their outrageous ambitions we have…in the main…in the long run…come down on the right side of history. We will go there again." Focusing on Ross, Lambeth continued, "With his grace, his good sense, his courage and his commitment to public service, he provides for us a model of that noble aspiration to serve others. Along the way he has paid us the greatest compliment one in public life can pay to those whom he serves: he has asked us for our best. "Tom Ross has a victorious heart. Tonight we celebrate his accomplishments of today and we can only imagine what will come with tomorrow. We can, however, be certain that there will be more to celebrate. There will surely be more." As I left the dinner, I had the distinct feeling that every other person there, of whatever political persuasion, was wishing that candidates for our country's presidency would show promise to lead like Ross, with "grace, his good sense, his courage and his commitment to public service" and with "his integrity, his wise heart, his embodiment of decency and civility, his passion for justice and fairness." Ross Honored with Award by D.G. MARTIN Former UNC President Tom Ross D.G. MARTIN, Host of UNCs Book Watch, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200 Dear EarthTalk: Why did Ringling Brothers stop using elephants in its circus performances? — Marianne Lusko, Bern, NC After enduring years of criticism from animal rights activists, Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, announced in March 2015 that it would phase out the use of endangered Asian elephants in its circus performances within three years. Then, less than a year later, the company said it was expediting the process and would be retiring the 11 elephants still travelling for circus shows even earlier — by May 2016. These last working circus pachyderms are now able to join 31 of their predecessors at the Center for Elephant Conservation, a 200-acre elephant refuge in central Florida created by Ringling Bros. in 1995 to care for, conserve, breed and study Asian elephants. "There's been somewhat of a mood shift among our consumers," says Alana Feld, the company's executive vice president. "A lot of people aren't comfortable with us touring with our elephants." No doubt, part of the reason for that mood shift has been the advocacy work of groups like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) — each of which has campaigned tirelessly to halt the use of Asian elephants in America's iconic circus act. Testimonials from former circus employees and photographic evidence provided by these groups helped convince the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fine Ringling Bros. $270,000 in 2011 for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Some of the documented abuses include Ringling Bros. elephants getting whipped and beaten by trainers and "yanked by heavy, sharp steel-tipped bull hooks behind the scenes, prior to performing." A PETA investigator who travelled with Ringling Bros. for several months documented many of the circus' elephants swaying and rocking continuously —"neurotic and abnormal behavior typically seen in animals who are suffering from extreme stress, frustration, and boredom." Meanwhile, baby elephants were "torn away from their mothers and subjected to violent training sessions [to] learn how to perform tricks." PETA adds that at least 30 elephants, including four babies, have died prematurely from accidents or disease while travelling with Ringling Bros. since 1992. While circus fans will certainly miss the elephants' presence in the ring heralding the opening of each show and performing synchronized dance routines, they'll be glad to know that these lovable and endangered animals will no longer suffer abuse or be exploited for their entertainment value. That said, Ringling Bros. does continue to use lions, tigers, zebras, llamas, goats, horses, camels and dogs in its circus performances — a fact that animal rights activists remain unhappy about. For its part, PETA wants Ringling Bros. to pull all of its animals from their performances immediately. "Tigers and lions spend most of their lives in cramped transport cages," the group reports, adding that these and other animals travelling with the circus "are denied everything that is natural and important to them." CONTACTS: Ringling Bros., www.ringling.com; Center for Elephant Conservation, www. ringlingelephantcenter.com; PETA, www.peta.org; HSUS, www.hsus.org; ASPCA, www.aspca.org. Ringling Bros. Retires Elephants From the Editors of E - The Environmental Magazine Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has transitioned its remaining circus elephants to a Florida- based facility focused on conservation, care and research. Credit: Arthur T. LaBar, FlickrCC.