Barbs and Bouquets

Save the reefs!

Bouquet: How big is a coral reef? Most folks picture a long, coral-coated bump in the ocean's floor spanning the length of a couple of football fields.

But can you even begin to imagine a reef the size of South Carolina? Well, that's exactly what a group of conservationists — along with Gov. Mark Sanford — wants to protect.

The reef is about 60 miles off the lip of the Continental Shelf. The area that would be protected runs for 23,000 square nautical miles from North Carolina to Florida.

Conservationists want President Bush to dub it a national marine monument, which would protect it from the potential damages of long-line fishing, offshore mining and drilling for oil and natural gas. The Independent Petroleum Association of America wants to test drill along the reef to see if petroleum or gas might be in the area.

The coral reef is home to countless aquatic species, which include starfish and crabs never seen before and rare fish, such as cat sharks.

The effort should be commended, and the president should sign legislation to protect it.

Graduates should earn applause

Barb: Pomp and circumstance aside, when our kids work their tails off to graduate from high school, you'd better believe that most proud parents would find it difficult to hold their applause when their boy or girl walked across the stage to receive their diploma.

Such was the case in Rock Hill, where York Comprehensive High School officials clamped down on cheering for grads at a recent ceremony. The officials were so serious that they had police arrest seven people for cheering at the event.

Six people from Fort Mill High and one from York Comprehensive were charged last weekend with disorderly conduct. Those charges should be dropped. One student said he thought he'd just be escorted away from the ceremony — not thrown in jail.

It seems a bit extreme.

Good behavior — acting like adults — sometimes includes applauding and cheering in the right moments. It certainly doesn't include disruptive or obnoxious behavior. After all, the names of the graduates are being called, and any cheering might drown out the next person's name.

But to ask that all cheering and applauding be held until the ceremony's end is a bonehead move. These kids have completed four years of high school education. If the ceremony takes longer, so be it. After all, it's a once-in-a-lifetime event.

A good reminder from the governor

Bouquet: Here is some sage advice from folks who have been through a few hurricane evacuations in Beaufort County: Keep the family wagon's gas tank full.

We know that is an expensive proposition with gas at $4 a gallon, but when the orders for an evacuation begin and cars begin jamming S.C. 170 and U.S. 21, well that's not the time to hit the road with a quarter tank of gas.

Gov. Mark Sanford was in Beaufort on Wednesday to discuss hurricane preparedness with local emergency officials. He said if too many people are trying to fill their tanks during an evacuation, service stations could run out. With evacuations, fuel tankers generally aren't going to deliver more fuel.

Nowadays, folks are getting by without filling up at the pump simply because of the exorbitant cost of fuel. As the hurricane season began June 1, prices were at an all-time high. Unfortunately, if we want to be prepared to face the traffic jams and the long trips out of town, we're going to have to suck it up and keep the tanks topped off.

Hurricane season ends Nov. 30.