1674-4 Helen Muir WED OCT 19 1988 ED: FINAL
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 22A LENGTH: 10 . 03" MEDIUM
ILLUST:
SOURCE: Herald Staff
DATELINE:
MEMO:
SIX WHO REALLY CARE
THERE ' S NOT one native son or daughter among this year' s six winners of
The Herald' s Spirit of Excellence Awards. The accomplishments and commitment
of these "transplants" put the lie to the oft-repeated statement that Florida
suffers because of its huge non-native population.
No one doubts, for instance, that Miami-Dade Community College is the
nation' s No. 1 two-year college precisely because of the drive and vision of
its president, Robert H. McCabe, who' s from New York state.
It ' s in large part because of another New York native, Helen Muir (who
didn' t plan to stay when she arrived in 1934 ) , that Dade County has 29 library
branches and two more on the way.
New Jersey-born Ron Fraser gave up a scholarship to transfer to Florida
State University to concentrate on baseball. That concentration -- and
commitment to Florida -- have intensified as he built the University of Miami
Hurricanes baseball team into a crowd-pleasing, championship squad.
Roxcy Bolton, born in Mississippi, has honed the unique combination of
tenaciousness and gentility of Southern women to a fine, accomplished art. She
has used these skills admirably in her 20-year quest to make equality and
dignity inherent elements of the human condition.
Those same elements are what another New York native, Tom Petersen,
strives tirelessly to give men, women, and children who suffer economic and
social deprivation. He also gives hope, and counts his accomplishments as
coordinator of the Dade Schools and Neighborhoods Consortium as individual
success stories, one at a time.
Auxiliary Bishop Agustin A. Roman' s genuine humility reflects the
peasant life into which he was born in Cuba. His migration to America in the
1960s meant doing quiet work of God among people whom he understood perfectly:
those who had lost their homeland and had to begin anew elsewhere. He has
never swayed from that purpose.
These six exceptional individuals simply care about their community
enough to get involved, intensely and personally involved. As Ms. Muir says:
"I was just one person doing what came naturally, one step at a time. You want
to do something with your life. . . . Whatever degree of assistance you can
give -- surely it matters deeply in the scheme of things. " It does. Indeed it
does.
ADDED TERMS: mh award
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