Thursday, June 20, 2002
The power to change resides with the people
EDITOR:
Perhaps it is more important what we think of the Valley than Forbes.
On Wednesday, June 12, we learned what Forbes magazine thinks of us, and I know first-hand they are right. I have lived in this area most of my life, and I am just two years returned from living in Baltimore, Md., for six years.
In Baltimore, Youngstown is indeed known. They know us for three things: Penguin football, the Butler and the loudmouth man with the unusual hair in Congress. I was asked repeatedly how he continues to get elected; I could not explain.
In this age of media proliferation and one-minute political sound bites, people's perception of us is, for all intents and purposes, reality.
The three things the outside world knows of us proves that. Penguin football, as we all know, is the best there is, and the Butler takes a back seat to no one. Now, what we have to decide is whether two out of three are good enough. I say no.
We have the chance in November to begin to make change. Let's do that for ourselves. Let's pay very close attention to what our politicians say in the fall, and let's hold them to it. I call on The Vindicator to help us keep track of their progress.
What are we, the people, going to do? This Forbes list is just one of many such lists that track any number of things involving a community and community life.
People who travel will tell tales of places they visit, and one thing that always strikes me is the reports of how clean it is in Toronto, for instance. Have you looked around our area recently? I live in Boardman right now, and it is a pigsty of litter. If we just decided to do something as simple as pick up after ourselves, we would change our perception of our home, greater Youngstown, and the rest of the world would soon look at us differently. There are lists for the cleanest also I'm sure.
As the June 16 editorial states. "Our reputation precedes us." It will take time for this to quiet down, but in our fast-paced world it will indeed pass. We just need to show some confidence in ourselves and move forward, politically, socially and in our own minds.
We are stronger than the problems we find ourselves in. Perhaps a bit less blame of others. Less reliance on government to come in with a rescue. More cooperation with each other, remembering we are all in this together. We can beat this rating and become the finest place to live in the world and the money will follow, for everyone wants to back a winner.
CHARLES FARRELL
Boardman
'Intelligent design' offers necessary view on origins
EDITOR:
The editorial of June 17 was a convoluted and not-so-subtle attempt to degrade the "intelligent design" concept totally. However, it was presented simply as not being worthy to be a part of the state's academic standards for schools. Nice try.
Scientific theory has been proved to be just that, theory, not fact and certainly not truth. Scientific theorists, with abounding research in hand, still disagree not only on how man came into existence, but why.
For example, the recent airing of a PBS special on human evolution and early human migration was preceded by a public announcement from noted scientists in the field. They stated that did not support the conclusions of the program because they lacked scientific integrity. In other words, the program's assumptions generated more speculation than fact.
Therefore, allowing another point of view into this arena may not only be timely, but necessary. A process leading to the discovery that man is not the originator of knowledge, but the recipient of it, may begin to unveil both facts and truths that, under conventional theory, continue to elude us.
DAVID POWELL
Youngstown