Lessons from an old school drafting teacher never fade

Lessons from an old school drafting teacher never fade
EDITOR:
In the fall of 1956 I started classes at Youngstown University in the School of Engineering, seeking a major in mechanical engineering. The first required course was Drafting 101. The class was taught by a Prof. Benkner. He was a small man of German descent with a big booming voice. We had about 50 students, each one at a drafting board. He had a habit of looking over your shoulder and if he saw something wrong with your drawing he would pound on the board with his fist and let you know that you were all wrong. (Much to the amusement of the other students.) He then sat down at your board, and proceeded to tell you how to correct it so you never made the same mistake again. As we got to know him better, we found out he had a big heart and loved teaching.
He was an old school engineer who taught a class of green students how to make a good engineering drawing. He died in 1967 at the age of 82.
I learned recently that his wife is Charlotte Benkner, the oldest person alive today, who resides at a nursing home in North Lima. In recent interviews she stated that she still misses him.
Well Mrs Benkner, I do to, and I will always remember him as one of the best engineering professors who ever taught at YSU.
RICHARD WEBER
Columbiana
When it comes to taxes,the public must be involved
EDITOR:
The failure of so many local tax initiatives in the election marks an alarming situation for Mahoning County communities, as The Vindicator has pointed out in its news and editorial pages. The half-percent sales tax renewal went down, as did all but two school levies.
Taxes are what we pay for civilized society, as Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said 100 years ago. Unwillingness to pay for needed public services, especially in a community like ours, can do big-time damage in the long term.
Part of the problem is a persistent belief that taxes are always bad and never in the public interest. People don't know what their tax money buys and how those services benefit them. They assume, without doing the arithmetic, that any tax they might vote for will be a major drain on their pocketbooks.
In the case of the county sales tax, that belief is clearly wrong. The levy that failed has been costing us one nickel for every $10 we spend. And what does that money buy? Law enforcement and courts, both vital to any civilized community. Road repair and snow removal. Services to troubled teenagers. Honest elections. And other essential services that we don't care about until we need them. All of these have been funded at frugal levels, and the cuts will damage them in ways that may take years to overcome.
It's true that efforts to promote the county tax renewal to the public were feeble. The two departing commissioners (Reese and Sherlock) said the right things, but (not surprisingly) they didn't get out and sell vigorously. The two new Democratic nominees (McNally and Traficanti) largely ducked the issue, at least at the North Side candidates' night where I heard them speak.
The crucial missing ingredient is public awareness and involvement. Who will speak up? Who will put the matter before the public in terms that will lead to understanding and support in the voting booth? Who will create some simple promotional materials that will tell the public what their tax dollars do for them? Who will underwrite the printing and distribution? Who will stand up in public and say what needs to be said?
Come on, friends and neighbors, it's time for action!
ROBERT D. GILLETTE
Poland
Voters' message was clear:Live within your means
EDITOR:
I, like The Vindicator editors as expressed in a March 7 editorial, am disheartened by the voters' rejection of several area school funding issues. I, too, feel a strong educational system is vital to the continued development of the economy of the Mahoning Valley.
I also applaud the Girard school employees' willingness to accept wage freezes. Public employees who are cognizant of the circumstances in the private sector and willing to "step up to the plate" and live in the same reality as their private-sector counterparts are to be commended.
However, I do not agree with Vindicator editors in viewing the voters as myopic. The myopia in this situation is a state government that chooses to ignore a Supreme Court order to revise the funding system for public education, a Supreme Court that allows this to happen, and the many public officials who have not met their fiduciary responsibility to the electorate.
At a time when the total tax bite on Ohio citizens (all forms of taxes, i.e. federal, state and local taxes, including such things as sales tax, gasoline tax, driver's license tax, automobile tax, etc.) is approaching 70 percent of income, the voters have no choice but to make their comments at the ballot box.
The strongest way to make those comments at the ballot box is not by voting for or against individual politicians. The strongest way is by denying public officials additional money to waste. Unfortunately, the only places where the electorate can regularly vote for or against a tax are local income tax, additional local sales tax and school property taxes.
Thus, I believe that the voters were not saying "no" to quality education, but rather were trying to send an extremely strong message to the government telling them they have almost reached the bottom of the pocket. The government, must do what each and every citizen must do, and that is live within your means.
MICHAEL O'HARA
Girard