Sunday, January 29, 2012
A third view of ‘Two Sides’
The side by side articles by Mr. Betras and Mr. Munroe in Sunday’s paper were quite revealing. Mr. Betras was threatening and negative in the extreme. Mr. Munroe was much more willing to listen to all the people and showed hope. He seemed willing to compromise with the opposing party.
I think Mr. Betras is trying to reinvent himself as “Bull Moose II.” He will have to gain a few pounds and “thug up” his discourse. He also needs to gain the iron fisted control the BMI had. The only similarity I see is a “My way or the highway” manner. No compromise. He feels he is always right.
In the interest of political correctness I state that I am a registered Republican. This and the fact that I have watched the Valley decline for nearly three quarters of a century have helped to shape my opinion.
I just don’t feel becoming the telemarketers capital of the U.S. is progress.
Robert Husted, New Springfield
City, county should work together
The judges in city hall do not like their facilities and have wanted something done for a long time. I have a suggestion, move the city court to the county jail.
The judges will be in the same building as the criminals. The judges will have a newer facility, and they will not have to do video arraignments. They will be where the criminals are.
I realize that this concept will take cooperation between the city and county. It is time for our elected officials to start working together, instead of against each other. Who knows, it might even save money in the long run.
Let the parties involved put aside their egos, if that is possible.
Tom Clark, Youngstown
Media fawns over ‘heroic’ teachers
I guess everyday heroes such as our public school teachers need more paid time off than us private sector peons to perform heroic tasks such as having our students continue to slide down the education ladder when their tests scores are matched against other nations, especially those in Asia, even though we spend as much per student as any other country.
On top of that, our math and science scores are becoming Third World-like while our teachers, due to an enamored media, continue to get undeserved praise, raises once their levies are passed via special elections, more and more days off, coupled with their weekends off, summers off and extended vacation for Christmas and Easter (er ... winter and spring breaks, sorry about that slip up, atheists).
Also, in many inner cities, those students mustn’t want to be around such heroes, being that dropout rates are as high as 50 percent. And it’s such a shame that every year we have to hear about our local heroes being accused of molesting students, having sexual relations with them, sending nude photos of themselves to pupils in their classes, etc.
And I was just about to start a superhero comic book about public school teachers, but the media beat me to it.
Gary David, Canfield
Spending priorities questioned
I would like to commend the South Range Board of Education for its recent decision to spend over a million taxpayer dollars on the construction of new locker rooms and a weight room, over $400,000 on the varsity baseball and softball fields and more than $1.6 million on land acquisition and construction costs associated with the football/soccer, all-weather track complex.
I am heartened that this money wasn’t wasted on unnecessary academic pursuits such as the construction of additional classrooms to accommodate future growth. I’m sure in the future the suckers, I mean taxpayers, of the district will be happy to appropriate more of their hard earned money when that need becomes reality.
It also pleases me that we did not waste any of the money left over from school construction purchasing useless academic equipment such as laptop or tablet computers. Remember, you can always hit up the PTO for another 10k donation to purchase such educational luxuries.
The future of our country demands that we produce successful athletes; our graduates must be able to compete on the gridiron. Their future employers can make up for their academic deficits.
I am glad I live in a school district whose leadership places education above all else. Will the Chinese ever stop laughing at us? Probably in 10 years, when they own us.
Rich Ferenchak, North Lima
Poland: Think before drilling
Many people in the village of Poland are unaware that their council appears eager to sell the gas and oil under the 265 -acre Poland Forest. Who “owns” the forest, or who is entitled to spend the proceeds is debatable.
How drinkable our water will become with generalized gas well fracking worries many of us. I hope council will delay until more is known of the risks of such an irreversible step.
Susan H. Mentzer, Poland