Letters, letters, letters

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

To the Editor:

Your "reasoning" in favor of Measure 23 completely misses the mark.

Quality medical care disappears under socialized medicine and Canada and England are perfect examples.

Oregon has no way of funding a state health care system, though the idea of covering all citizens, of course, appeals to all.

Do some research and consider your vote on this one carefully. A government-run health care system takes away all freedom of choice and is NOT one where you'd want treatment for yourself or your families.

Ruth Raizin

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To the Editor:

It is time for the "people" to make sure that its representatives live up to their oath!! To protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies "foreign or domestic."

Those in the government that do not support their oath do not deserve our vote. I urge you to vote against anyone who does not. It's time we vote for freedom and stop our country's slide into communism.

Bob Barber

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To the Editor:

Central Oregonians have an opportunity to prepare for the next 30 plus years -- Bond Measure 9-17 on your ballot.

I have trained automotive technicians at COCC for 13 years. Because of your support, there are dozens of technicians and business owners who have stayed in Central Oregon and are contributors to our society and economy.

This bond measure will build a science / health profession classroom and lab building, essential for health professionals who will serve you now and as you age. This bond measure will build college centers in Madras and Prineville, a huge benefit to those students and their community. Students drive over one hour each way to attend at the Bend campus.

The bond measure will add two buildings on the Bend campus and much needed renovations to older buildings. If you visit the college during the week, you will notice many classrooms where students are standing in the back of the room for lack of classroom space.

There were 7,483 students last year, with another 3 percent growth this year, limited by available classroom space. Compare the 7,483 figure to the 1999-2000 figure of 6343, which is an additional 1,140 credit students, or an average 9 percent growth each year.

This year students were not able to take needed courses because of the classroom space limitation.

This bond measure is timely to take advantage of low interest loans and a good construction market.

Look at your tax statement. You will notice a low figure next to the COCC line. This bond measure will add $43 for a $150,000 home, declining over the period of the bond, which is 15 years.

It's a good time to invest in something you believe in.

Ken Mays

COCC Automotive Technology Instructor & Faculty Forum President

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To the Editor:

I thank Rossy Gomez-Pullig for pointing out that some persons might have misinterpreted my plea for kids to stop "picking up a find" as stereotyping or race biased because of the Mexico reference.

Perhaps it was unfortunate I referenced my extensive experience in the border towns of Mexico. My thrust was, of course, to expose the disregard that students are showing their classmates by disrespecting ownership of property.

The middle school principal agrees that this has become a major problem.

Regardless of my border town experiences, I have always found the natives and citizens of Mexico, more often than not, to be hard working, God-disciplined, warm people with plenty of integrity, especially when traveling the interior of Mexico.

Many parents and educators here are quite disturbed at the mind-set that seems to be developing in our youth that things left unattended are fair game for new ownership.

If the kids here want to get popular and noticed, pick up a classmate's forgotten item and return it to them personally. Then go and enjoy a good feeling.

I've enjoyed the friendship of Mexicans through the years and have encouraged my kids to study Spanish in lieu of the other language choices for the opportunities offered by knowing Spanish, both for professional uses and travel/recreational uses.

I'm particularly excited for Mexico that the relatively new president, President Fox, will bring true democratic reforms, and all of Mexico will benefit from that. As more economic opportunities flow into Mexico, especially in manufacturing, the border towns will be transformed, and the rural natives will have opportunities to support their families as never before.

I have no doubt that the Mexican immigrants that come here stand upright along side the multitude of other immigrants that make up the diverse American fabric, and I for one applaud it.

Jack Addison

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To the Editor:

I recently competed in what is known as the world's toughest and most prestigious 500 mile bike race. I was in the solo, under-50 category.

It's true I was the only one pedaling the bicycle, but this was definetly a team effort, and I would like to thank some very very special people. Three people who patently rode in the "support van" for more then 33 hours, taking care of my every need.

From food, water, supplements, ice, music, continued encouragement, and those moments in the van that I had to promise to keep quiet about, (what happens in this van, stays in this van).

Without the unselfish support of Jerry Norquist, Rich Hummel and most of all my wife, Anne, I would have joined the large percentage of racers who did not finish the race. This crew of three so called rookies were complimented by other veteran crews on how well they took care of their racer. I was in good hands and because of them we were able to finish very high for a rookie team.

I would also like to thank Kathy Nagel for sharing her tremendous knowledge of nutrition and pain management with me. I had several sessions with Kathy, and the information I came away with was a big part of my success.

Thanks to Brad Boyd for the training rides and the technical support. Thanks to all of you who wished us well on our departure, At my weakest moment in the race, when quitting started to creep into my mind, I only had to think about all of you who were watching our progress on the internet and those that were waiting for a final report, quitting was no longer an option.

To all of you who have congratulated us as we came home, thanks for all of the kind words, I am touched by the number of you who followed us on our joumey. Now that this journey is over I am looking into the future, to the next rung on the ladder.

I encourage all of you who read this to do the same, no matter the task big or small, look ahead, set some goals and go for it. I was, and you will also be amazed at what can be accomplished, and better yet, how good you feel about yourself and the ones around you when you do accomplish your goals.

Good Luck!

Gregg Geser

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To the Editor:

Recently neighbors of ours had a truck load of bark chips delivered for their garden beds. Though young in heart they have celebrated 60 plus years of marriage and were unable to move all that material.

At my suggestion they contacted the Gillan family and one of the younger boys was hired to help.

Sisters and the surrounding area have many older folks who enjoy their independence, homes and yards but are unable to do some of the more strenuous tasks. And there are probably a few youngsters, too young to work in regular jobs, who would like to earn a little spending money.

Is there any way to bring them together? Could the middle or high school have lists of children with phone numbers who are interested in these jobs? Possibly sports teams, cheer leaders, church youth groups, etc. who want to raise money for trips or whatever could get involved.

A bunch of kids could rake a big yard of pine needles and pine cones in no time. Maybe an organization such as SOAR could co-ordinate a project like this. Doing odd jobs, earning money and helping some of our senior citizens is an activity too.

Mickey Duehren

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To the Editor:

During the recent Harvest Faire I ran a booth as a fund-raiser for the Sisters Middle School reading program.

The Sisters Chamber of Commerce was extremely generous in providing a booth space for free. Without Jan Nichols' help my entire plan would never have come to fruition.

A number of Sisters businesses were also instrumental in the success of the fund-raiser.

Over the 2002 summer I dried over 1,400 long stem roses in my classroom at Sisters Middle School.

A group of women from the community offered their assistance and advice on how to make the bouquets attractive then spent more than eight hours helping to assemble the bouquets.

The Sisters Schools Foundation allowed me to use their canopy for free.

In return for everyone's efforts over $1,000 was raised for the reading program.

The Sisters School District provides the books needed as the basis for the reading program and this money will purchase those "extras" which make the program inviting and interesting to students.

As you can see, everyone played an important part in making the fund-raiser a success. There is no question that the people and businesses of Sisters support their schools in an awesome and overwhelming way. I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all your generosity.

There isn't a school district in the state I would rather teach in than Sisters! Thank you.

Marion Harrison

Sisters Middle School