Letters to the Editor 01/21/09

Last updated Jan 20, 2009 12:0pm0

To the Editor:

What an ironic contrast to find a letter-to-the-editor last week that essentially promotes minimalist school services and achievement, sharing the page with an inspiring article about a Sisters National Merit Scholar.

While no less an advocate of the "basic 3 Rs," I have to wonder what kind of "fluff" Mr. Anderson thinks should be cut from the district budget as a result of the loss of local option dollars. Maybe physiology? biology? technology? history? industrial arts? music? creative arts? foreign language? athletics?

None of these would seem to qualify as substantive fields of study under Mr. Anderson's back-to-the-basics philosophy. These and other disciplines are in fact the meat and potatoes of what is required for a critically thinking, well-rounded future worker, voter, taxpayer and world citizen. Moreover, many are mandated by state regulation.

The simple fact is, a mediocre school district does not create a competitively educated citizenry. It is also true that an excellent school district does not exist without a community that recognizes the tremendous value of education - and is willing to make sacrifices in order to maintain and grow its investment priorities.

As a member of the School District Facility Task Force, I also find it ironic that folks who have not put any great amount of study into our district's actual student capacity can make claims that our facilities are under-utilized due to a temporary drop in student enrollment. The assertion that it was a mistake to have built a "fancy" new high school is erroneous. A careful study of enrollment history and development trends does not lead to any such conclusion. Such untruths paint an inaccurate picture of our schools, and are supremely unfair to our administrators, our school board - and ultimately, our students.

Kris Calvin

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To The Editor:

Regarding the letter from Terry Anderson re: school tax levy: Congratulations on your through and accurate presentation of the situation. It appears that our school board members are totally unaware of the financial trouble we are all in. We are having to do without every day in these times and it is about time the board understands this and does likewise.

Stop this unnecessary and untimely drain on the people (especially those on fixed, or no ,income).

I urge everyone to consider Mr. Anderson's information if the levy comes to vote.

Ed Johnson

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To the Editor:

My beloved bloodhound Tucker was hit and killed January 12, on Cloverdale Road between 4 and 4:30 p.m.

My mom and I were in town when we got the call. Whoever hit him kept driving and did not stop to let us know. At 120 pounds, Tucker was certainly not inconspicuous. In fact, he was so big, there has to be damage on the front end of their vehicle.

We were told by a biker, who so kindly stopped to help, that it was a white pickup truck going southbound. Another man in a truck stopped to pick him up and bring him home for us. Thank you to both of them.

Tucker was killed on impact, and we're so thankful that he didn't suffer. At just under a year old, he didn't deserve to leave us, but we know it's all just another part of God's plan. I'm sure he's up in heaven waiting for us to come play fetch again.

We have two witnesses to Tucker's death. Both were on bikes. It was a white pickup truck. Tucker was just standing on the road and turned just as the truck ran into him. The truck hit Tucker in the head. The man in the truck was on his cell phone and was going very fast; never slowed down.

We've put a call into the Deschutes Country Sheriff's Office, but all we really want is resolution. Our family is completely devastated; we lost one of our most treasured members. If you know anything about what happened, or have seen a white truck with front-end damage, please do the right thing and give the DCSO a call. We would greatly appreciate it.