Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to "School sports not in jeopardy." (The Nugget, February 15, page 10). When I first read the title I thought for sure there must have been a mistake, for it should have read "School sports in jeopardy." 

Yes, there have been heroic efforts to keep sports going and to give our students opportunities to participate in a "full plate" of activities this year, but aside from discussing a half-time or full-time athletic director hire for next year, I see very little planning. I am pessimistic that we will be able to offer a full plate of activities next year if we have the same depth of planning that occurred before this school year.

I acknowledge that the declining budget has changed the educational world and that as a teacher I need to adapt and do more with less funding (I would not want to attempt this anywhere but Sisters!). But with athletics, the reality is that coaches at the high school are being asked to do more with almost nothing. This current school year SSD funded athletics to the tune of $86,000. This amount is supposed to pay for coaches, transportation, and officials. 

This number is not for fall sports, not for winter sports, not for spring sports, but all sports. It is less than any school in our league. Cottage Grove leads our league with $377,000. Above us is La Pine at $158,271 (and that does not include coaches salaries which are paid by the district).

We have competitive teams, but instead of building on our strength we are depriving the heart of the school essential funding. I moved here to be an Outlaw. I ask that we do not accept the current state of affairs with athletics. We need to fund this important part of our experience for our students. Sisters Country needs to not accept the drag into mediocrity that awaits our students if we do not fund sports, for school sports are in jeopardy.

Bill Rexford

Parent, Teacher, Coach

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To the Editor:

I love animals of all kinds. At one time, we had a cat and he was wonderful. He was playful, fun, and affectionate. He was part of our family and we loved and cherished him. Because we loved him, we did not allow him to run wild outside, where he might have gotten hit by a car or into a fight with another cat roaming outdoors.

What is a problem to us is that people allow their cats to roam free and kill birds at will. They do not kill them for food. They kill them for pleasure. This is insane that this is allowed.

I met a woman in a store the other day and she was buying a quail wall hanging. She said the cats had killed all the quail in her neighborhood and she missed seeing them. Our neighbor thought it was cute to see the baby quail hiding under her porch until she realized there was a cat underneath the porch and the quail weren't coming back out!

I am writing this with an urgent plea to all cat owners to keep their pets indoors or to supervise them while outdoors. I also want to urge everyone in Sisters to encourage your neighbors with cats to keep them indoors and not in your yard.

Barn cats serve a purpose and should rightly be outside to keep the rodent population down. This makes sense because these animals are not pets and prefer their freedom.

This morning I was quietly enjoying my morning coffee when our neighbor's cat came onto our patio, where we had spread seed for the quail, scaring them into flight and into our patio window. It scared the heck out of me and prompted me to write this once and for all. I have a right to enjoy my coffee in peace and to enjoy wildlife in my own yard.

Please spread the word and keep our wild birds safe. Every year, billions of birds are killed by cats in this country. It's a problem that needs to be addressed.

Virginia Patskowski

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To the Editor:

I don't get the hue and cry regarding the insurance plans that offer free birth control and the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church and the Republicans who are running for President act as if they have to start using birth control just because of an insurance plan they may have that OFFERS birth control. 

Nobody is saying they have to practice birth control. Of course most of them have been practicing birth control for many years even if it is forbidden by the Catholic Church. In this day and economic times, who can have one child after another (like the Santorums) and be able to feed, clothe and educate them?

Wouldn't it have been a good thing if the Catholic bishops and others would have been as diligent in stopping the sexual abuse of young boys by priests as they are about complaining about an insurance policy that offers birth control?

Diana Raske