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Opinion Letters Letters to the Editor for May 18, 2009
Letters to the Editor for May 18, 2009
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A tale of wolves and music To the editor: A few years ago I was driving Highway 84 to go to work in Baker City when a wolf ran across the freeway in front of my car. I called ODFW and was told I was mistaken; there were no wolves in Oregon. It was an “alleged” sighting. Apparently my alleged wolves are feeling better and are now having an impact on ranchers and farmers. Recently, Baker 5J school district decided cutting music from the school curriculum, at least at the elementary level, is a possible solution to one part of their fiscal crisis, a very real problem. In a budget committee meeting recently, another $114,000 was found to be needed to be cut from the district budget. Baker 5J has already decided to move music from being a regular classroom to a mobile cart as a viable practice, so taking it one step further, perhaps removing music completely would seem like a good idea to the district. However, many studies have shown most people only use one side of their brain while working on a problem. Music allows people to use both sides of the brain and encourages people to think creatively to find solutions. Music works to develop spatial awareness and so many other parts of a students’ life, this letter is not big enough to discuss it all. You can Google those reports like I can. The argument can be made regular elementary teachers are taught how to teach music during their own “learning to teach” process. Would you rather go to a general practice doctor to have a brain tumor diagnosed and treated, or a specialist? I am not implying music specialists are on a par with brain specialists. However, Baker City is a fine place for kids to live and grow. Removing music from the public schools takes one more thing away from rural kids who need as much as urban kids. What has this got to do with wolves? Well, I saw a wolf coming and was told it was no big deal, or perhaps my imagination. Do I see another “wolf” coming? Yes I do. Terry LaMont Music Specialist, Brooklyn Elementary Baker City
To the editor: I am writing today about the controversy surrounding Baker High School’s newly chartered Gay-Straight Alliance. I found Linda Opperman’s letter to be offensive, to say the least. I am not gay, but I’d think that all reasonable people would be offended by such blatant intolerance. Mrs. Opperman claims that she is not against “these people,” but she goes on to call GSA the “adversary” and accuses them of promoting “spiritual wickedness.” The GSA lists among its goals: “fight discrimination, harassment, and violence in schools.” Last time I checked, tolerance was not “spiritual wickedness.” When did those who battle harassment become “adversaries?” The GSA has stated that they work to promote acceptance among the student body of high schools in which they operate. Mrs Opperman’s letter, ironically, illustrated the need for such groups. Perhaps if Mrs. Opperman had grown up alongside openly gay individuals, and spent some time learning about tolerance as a teenager, she would not feel the need to disparage those who choose to be open about their sexual orientation. And then there is the fact that GSA’s presence is legally protected. The Federal Equal Access Act was passed in 1984 with the support of Christian groups who wanted access to set up Christian clubs in schools. The Equal Access Act states that schools must either allow no non-curricular clubs to meet, or let any such clubs meet. The Supreme Court and federal courts around the nation have already issued rulings protecting GSA clubs under this law. Would you really ask our school to disband clubs such as Mock Trial, FBLA, FCCLA, and Dawg Pound just to satisfy your intolerance? As vice president of the sophomore class, I proudly voted to charter the GSA. Having this club in our school will reduce harassment at BHS and force us to re-examine out preconceived notions and stereotypes, which are in need of serious overhaul. The letters from parents and students in Wednesday’s paper should be an indicator to the community that we at BHS, now and forever, refuse to surrender to hatred and bigotry. Elliott Averett Baker City
To the editor: I have three young children whom I am seriously thinking of home-schooling. When I tell people this, they often respond, “why?” I think in the future, I will reply, “Why would you seriously think of sending your kids to public school, especially in Oregon?” We have notoriously short school years and the quality of our system is constantly being undermined and subverted. It seems as though kids are out of school for teacher training and prep days more than they are in, and when the budget is tight, they cut more days. I recently talked to a teacher who was told by higher-ups that she needed to dumb down her class, as some athletes were having a hard time passing it. The Oregon Senate is currently considering a bill (House Bill 2509) to mandate sex-ed at all grade levels. Now I read that Baker High is getting its own “Gay-Straight Alliance” club. I see this as an attempt to label those who ascribe to the socially beneficial, but unpopular, notion that sexual relations are a privilege to be enjoyed only between a lawfully wedded man and woman, as homophobic and intolerant. It seems the three “R”s are being replaced with a more important “R” — reproducing. I guess with that kind of curriculum, a shorter school year is probably a blessing in disguise. Marcia Proebstel Baker City
To the editor: The proposal before the school board to pay teachers to sit in empty classrooms while parents struggle to find competent, affordable day care for their children just seems wrong. This district is facing a deficit of almost a quarter of a million dollars for the nearly completed year, and an anticipated shortfall of $2.5 million for next school year. How is the reduction of only classified staff salaries, yielding about 18 percent of all necessary cuts, to be considered good financial management? It is my suggestion that the district completely close its doors one day a week. Certainly, the combined salaries of administrative, certified and classified staff would come much closer to closing the budget gap. Heating and lighting buildings four days a week instead of five would result in reduced utility costs. These savings combined with the closure of North Baker Elementary might allow for a balanced budget without cutting academic programs. Until recently my understanding was that schools exist for the purpose of educating our young. However, the proposal before the school board to reduce the school week to four days while continuing to pay teachers and administrators for a five-day week demonstrates the error in this understanding. How can it be sensible to have schools open without any children there to benefit? Mary Jo Mahoney Baker City
To the editor: I am the secretary of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Baker High School. We started this club to teach tolerance to our peers and in fact the whole community. We have no intention to teach youth to be gay or to join the gay community. Our purpose goes way further than just gays and lesbians. We are trying to show everyone that it is important to be accepting of people and not so close-minded. We are creating an environment where kids can feel safe to be themselves. People are afraid to be known as gay because of the anguish they receive for it. I have seen too many times the community, the school, and even family members ostracize someone because of their sexual orientation. We are trying to change things. In the end of the day our purpose is helping everyone. With tolerance we learn to be kind to everyone and what better way to do it than start with the people who are least-tolerated in our generation. Josh Harris Baker City
To the editor: It seems to me that people need to focus on the students. My primary goal as a parent is to make sure my kids have the most healthy and supportive environment possible to learn in. I think it is fair to say that most people who care about the kids would agree. Those that don’t agree are in this for politics, which should be a different venue. So how does the GSA play into this? It seems to me that this is a gateway for any other club to start. If this club is allowed without even the student body voting for it, where will it stop? When people that are racist feel picked on will they get a club? What about people that worship the devil — do they need a club? (For those people just trying to misunderstand, I am not comparing Satan worshippers to homosexuals.) If these last groups don’t need a club then why would we need another support group for homosexuals? It is my understanding there is already a support group for people that feel discriminated against, called the Rachel Challenge group. The most logical thing would be to allow the high school students to vote on this topic, because it does have much bigger meaning than just support to many people. Those graduated from high school should trust that when there is an election by the entire student body they will do the right thing. They are intelligent people. My personal belief is there is no place for sexual preference talks in school. That is the parents’ job and if they are not doing that then that would be a failure on their part. This club will lead to many other issues that are much worse, and I hope that this experience will tear us out of our apathetic lifestyle and be involved in the community and government. Ken Gross Baker City
To the editor: One of the pleasurable things about reading the newspaper has always been the comics. Not only have you taken away “Blondie” for supposedly financial reasons but now we see we are missing “For Better or for Worse” as well. Some of the current comics are simply disgusting and insulting to a person’s intelligence, not to mention they are neither interesting or humorous. It’s bad enough that the paper will come out less often and now you’re also taking away part of why we have subscribed in the past. We would appreciate you reinstating these two excellent comics. Keith and Nancy Taylor Nelda Marshall Haines |
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