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4A – Daily News – Saturday, July 24, 2010 Opinion D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 The Boy Scouts of America is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and we hope you are enjoying the Daily News’ Salute to Scouting in today’s edition. For some, Scouting is a topic Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Scouts honor — BSA turn 100 Editorial of controversy, but controversy is not an issue to the boys involved in Scouting. To honor these boys and the millions who came before them over the past century, we salute the spirit, adventure, wonder, val- ues and knowledge Scouting brings to their lives during a crit- ical stage in their maturation. While an outdoor paradise like Tehama County likely proves the exception, the vast majority of Scouts are introduced to outdoor recreation and adventure for the first time through Scouting. Camping out, scaling a moun- tain, paddling a river, swimming a mile, viewing the stars, cooking over a fire and building a snow cave are firsts most Scouts will remember for a lifetime. For good reason. These boys achieved success alongside their peers, through teamwork, encouragement and, at times, fear of letting their friends down or being derided for giving up. That’s the magic of Scouting – the boys own their accomplish- ments, and what better lesson can a boy learn in his teen years than taking responsibility for his suc- cesses and blame for his failures? New Scouts learn from more experienced Scouts until they are ready to become leaders and mentors themselves. Adult lead- ers are on the periphery, in case something turns dangerous or disruptive, but the best leaders step as far out of the picture as safety allows. One day, the boys, and even their parents, will appreciate the leaders who did so. Scouting is much more than fun and learning in the out- doors. Scouts learn to associate with adults who aren’t their par- ents or teachers, usual- ly for the first time. They learn to take and give direc- tion, plan, make proposals, dele- gate and see projects through to completion. Too few teens have mastered these skills. What do you think? Let us know prepared The Scout Law: A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, courte- ous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. The true spirit of Scouting is found in the organization’s oath, motto and law. The Scout Oath: On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey Take a look at the people around you and see how many live by these standards. Chances are, many of those who do were Scouts. We dedicate much of this edi- tion to saluting a program that has done more for the positive development of American boys over the last century than any other. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Background noise and real agendas Commentary We often have heard the saying about not being able to see the for- est through the trees; it describes our inability to focus beyond the concrete example in front of us and look at what might be termed the “big picture.” The opposite phe- nomenon is also true, not being able to see the trees through the for- est. In this second instance we are so focused on the background that we cannot make out important details, like that snake at our feet. Many of us remember the picture of old ladies we looked at in our psychology classes; on first glance there was just an old lady, but upon a second glance there was a beauti- ful young woman in the picture. Psychologists call this the problem of figure and ground. Our seeing can be somewhat selective, and as many of us have learned, so can our hearing. My wife calls it husband hearing; when my children were in middle school we both called it teenage hearing. In the mid 1960s I taught a unit on propaganda to a group of gifted high school students and also a class on World History to a mix of tenth graders in San Francisco’s Polytechnic High School. The school was in the Haight Ashbury district of the city and drew stu- dents from there and the Fillmore district. Some of the students fled to Golden Gate Park at lunchtime, and some seemed to hang around school for no particular reason I could figure out. Drugs and racial pride were two issues that impacted our school. The school was com- posed of a majority of African American students and a substan- tial minority of Caucasians. For several weeks in a row we had a bomb scare daily about the end of second period. That meant that we had to evacuate the school in an orderly fashion, account for the whereabouts of our students, and wait patiently while the bomb team from yesterday returned and searched lockers and other cubby holes where dangerous items might be found. After awhile we grew immune to the scares. No one was ever held accountable for the bomb threats, nor were those who invad- ed the school one evening and van- dalized all the Braille materials in the library. The school was under attack from the neighborhood; there were many grievances in addition to con- cerns about racial equality, but the prevailing rhetoric reflected Black Power, and much of the staff felt as if the school were under siege. As part of the plan to placate the most- ly African-American neighbor- hood, the district had hired an African-American principal from a school down the peninsula; although he may have been compe- tent, he was labeled a token “uncle Tom” by the militant neighbor- hood. He was openly referred to as an Oreo, black on the outside and white on the inside. He was never given a chance to take control of the school. One day the students, under the urging of one of my tenth grade stu- dents, and using their own grapevine, called a meeting in the auditorium; the principal stepped on stage before a packed auditori- um and began to tell the students this spontaneous meeting was unacceptable; before he could tell them to go back to class, one of my history students, the de facto leader, strode across the stage and grabbed the microphone from the principal, declaring “We gonna march!” En masse the students left the auditorium formed up in front of the schools, marched along the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park, down to 135 Van Ness Avenue where the school district office was located. Rather than protest racist issues and simply repeating the mantra of justice for all, they com- plained the lavatories were in need of repair and better maintenance, the drinking fountains didn’t work, the cafeteria food was terrible, and the district was not supporting the obvious needs of the school. It was a relatively orderly march, and the list of demands was realistic and in the eyes of many, composed of rea- sonable requests. Most of the items on their list were actually addressed by the district fairly soon, and things calmed down both at school and in the neighbor- hood. As a young teacher I was disturbed by the student take over, but I also felt some- what satisfied that the stu- dents had made a list of con- crete grievances that most people would be sympathet- ic towards. Instead of trying to reform the world based on the rhetoric shouted amongst angry community members, the students just wanted a better school. We are engaged in a pro- paganda war with an unusu- al enemy. The war is characterized by “radical Islamists” and their pro- fessed rage against Western states, but in all likelihood that rage was set off by the increased American presence in the Saudi region after the first Gulf War. I am not casting blame on the United States which made a conscious decision after consultation with many other coun- tries to repel Iraq from Kuwait. Ten years later, when we decided to invade Afghanistan after the shock of the September 11th attack, ter- rorist rhetoric became louder, and when we decided to invade Iraq which was not directly involved in the World Trade Center attack, the rhetoric escalated even further. In the 60s there was graffiti that said “Repression Breeds Resis- tance.” A certain amount of what some view as repression is neces- sary to achieve our military goals, and there has been collateral dam- age. In some ways the radical rhetoric against the United States from Islamic terrorists is much like the anti-big government rhetoric currently in vogue in the United States. I am not saying that both groups are similar, just their choice of rhetoric is. Anti-big government rhetoric selectively uses a lot of Joe founding father references, patrio- tism, and self reliance language to oppose specific policies either being proposed or in actual prac- tice. In a similar man- ner, Islamic terrorists selectively refer to the Koran and other reli- gious sources to make sweeping con- demnations of the West. Once you demonize the “enemy” it is much easier to gain support for your cause. We are used to a Harrop relatively orderly society in which decisions are made in a legal process and at the ballot box. In some way the great amount of cor- ruption, turning of the eyes, and government inefficiency in the Middle East is a time honored mechanism for keeping “order” there; it is the peace at any price approach to life where keeping one’s life is progress. Some students of the Middle East have said that if we could bend our policies a little, using what has become known as “realpolitik” there might be some small tradeoffs we could make to lessen our pres- ence and secure relative peace. Their point is that we could deal with “real issues” instead of the firestorm of rhetoric that makes it hard to listen. Being caught up by the roar of the rhetoric can keep one from hearing real messages. I am sure that avoiding the rhetorical trap will not yield such simple answers as the clean water faucets and lavatories my students sought over forty years ago, but there may be some progress in this approach. Joe Harrop is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mental- ly awake and morally straight. The Scout Motto: Be