Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/15542
6A – Daily News – Monday, August 30, 2010 Opinion Claiming victory with our local youth 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 I was recently asked how I am 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 able to have so much patience with those that I mentor in two youth programs, PAL and the Young Marines. How can any adult vol- unteer have patience dealing with today's youth? It's not too hard. My answer? It's fairly simple because when I "deal" with these kids it's like dealing with my own past as a kid. Mostly there were very kind and calm adults who were very patient with me. They were great role models. There were five of us kids. I was the fourth boy and there was our little sister who is to this day 100 percent handicapped since birth - with cerebral paulsey. My dad died at the age of 37 in 1965. My mom was five foot noth- in' and a hundred and nuthin’, and tougher than any drill instructor I ever had in the military. Practical- ly alone she got us all reared up. We all graduated from high school - except her. She quit when she was dating my dad leading up to WWII. He came home from the Navy and they got married and started having us kids. When my dad died (I was 11) other men and women stepped in to give mom a hand. Somehow these people survived us kids and especially me because my mom still says I was the worst out of five. But they never gave up on me. Every once in a while I got a hand, too (on my backside). But it probably hurt them more than me. They knew when enough was enough. And how to make the point without going overboard. When I deal with the kids those memories are never too far from my thoughts. No one gave up on me. I think a few of them are still working on me, both from this world and the next. But if I lose my patience now, then would all that hard work that others put into me be worth it for them? I feel I'd be letting them all down. I've blown it a time or two. But like my mentors I'm not giving up. I hope I can live up to their standards. Everytime I see any of these kids get a certain look or expres- sion on their faces I know I'm doing my job because I know their light inside just got brighter. It's very prominant on their faces. Just like the light I must have had when my 8th grade track coach smiled at me a certain way when I won a race, made the long jump or got over the bar in the pole vault or just giving it my all. Later, the wrestling coach had the same smile, the judo sensei had it too. I even got the smile from my Spanish, English and math teachers in high school. Those little smiles from time to time gave me the idea that I was somehow going to make it although my 5th grade teacher told me - in front of the class - that I was never going to amount to anything. Unfortunetley, I hear teachers and other adults still saying these things to kids. I call that abuse. One or two comments like that can hurt a child a lot, maybe even make that light go dim, but all the other wonderful things that I heard from a lot of adults helped me to stay focused on my goals and dreams. The good outweighed the bad. The scales tiped in my favor because of adults that cared. All of these memories stay with me today as I play with these kids in PAL and the Young Marines. Yup, I call it play because I recently discovered that it's more fun to go to play than it is to go to work. Be available on their level. Then you can see eye to eye Guest View John Minton with an 8-year-old. Each child today is faced with some really tough choices on which path to take. There's a lot of competition outside the home. Because of some of the drama on t.v. and in some of the music these days and not enough involve- ment from many dads and a few moms a bunch of these kids grow up chronologi- cally but not emotion- ally. That's where mentoring and positive youth programs can make a huge impact. A couple years ago I began thinking of how I wanted to be remembered and what my legacy would be. I thought of all those that mentored me and gave me a few boudaries. What's the mes- sage I want to give to the youth today? I want them all to graduate high school and stay drug, alcohol, tobacco, gang and violence free. I hope they "claim victory" over all of these things for themselves. My mom is 81 and still after me on a few things like going to church and praying daily as she still does. I graduated in 1973 and she finally graduated in 1982. 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. Pay, sacrifice – keep oceans from rising? Commentary For your late-summer vacation reading – my vacation, your read- ing – I’ve left a series on the issues surrounding California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, and the repeal effort The photo was meant to be a bit dramatic: Governor Schwarzenegger in front of a large, detailed, computer-generat- ed Google-type map of San Fran- cisco Bay and the Bay Bridge, featuring a disappearing Treasure Island for the desired effect. The title of the poster, "Shoreline Areas Vulnerable To Sea Level Rise: Central Bay," was a product of San Francisco Bay Conserva- tion and Development Commis- sion. Two blue shaded areas indi- cated areas under water with a 16- inch ocean rise, or the obviously scarier 60-inch rise. In addition to the worst-case (worst case needed to sell you something you might never need) inundation of Treasure Island, it also showed San Francisco Air- port completely underwater. Lest someone foolishly think they could live without Treasure Island or the Airport, the "this could ruin your life" statistics were at the ready: half a million Californians and $2.5 trillion of property and assets at risk, threatened by rising oceans. Of course, since these worst- case scenarios were predicted to take a century to occur, neither you, anyone you know, nor any- one alive now would be around to suffer or even see such flooding. I guess we are being asked to have a little faith in, well, computers – they’re so dependable forecasting weather, right? I couldn’t help but think of the debunked, also computer-generat- ed, inundation of vast areas that Al Gore included in his global warming scare-fest, "Inconvenient Truth" (a British judge found the 20-30 foot rise of oceans to be fraudulent). I also recalled the documented rise over the last 100 years of about 2 inches. I further recalled that the most recent UN report predicted less ocean increase than the previous report. That all suggests that predicting ocean levels is not scientific cer- tainty. We all know that, for the pur- pose of preventing such projected catastrophes, legislation known as "cap-and-trade" has been pro- posed in Washington and passed in Sacramento. Shorthand ver- sion: Regulators establish a ceil- ing of allowable CO2 to be gener- ated by industry and businesses (the "cap"), and let those using less of their permitted allowance to sell it to those willing to buy (or "trade"). As then-candidate Barack Obama said, it would make ener- gy costs "necessarily skyrocket." Before delving into AB 32, its promised benefits and its possible, even predictable, downside, I offer an analysis of the impacts of federal legislation on California. The Senate version of cap-and- trade, S. 2191, called "Lieberman- Warner" for its sponsors, was examined by William Beach, Ben Lieberman and David Kreutzer, Ph.D. (Heritage Foundation). Search the Internet for "How Cali- fornia Would Be Affected by the Lieberman-Warner Climate Change Legislation." In "Table 1" they show that Gross State Product Loss of around $17 billion – per year – in 2025. By 2030, annual non-farm job losses in California will be up to 63,000; total predict- ed manufacturing losses – 215,000 jobs. Translation: almost $17 billion of lost per- sonal income – per year – by 2030; an almost $1100 decline per year, per-household, adjusted for inflation. Obama’s "skyrocketing" energy prices break down to $343 more for electrici- ty, $86 more for natural gas, and $328 more for gasoline in 2025, per year – above what those costs would be without S. 2191 (table 2). Looked at closer to home, our Congression- al District would lose from 570 to 1099 non- farm jobs, and between $260 mil- lion and $294 million, in 2025 alone. So, when Wally Herger votes against cap-and-trade, he’s voting for more jobs, more income and lower energy prices for all of us who live in his district, even those who lambaste and vote against him. Don Polson The way I see it cies at virtually every stage of pro- duction and consumption." "In addition to taking a bite out of consumers’ pocket- books, the high energy prices throw a monkey wrench into the produc- tion side of the econo- my. Contrary to the claims of an economic boost from "green" investment and "green- collar" job creation, S. 2191 reduces economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP), and employment." Next week: Califor- nia Air Resources Board issued a study on AB 32, California’s ver- sion of cap-and-trade CO2 restrictions, find- ing wonderful things in store. California Small Business Roundtable and Reason magazine found otherwise. My very brief response to Mr. These researchers (their posi- tions in various institutes is at the web site) state that S. 2191 "promises extraordinary perils for the American economy … for very little change in global tem- perature … Arbitrary restrictions predicated on multiple untested and undeveloped technologies will lead to sever restrictions on energy use and large increases in energy costs … (which) would spread through the economy, injecting unnecessary inefficien- Catlin’s case against my com- ments re: CARES, "a local citi- zens group …" The accuracy of that description, by him, of the group, could be verified if he would be so kind as to provide readers and residents with the names of all principals in the group, all who he is working with to oppose Tehama County’s General Plan and what financial support each person or group contributes to their effort. Dis- closure? Transparency? We’ll see. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988.He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.