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4A Daily News – Saturday, May 28, 2011 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 Vista promotion Editor: 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 As an alumna of Vista Mid- dle School and mother of a three children who have attend- ed Vista, I am compelled to voice my opinion on the matter of the change of time and venue for the 8th grade promotion cer- emony. I fully support the adminis- tration in the decision they made to move the Vista cere- mony to a site closer to the school and in the morning hours. To begin, a student does not graduate from 8th grade. They are promoted to 9th grade. Free public education extends to 12th grade. Making such a big fuss over passing 8th grade has the potential to upstage the signifi- cance of the actual graduation from high school. Personally I would like to see the purple gowns gone too. The full formal skirt on my daugh- ter's dress wouldn't fit under her gown. She'll have to wear some- thing else under the gown. Furthermore, Vista was the only school feeding into Red Bluff High School that held their ceremony on the high school football field. Just for the record, Vista graduation has not always been held on the high school football field. I was promoted to 9th grade in the RBHS gym due to a threat of rain. Before that time, Bidwell Middle School held its ceremony in the amphitheater located on the school grounds. Now let's touch on the issue of fairness to all the students leaving 8th grade. Is it fair to the students of Berrendos, Ever- green, Reeds Creek, Lassen View, Bend, Gerber and Plum Valley schools that Vista stu- dents have their ceremony on the football field and they do not? Finally, the time change. Thank goodness somebody finally figured out that parents and family members are tired of sitting through ceremonies in the heat. The outside tempera- ture is perfectly lovely at 10 a.m. Many family members are coming from out of town to be at the RBHS graduation for my oldest daughter and the promotion ceremony for my middle daughter. We are excit- ed to have the time together after the ceremony to have a nice family gathering without feeling rushed to have to get to the ceremony. As far as having to take time Union Editor: The union (SEIU) has arrived Your Turn off of work, I used to have to do that before to attend the 8th grade scholastic awards cere- mony. It will be nice to have the awards combined with the pro- motion ceremony so that the achievements of the students can be acknowledged by more people. This promotion ceremony is just that, a promotion ceremo- ny. The time for complaining has passed. It is now time to be positive and do our best to make June 10 as special as we can for the awesome 8th grade class at Vista. Jeanne Marple, Red Bluff in Tehama County. Now, if you are an IHSS provider, you pay union dues and an initiation fee. If you have but a small amount of hours, you still pay. They got us a raise of $0.40 per hour and they took such a chunk from us that many of us are losing money every month. I recently had catastrophic surgery and only got one pay- check for that month. I paid my first dues that month. Not only am I not ending up with a raise, I am losing over 3 hours to pay this union. The very next month, I paid dues and initiation, which left me with very little. They are a bunch of socialist thugs who have wormed their way into yet another group of workers. I am quitting. I hope others will wake up to what is going on with these unions. Alice Bell, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, 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. Memorial Day musings Commentary I found myself with some Memorial Day thoughts as I wandered through the airport in Minneapolis on my way back to Red Bluff. We had spent an intense week with our daugh- ter’s family moving them from Madison to Edina, a suburb of Minneapolis. There were service men and women in their pressed fatigues, hair neatly trimmed, carrying packs, and waiting for planes; I wondered where they were going and what they were doing for us. I wondered if they would come home safe and sound to enjoy life in the coun- try they were serving. As we were leaving five days later to fly to Philadelphia there was a young man in front of us in the security line. He had a noticeable swaying limp and a brace on one wrist; he was working hard to balance himself and the small carryon bag he held in one hand. He couldn’t go through the metal detector, because he had two steel plates in his head, and seemed to have to endure the most thorough pat down I have ever seen. I won- dered about his story, this severely impaired young man trying to have a normal life. I remember a very dark night in early 1944 when our family arrived home from visiting rela- tives across town in San Fran- cisco; in the glare of our head- lights I saw a man in uniform with shiny emblems on his shoulders and cap. My father got out of the car to open the garage door, and first shook our late night visitor’s hand. It was my Uncle Bob, on a short leave from the Army Air Force, visit- ing us without notice. I remem- ber him blowing up his air mat- tress in our bedroom and sleep- ing on the floor as my brother and I tried to contain our excite- ment at seeing him. The next morning he shared many stories with my parents, which neither my brother nor I understood. He gave them a teakwood model junk which they put on their mantel place after he returned to duty. That was the last time I saw Uncle Bob; he was lost in action in the Pacific. I inherited the model junk, which we display in our living room. I still have his wings, a souvenir my father gave me to remember my uncle, and when I was in junior high school I proudly wore his leather flying jacket to school. I also remembered my Uncle George. George was a teamster and worked hard at what he did, driving a delivery truck and loading and unloading it. He was a loyal union man and often complained about the feath- erbedding that took place on the docks. I suspect George had a problem with the bottle, but his biggest problem was nicotine. He smoked like a chimney. As most of you know, nicotine is a vascular constrictor, damaging blood circulation over time. George lost the circulation in his left leg, and had an amputa- tion. His wife refused to hang his pants out to dry on the line “because I don’t want anyone to know I am married to a one- legged man.” Today it is not uncommon to see young adults in shorts, with their prosthesis prominently in view. When I was a kid, any prosthesis was hidden, most likely, I thought as a kid, because they indicated there was something wrong with the individual. The shame of my aunt and my childish immature feelings about people with pros- thesis are gone, and we accept those people as we should…no different from you or me, but with an injury repaired by medical science. Veterans returning from Viet Nam often lamented that they were not accepted by the society they thought they were defending; many lives were lost in that unpopular war. Despite the unpopularity of that war, even today it is not uncommon to see someone touch the name of a friend or rel- ative on the Viet Nam Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. We all often take time to remember those who died in our name, honoring their service. During the 1968 election I was teaching world history in San Francisco to tenth grade students at Polytechnic High School. We always reserved part of each Friday to discuss current events. The issue of the military draft was a central con- cern to the community the school served; it was a mostly African-American community. Much had been made of the dis- proportionate number of minorities and less educated who were drafted, and the draft was unpopular in neighborhood. One of my students stated he did not want to see an end to the draft because he thought a pure- ly professional military might have the potential to start a coup and disrupt our form of govern- ment. Most of his classmates did not agree with him. The draft was ended in 1973; and we seem to have avoided a military Joe Harrop coup. Today’s service members are part of an all volunteer military service; they are highly trained and perform well on the battlefield. Unlike the veterans of the draft era, they have not faced the alterna- tive of jail time or military service. But also, unlike the veter- ans of the draft era, they are subject to much perilous rede- ployment. When my two years were up, I went into the reserves with a very small probability that I would have to serve more than one week- end per month and two weeks per year; that is not the case for the reservists today. We have put a tremendous burden on our military, one that is probably unprecedented since 1917; both reservists and active duty personnel are serving mul- tiple tours of duty. Many are returning home with serious mental health conditions; fami- lies are stressed. The long term obligations we owe to these ser- vice men and women will be important to sustain; we should not forget this obligation. Remembering those who have given their lives for our country is important, and once a year is hardly often enough to do so. I urge you to keep them, recent veterans, and current mil- itary personnel in your thoughts all year round. 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.