Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/510933
Theoriginalpurposefor doing this column was to share interesting informa- tion about the historic State Theatre in the hope that folks would attend our many won- derful events. There was also the hope that they would write checks to support efforts to buy, restore and operate this wonderful old community treasure. Because my mind tends to wander a bit, my last few col- umns have centered on earth- shaking topics like the rodeo, birthdays, baseball, Facebook and a broken-down old horse trainer who is wasting his time on the golf course. Today, I would like to begin to tell you how we came to purchase a 70-year-old theater. After a community steer- ing committee spent the en- tire year of 2010 doing due dili- gence regarding the advisability of purchasing the theater, ST- FTA made the difficult decision to enter into negotiations with private owners Clark and Sale. It was our hope to acquire the theatre for use as a community- owned performing arts venue. The negotiation team repre- senting STFTA was comprised of Marvin Locke, Bob Douglas, esteemed local realtor Fred Ehrensvard and me. On the opposite side of the table were Dr. Ron Clark and wife, Susan. We met weekly for three or four months; while each side lobbied for their respective in- terests, no one took off a shoe and beat it on a table. In fact, it soon became apparent that everyone at the table had the same desire: that the historic State Theatre might be held as a community-owned property for generations to come. Early in our negotiations, both sides agreed to obtain an appraisal regarding the fair market value of the theater. Finding comparable sales in- formation regarding similar historic 70-year-old theaters was difficult, if not impossi- ble. Finding the value of a gut- ted-out theater recently sold in downtown Oakland had abso- lutely nothing to do with the value of the State. Be that as it may, our ap- praiser did review several dif- ferent purchase agreements up and down the state and he placed the fair market value of the State Theatre at $391,000. Subsequent to the appraisal process, owners Clark and Sale initiated several significant improvements to the prop- erty. They included the instal- lation of an ADA-approved re- stroom, a significant update of the theater's electrical sys- tem and a brand-new exte- rior paint scheme. The cost of these improvements was about $100,000. In March of 2011 an agree- ment was reached that ST- FTA would purchase the State for $441,000 — the appraised value of the building plus half of the cost of improvements. Now we only had to figure out how we were going to raise the funds to pay for it. I will share more about that in a future column. ComingtotheState Theatre One of the primary reasons for acquiring the theater was to ensure its availability as a performing and cultural arts venue for the youth of Tehama County. In keeping with that commitment, two important youth-related events take place during the month of May. May 20-21: Hundreds of lo- cal children will fill the the- ater and be recognized for their writing achievements during the 2014-15 school year. This writing celebration will be capped off with a presen- tation from a distinguished author, and an impressive awards presentation. May 20: The "Maker Sum- mer" kicks off at 5:30 p.m. when the theater will be screening a free documen- tary film for Tehama County kids, titled "If You Build It." This fun event will include in- teractive booths and kid-ori- ented activities at the Green Room Art building next to the theater. The event is a collab- orative effort of the Tehama County Arts Council, the De- partment of Education, Ex- pect More Tehama and the ST- FTA. If your child enjoys mak- ing and creating things, and if you are looking for some- thing constructive to do dur- ing the coming summer, make sure you attend this fun event. The Maker Summer will cul- minate in the fall with a spe- cial film festival of locally pro- duced projects developed dur- ing the summer. May 30: Tickets are selling fast for the legendary coun- try-folk-rock Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Call the theatre office at 529-2787 for more information. BillCorneliusisalifelong resident of Red Bluff, a retired Chief Probation Officer, a champion of the State Theatre and an exceptional athlete. He can be reached at bill. cornelius@sbcglobal.net. WilliamTells Negotiatingthe purchase of the State Theatre Cartoonist's take This week the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the NSA's metadata collection pro- gram was not authorized in U.S. law. The Patriot Act, under which the program began, was too vague, the court found. But the truth is the Act was in- tended to be vague so that the government could interpret it in the broadest possible way. But this is really more of a technicality, because illegality and unconstitutionality are re- ally two very different things. Even if Congress had explicitly authorized the government to collect our phone records, that law would still be unconstitu- tional because the Constitution does not grant government the power to access our personal information without a valid search warrant. Even though the court found the NSA program illegal, it did not demand that the govern- ment stop collecting our in- formation in this manner. In- stead, the court kicked the ball back in Congress' court, as these provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire at the end of the month and the Appeals Court decided to let Congress decide how to re-authorize this spying program. Unfortunately, this is where there is not much to cheer. If past practice is any lesson, Congress will wait until the spying program is about to ex- pire and then in a panic try to frighten Americans into ac- cepting more intrusions on their privacy. Senate Major- ity Leader Mitch McConnell has already put forth a new bill as a stop-gap measure to allow time for a fuller debate on the issue. His stop-gap? A five year re-authorization with no changes to the current pro- gram! The main reform bill being floated, the Freedom Act, is little better. Pretending to be a step in the right direction, the Freedom Act may actu- ally be worse for our privacy and liberties than the Patriot Act. One silver lining in the court decision is that it should exon- erate Ed Snowden, who risked it all to expose what the courts have now found was illegal U.S. government activity. That is the definition of a whistle- blower. Shouldn't he be wel- comed back home as a hero in- stead of being threatened with treason charges? We shouldn't hold our breath! This week Snowden ad- dressed a conference in Mel- bourne, Australia, inform- ing citizens that the Austra- lian government watches all its citizens "all the time." Austra- lia's program allows the gov- ernment to "collect everyone's communications in advance of criminal suspicion," he told the conference. That means the government is no longer in the business of prosecuting crimes, but instead is collecting infor- mation in case crimes some- day occur. How is it that the Austra- lian government can collect and track "pre-crime" informa- tion on its citizens? Last month Australia passed a law requir- ing telecommunications com- panies to retain metadata in- formation on their customers for two years. Why do Australia's oppres- sive laws matter to us? Because the NSA "reform" legislation before Congress, the Freedom Act, does exactly what the Aus- tralian law does: it mandates that U.S. telecommunications companies retain their custom- ers' metadata information so that the NSA can access the in- formation as it wishes. Some argue that this meta- data information is harm- less and that civil libertarians are over-reacting. But, as Ed Snowden told the Melbourne conference, "under these man- datory metadata laws you can immediately see who jour- nalists are contacting, from which you can derive who their sources are." This one example of what happens when the government forces corporations to assist it in spying on the people should be a red flag. How can an in- dependent media exist in the U.S. if the government knows exactly whom journalists con- tact for information? It would be the end of any future whis- tleblowers. The only reform of the Pa- triot Act is a total repeal. Ac- cept nothing less. Ron Paul is a former Congressman and Presidential candidate. He can be reached at VoicesofLiberty.com. Ron Paul Will Congress save the illegal NSA spying program? Another view Welcome to class, American millennials. Sit down and take notes — because you are in for a rude awaken- ing. According to a report by the Ed- ucational Testing Service, you have "weak skills in literacy, numer- acy, and problem solving in tech- nology-rich environments" when compared to your inter- national peers. Based on data from the Pro- gramme for the International Assessment of Adult Com- petencies, a survey of adult skills, American millennials didn't perform so well. Our millennials "scored lower than 15 of the 22 partic- ipating countries" in literacy. "Only millennials in Spain and Italy had lower scores," the ETS report says. "In numeracy, they ranked last, along with Italy and Spain." In problem-solving in tech- nology-rich environments, they "also ranked last, along with the Slovak Republic, Ire- land, and Poland." And "The youngest seg- ment of the U.S. millennial co- hort (16- to 24-year-olds), who could be in the labor force for the next 50 years, ranked last in numeracy along with Italy and among the bottom coun- tries in" technological prob- lem-solving. "In literacy, they scored higher than their peers in Italy and Spain." Oh, well. At least our mil- lennials are No. 1 in self-es- teem! When you consider that the key area of job growth in America is in the technology sector — where communica- tion, math and problem-solv- ing skills are essential — the future doesn't bode well for millions of you millennials. As the report notes, those with the proper education and skills will do better than prior generations, whereas those of you with the lowest level of skills are in for a world of hurt — like millions of former mid- dle-class Americans who are hurting because good-paying jobs that do not require ad- vanced skills are a thing of the past. What's puzzling is that you American millennials have had more years of education than any cohort in American history — but far too many of you "are graduating high school and completing post- secondary educational pro- grams without receiving ad- equate skills," says Irwin Kirsch, director of the ETS Center for Global Assessment. What's worse is that you highly educated millennials have lower literacy and nu- meracy skills when compared with previous adult surveys. The more you are schooled, the less you are learning. I, for one, am worried sick over your lack of skills. Your generation will be in charge of the economy in the next 20 years, and I need you to suc- ceed so that you can pay my Medicare and Social Security bills. But I'm not sure most of you will pull it off. Your generation got A's for showing up to class. You didn't have to win to get a trophy. You were discouraged from competing. You were told you were smart without hav- ing to accomplish much. But reality is catching up and it isn't going to be pretty. Millennials in other countries are hungrier than you. They have developed skills and are prepared to compete for the technology jobs of the future. In the real world, you can't opt out of competing with them, which is why I worry. So, what to do? ETS rec- ommends that educators and other stakeholders must re- think their teaching pro- cesses. Kids need to develop real, usable skills as they com- plete their courses — not just passing grades. Fortunately, many organi- zations are working feverishly to help kids develop STEM — science, technology, engineer- ing and mathematics — skills to fend off a projected short- age of Americans with these needed skills. I hate to be so brash, Amer- ican millennials, but you are not so smart or skilled as you think. You need to get crack- ing. If you succeed, America will flourish. If you fail, America will suffer. Our future is up to you. Tom Purcell, author of "Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood" and "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom at Purcell@ caglecartoons.com. Schooling American millennials GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Bill Cornelius Tom Purcell OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, May 13, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6