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6A Daily News – Wednesday, May 30, 2012 Opinion DAILYNEWS 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 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 The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that minority births in America have eclipsed those of whites of European ancestry. Boy, have the media been in a tizzy over that one. As it goes, nonwhite minori- ties (Asian, Latino, black or mixed race) accounted for 50.4 percent of births as of July 2011. Bidwell's loss Editor: thriving kids at Bidwell School — I'm also an English teacher at Red Bluff High, just to clari- fy my identity. I learned the other night that Principal Isaac Scharaga has been reassigned by the elementary district to Vista School. This is great news for them, bad news for us. I spoke with the assistant superintendent the other day and got her side of the story. I also asked Isaac for his — each matched pretty closely. She said they needed his leadership at Vista. Well, I would argue we still need that leadership at Bid- well School, and his skill set is best suited for that campus, not Vista's. For days now, I've wondered why the elementary superinten- dent would make such a move beyond what I was told. Why change such a great thing at one school to accommodate anoth- er? Could this have anything to do with the recent K-8 proposal by Bidwell parents to the school board where parents could keep their kids on their K-6 campus in the future? And why did Vista's principal leave I am a proud parent of two another job in Redding in the first place, aside from the fact she lives there? If she was as committed to remaining at Vista as I've been told, then why would she have any reason to leave in the first place? In my opinion, Mr. Scharaga for is an outstanding administrator and an even better person. He has helped me and my wife through a number of situations with our kids at that school. Isaac listens first and asks ques- tions second. He is non-con- frontational and strives to understand whatever issues par- ents might have. In every con- tact with him, Rena and I have left totally impressed with his humanity and professionalism. Finally, recent history shows that Vista School is a revolving door for administrators. I won- der if the future will show that things turned out differently for Mr. Scharaga. After all, this is a man whose heart and soul was devoted to Bidwell School for 11 years. Only time will tell. Pat Gleason, Red Bluff Is public land public any- more? The signs letting us know we were entering a National Forest used to read "Land of Many Uses" and the BLM sign read "Land Free to Roam." In other words, they were managed for multiple-use. The Federal Bureaucrats that run these and other bureaucracies are not only out of control but seem to be uncontrollable. The environmentalists who Public land Editor: invaded the bureaucracies in charge of managing our public land seem hell-bent on eliminat- ing the concept of multiple-use or land free to roam. This tran- sition (in my opinion) started about the 1960s and '70s when the hippie generation took over the college campuses. lege-educated, stoned hippies became school teachers and the generation of bureaucrats that transitioned the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior into the bureaucracies that are mismanaging our resources today. They have locked us out and locked our resources in, in a land grab throughout these United States. is that Tehama and other north- ern counties are pressuring those bureaucracies that manage our public resources to coordi- nate with local government for any future management plans. How much this will help to get them under control or how much it will help local govern- ment to have any say is yet to be seen. The one little spark of hope The big question is, will they be able to reverse any of the road closures or other actions taken by these bureaucrats with only input from environmental groups such as the Yahi Group of the Sierra Club when they made a land grab in the upper Mill Creek drainage by moving the Hole in the Ground to Black Rock trail head, back up the road a mile and a half. Their excuse was the cost of maintain- ing the road. That leaves the All these free-spirited, col- Your Turn question, if road maintenance was so costly how could they afford to go in with all the heavy equipment and rip-rap a couple of ravines and destroy a mile and a half of road? Now they have just that much more land added to the Ishi Roadless area. Recently the opinion was expressed by a couple of candidates that the government has too much land and should sell some of it off. If you are a hunter, fisher or in any way use pub- lic land for an outdoor recre- ational experience this should be a major concern, unless you plan on being the buyer. With enough support to put pressure on the bureaucrats and hold their feet to the fire, barricades can be lifted and roads reopened but once it becomes private property that option is no longer on the table. everyday wage earner can afford to hunt, fish and enjoy many of the outdoor recreation- al experiences available because "we the people" own these resources and it's our responsi- bility to see that it stays that way. In this great country, the Party Patriots are involved in keeping our public land public and getting it back to the multi- ple use status. Come and join them; they meet every Tuesday 6 p.m. at the West Side Grange on West Walnut Street. Les Wolfe, Red Bluff The Tehama County Tea 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), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 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; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Only label that counts Commentary That's because white Ameri- cans of European ancestry don't have as many kids as they once did. Big Irish Catholic families like mine are a thing of the past. White Americans of Euro- pean ancestry are aging, too. Fewer women in this demo- graphic are in their child-bear- ing years. The only way people should be classified is this way: Amer- ican-minded or not American- minded. You remember how Ameri- cans used to think, don't you? Remember all the immigrants who came to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s who didn't ask for anything but the opportunity to better their lives? America's minority demo- graphics are the opposite though. There are lots of minority women in their prime child-bearing years and some, such as Latinos, still believe in having big Catholic families. The media, and some on the political left, are eating this story up. They love to classify people by skin color and ances- try. They love to make broad assumptions about how skin color and ancestry affect gov- ernment policies and politics. I wish they'd knock it off. The only rights they cared about were their unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Some in America worried then about a permanent under- class imposing its culture on our country, but those worries proved to be unfounded, as hardworking immigrants had children who fully absorbed the American spirit and would go on to help build and grow a remarkable country. And that is exactly what we need more of. Here are the sto- ries of three immigrants who are making America better -- people I met while living in Washington, D.C. The first was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of a well-to-do family. Civil war destroyed his parent's business and it took them three years to flee their war-torn country. they arrived in Ameri- ca. The parents and all six children took menial jobs. They saved their money. They opened a bakery. It now employs more than 100 people. The second fellow had been a professor at a technical college in India, but his English was poor and he could not find similar work in America in his 20s. He worked menial jobs and saved his money. He eventually pur- chased a mom-and-pop conve- nience store, a motel and other properties. He eventually brought over his wife and five siblings. He has two sons. Both are now American doctors. The third immigrant fled They were penniless when Tom Purcell would found a commercial cleaning company. He would marry and have three boys, all of whom would go to college and be pro- ductive, fully inte- grated U.S. citizens. These three immi- grants are more American-minded than many Ameri- cans these days. They hold the values that have made our country great, which is all that matters. Ironically, their children and grand- children are classified as "minorities" on Census reports, but does their skin color really matter? Nope. civil war in El Salvador and came to America illegally. A smart fellow -- he was halfway through his engineering degree when he left home — but he spoke no English. work and eventually found his way. He would perfect his Eng- lish. Lucky for him, President Reagan offered him amnesty. As an American citizen, he He, too, took on menial Their American-mindedness is all that matters and our coun- try sure is in need of lots more of that. Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com. ———