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6A Daily News– Wednesday, July 18, 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. 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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 intelligence Editor: While I was checking out at our local Home Depot, I went to use my VA card to receive a 10% dis- count —which I have received times before. The cashier said, "I cannot honor your VA card unless it has your service dates on it." VA cards don't have service dates on them. Please don't insult veterans' business decision not to give Veter- ans a discount anymore, fine —we understand. But don't insult our intelligence. If Home Depot has made a Danny Murray, Rancho Tehama College advice Editor: Bahlke's Letter To the Editor, June 20, 2012: Graduates. This is in reference to Joe I am another of his "old timer's" he describes: To set the scene, there were 30 to 40 Veterans of the Kore- an War era going to Chico State College between 1955-60, on the G.I. Bill. We were married, with 2- 3 children per couple, living on campus in "Vet's Village." For his- tory buffs, these buildings had housed Japanese families interned at Newell (Tulelake) during WWII. They came replete with noxious paint, dry rot, and many cock- roaches, very many. Rent was $30 per month for a 1-bedroom and $40 for a 2-bedroom unit. Our G.I. Bill paid $160 per month if you had children. There was no such thing as a student loan (thank heav- en) so most of us had two or three odd jobs at a dollar an hour or, our wives would babysit, iron, clean houses, etc, for others. Many of us were were part of the Great Depression era, and understood tough times. My own family had 13 children and were emigrants from New Zealand. Many in my peer group had similar stories that could have come directly from the "Grapes of Wrath." Back to Mr. Bahlke's letter, and his in depth explanation, has opened my eyes to the current dilemma facing college students today. I did not realize a whole business complex has been built around today's higher education system as he describes in para- graphs three through eight. How could this financial situation go so drastically wrong in fifty years, unless, what he highlights is cor- rect. 4. If available, attend or put together with your parents banker, a credit card 101 seminar, ing the pitfalls of run amok credit card use, or, how about inventing a new board game called Credit Card Ponzi/Monopoly and become a million- aire, yourself. Mr. Bahlke's last show- news articles. As Daily News editor you, and your writers and administrative staff, should be proud of your bal- anced Your Turn paragraph had me dusting off my, little used, dictionary to find the meaning of words like Oligarchs, Plutocrats, Kleptocrats, Banksters, and Wall Street Typhoons. Ron Judson, Red Bluff Newspapers Editor: There are a few Red Bluffians e.g. Lou Bosetti, Bill Moule, the late Gene Penne, and yours truly, who graduated from Chico State in the 1950's and 60's not owing a dime. Was it family upbringing, self taught thrift, of just plain penny pinching? I have a few suggestions to reverse this credit card albatross, at our local level, facing future col- lege students: 2. Pursue and follow through with your counselor, to obtain the many scholarships available, academic and other- wise. 1. During high school, work part time and summers, and save your money. the Daily News for it's content. The reality is, small town newspapers need to satisfy the local readers, and cannot publish the full range of articles related to the financial world, global wars and politics, national sports, and domestic and state politics, as that is not what the majority desire. Without advertis- ing dollars, to match expanded news content, there cannot be a newspaper. A recent letter writer criticized reporting depth . Joseph J. Neff, politics and Corning Mandatory Mr. Harrop, but I think he's missed something in his column of June 30th. Most Republicans make the same presumptive error. While it is may be true that federal spending can be divided into "mandatory" and "discretionary". Social Securi- ty and Medicare are not mandatory federal expenditures. The "manda- tory"/"discretionary" identification implies that all those moneys come out of the general fund. Editor: I have nothing but respect for 3. If practical, attend a local community college, making sure your credits are transferrable and live at home (once again working part time and summers). The Daily News has an excel- lent balance of articles to meet the local needs of subscribers. Person- ally I like more state, national, and global news, hence I read the Daily News, the twice weekly Corning Observer, the daily Sacramento Bee, the daily Indianapolis Star (8 days average delivery delayed to the Postal Box) , and the daily Wall Street Journal. In addition, about one magazine daily is read on technical, business, or financial subjects. As a 76 year old retiree there is time to read a balance of local, state, national and global about expenditures they should have been talking about spending "tax" moneys. Social Security and Medicare are not paid out of the tax base. They, contrary to the beliefs of congressmen that have been stealing from it for decades are paid out of a pension fund that many of us Americans have paid into our entire working lives. This explanation dividing these When the authors were talking two arbitrary categories further implies that the "mandatory" expenditures consume 59 percent federal spending and would proba- bly look a lot different once the Social Security funds were split off into their proper pension category. Once these definitions are understood Mr. Harrop's interpre- tation of the book, but more likely the basis of the logic of the book itself becomes quite flawed. Fred Boest, 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), 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. The dying art of cursive Commentary to know the truth. I'm torn about it if you want I speak of the death of cursive handwriting, which I read about recently in the Atlantic Wire. As it goes, many American schools are phasing out lessons in cursive. There is a waning need for it in the modern era, some argue, and the classes take too much time. made us master it. They'd be horrified to see the The origin of cursive dates back centuries. It's the result of technology innovations using inkwells and quill pens made from goose feathers. Since the ink dripped when you lifted the quill from the paper, it made sense to connect letters and words together in one flowing line — and the art of cursive writing began. My mother and father, now in their 70s, were taught to master cursive in the 1940s. chicken scratch I write now, though I have an excuse. I am a product of the elec- tronic era. I do most of my writ- ing on a computer. I've become very fast at keying in my thoughts. When I write by hand, though, I am so agitated by the slowness, I rush it along. My signature looks like surrealist painter Salvador Dali threw up. Now the debate on whether to continue teaching cursive is growing. "With technology pervasive in society and fewer documents that need a cursive signature, some educators say there is no need to bother kids with the tedious, time-consuming lessons on cursive," says The Sun of Baltimore. Their handwriting is beautiful still. It is a joy to watch them art- fully write out a check. I grew up in the 1970s, the era of Bic ballpoint pens. Such pens didn't leak and, technically, didn't require cursive writing. But the good nuns of St. Ger- maine Catholic School still New York Times that if people are not taught cursive, they'll be more at risk of forgery; printing in block letters is much easier to replicate. Curses to that, say others. Katie Zezima argues in The And the development of fine motor skills will be thwarted, she adds. Besides, she asks, how will people unfamiliar with cursive read historical documents, such as the U.S. Constitution? That's probably not the best argument in favor of cursive. Fewer people read and abide by the Constitution much anymore. I'm certainly a propo- nent of moving forward with innovation and the arguments against teach- ing cursive have their points. coffee shop writing this column on a laptop computer. Thanks to the Internet and wire- less technologies, I am able to run a communications business from anywhere on Earth. I have virtually no need for cursive handwriting. Heck, I am sitting in a Tom Purcell died. He wrote the letter when he was 21 (he died at 34 when my father was only 3). I was given the letter in 1997 by the son of the woman my grandfather wrote the letter to. I was struck by how similar my grandfa- ther's style is to my father's — how simi- lar his tone and style are to mine — and moved by the beauty and artfulness of his signature. world in which people no longer have a cursive signature — and handwritten letters are no longer left behind for future genera- tions to cherish. Then again, I worry that in our eagerness to advance, we will toss out the baby with the bath water. One of my most prized pos- sessions is a letter written by my father's father in 1924 consoling a woman whose mother had just I can't imagine a writer is also a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tom Purcell, a freelance Tribune- Review, and is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Email Tom at Purcell@caglecartoons.com.