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6A – Daily News – Tuesday, April 6, 2010 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 The Great Round-Up Round Up 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 Amidst the hoopla and prepa- ration for the biggest week of the year in Tehama County — by some accounts, the biggest 11 days of the year — we are reminded there also are four nights of Round-Up starting with the Round-Up Mixer April 15 and running through the finals April 25. These four nights include great revelry and present a hitch in the giddy up for local law enforcement. We don’t condone excessive drinking, but we know it hap- pens. Every year. There is no excuse for driving under the influence, and it must absolutely not be tolerated. At the same time, we want visiting competitors and rodeo fans to enjoy their time in Red Bluff. Nothing kills the mood like being arrested for or, God forbid, causing an injury or death due to driving under the influ- ence. So we had an idea — The Great Round-Up Round Up. Tehama County has a stable full of TRAX buses that sit idle every night after about 6 p.m. The majority of bars and motels are within a 5-mile radius of the Tehama District Fairground. We say fire up these buses Thursday through Sun- day nights and put them on a loop that runs from the Fair- ground to Downtown and down Main Street to Interstate 5, stopping at clearly marked Great Round-Up Round Up stops along the way. We believe even the roughest, toughest cow poke would wel- come being wrangled at the end of the night and delivered safely to his bed roll. The normal fare for these rides is 50 cents, but TRAX could likely charge anywhere from $2 to $5 and still fill the buses. Drinking establishments could sponsor the program to cover all the cost in exchange for being designated pick-up loca- tions. The program could even be adopted by a local service club to help with promotion. You could count on the Daily News and likely other media to get the word out. Of course, the greatest benefit Editorial What do you think? Let us know would be to our public safety, but other potential outcomes include happy visitors, busy bars, lighter load on law enforcement and likely larger crowds at local businesses spending money and having fun. Heck, it might even get more locals out and about, knowing they can get back to their neighborhoods safely. We heard reports that last year some visitors tried to do the right thing and left their vehicles in town to walk back to their hotel. They were picked up for being drunk in public along the way. The simplistic answer is that visitors and locals alike should control their drinking to avoid run-ins with police. In a perfect world, that would be the case. But in the real world, we say the Great Round-Up Round Up is a step in the right direction in addressing an ongoing problem that casts a shadow over our community’s biggest event. Your Turn O’Reilly letter Editor: Shame on Bill O'Reilly for upset- ting the lady from Los Molinos, Rod- ina Turner. I don't know about the TVs in Los Molinos, but mine has a remote but- ton I can turn off what ever I don't want to see or hear. I don't think Fox News is holding her hand to the fire. We have lived in a controlled country run by a dictator and Obama has all the traits of being one. You can like the health care program all you want that is your right, a right you would not have in France or Spain or Cuba. You can call it reform legisla- tion all you want, but it is pay back for votes bought by Reid and Pelosi. It dumbfounds me how you can complain about Fox News like you did, don't watch it. I watch it and CNN, NBC and ABC. If I don't like what I see and hear, I change the channel. The health care bill is going to cost us for years, and the ones who want it are the lazy ones who think they are owed it. No one owes anyone a thing. If you want something then get off the sofa and go to work. Don't expect the next two generations to foot your bill for you. The one good thing about Ameri- ca is you can say what you want with- out someone knocking on your door. I oppose what you say and think as that too is my right Sue Lord-Rodrigue, Manton 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. The Coca-Cola column Commentary I'm calling this column “Coca-Cola.” Although I have little to say about Coke, it's my hope that the giant soft drink company will send me a few bucks for the naming rights. Apparently during the cur- rent economic upheaval, names are the easiest things to pawn off. New York City got $4 million by allowing Bar- clays to put its name on a few subway stations. Ohio State University named its new stu- dent union after U.S. Bancorp in return for $1 million. Lans- ing, Mich., recently collected $1.5 million from a law school to name its minor-league base- ball park Cooley Law School Stadium. The zoo in Columbia, S.C., desperate for cash, even auctioned off naming rights to a baby giraffe. But in what must be 2010's boldest naming ploy to date, the city of Topeka, Kan., changed its name to Google. Seems the deciders at Google are looking for a community in which to test ultra high-speed Internet service, and Topeka hopes to woo the business by adopting the Google name for the month of March. What's next? Could taxpay- ers save some money if the nation's capital were renamed AIG, D.C.? This form of crass commer- cialism isn't new. Every June, Dublin, Texas, changes its name to Dr. Pepper to com- memorate the nation's first Dr. Pepper bottling facility located there. The town of Clark, Texas, changed its name to Dish, so that residents could all get free satellite TV. Much of the blame for com- mercially motivated renaming goes to the town fathers in Derry Church, Pa., who in 1906 became so overwhelmed with gratitude for the success of the local chocolate factory that they renamed the town Hershey. One hundred years later, Washington, Pa., temporarily renamed itself Steeler, Pa., when the NFL Steelers won the Super Bowl. Odder still was the decision by Ismay, Mon- tana, in 1993 to officially change its name to Joe, Mon- tana (after the star quarter- back). The concept isn't even new in Topeka, which prior to becoming Google had tem- porarily changed its name to ToPikachu after the Pokemon character. And Google, Kan.,isn't the first example of digital-age name switching. Halfway, Ore., renamed itself Half.com in 1999, after the e-commerce site owned by eBay, in return for school com- puters and $100,000 cash. Once upon a time companies didn't have to bother paying for naming rights, they simply picked a city they liked and com- mandeered the name. The famous fig cookie firm did that with Newton, Mass.; the GM people did it with Pontiac, Mich. There are still plen- ty of existing towns to which American organizations might wish to relocate based on their unique names. There's Boring, Ore., which would probably be thrilled to become the site of new studios for NBC. There's Looneyville, Texas, which could house national headquarters for the Tea Party movement. Why has the IRS over- looked the opportunity to relo- cate to Needmore, Texas? Shouldn't the Pentagon be in Gayville, South Dakota? A fit- ting home for the U.S. Con- gress would be Truth or Conse- quences, N.M. If I'd had the time to relo- cate myself, I probably should have filed this col- umn from Embarrass, Minn. Peter Funt Meanwhile, back in Kansas, the Google bandwagon seems to have rolled over not only Topeka but the entire county of Shawnee, where commissioners are now considering renaming a sports facility the Google Recreational Build- ing, and a local park Google Gardens. If, after all this, the Google company decides against setting up shop in Kansas, Topeka can always rename itself Dumburg, Crasstown, Desperation Sta- tion -- or, perhaps most appro- priately, Almighty Buckville, USA. Peter Funt is a writer and public speaker. He's also the long-time host of "Candid Camera." A collection of his DVDs is available at www.candidcamera.com. He may be reached at www.candidcamera.com.