Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/91621
4A Daily News – Saturday, November 3, 2012 Opinion School board Editor: 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. 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It was in August that we first saw Halloween merchandise in department stores; recently the comic strips have featured Hal- loween themed items; and, of course, television has been adver- tizing a variety of Halloween focused episodes. Movies which emphasize the macabre, terror, the supernatural, blood, and suspense usually show up about now. Hal- loween is big business, but I won- der if it has been dwelling on the scary and evil too much. Let me back up. In late Septem- ber we bought our oldest grandson a book we carefully picked out, wrote a poem of dedication to him, carefully wrapped it, and presented it to him on our most recent visit. He unwrapped the book, took a cursory look at the cover and pro- claimed he did not want it, he already had a copy of the book, and adamantly declared he was unthankful. It turned out that he did, indeed, have a copy of the book; it was an old classic that his father had as a child and which Dad had passed down to his own The origins of Halloween are voting Jack Hansen and Rod Moore for the Red Bluff High School board. I have known Jack for at least Please support our schools by 30 years. He never makes a deci- sion until he fully researches the issue and then decides what's best for the students and the school. Rod, I have not know as long thermore, am glad that while some things have changed, basi- cally Red Bluff is still the same town it was when I left. I signed an affidavit at the right to complain. Walmart here in Red Bluff eight years ago, in the hope that Wal- mart would build a Supercenter here. I am surprised to find that did not happen. but I've had many encounters with him at board meetings and his whole focus is also on what's best for the school and the students. Please vote Jack Hansen and Rod Moore for Red Bluff High School board. Kathy Nelson, Red Bluff Prop. 30 is the most important issue on the ballot, as it will enable greater education for all of our children. We must all support it. Robert Hogan, Red Bluff Prop. 30 Editor: Back home Bluff after being gone from the area for the past eight years, I am very glad to be back and fur- Editor: Having just returned to Red On the current Presidential election contest, which I can only describe as a circus, I am of the opinion that this contest as in past contests, this election will be won by the candidate that can tell the most convincing lies. I generally answer all of them by stating a well known fact: after the people that do vote and get the candidate they voted for, all they do is complain. I only hope, for the sake of all of our young men and women in our country, that whoever does become the next president does not go to the length that George W. Bush went to and lie to us, the Amer- ican people, in order to get many of those young people to join our Armed Forces and be sent to some far off foreign country to fight a war and be maimed or killed and have to reenlist time and again because there are no jobs here at home for those brave young men and women to come home to? I am not voting for either candidate. People often tell me: that if I don't vote, I have no Concerning this election, one of the staff here where I live was asked by one of the local people running for a position here in Red Bluff, if she could come and speak with us residents? Today, at the assigned time, that person did not even show up and could not be located when called by the person here she had asked to come and speak with us. Your Turn people in charge of making this city a better place to come to, maybe start their own businesses and put their children into good, safe schools and generally live better more safer lives, are not doing If this is a reflection of the type of people running for an office in this city is it any won- der why people are disillu- sioned? We people here in Villa Columba-Mercy Riverside Apartments, have opinions just like everybody else and to have a candidate ask for our opinion and not even show up to allow us to do so, is, in the opinion of our manager, very rude. I have spoken with a few people that live here in Red Bluff, some of them are also small business owners and they are all of the opinion that the what is necessary to help this city grow and be able to create jobs which will certainly benefit the community as a whole. I have no idea if this is the agenda of our city leaders but if it is, then this city will not be able to afford the many quality services that are need- ed to keep all residents safe from harm. We have a good reliable police force and Fire Department. But we all know, in order to pay for these much needed services, a city has to generate enough taxes to pay for them. Red Bluff is a wonderful and safe community and I for one would do everything possible to keep it that way. live here for many years to come, the rest of my life, in fact. If the people in charge of this I'm 70 years old and I plan to city's well being are not in fact doing that, then they don't deserve to run this city. 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. 'Frankenween' Commentary son. No matter how our daughter tried to explain he should appreci- ate our efforts to please him, he was not going to budge. As a result we found ourselves in the children's book section of the local Barnes and Noble, trying to find a book that would interest him. Four year olds have their own focus, but after several attempts to find something the adults thought was appropriate, we picked some- thing that he seemed to like. He eventually warmed up to it and enjoyed having it read to him when we got back to his house and allowed us to dedicate it to him. While in the children's section of the bookstore, however, I noticed a bookcase labeled "Clas- sics". I expected to see such mild books as Black Beauty, Mary Poplins, and the like, but to my sur- prise the books on the eye level shelf included, Dracula, Franken- stein, and Gulliver's Travels, all books I read as an adult, and all of which have fairly sophisticated subject matter. I wondered just what was going on. Perhaps the booksellers had misunderstood what children's classics are, per- haps the display was misplaced, or perhaps someone with far more wisdom than I felt our young chil- dren should be subjected to such works composed in archaic Eng- lish, utilizing sophisticated themes, and being precursors to the much promoted vampire, monster, and exotic subjects so prevalent in the mainstream these days. Jonathan Swift and I share the same birthday with some other wordy people, most notably Mark Twain and Winston Churchill; I enjoy sophisticated satire and paro- dy. Swift's book picks on English society and travel tales in general. The book also pokes fun at petty differences between religions, high society, and government. While Gulliver's Travels has been made into an illus- trated children's adven- ture story involving a normal sized man in the society of very small people, and a pathetic 2010 movie with Jack Black, the book was never intended for chil- dren. It would be a refreshing read during this election season, a good escape for adults and a chance to reflect on the foolishness we condone. Frankenstein has Joe been morphed into the monster he never was and has spawned an entire genre of movies. Franken- stein was not the name of the mon- ster; Frankenstein was the scientist who created an artificial person with his chemistry set, not the bolt of lightning that the movies rely on. The book is about the loneli- ness of the "monster" and his attempt to find a connection with his creator. I downloaded a free version on my Kindle and read it last fall; it is a sad story. Dracula is a novel that features such themes as the role of women in Victorian culture, sexual con- ventions, immigration, colonialism and post-colonialism. These are not very child oriented. Vampires have become very popular, but their stories are not those of Bram Stoker who wrote the 1897 novel. So, what's going on here? On Halloween we have very young children masquerading as chain saw killers, "Frankenstein's", and vampires knocking on our door. Then there are the young parents with pre toddler children in strollers or babies in arms collecting treats for their unaware children, or the almost post ado- lescent trick or treaters invading the territory of the young who innocent- ly ring the doorbells. I will admit that this Hal- loween we had more polite children at our doorstep than in many prior years. Harrop something else going on. I wonder if we have diluted the messages in the three "classics" and Halloween to the point where we, as adults, do not have to think about the issues and ideas in those books or behind the holiday, where we can make them into caricatures of "benign evil" rather than serious subjects for thought. I wonder if Halloween has become another example of task avoidance, the task being a serious examination of life. It reminds me about how we deal with political issues many times; we elect people, turn our head for a while, and then complain about those whom we are about to reelect in most cases. Aside from the com- mercialism that finds a way to promote a profit under any circum- stances, there may be Maybe I am just cranky. 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. Eddie Smith, Red Bluff