Letters to the Editor 03-14-2000
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Education Vs. Regulation - More Taxes - Spring
Education Vs. Regulation
Editor, Times-Union:Hearing and reading the tragic headlines of our times really makes me wonder where our society has gone wrong. I know we hear the stories about just a few kids gone bad but it really makes you wonder about the violence and lack of respect for life tomorrow's society seems to have. It is truly disheartening. I know there are many thousands of good kids to stack up against every violent headline but it still makes you wonder. The current administration, while playing on a shocked and grieving nation's emotions, would have us believe that more gun laws would cure all of these evils. I personally think they're simply using political sensationalism to try and ensure that we, as a nation, become fully dependent on the government since we then would no longer have the ability to defend ourselves from criminals or politicians alike. I'm quite sure that an entire ream of new laws would've ensured a trigger lock on that boy's stolen handgun, which by the way, he couldn't have possibly possessed being underage and without a valid government photo I.D. RIGHT ?
I personally feel that education is a MUCH better solution than regulation. If today's children had the opportunity to learn the respect for life and firearms that our dads and grandfathers taught us, while hunting with them, maybe the headlines would look much different. I work with a dedicated group of volunteer instructors through our county's 4-H Shooting Sports program. This group gives many hours of their lives willingly, year after year, teaching the safe and proper techniques of using various firearms and archery equipment for hunting and recreational purposes to Kosciusko's youth, grades 3 through 12. The only "pay" this group receives is the pure joy those kids demonstrate when they break their first clay, or hit their first bullseye and the satisfaction of knowing that these youths know how to avoid the senseless accidents we hear so much about. These young ladies and gentlemen also learn the proper respect for a firearm, learning exactly what it's capable of, not "bang you're dead until next week's episode when you come back."
We are also blessed in our area by another opportunity our children have that many "inner city" kids will probably never get. For over 60 years the youth of north central Indiana have had the opportunity to attend a week-long conservation-minded summer camp. Camp Mollenhour is located about 4 miles northwest of Silver Lake on the shores of Lake McClure. The camp provides an environment where Hoosier youths, ages 9-14, can experience the outdoors in a fun, responsible and most importantly, SAFE manner. The camp is staffed by a dedicated group of volunteers including, but not limited to, IDNR conservation officers, IHEA, 4-H and NRA instructors certified in hunter's ed, archery, rifle, shotgun and muzzle loading. Each year the camp council strives to expand and improve the camp's offerings. One of the greatest improvements made in recent years is a cooperative agreement with Vincennes University where university conservation and law enforcement students come to camp as counselors teaching alongside the volunteer instructors and in many cases also learning alongside the campers while earning college credit for the experience. This cooperative situation has added a wonderful level of professionalism to the camp that couldn't be possible any other way. Bringing their DNR and hunter's ed experiences to bear, IDNR hunter's ed coordinators Tim Beck and Dirk Studebaker work alongside District 1 ICOs Lyle Enyeart and Mike Saffen, providing a fantastically well-rounded educational program of hunting and wildlife to every camper. Area volunteer instructors pitch in to help teach as much hands-on experience as can be fit into a one week program, including archery range time, clay target shotgun shooting as well as rifle marksmanship. Other recent activities have included local law enforcement scuba dive team and SWAT team demonstrations along with other special events such as the Raptor Chapter of Auburn teaching campers about native birds of prey and a terrific demonstration of traditional archery shooting skills as well as bow and arrow making by local instructor Dan Nelson, to mention just a few. All campers who complete Mollenhour's week-long program receive their IDNR hunter's ed, boater safety and ATV safety certifications along with a lot of fun and fellowship. Camp Mollenhour is limited to 80 campers for each week. This year's boy's week is July 9-14, followed by girl's week, July 16-21. For further information or to request an application, please call 352-2607.
2000 is a critical election year. Please consider deeply this issue of regulation vs. education since we, as free voting Americans, have the opportunity to let our decisions be known at the polls.
David Roose
volunteer instructor
Warsaw
via e-mail
More Taxes
Editor, Times-Union:I can't believe that we are going to be paying more local tax for the expansion of the justice building project. I am a local resident who right now is unfortunately living paycheck to paycheck. I have had problems in the past and am now trying to honestly work on my future. I am working my way through college and can't get any financial aid because of government standards, they say I make too much money to qualify, ha, what a joke.
Therefore I have to pay for school out of my own pocket and it's not easy. But now beyond my belief, my local government is asking me for more money to help them pay for a larger facility, or should I say they are not asking, they are requiring. This just seems so backwards in my opinion.
I thought this country was the land of opportunity, but I find out that a single male with no children and works full time can't get any help from our government for school, but when they need help, we are expected to be right there with our wallets open.
Kerry Mills
Warsaw
via e-mail
Spring
Editor, Times-Union:There is an old saying that goes: "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"
Well, there are times when we commence to wonder if, during the past four months, winter ever actually arrived! It just seems that we have had nothing but spring! spring! spring!
The seasons anymore are so "off-season" that a person starts to wonder whether or not they truly, at one time, did conduct themselves in proper order; that is, did each season, spring, summer, fall or winter truly occur to deliver the kind of weather that was expected of that particular season?
Take winter for instance: When I was a kid (I'm 80 now) if winter arrived, it arrived; and when we had snow, we had snow. A heavy snow usually fell the last of November, and there would be a thick blanket of snow on the ground until the following March. Winters in the old days were cold, and I mean cold. In fact, snow often fell and drifted until it reached the top of the fence, then it would freeze and a pedestrian could walk right over the top of the fence. Oh what fun it was to feel our feet crunch into the icy snow, and we didn't sink down, either. The deep crust on the snow was solid enough to hold us up.
In the old days, nobody had to be wary of ice fishing. In fact, many fishermen drove out on the ice in their cars to fish, for the lakes froze a foot thick and remained that way for weeks.
Kids today know very little about cutting ice and storing it but, back in the '30s and '40s, men from town motored to the lakes, chopped out huge blocks of ice and hauled them to town to be stored in the "icehouse" where the ice was packed in sawdust and preserved for distribution in summer.
In days of yore, big, horse-drawn sleighs got a good workout. Kids had a frolicking good time taking rides in the sleighs, using heavy horse blankets to cover themselves with, and perhaps a hot brick to warm their feet. After a brisk, refreshing ride in the biting winter air, the youngsters often stopped at some friendly farmhouse where they were offered a cup of steaming hot chocolate and hot buttered popcorn to warm them up.
As I formerly stated, in times gone by, when winter weather came in November, it remained for the duration which ended in late March. Then, on a bright, sunny Sunday morning in April, Easter and warm weather would appear to great advantage and with a sudden feeling of heartfelt piety, practically everybody in the county decided that they wanted to attend church.
Now, I respect the fact that Easter is a time for reverence and devoutness, but I have a rather quaint and funny statement to make as regards Easter and Easter eggs. I once had a friend whose husband, every Easter, boiled eggs for breakfast, then put them in a bowl and ate them with cream and sugar. Well, as for that unusual choice of Easter tidbit, I can only state, as kids would say today: "Yuk!"
Easter will be late this year, April 23, so perhaps the day will be bright and sunny and warm. Furthermore, no doubt the annual Easter egg hunt will be conducted on the Courthouse lawn and we'll see people parading about in their Easter finery, but you can just bet your bottom dollar that I, for one, won't be caught sitting at the breakfast table on Easter morning gobbling up a bowl of boiled eggs swimming in milk and sugar!
And again to that I say: "Yuk!"
Don Kaiser
Warsaw
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- Education Vs. Regulation - More Taxes - Spring
Education Vs. Regulation
Editor, Times-Union:Hearing and reading the tragic headlines of our times really makes me wonder where our society has gone wrong. I know we hear the stories about just a few kids gone bad but it really makes you wonder about the violence and lack of respect for life tomorrow's society seems to have. It is truly disheartening. I know there are many thousands of good kids to stack up against every violent headline but it still makes you wonder. The current administration, while playing on a shocked and grieving nation's emotions, would have us believe that more gun laws would cure all of these evils. I personally think they're simply using political sensationalism to try and ensure that we, as a nation, become fully dependent on the government since we then would no longer have the ability to defend ourselves from criminals or politicians alike. I'm quite sure that an entire ream of new laws would've ensured a trigger lock on that boy's stolen handgun, which by the way, he couldn't have possibly possessed being underage and without a valid government photo I.D. RIGHT ?
I personally feel that education is a MUCH better solution than regulation. If today's children had the opportunity to learn the respect for life and firearms that our dads and grandfathers taught us, while hunting with them, maybe the headlines would look much different. I work with a dedicated group of volunteer instructors through our county's 4-H Shooting Sports program. This group gives many hours of their lives willingly, year after year, teaching the safe and proper techniques of using various firearms and archery equipment for hunting and recreational purposes to Kosciusko's youth, grades 3 through 12. The only "pay" this group receives is the pure joy those kids demonstrate when they break their first clay, or hit their first bullseye and the satisfaction of knowing that these youths know how to avoid the senseless accidents we hear so much about. These young ladies and gentlemen also learn the proper respect for a firearm, learning exactly what it's capable of, not "bang you're dead until next week's episode when you come back."
We are also blessed in our area by another opportunity our children have that many "inner city" kids will probably never get. For over 60 years the youth of north central Indiana have had the opportunity to attend a week-long conservation-minded summer camp. Camp Mollenhour is located about 4 miles northwest of Silver Lake on the shores of Lake McClure. The camp provides an environment where Hoosier youths, ages 9-14, can experience the outdoors in a fun, responsible and most importantly, SAFE manner. The camp is staffed by a dedicated group of volunteers including, but not limited to, IDNR conservation officers, IHEA, 4-H and NRA instructors certified in hunter's ed, archery, rifle, shotgun and muzzle loading. Each year the camp council strives to expand and improve the camp's offerings. One of the greatest improvements made in recent years is a cooperative agreement with Vincennes University where university conservation and law enforcement students come to camp as counselors teaching alongside the volunteer instructors and in many cases also learning alongside the campers while earning college credit for the experience. This cooperative situation has added a wonderful level of professionalism to the camp that couldn't be possible any other way. Bringing their DNR and hunter's ed experiences to bear, IDNR hunter's ed coordinators Tim Beck and Dirk Studebaker work alongside District 1 ICOs Lyle Enyeart and Mike Saffen, providing a fantastically well-rounded educational program of hunting and wildlife to every camper. Area volunteer instructors pitch in to help teach as much hands-on experience as can be fit into a one week program, including archery range time, clay target shotgun shooting as well as rifle marksmanship. Other recent activities have included local law enforcement scuba dive team and SWAT team demonstrations along with other special events such as the Raptor Chapter of Auburn teaching campers about native birds of prey and a terrific demonstration of traditional archery shooting skills as well as bow and arrow making by local instructor Dan Nelson, to mention just a few. All campers who complete Mollenhour's week-long program receive their IDNR hunter's ed, boater safety and ATV safety certifications along with a lot of fun and fellowship. Camp Mollenhour is limited to 80 campers for each week. This year's boy's week is July 9-14, followed by girl's week, July 16-21. For further information or to request an application, please call 352-2607.
2000 is a critical election year. Please consider deeply this issue of regulation vs. education since we, as free voting Americans, have the opportunity to let our decisions be known at the polls.
David Roose
volunteer instructor
Warsaw
via e-mail
More Taxes
Editor, Times-Union:I can't believe that we are going to be paying more local tax for the expansion of the justice building project. I am a local resident who right now is unfortunately living paycheck to paycheck. I have had problems in the past and am now trying to honestly work on my future. I am working my way through college and can't get any financial aid because of government standards, they say I make too much money to qualify, ha, what a joke.
Therefore I have to pay for school out of my own pocket and it's not easy. But now beyond my belief, my local government is asking me for more money to help them pay for a larger facility, or should I say they are not asking, they are requiring. This just seems so backwards in my opinion.
I thought this country was the land of opportunity, but I find out that a single male with no children and works full time can't get any help from our government for school, but when they need help, we are expected to be right there with our wallets open.
Kerry Mills
Warsaw
via e-mail
Spring
Editor, Times-Union:There is an old saying that goes: "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"
Well, there are times when we commence to wonder if, during the past four months, winter ever actually arrived! It just seems that we have had nothing but spring! spring! spring!
The seasons anymore are so "off-season" that a person starts to wonder whether or not they truly, at one time, did conduct themselves in proper order; that is, did each season, spring, summer, fall or winter truly occur to deliver the kind of weather that was expected of that particular season?
Take winter for instance: When I was a kid (I'm 80 now) if winter arrived, it arrived; and when we had snow, we had snow. A heavy snow usually fell the last of November, and there would be a thick blanket of snow on the ground until the following March. Winters in the old days were cold, and I mean cold. In fact, snow often fell and drifted until it reached the top of the fence, then it would freeze and a pedestrian could walk right over the top of the fence. Oh what fun it was to feel our feet crunch into the icy snow, and we didn't sink down, either. The deep crust on the snow was solid enough to hold us up.
In the old days, nobody had to be wary of ice fishing. In fact, many fishermen drove out on the ice in their cars to fish, for the lakes froze a foot thick and remained that way for weeks.
Kids today know very little about cutting ice and storing it but, back in the '30s and '40s, men from town motored to the lakes, chopped out huge blocks of ice and hauled them to town to be stored in the "icehouse" where the ice was packed in sawdust and preserved for distribution in summer.
In days of yore, big, horse-drawn sleighs got a good workout. Kids had a frolicking good time taking rides in the sleighs, using heavy horse blankets to cover themselves with, and perhaps a hot brick to warm their feet. After a brisk, refreshing ride in the biting winter air, the youngsters often stopped at some friendly farmhouse where they were offered a cup of steaming hot chocolate and hot buttered popcorn to warm them up.
As I formerly stated, in times gone by, when winter weather came in November, it remained for the duration which ended in late March. Then, on a bright, sunny Sunday morning in April, Easter and warm weather would appear to great advantage and with a sudden feeling of heartfelt piety, practically everybody in the county decided that they wanted to attend church.
Now, I respect the fact that Easter is a time for reverence and devoutness, but I have a rather quaint and funny statement to make as regards Easter and Easter eggs. I once had a friend whose husband, every Easter, boiled eggs for breakfast, then put them in a bowl and ate them with cream and sugar. Well, as for that unusual choice of Easter tidbit, I can only state, as kids would say today: "Yuk!"
Easter will be late this year, April 23, so perhaps the day will be bright and sunny and warm. Furthermore, no doubt the annual Easter egg hunt will be conducted on the Courthouse lawn and we'll see people parading about in their Easter finery, but you can just bet your bottom dollar that I, for one, won't be caught sitting at the breakfast table on Easter morning gobbling up a bowl of boiled eggs swimming in milk and sugar!
And again to that I say: "Yuk!"
Don Kaiser
Warsaw
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