May 3, 2012 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Communities like Mason
County have more to lose
with the reform of the U.S.
Postal Service than those directl'
across the Puget Sound. Ideas
like terminating service on Sat-
urdays and closing thousands of
post offices may make the post
office a more profitable enterpris~
but will damage small businesses
outside of urban cores across the
United States by creating multi-
day delays in mailing.
According to Reed Anfinson,
the president of the National
Newspaper Association: "The
Postal Service's plant-closingA five day delivery plan would
plan is based on a desire to amass not have much of an effect on
more mail at automated urban most Americans, but anyone who
centers, where costly machines relies upon regular mail deliv-
sit idle much of the day. To opti- cry would be adversely affected.
mize machines, USPS would haul Subscribers to the Shelton-Mason
mail much farther. But the haul- County Journal and Belfair Her-
ing would slow the mailstream, ald living within the Shelton city
particularly in small towns and limits should still receive their
rural areas that are far from papers on Thursday, but readers
mail plants and create a set of in Mason County that don't rely
second-class citizens who get and on the Shelton Post Office might
send mail more slowly than ur- be looking at Monday delivery.
ban dwellers. It will also hamper Medication that used to show up
smaller communities' quests for every Friday might take three
economic development." extra days to arrive, or four if
there's a holiday.
There are better ways to save
money at the USPS, and treating
the postal service like a privately
run enterprise is unrealistic and
bad for our economy. Instead of
completely closing many rural
offices, shortening hours could
help as a cost-controlling men-
sure. Also, a benefit structure for
employees more in line with the
private sector would help.
None of the options currently
on the table in Washington D.C.
are great, but the worst is prob-
ably Rep. Darrell Issa's (R-Calif.).
His bill directs the post office
to favor profit over service and
could immediately end mailing on
Saturday while closing process-
ing centers and thousands of post
offices. His bill would do irrevers-
ible damage to various industries
and small businesses.
Call your legislators and let
them know your opinion, because
if Mason County loses Saturday
delivery or has to close any offic-
es, it will be a much bigger blow
to our businesses than those sit-
ting comfortably near the urban
core.
Proud s.
Sh
American to
Editor, the Journal
In response to the letter
last week by Vern Morgue,
who
gave you the right to~'~
"correct" the Veterans of
Foreign Wars (VFW) La-
dies Auxiliary?, The essay O
question was, What is an
American?" not, "What is a Ed
United States citizen?" If
the young student wasn't St~
confused before, I'm sure me
she will be after reading sai
your letter to the Journal an,
editor. Having been onewe
of your students some la[
58 years ago, I'm embar- pa~
fussed that you don't know wh
the definition of an "Amer- the
ican." Check it out in the no1
dictionary. We "United rid
States" citizens are ?Amer- lar
icans" regardless of what a s
you think. Mr. Morgue, wil
as I used to call you when we
I was your student some
years ago in crafts class, by'
maybe we could have a off
poll taken from any of the om
service men and women tiv
and have served on foreign us.
soil if they did so as Amer- em
icans? I for one have had an,
enough political correct- for
hess thank you. God bless elil
our veterans. And to the fen
Veterans of Foreign Wars offi
(VFW) Ladies Auxiliary, I
salute you with honor.
Pete Goldsby
Shelton
What is an
American?
ii i ii i !iiii ii ii ii ii ii!i !i i !iiii iiiii ! i i iiiii iiiii!ii iii ii !i i ii! i i ii iii iiii !i !ii iiii i iii!iii i! iii ii i i i i i !ii ii i i i i iiiii iiiii ii iiii i! ii i i !i ii i!i i iii i7 iiiii!ii ii;iii ! i! ii ii ! iiiii i i i7i ii ! i i iiiiii ii7! ¸!TiTiiii iiiii iiiii'ii: 'izl'i'ii i'ii'iiii 'i'ii¸iiiTi iiili¸i i¸i ii iiiiiiiii ii!! i:ii iW :! iiii:i!i ii !ii i i!iii ! i;ii!ii ii ii ii iii i iiii iiiiii!i i ! iiii;! ii
n a I Eetter R011cy
Lea Albaugh, our The primary reason
te fourth-grade winner. I am supportive is in- ~e ~~i ~ei~~ ~ ~~i~ ~6~i eii~ii
knows what it means creasing access to sports
~e an American. through a change in our
Shirley Schober academic standards. When~ t6~ ~i~r. ~ ~ill ~i6{
Sheltonbecausea studentofleaveSgrades,mYit spOrtof_ i;~~ ~e ~iii 6~{
tenis onlythe firstina iB#lB6 s iiil B i6 i 6#a
" a ",, series of things that they
a
n
25
disconnect from. They say~la ~i~ia~ ~~ ~a ~aa~s i~f~ ~
f them goodbye tea system that
monitors them year-round,~
and removes them from a
itor, the Journal circle of students who are
Nhat is happening with at school by choice to excel
te park land manage-and achieve. I lose con-
at? As Mike Glaser tact from these students
d, they should back off quickly, and they often
t regroup. A good start find a new group to hang
~ld be terminating the out with. When they leave,
d manager. The state it is often the first step in
'ks fired a lot of people a journey that will result
a maintained and made in them dropping out of
parks enjoyable. It is school. I look at my sport
good business to get as an extension of school.
of timberland and get My main purpose as a
d with small trees. Also teacher/coach is to teach
~ate saltwater park life skills, and to help keep
hout the tidelands is students engaged and
:thless. moving forward in school
: noticed Irene Golds- so that they reach their
letter regarding sex greatest potential as a stu-
mders. The cure is with dent and a person. When
legislative representa- a student is removed from
~s who do not represent my team, they are re-
The cure would create moved from a support sys-
What has happened to
puhishment of crime and
the Tacoma Mall shooter?
Wt y is the killer of the
Jm ~ in Seattle still alive?
Im ant, temporarily or
otL
th~
ne~
sle
is ]
Editor, the Journal we
According to my Ameri- sle
can College dictionary, th~
copyright 1947, Random wil
House, Inc. An American the
is: 1. Of or pertaining ed
to the United States of rec
America; an American ani
citizen. Has this meaning
changed? No, it has not
and the national organiza-
tion of veterans of foreign
wars and their auxiliaries
think not.
In this past year stu-
dents in third, fourth and a
fifth grade entered an es-
say contest titled "What is e
an American?" Different
themes are chosen every
year by the national or- ~t/
ganization and all are in-
tended to promote patrio- ~l
tism and skills in reading
and writing.
It has been my privi- Cl
lege to be involved in this
program for several years. Ed
The entries are wonderful.
These young people are thi
the future of our nation, om
Congratulations to all eta
our local winners, espe- are
tachs of child molesters tern that may be the only
1 those who use deadly reason they care about
m. That policy would school; often it is the one
ninate most level 3 of- motivating factor for them
ders also many level 2 to succeed academically. I
mders, am not in favor of lowering
standards, but my primary
purpose as a coach and
teacher is to teach, and to
assist my students toward
future success. I cannot
do that if I lose access to
solid family environment tern. When students make
and that their home was mistakes in school, you
simply challenged by lack take their car keys, you
of money. Too often that is take their cell phone, you
not the case. Many (maybe limit their fun, you take
most) of our students also the TV, you take their
face the challenge of a Facebook access and you
home with single parents, take away the videogames.
alcoholism, drugs, limited The last thing you should
transportation, no com- take are things that are
purer, anger, desperate good for them. As a school
parent(s), neglect, limited we cannot take those other
hope and certainly depres- things away. That does
sion. I challenge you to not mean we should skip
have a clear conscience to the last resort punish-
after taking away the only mont.
positive influence in a A student in this situa-
child's life when they come tion seldom is the one that
from a desperate situation, is a critical athlete that
My value system says I would result in more wins,
need to find a better way or a higher place at state
to solve the problem than by themselves. However,
by sending them away. when the coach and team
Improving access to sports care about each other and
through a change in our will not quit on each other,
academic standard is not we have hope that we can
lowering a standard. One win. We should be a fam-
"F" should be the signal ily, a team, and we should
that alerts us to a prob- not leave anyone behind
lem and then holds us to a that is making an effort to
higher standard. It could succeed.
be an indicator that a stu- Chad Youngquist
erwise? I will agree them. dent is about to make a Shelton High School
t they are crazy and When a senior does well very, bad turn away from a boys' and girls'
,d to be hung. Going to all three years of school, better future. If a student swimming coach
~p with lethal injection and finds that they are is failing one class he can Shelton
tot adequate. Most of us in a hole that they can-be saved. An alarm should
~ld prefer to go in our not climb out of in one go off somewhere that says
~p. If they hang within class, we should allow for to us that we need to put F i r~ d in g
ee years the guards a bump in the road. Re- this student with a good
[ be safer, the chance of cently, I have had several mentor, surround him CO m m o n
m to escape is eliminat- students who have had ac- with a group of peers that
~nd attorney fees are ademic success, but have about him and then watchCan support them, care n ~.1~
teed. After all, rabid then overestimated their grou
male are put down. academic abilities. Onehim carefully. Sure, put
Ralph Wingertsigned up for advanced the student on probation. Editor, the Journal
Shelton physics but found himself Force them to prove their Too often those engaged
unprepared. As a result, efforts to succeed in that in efforts to spur economic
he was unable to pass, yet class that they are failing, growth in our community
h a n n e o u r continued to try by getting but don't cut him loose af- fail to consider that sue-
help from his teacher. Our ter a couple of weeks when cess ultimately depends on
cadem .i current system does notthey are over whelmed our environmental health:
C allow for students to learn and can't catch up. TooThose industries that
from the consequences of often our sport programs are considering relocating
• .i".i b i I ity biting off more than they are the only positive sup- to our community tend to
can chew. port group students have. monitor local politics be-
_aa s My suggestion for We must evaluate what cause they know that the
',an change was to allow for we are doing when we opportunity for increased
one "F" as long as the GPA exclude them, and what enforcement of existing on-
students of the student showed often results when we quit vironmental regulations or
)
overall success. But that on them. the creation of new regula-
rtla li, I may not be enough. The As I understand it, we tions can come about with
n i~. 3 poverty rate in this com- currently match the high- each new election cycle.
munity is staggering, est standard of any public For this reason, it is best
itor, the Journal Well over 50 percent of school in the state. It has that all stakeholders in
~es, I am a coach who the district students live been said a million times, the community be involved
~ks we should change in poverty. I wish that "If you raise the bar, they in decisions that may
academic eligibility every underprivileged will rise to the occasion." result in degradation to
adards so that students student that went to ourThat only works when our environment. This is
not turned away. school was from a good they have a support sys-especially true of commu-
Shelton-Mason County
eur0ee
he~ton Mason
USPS 492-800
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to S
County Journal, P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA
Published weekly by Shelton-Mason County
at 227 West Cota Street; Shelton, Washingb
Mailing address: P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA
Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www.masoncou
Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washir
Page A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Jot
nities in which the major
economic drivers are based
on natural resources, as is
the case in Mason County.
As it currently ex-
lets, timber and shellfish
play a large part in our
economy, so it follows
that clean water condi-
tions are critical to our
survival. But the timber
and shellfish industries
are not necessarily com-
patible with each other,
as evidenced by the large
volume of storm-water
runoff that comes from
clear-cut timber harvest-
ing. This is problematic
because contaminated
storm-water is the leading
cause of pollution of the
marine environment in
which shellfish are grown.
This condition is made
worse by the fact that
marine waters in Mason
County are located at the
southernmost reaches
of Puget Sound, which
makes flushing contami-
nares from our shellfish
beds more difficult.
If history is any lesson,
preventing environmental
pollution is far less costly
than cleaning up after it
has occurred. And one of
the most effective methods
of prevention is to keep
new sources of industrial
pollution from gaining any
more of a foothold in our
county than it already has.
With a little cooperation,
those concerned about our
environment and promot-
ere of economic growth can
find uncontaminated com-
men ground. In this way,
our community can look
forward to a healthier,
more promising future for
everyone.
Toward that end, if Ma-
son County is to achieve a
sustainable and desirable
pattern of growth it would
serve us well to consider
the following: 1) Agree on
a plan that has continuity
of purpose among county,
city and port municipali-
ties. 2) Approach growth
less as facilitators of busi-
hess and more like archi-
tects of appropriate up-
portunities for our time.
Tom Davis
Shelton
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