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Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
July 5, 2007     Shelton Mason County Journal
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July 5, 2007
 
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00ournal of Opinion: Childish behavior The results of another Healthy Youth Survey should act as a bullhorn in the ears of Mason County's parents in denial. Hundreds of local children in grades 8, 10 and 12 were asked questions last year about smoking, drinking, drugs, weapons, bullying and other subjects. The results are a frightening reminder of the world in which they're growing up and should alert all of those in the community about their responsibilities for improving the atmosphere for children. Ten percent of Mason County eighth-graders, 16 percent of sophomores and 25 percent of seniors said they'd smoked in the last 30 days. Twenty-three percent of eighth-graders, 34 percent of sophomores and 43 percent of seniors said they'd drunk alcohol in the last month. Nine percent of eighth-graders, 21 percent of sophomores and 27 percent of seniors said they'd used marijuana or hashish in the last 30 days. Five percent of eighth-graders, 11 percent of sophomores and 16 percent of seniors said they'd carried a weapon at school in the last month. Thirty-three percent of eighth° graders, 23 percent of sophomores and 16 percent of seniors reported being bullied in the last 30 days. The juxtaposition of the statistics for weapons and bullying reads like a recipe for violence. Forty-six percent of eighth-graders, 40 percent of sophomores and 41 percent of seniors said they enjoyed being in school over the past year. That is a remarkable comment on the state of the institution so important in our children's development. Imagine the numbers for school likability if dropouts had been there to express their opinions. Scary head lines A controversy over mandatory bicycle helmets in Port Townsend has brought to light some amazing statistics about bike safety that should remind all of us to drive more carefully around cyclists. The city council in our neighbor to the north has passed an ordinance requiring bicyclists to wear helmets, an action that has divided the community. In the public discourse about the law, an opponent of the ordinance pointed out safety statistics that seem to be counterintuitive until somewhat explained by a study. The Consumer Products Safety Commission reported that, while safety-conscious cyclists started wearing helmets in the 1990s, more of them were suffering head injuries. About 18 percent of U.S. cyclists were wearing helmets in 1991. About 50 percent were wearing them in 2001. But the rate of head injuries among bicyclists increased by 51 percent in that decade. This compares to The Netherlands, which has the world's highest rate of bicycle use and lowest rate of helmet use (less than I percent), which might lead one to believe there are a lot of Dutch bicycle casualties. On the contrary, the Dutch have the lowest rate of fatalities per mile cycled of any industrialized nation. How do you make sense of that? First, all you have to do is watch the waves of bicyclists pouring through the streets of Copenhagen or Amsterdam at rush hour or ride a bike in France to see that other cultures respect bicycling and bicyclists more than Americans do. It only makes sense that accident rates fall as the number of cyclists on the roads increases and drivers slow down to accommodate them, as studies have shown. Second, one study seems to indicate that if you're wearing a helmet you're more likely to get hit. Last year the New York Times Magazine reported on a study in which cyclists wore ultrasonic devices measuring how close passing vehicles came. On average, vehicles passed three inches closer to cyclists wearing helmets than to those without helmets. It is as if motorists are scared to hit bareheaded bicyclists and give them a wider berth. So it may be that wearing a helmet gives both cyclist and motorist a false sense of security, given that bicycle helmets are not motorcycle helmets and are designed to withstand impacts at low speeds like when a cyclist falls off his bike and his head hits the pavement. Many factors affect bicycle safety, and it's not the intention here to suggest riding around without a helmet so that motorists will steer into the other lane to avoid you. But if we use all of this information wisely we can recognize this subconscious and false notion that we can drive closer to a helmeted cyclist because his helmet will protect him if something bad happens. We can also show the respect for vulnerable cyclists that other cultures do when we drive past a 30-pound two-wheeler in our two-ton box of steel. -CG iii solto" 9 U SPS 492-800 County ournal POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason County Journal, P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. Published weekly by Shelton Publishing Inc. at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington Mailing address: RO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www.masoncounty.com Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington Member of Washington Newspaper Publishers' Association SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $31.00 per year in-county address, $45.00 per year in state of Washington $55.00 per year out of state Charles Gay, editor and publisher. Newsroom: Sean Hanlon, managing editor; Steve Patch, sports editor; Jeff Green, general assignment, city government, schools, Port of Shetton; Rebecca Wells, society editor, county government; Mary Duncan, police, courts. Advertising: Stephen Gay, advertising manager; Dave Pierik and Harvey Morris, ed sales. Front office: Julie Orme, business manager; Kathy Lsster, circulation; Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper; Cricket Carter, mailroom supervisor. Composing room: Diane Riordan, supervisor; Margot Brand, Jan Kallinen, pagination; Frank Isaac, pagination, photo technician; Koleen Wood, typesetter, computer system manager; William Adams, ad builder, computer system manager; Clinton Kendall, proofreader. Prommm: Nick Carr, pressman; Joey Perrott, pressman's assistant. iiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, July 5, 2007 l00eaders" 00ournai: Comments didn't help much Editor, The Journab With the public meeting held last week, the city took another step closer to making a decision on what to put on the November ballot for the levy lid lift to fund street repairs. Or did it really? To help the commissioners de- cide, the city posed three options to the public: maximum lid lift, gradual lid lift and a gradual-max- imum combo. Virtually none of the public inputs made in Thursday night's meeting showed preference for any of the three choices. Instead, the attendees asked: (1) What would you do if the voters disapproved the lid lift? (2) Why is the city not offering options not involving in- creases in taxes? (3) Why has my street not been repaired ever in 17 years? Where did the money go? (4) Why not just do it? (Whatever it is the speaker meant by "it.") I doubt therefore that the pub- lic comments and questions were of help to the commissioners about to make the choice. I am annoyed for three reasons that these mean- ingless choices were put before the commission. First, statisticians tell us that people generally avoid extremes. So when forced to choose, most will select the middle, the not-so- big, the not-so-small. Secondly, why doesn't staff make a single, honest if bold rec- ommendation based on need and the limits of the lid lift, plus oth- er ways of raising funds that re- ally tackle the problem long-term, rather than giving it a chip shot (no pun intended)? Thirdly, the format of the choic- es seems to present a depressing lose-lose deal for the public. For if they vote for whatever will be on the ballot, they'll be helping put in place a program of repairs simply unsustainable for the immediate future years. Not any one year's collectible funds are sufficient to do the job under any of the options. If they vote it down, the voters could mislead the city to translating the vote as a negative mandate: The public has spoken and does not want to fund street repairs. It has been noted this problem goes back a hundred years. Un- less returned to the drawing board for substantial improvements, the present proposal will add another 10 or so years to this unbroken, yet most unwanted record. Ed Santodomingo Shelton Unite on health insurance Editor, The Journal: The time has come to unite be- hind a universal, not-for-profit, single-payer health insurance ini- tiative! First of all, this is not a free plan, since most of us already pay $5,000 or more each year for health insurance. A not-for-profit health- care program would provide for every American citizen currently covered by health maintenance or- ganization (HMO) plans, but also ibr the 45 million people unin- sured. But because of the benefits of a shared risk pool of 240 million people it can be made affordable for every family. Sickness or injury obviously re- quires immediate health care, but wellness care is needed to maintain a standard of public health that is more than just a clinic treatment system, particularly with regard to children's pediatric care. As any mother can tell you it is far more beneficial for a family's well-being to keep'a child well, as opposed to treating his or her sickness. As to reinventing the wheel, we already have two viable systems that provide excellent examples of affordable health care. The first system is the government's exist- ing Veterans Affairs hospital sys- tem. The VA currently manages hospitals and clinics all across the country. The system is virtu- ally free for all veterans, wf'th cer- tain co-pay for drugs and services. This system demonstrates a well conceived, active ongoing service that is not only effective but far less expensive to operate than our current HMO plans, ff the VA can do it nationwide, so can a not-for- profit plan work for the rest of us! The second system is the Medi- care program for seniors starting from age 65. This basic benefit costs less than $100 per month, and supplemental private insur- ance plans are available which fill the gap for another $50 or so depending on desired coverage. Many people under 65 are paying more than $600 per month with no more than a high-blood-pres- sure problem. That is highway robbery! Currently the uninsured are forced to go to emergency medical hospital clinics when they suffer a life-threatening illness or acci- dent. These resulting enormous hospital bills go unpaid, and the burden is placed on those covered by insurance. These huge costs are already a large part of every insur- ance policy premium. Another point favoring the Medicare or VA format is the ex- tremely high 'overhead incurred by the HMOs. At 32 cents of every dollar going toward an HMO's high cost of business managemen L it is 16 times more costly than the two cents per dollar incurred by Medi- care. When a chief executive offi- cer is paid a $150-million salary, the comparison is obvious. I believe it was Rudyard Kipling who said, "The time has come, the walrus said, to speak of many things, of shoes and ships and seal- ing wax, and cabbages and kings." A Democratic Congress and White House is all that's needed. Greg James Agate an( pro rna the the We the ] alb ele, .... Ta] cat bul the get 00ournal of Opinion: Childish behavior The results of another Healthy Youth Survey should act as a bullhorn in the ears of Mason County's parents in denial. Hundreds of local children in grades 8, 10 and 12 were asked questions last year about smoking, drinking, drugs, weapons, bullying and other subjects. The results are a frightening reminder of the world in which they're growing up and should alert all of those in the community about their responsibilities for improving the atmosphere for children. Ten percent of Mason County eighth-graders, 16 percent of sophomores and 25 percent of seniors said they'd smoked in the last 30 days. Twenty-three percent of eighth-graders, 34 percent of sophomores and 43 percent of seniors said they'd drunk alcohol in the last month. Nine percent of eighth-graders, 21 percent of sophomores and 27 percent of seniors said they'd used marijuana or hashish in the last 30 days. Five percent of eighth-graders, 11 percent of sophomores and 16 percent of seniors said they'd carried a weapon at school in the last month. Thirty-three percent of eighth° graders, 23 percent of sophomores and 16 percent of seniors reported being bullied in the last 30 days. The juxtaposition of the statistics for weapons and bullying reads like a recipe for violence. Forty-six percent of eighth-graders, 40 percent of sophomores and 41 percent of seniors said they enjoyed being in school over the past year. That is a remarkable comment on the state of the institution so important in our children's development. Imagine the numbers for school likability if dropouts had been there to express their opinions. Scary head lines A controversy over mandatory bicycle helmets in Port Townsend has brought to light some amazing statistics about bike safety that should remind all of us to drive more carefully around cyclists. The city council in our neighbor to the north has passed an ordinance requiring bicyclists to wear helmets, an action that has divided the community. In the public discourse about the law, an opponent of the ordinance pointed out safety statistics that seem to be counterintuitive until somewhat explained by a study. The Consumer Products Safety Commission reported that, while safety-conscious cyclists started wearing helmets in the 1990s, more of them were suffering head injuries. About 18 percent of U.S. cyclists were wearing helmets in 1991. About 50 percent were wearing them in 2001. But the rate of head injuries among bicyclists increased by 51 percent in that decade. This compares to The Netherlands, which has the world's highest rate of bicycle use and lowest rate of helmet use (less than I percent), which might lead one to believe there are a lot of Dutch bicycle casualties. On the contrary, the Dutch have the lowest rate of fatalities per mile cycled of any industrialized nation. How do you make sense of that? First, all you have to do is watch the waves of bicyclists pouring through the streets of Copenhagen or Amsterdam at rush hour or ride a bike in France to see that other cultures respect bicycling and bicyclists more than Americans do. It only makes sense that accident rates fall as the number of cyclists on the roads increases and drivers slow down to accommodate them, as studies have shown. Second, one study seems to indicate that if you're wearing a helmet you're more likely to get hit. Last year the New York Times Magazine reported on a study in which cyclists wore ultrasonic devices measuring how close passing vehicles came. On average, vehicles passed three inches closer to cyclists wearing helmets than to those without helmets. It is as if motorists are scared to hit bareheaded bicyclists and give them a wider berth. So it may be that wearing a helmet gives both cyclist and motorist a false sense of security, given that bicycle helmets are not motorcycle helmets and are designed to withstand impacts at low speeds like when a cyclist falls off his bike and his head hits the pavement. Many factors affect bicycle safety, and it's not the intention here to suggest riding around without a helmet so that motorists will steer into the other lane to avoid you. But if we use all of this information wisely we can recognize this subconscious and false notion that we can drive closer to a helmeted cyclist because his helmet will protect him if something bad happens. We can also show the respect for vulnerable cyclists that other cultures do when we drive past a 30-pound two-wheeler in our two-ton box of steel. -CG iii solto" 9 U SPS 492-800 County ournal POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Shelton-Mason County Journal, P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. Published weekly by Shelton Publishing Inc. at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, Washington Mailing address: RO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584 Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www.masoncounty.com Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington Member of Washington Newspaper Publishers' Association SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $31.00 per year in-county address, $45.00 per year in state of Washington $55.00 per year out of state Charles Gay, editor and publisher. Newsroom: Sean Hanlon, managing editor; Steve Patch, sports editor; Jeff Green, general assignment, city government, schools, Port of Shetton; Rebecca Wells, society editor, county government; Mary Duncan, police, courts. Advertising: Stephen Gay, advertising manager; Dave Pierik and Harvey Morris, ed sales. Front office: Julie Orme, business manager; Kathy Lsster, circulation; Donna Kinnaird, bookkeeper; Cricket Carter, mailroom supervisor. Composing room: Diane Riordan, supervisor; Margot Brand, Jan Kallinen, pagination; Frank Isaac, pagination, photo technician; Koleen Wood, typesetter, computer system manager; William Adams, ad builder, computer system manager; Clinton Kendall, proofreader. Prommm: Nick Carr, pressman; Joey Perrott, pressman's assistant. iiiiiiiiiiiiii Page 4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, July 5, 2007 l00eaders" 00ournai: Comments didn't help much Editor, The Journab With the public meeting held last week, the city took another step closer to making a decision on what to put on the November ballot for the levy lid lift to fund street repairs. Or did it really? To help the commissioners de- cide, the city posed three options to the public: maximum lid lift, gradual lid lift and a gradual-max- imum combo. Virtually none of the public inputs made in Thursday night's meeting showed preference for any of the three choices. Instead, the attendees asked: (1) What would you do if the voters disapproved the lid lift? (2) Why is the city not offering options not involving in- creases in taxes? (3) Why has my street not been repaired ever in 17 years? Where did the money go? (4) Why not just do it? (Whatever it is the speaker meant by "it.") I doubt therefore that the pub- lic comments and questions were of help to the commissioners about to make the choice. I am annoyed for three reasons that these mean- ingless choices were put before the commission. First, statisticians tell us that people generally avoid extremes. So when forced to choose, most will select the middle, the not-so- big, the not-so-small. Secondly, why doesn't staff make a single, honest if bold rec- ommendation based on need and the limits of the lid lift, plus oth- er ways of raising funds that re- ally tackle the problem long-term, rather than giving it a chip shot (no pun intended)? Thirdly, the format of the choic- es seems to present a depressing lose-lose deal for the public. For if they vote for whatever will be on the ballot, they'll be helping put in place a program of repairs simply unsustainable for the immediate future years. Not any one year's collectible funds are sufficient to do the job under any of the options. If they vote it down, the voters could mislead the city to translating the vote as a negative mandate: The public has spoken and does not want to fund street repairs. It has been noted this problem goes back a hundred years. Un- less returned to the drawing board for substantial improvements, the present proposal will add another 10 or so years to this unbroken, yet most unwanted record. Ed Santodomingo Shelton Unite on health insurance Editor, The Journal: The time has come to unite be- hind a universal, not-for-profit, single-payer health insurance ini- tiative! First of all, this is not a free plan, since most of us already pay $5,000 or more each year for health insurance. A not-for-profit health- care program would provide for every American citizen currently covered by health maintenance or- ganization (HMO) plans, but also ibr the 45 million people unin- sured. But because of the benefits of a shared risk pool of 240 million people it can be made affordable for every family. Sickness or injury obviously re- quires immediate health care, but wellness care is needed to maintain a standard of public health that is more than just a clinic treatment system, particularly with regard to children's pediatric care. As any mother can tell you it is far more beneficial for a family's well-being to keep'a child well, as opposed to treating his or her sickness. As to reinventing the wheel, we already have two viable systems that provide excellent examples of affordable health care. The first system is the government's exist- ing Veterans Affairs hospital sys- tem. The VA currently manages hospitals and clinics all across the country. The system is virtu- ally free for all veterans, wf'th cer- tain co-pay for drugs and services. This system demonstrates a well conceived, active ongoing service that is not only effective but far less expensive to operate than our current HMO plans, ff the VA can do it nationwide, so can a not-for- profit plan work for the rest of us! The second system is the Medi- care program for seniors starting from age 65. This basic benefit costs less than $100 per month, and supplemental private insur- ance plans are available which fill the gap for another $50 or so depending on desired coverage. Many people under 65 are paying more than $600 per month with no more than a high-blood-pres- sure problem. That is highway robbery! Currently the uninsured are forced to go to emergency medical hospital clinics when they suffer a life-threatening illness or acci- dent. These resulting enormous hospital bills go unpaid, and the burden is placed on those covered by insurance. These huge costs are already a large part of every insur- ance policy premium. Another point favoring the Medicare or VA format is the ex- tremely high 'overhead incurred by the HMOs. At 32 cents of every dollar going toward an HMO's high cost of business managemen L it is 16 times more costly than the two cents per dollar incurred by Medi- care. When a chief executive offi- cer is paid a $150-million salary, the comparison is obvious. I believe it was Rudyard Kipling who said, "The time has come, the walrus said, to speak of many things, of shoes and ships and seal- ing wax, and cabbages and kings." A Democratic Congress and White House is all that's needed. Greg James Agate an( pro rna the the We the ] alb ele, .... Ta] cat bul the get