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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