Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 12-23-21 e-Edition

Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
In my OPINION Remembering a classic
Christmas time editorial
What's with the fuss over new nickname for Sanger West High?
Fred Hall — Publisher
Jon Earnest — Editor
Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Thursday, December 23, 2021 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran news- man Francis Pharcellius Church has since become history's most reprint- ed newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.
Most of last week, I took my annual short winter break help- ing prop up Nevada's economy. While I was gone, the Sanger West High School administra- tion revealed to the Sanger Unified School District Board of Trustees at the Dec. 14 meet- ing the nickname and mas- cot for the city's second high school. From here on out, it's the Sanger West Hornets.
My first impression was a good one. I think it's a cool and unique nickname and mas- cot, and certainly is a fresh al- ternative to other traditional nicknames that are shared by more than one school. Upon first glance of the logo, I think the color scheme is a good one and looks crisp, especially the samples on a football helmet.
But of course, the detrac- tors and skeptics were sure to come out. Once I glanced at social media posts on the sub- ject, I came upon a number of comments complaining about the name. For some reason, there were a few people upset
that the new school's nickname and logo weren't in line with the theme of Sanger High's Apaches nickname. They seem to think that something similar should have been adopted; I've even seen posts thinking the school officials and the district had gone politically correct.
My opinion is, what's the big deal?
Here's a news flash, people. Sanger West High School is not an offshoot of Sanger High School — it's a separate entity altogether as a high school, with its own identity and unique personality. The only thing in common is the ties to the district. There were no expectations to have a similar nickname or mascot.
Even the more genet- ic name of the high school, Sanger West, makes sense as the campus figuratively is rub- bing shoulders with southeast Fresno. Sanger West provides an important link to the city and district in that sense. It's somewhat similar to when Clo-
vis West was
the "new kid" in
town in the late
1970s, eventu-
ally having its
first graduating
class in 1980. Of
course, I don't
expect Sanger
to grow to the point of one day having a "Sanger East" in play like in Clovis Unified.
There's another similar "West" situation that happened in Hanford, where I live. Han- ford West High began its own graduating classes in 2000 after splitting from Hanford High School. For decades, the school shared an East Campus and West Campus before the campus split.
In this case, Sanger isn't the same setup. It's a fresh start with a new school, and I look forward to the opportunity to catch an extracurricular or athletic event on campus in the future.
Jon Earnest is news-sports editor for The Times.
Fred Hall
QUOTE
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
— Voltaire (1694-1778)
Jon Earnest
Dear editor:
I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says “if you see it in THE SUN it's so.”
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon 115 West Ninety-Fifth Street
“Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think nothing can be which is not comprehensible to their little minds All minds, Virginia,whether they be men's or children, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared to the bound- less world around him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as surely as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its high- est beauty and joy. Alas, how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.
There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except sense and sight. The eter- nal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your Papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, bu even if they did not see Santa Claus com- ing down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither chil- dren nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies danc- ing on the lawn? Of course not, that's no proof that thy aren't there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, not even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance and push aside that curtain and view and picture the su- pernal beauty and glory beyond, Is it real? Ah, Virginia, in this world there is nothing else as real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives and lies forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood!”
It's the sincere hope, from all of us who work here at Mid Valley, that by reprinting this bit of nostalgia, we might enhance your happiness and enjoyment dur- ing this very special holiday. Celebrate and embrace the wonder of the season as seen through the eyes of a child. Remember that the real reason is the celebration of the birth of Jesus and do everything possible to enrich the lives of our families, friends and everyone around us.
Merry Christmas to each and every one from all of us!
Democrats' spending bill ultimately will punish these small businesses
By Karen Kerrigan
Guest columnist
Democratic lawmakers are touting a component of their budget bill that would help small business. And indeed, some entrepreneurs will be happy to learn about the $25 billion proposal, which would provide small enterprises with new financing, training, and help with federal contracts.
But it's misleading of legisla- tors to suggest that their mas- sive spending package is small- business-friendly. They are being quiet about other mea- sures that would impact small businesses, such as a provision that would decimate hundreds of biotech startups -- cutting their revenues and even forcing some to close their doors.
Democrats are still work- ing to include a provision in the spending bill that would impose price controls on drugs.
This would empower the federal government to dictate what Medicare pays biophar- maceutical companies for their products. This is supposed to save the federal government money, and thereby help fi- nance the many other pro- grams under the spending bill.
But that's not the full pic- ture. Nearly two decades ago, bipartisan legislation es- tablished Medicare's Part D, through which competing pri- vate insurers cover outpatient prescription drugs for seniors. To promote a fair and healthy marketplace, the legislation included a non-interference clause, which barred the gov- ernment from getting involved in price negotiations.
The legislation would do away with that non-interfer- ence clause, suddenly allow- ing the government to dictate price. The impact on business would be enormous.
As a percentage of reve- nue, drug makers spend more on research and development than other industries — an av- erage of 23 percent across the sector. Facing price controls, though, drug companies would be forced to cut spending.
Large pharmaceutical com- panies might be able to weather the storm, albeit with massive reductions research and devel- opment. But many small biotech firms would not survive repeal of the non-interference clause. These younger startups rely on the chance of revenue from fu- ture drug sales to attract invest-
ment, get off the ground, and stay afloat. According to a new white paper from a coalition of life-science funders, investment into rare diseases and specialty medicines would drop to nearly zero if price-control legislation passed.
On top of this blow to pa- tients, the economic impact would be devastating. Accord- ing to research from earlier this year, implementing price controls in the United States would stamp out nearly 200,000 jobs in the biopharmaceutical industry, and approximately one million overall.
Democrats may talk the talk on small business, and their proposed fund to help entre- preneurs could help some of these businesses. But if their spending bill also slashes in- come to a whole industry with government price controls, this could wipe out many of our na- tion's most innovative small companies. If that happens, not only will small businesses pay a steep price, but also our nation's health care consumers.
Karen Kerrigan is president and CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. This piece originally ran in Townhall.