Page 4 - Reedley Exponent 3-7-19 E-edition

The Reedley Exponent A4 Thursday, March 7, 2019 Editorial & Opinions
Serving “The World’s Fruit Basket” since 1891
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
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION
One more win to cap an amazing season for Immanuel basketball
Jon Earnest — Editor / Sports Juanita Adame — Panorama Editor Budd Brockett — Editor Emeritus
QUOTE
“In science one tries to tell people, in suchawayasto be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it’s the exact opposite.”
Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
With the omnipresent call for free college and lifetime free education by Democrats, perhaps the time has come for us to take a critical look at the product which is being pro- duced for all the money expended. It seems that every time that taxes are increased, there is more set aside for education and yet that threshold seems to be to dumb down every matriculating class. Adopting the lowest com- mon denominator is not the way to achieve excellence. Call it what you want, but we are in fact “dumbing down” that which is accept- able from our schools.
Fred Hall
This year marks my 40th as a re- porter/editor in the newspaper indus- try; the majority of those years cov- ering sports. During all those years, prep sports were my primary focus.
I’ve directly covered or closely followed from the editor’s desk some pretty good basketball teams during that time. Some very solid Clovis West High School teams during the 1980s, although this was before they became a state and, at times, national power. During my time in Clovis, it usually was the wrestling programs that made a name for themselves at the state level.
In my 20 years in Hanford, I cov- ered some quality basketball teams. Probably the best among the boys was the 1993 Hanford High School squad that reached the Southern California regional semifinals. Their season ended at the hands of eventual state champion Mater Dei.
After I moved to the newsdesk and had limited contact with the prep sports world, I still managed to catch games of the 2001 Division 2 state champion Hanford High School girls. Those two were the best teams I’ve seen make noise on the state level, and I doubted I ever would make a trip to Sacramento for a state championship.
Then, along came the Immanuel Eagles.
The program has been a peren-
nial power, but usually would come up short against rugged Southern California competition in the postsea- son. From the newsdesk, I watched a dominating section team with excel- lent talent that couldn’t quite get to the next level.
This season, I’m back on the sports desk and watched another successful Immanuel Eagles’ season. But this time, that next level finally came.
Many will say it’s the fortuitous bracketing of Immanuel in the North- ern California Regionals, usually con- sidered an easier road to the state fi- nal. It also would be easy to point to “divine intervention” that amazingly knocked off every higher seed await- ing Immanuel in its next game. The results? Four consecutive regional games in the friendly confines of the Immanuel South Gym.
But that doesn’t really matter. Why? Because the 2018-19 Eagles have shown an incredible resiliency and focus, and for much of the last two months have scaled every obstacle put in their path. The only two stumbles came after the team had clinched the Central Sequoia League championship and, quite frankly, had little to gain in those two losses.
But any damage the Eagles suf- fered from road defeats at Hanford West and Central Valley Christian was wiped away by an exciting run to
their sixth consec-
utive Central Sec-
tion title. That path
included a thrilling
comeback win over
Tulare Western and
then a harrowing
victory over North
High when they
gave away nearly
all of an 18-point fourth quarter lead.
A dominating section final win on Feb. 23 over CSL rival Dinuba set the stage for an amazing week-long ride through Northern regional play. Wins over Leigh (San Jose), Brook- side Christian, Mission (San Fran- cisco) and Wood (Vacaville) have the Eagles on their way to Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center — home of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings – to face Soutnern California champion Ribet Academy from Los Angeles at noon on Saturday, March 9.
Win or lose, this Immanuel High team deserves all the credit and praise they’ve received this season. It’s a disciplined, well-coached team of talented basketball players that have meshed together as a cohesive unit.
Congratulations in advance, and best of luck to the Eagles.
Bertrand Russell was an early 20th century philosopher, scien- tist and a proponent for liberalism. Given today’s crop of college educated young people, we find ourselves more in line with his view of education that any of the other famous quotes we were able to locate. Russell said, “Men are born ignorant, not stupid. They are made stupid by education.
No analysis of our current educational system would be com- plete without the examination of the number of “soldiers” on the line in the form of teachers who are doing what we call the “heavy lifting.” It just seems to us that many school systems are invested too heavily in administration. Furthering to complicate things is a national Department of Education, which is a complete waste of time and money in our opinion. All educational oversight should be on the state and local level.
Are there bad teachers? Yes, there are. Sadly, they, although of- ten rare, are a drag on the entire system, especially when they are teaching your kids! The slackers and incompetents are protected by one of the strongest union in the country. One which should not even exist. We’ve all heard the saying that one bad apple will spoil the barrel. The size and strength of these unions is so large as to allow them to influence the political climate.
The California State University system is a classic example of the diminution of the value of possessing a degree. They’ve will- ingly submitted their institutions to become diploma mills which crank out worthless degrees, under-educate students and spend co- pious amounts of time on political correctness. Closely examining our current educational facilities as well as people like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez — a college graduate, but who would know from listening to her — we find no reason to find fault with his assertion.
Far too much classroom time is being devoted to personal po- litical opinion than is being spent constructively teaching history and other life assisting skills which provide students the ability to use common sense in forming their own conclusions about cur- rent politics. It should be a crime against the survival of humanity, considering all the malfeasance in educating our young people.
Our view of the situation may appear simplistic to some, but as I recall, older methods now considered passe worked for all those years that they were the standard. Teach our children to speak proper English; teach them to read, write and communicate well; teach them math to put in place a basic understanding of business and an introduction to scientific thought; and teach them history to provide a perspective of our background that will allow them to avoid the same mistakes and follow an educated path into the future. Most of all, keep politics out of the classroom! Their experi- ences and proper education will provide all the knowledge needed for them to make political determinations on their own. Teachers are paid to teach, not propagandize.
We’ve only had space available today to discuss education, it’s escalating cost and poor return. One should not forget that this is the same group of Democrats who want to “give” us “free” healthcare and a guaranteed income for life whether we want to be employed or not! As they set about destroying America, there must be a pot of gold somewhere, which I fail to see!
But, as always, that’s only one man’s opinion.
Letters from readers
Jon Earnest
On the issue of gun violence, when will we ever learn?
Thanks for a successful awards gala event
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who helped make the 2019 Great- er Reedley Chamber of Com- merce Business & Community Awards Gala worthy of those that were being honored. After the critical praise we received for last year’s event, our staff and volunteers were tasked with meeting the raised bar. I think it is safe to say — we surpassed it.
My team and I worked hard to put together a program that would properly honor our award recipients, showcase Reedley, and be entertaining for those in attendance. It means so much to know that our efforts were rec- ognized and are appreciated.
I must begin by thanking our sponsors for their financial sup- port and organizers for helping
with many of the fine details that made this evening so memorable. A big highlight of the evening was our local talent, so I would like to give special acknowledg- ment to Meg Clark, Courtney Cowin, Stacey Hall, Joseph Ham, Thomas Hayes and Jeff Lusk for their performance. I also extend my thanks to the clubs and orga- nizations for their many contri- butions.
Lastly, I would like to thank the Chamber Governing Board for their vision and the trust they place in me to head this organiza- tion. The Chamber Awards Gala is an opportunity to showcase and honor the best about Reed- ley and I am very grateful for the support the community has
shown. Erik Valencia Executive Director, Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce
By Ellen Lindeen
Guest columnist
On Feb. 27, I attended a beautiful, yet painful, event, entitled, “Vigil in Remembrance of Those Affected by Gun Violence.” The event, sponsored by Moms Demand Action, was at a local church, in my hometown, in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. Names of those who have been killed were read. Hopeful statements by survivors were also read by attend- ees, and while the familiar sites of many shootings were also named (Colum- bine, San Bernardino, Or- lando, Sandy Hook . . . sad- ly, the list went on and on), we all lit candles. I was pre- pared to be there I thought. As a college professor of more than two decades, so many shootings have taken place at schools, that at the start of each semes- ter, I have always looked around my classroom and imagined what I would do and say to protect students if someone with a gun ap- peared at the door.
Part of my usual class- room routine has always been to put quotes on the board for students each day we met. I have a long list of favorites, but the list continues to grow. In 2015, IfeltIhadtoaddthefol- lowing when I learned the
details. A fellow English instructor at a community college was killed on the first day of class. As a trib- ute to his life, I wrote on the board for my students:
“’Today is the first day of the rest of your life,’ written on the board on the first day of class in in- troductory Writing 115, at Umpqua Community Col- lege in Oregon by adjunct English professor, Larry Levine, 67, before he was shot along with nine others by a lone gunman.”
Honestly, I have be- come a bit numb when I hear of another shooting, but I still pay attention. Students in my classes in the last few years were born about the time of the Columbine shooting, so they’ve grown up with active-shooter drills. Yet, I still came to a difficult realization at the vigil as I was listening to the featured speaker, Lauren Carr, a survivor from the 2008 shooting at Northern Illinois University. She ex- plained that she was in the third row when someone entered her lecture hall at the right of the stage and began shooting. All the students around her were hit. Her laptop took a bul- let and her seat had bullet holes, but somehow she es- caped. She spoke bravely about her fears since the
Other Opinions
event, followed by anger, and then therapy, and now her active practice of look- ing for good in others.
Carr went on to ex- plain that just a year ago, she and other survivors met in DeKalb, Illinois, on the NIU campus for the 10-year anniversary of the shooting, February 14, 2018. Many had stayed in touch but it was helpful to be together, facilitated by university profes- sionals, to discuss their progress, to remember their friends, and to com- memorate that they were still here and thriving, or at least attempting to thrive. Then Carr paused, and explained at a certain point during their reunion, some of them started get- ting texts, and then all of them did. The information they received revealed the facts of the mass shoot- ing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida actively taking place. Ten years later, on Valentine’s Day again, another mass shoot- ing disrupted our country, killed more young people, and destroyed the faith and trust the survivors from NIU were just begin- ning to feel.
Astounded, I realized that when the Parkland
shooting occurred, I didn’t put the date together with the shooting at NIU exact- ly 10 years earlier. How common must these shoot- ings have become for me, despite actively seeking for ways to prevent one in my own classroom, that the same date did not even register. I had not lost a loved one at NIU, but per- haps I just subconsciously decided to let Feb. 14 stay Valentine’s Day?
Most Americans know we have a gun problem in the United States, but are we still looking for solutions? Thankfully, the Parkland students launched the March for Our Lives that many of us participated in, but have universal background checks been passed into law yet? Just last week, a gunman killed five people at a place of business in the city of Aurora, IL. A student from NIU was an intern there, reporting for his first day of work. Is this ever going to stop? When will it ever end? When will we ever learn?
Ellen Lindeen, syndi- cated by PeaceVoice,is an Emeritus Professor of English at Waubonsee Community College where she taught Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution and Human Rights & Social Justice.
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