Page 3 - Sanger Herald 5-3-18 E-edition

Random thoughts Does the city really care about financial accounting competence?
• SubsidizingCementwiththeUtilization of Bio-Waste Materials to Create a Superior Concrete;
• Effects of Water pH on Fodder Growth
• Analysis of Chronic Toxicity of Glyphosate on Fecundity and Mortality of Daphnia magna; and
• Can Odocoileus hemionus Adapt to Topography Changes within a Major Migratory Route?
I can't even pronounce many of the words in the titles used to describe the projects.
The impressive performance by Sanger science and engineering students comes soon after the steller job at the world champion- ship competition by Uni-Rex, the high school robotics team that wound up being ranked among the top 2 percent of robotics teams all over the world.
How did Sanger students get so smart?
It probably has a lot to do with the school district's commitment to student learning, not
Elder Abuse Awareness
Reachingthegoldenyearsshouldbea time to enjoy life with family and friends andnot timeoffearorworry.Financial exploitation - by a family member, caregiver, or scammer- is a common way that our older family members are taken advantage of:
In my OPINION
'Political correctness does not legislate
tolerance; it only organizes hatred.' Jacques Barzun By Fred Hall
SANGER HERALD 3A THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018 EDITORIAL & OPINION
By Dick Sheppard
I have no idea what any of the projects are about that won awards at the 2018 California Science & Engineering Fair:
• Determining the Effects of Equisetum hye- male on the Growth Rate of Penicillium italicum;
Dick Sheppard
just to the educator's job of teaching. Waytogo Sanger students and the Sanger
Unified School District. •••
I keep wishing I could say something nice like that about what's going on at city hall. But after sitting through the Tuesday evening Measure S Citizens Oversight Committee meeting I don't think that's going to happen right away.
Instead, I have lots of questions:
• why can't the city staff get accurate information to the committee on a timely basis; and
• why does the city council allow the depressing side show to continue without demanding an accounting from the city man- ager, Tim Chapa, the boss of the city staff?
It appears the administrative/finance director Gary Watahira is doing the best he can, considering his limited background with accounting.
But, will the city really run out of Measure S money in the next year or two?
Not likely.
Accounting error? Likely.
Has the more than $1.2 million math error
in the Measure S budget been corrected? Does Watahira, the oversight committee, the council or the city manager really know
how much Measure S money there is in the bank?
It doesn't seem like it.
unpaid bills, new credit cards or unusual purchases might be signs of financial abuse.
If you believe you or a loved one might be a victim, please call Fresno County Adult Pro- tective Services at (559)-600-3383 or Madera County Adult Protective Services at (559)- 675-7839. If you suspect abuse of an elder resigning in a license care facility, please call the Fresno-Madera Long Term Care Ombuds- man Program at (559)-224-9177
To Learn more about the effects of elder abuse in Fresno and Madera Counties, please planonattendingtheWorldElderAbuse Awareness Event.
IfyouhavequestionspleasecontactSusan Bussean at sbussean@valleyecrc.org, (559) 224-9177.
Susan Bussean
Watahira, with limited accounting experi- ence, was hired by Chapa to clean up the mess created by Chapa's first hire who messed up the city's books so badly they couldn't be audited in the usual period of time.
It cost the city big bucks for the auditor's overtime trying to sort through the mess.
Chapa has also hired an administrator who was fired at another city after he made an $85,000 error on that city's budget projection.
What's up with the city's (Chapa's) hiring process?
Doesn't the city pay well enough and pro- vide enough benefits to attract competent, experienced people?
Why doesn't the city council man up and demand competence and accuracy and timely reports to the council and to its advisory com- mittees.
Lots of questions.
Not many answers.
It's about as puzzling as whatever those
science and technology fair projects are all about.
•••
I hope you'll be able to make it to the inau-
gural Sanger High School Hall of Fame din-
ner this Saturday evening at the community center. Some of Sanger's super athletes will be there to be honored as members of the first class to be inducted into the new hall of fame.
Tickets are only $35 and there are still a few remaining at the high school main office. Heck, just the 16-page commemorative
program with photos and biographies of all the inductees is worth that amount.
•••
Big waytogos to Sanger animal control
officer Mario Irazoqui and his sidekick, vol- unteer Kim Reed, who take care of the ani- mals, mostly dogs, waiting at the shelter for a forever home. Mario and Kim and Kim's corps of volunteers work hard to save the lives of the many strays that are rounded up and housed in the old metal building used as a shelter on the city yard southeast of Sanger.
If the dogs aren't eventually adopted or picked up by a rescue organization there's only one terrible alternative for them.
Couldn't you use a new best furry friend? •••
Comments, complaints and suggestions may be emailed to sangerherald@gmail.com or may be made by calling 875-2511.
We welcome guest columns at the Herald
should never be used to indoctrinate and intimidate our young students.
Onemorething: Instructors,whenyou do make statements of a political nature try toriseabovebeingsostupidandinsipid as toembarrassyourselfandtheinstitutionfor which you work.
I just decided—as an afterthought—to throwinsomeitemsfordiscussionover morning coffee or adult beverages in the eve- ning, myimpressionsoneachtopic.
• GlobalClimateChange: PersonallyI see no empirical evidence of such an occur- rence. Theguyswhoaretryingtoconvince us can't even tell us, with any degree of cer- tainty,whenwemightexpectournextrain fall much less what our climate will be like in thenext50years!
• HighSpeedRail: It'ssofaroverbud- get and so underfunded that it's extremely unlikely it will ever finish even though the Governor continues to gather money from othersourcesinhisattemptsatalegacy. It, if ever finished, will serve such a small part of our population it makes no sense!
• The $53 Billion Increase in Gas Tax: ThisisacripplingloadonCalifornia'secon- omy and is not earmarked for road improve- ment! Muchwillbespentonbiketrails,HSR and other pork barrel projects!
•Propositions47and57: Needimmedi- aterepeal! Thesedonothingbutprovide comfort to our criminal element and place citizensatgreaterrisk!
But, as always, that's only one man's opin- ion.
In addition to the Sanger Herald, Publisher Fred Hall oversees two other Mid Valley Publishing newspapers - Reedley Exponent, and Dinuba Sentinel. He can be contacted by phone at (559) 638-2244 or by email at fred@ midvalleypublishing.com.
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Having been born,
raised and educated in this
great country it has always
been my assumption the
best educated and highest
skilled among us would rise
to the top of various fields
and professions based on
thatcriteria. Imaginemy
surprise when I opened last Sunday's daily newspapertoreadanarticlebemoaningthe fact that Cal Poly was 54 percent “white.” There was no mention of any sort of record of academic achievement by the student body, only a condemnation for their being “too white.”
Whateverhappenedtotheconceptof excellence and achievement?
Whyareallofourinstitutionsintoday's marketplacejudgedontheirdiversity? We read no percentage of diversity figures for professional sports except for ownership and management! Whyhaveweprogressedso far and yet have a dual standard for measur- ingachievement?
NocountrysurpassesAmericainprovid- ing an equal opportunity to achieve success, butoneshouldnotfindthethumbofgovern- ment placed on the scale in an attempt to pro- duceequalresults. Thesimpletruthisthat we are not all born equal in terms of skills andaptitude. Geneticsandtheenvironment in which we are raised are important factors and can't be simply changed by wishing it were different.
Certainly everyone should be provided anequalopportunitybutpoliticallycor-
rect social experimentation in our schools and institutions of higher learning will have very little impact on the natural order or the results. Wesimplywindup“dumbingdown” the common denominator.
AftertherecentfiascoatFresnoState, which does not appear to be an isolated inci- dent,theAmericanpublicneedstoaddress thecurrentphenomenonofpoliticsandpoliti- cal correctness that seems to have run amok inoureducationalsystem. Professorsaswell as high school teachers need to keep politics outoftheclassroom. Howtoughisthat?
An education should deal with basics and prepare our children for entry into a world that is far different from much of the fan- tasy which is thrown in on an ancillary basis anddeemededucation. Theseinstructors are most certainly entitled to their personal political views but classes and the classroom
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FredHall