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| Tue, May 21, 2013 04:24 PM
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What most of you don't seem to realize is that education is as competitive as football and basketball. The only real difference is that points for sports competition have no money value except for the very best and then for a very short time and points for knowledge will determine your income, who you are and what you are for the rest of your life. If you can do both, great, but few can.
Employers will only hire people that will make them money. The skills you learn in school determine what your value is to them. Another way to look at it is to assume you are a one-person business. The product you produce is your ability to make someone else money. The more money you can make for someone else, the more money they will pay you to do it. The ones with the most knowledge make the most money, but there are a lot of in-between successes. The more you learn, the less likely you are to be in the same circumstances as a has-been sports player that fudged their way through school.
The amount of useful information in your head will determine your income level for the rest of your life. No teacher can force information into your head. Every question you don't ask, every class you cut, every interruption of the learning process you create is cutting your future income. Yes, learning is hard, but so is trying to raise a family on minimum wage. Do the hard part now for a short period and avoid living the hard life forever.
School is pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime proposition. Once you have to buy your own cave and kill your own meat, there won't be much time to re-educate yourself.
Once you read this, if you fail to heed this advice, I don't think society owes you anything. In fact, I think a high school diploma with a minimum grade-point average should be used to determine your eligibility for any social benefits. You have no right to anyone else's money when it is your choice to be ignorant.
Bob Laythe
Laconia, Ind.
May 15, 2013
The end of the school year begins the kickoff to the summer travel season and is an opportunity to celebrate all that Indiana offers. We have a wonderfully diverse state from our dunes in the north to our lovely river communities along the Ohio. And, of course, our capital city, that beautifully reinvented urban destination.
The Indiana Office of Tourism Development works with community partners across our state to boost Indiana's economy through travel-related initiatives. Our agency is dedicated to enhancing the economic vitality of Indiana by providing leadership and resource support to the Indiana travel industry. As the third-largest contributor to Indiana's economy, travel, tourism and hospitality businesses support nearly 200,000 Hoosier jobs, drive $10 billion in consumer spending and serve 63 million travelers on an annual basis. The chief beneficiaries of this economic impact are the family-owned and small businesses that are the backbone of Indiana.
Indiana's tourism economy is driven by its agriculture, culinary, outdoor recreation, sports, heritage and cultural capacity. They're the signature experiences of our state that Hoosiers identify with and visitors to Indiana seek. Our upcoming bicentennial will give Hoosiers the chance to celebrate our history and culture in an unprecedented way. This celebration, which takes place in 2016, will connect our people, communities and regions like never before. The tourism momentum created by the bicentennial will carry on in future years as Hoosiers become reacquainted with the richness of our heritage and leisure opportunities.
In recent years, there have been great improvements to Indiana's roadway system. Indiana has added miles and miles of new and resurfaced roads, making it easier and safer for travelers to visit all corners of our state. Interstate 69 and U.S. 31 are burgeoning tourism corridors and just two of the dozens of transportation projects that will have a positive impact on the tourism industry.
All roads point to Indiana. In fact, from where I sit, I can say with confidence that Indiana is in the middle of everywhere.
As I travel the back roads of our state, I am taken by the rural communities I visit and the heart-warming appeal of the people and pace I encounter. Indiana is indeed a very special place. So, as we enter the summer travel season, I want to encourage you to get in your cars, drive our roadways and explore all that Indiana has to offer. I promise you won't be disappointed by what you discover.
Mark Newman, Executive Director, Indiana Office of Tourism Development
May 15, 2013
We applaud the Indiana General Assembly for rejecting the attacks on Common Core and allowing the standards, which the State Board of Education adopted in August 2010, to continue to be implemented. (Only the elements of the program not already adopted, such as testing and science standards, would be paused under House Bill 1427).
We are also pleased that the Legislature mandated standards that include Common Core as the foundation and require college and career readiness criteria. By those standards still being based on Common Core, that should assure that Indiana keeps its federal waiver — that removed us from the federal No Child Left Behind program — and Title I funding for our schools.
It was critically important that the ultimate decision-making on Common Core remain with the State Board of Education, which has adopted all previous Indiana standards, including Common Core, and doesn't face the same politically-charged environment that exists at the Statehouse.
While we don't agree that actual new adoption procedures are necessary, several positives could result from that. Further review of the Common Core standards would hopefully provide the general public with a better understanding of what Common Core does and doesn't do. Plus, it will give the state the opportunity to determine which, if any, additional standards we should adopt. (The Common Core multi-state agreement permits Indiana to add up to 15 percent of its own standards to the program.)
In addition, House Bill 1427 included changes to the state's accountability system for schools.
The Indiana Chamber strongly supported the school accountability provisions in the bill, including the approval of the A through F grading system which is clearer and more informative for the public. The bill's improved accountability model really focuses on student improvement growth and school performance, replacing the peer-based measures that have been the focus of intense criticism.
Kevin Brinegar, President/CEO Indiana Chamber
May 15, 2013
Across the country and in communities like New Albany, Ind., federal employees protect and serve our nation. To honor these workers and their service, May 5 through 11 has been designated as Public Service Recognition Week.
With the exception of astronauts and the SEAL team that caught Osama bin Laden, there aren't many federal employees whose work is heralded in newspaper headlines.
Whether it's our role to inspect food and water, open new international trade routes for U.S. companies to sell their products, patrol America's borders, protect our freedoms, take criminals off the streets and keep them behind bars, acquire the best equipment for our soldiers or provide the intelligence needed to thwart terrorism, a federal employee's satisfaction comes from the knowledge that America is safer and stronger because we did our jobs.
There are many federal workers in your communities and surrounding areas. They sound the alarm when a bad storm is coming; postal employees deliver the mail; air traffic controllers make the skies safer; Census Bureau provides vital statistics to businesses; V.A. Medical Center provides health care to veterans; Corps of Engineers secure our dams and prevent floods in our communities; Social Security provides your grandmother's monthly check; Medicare pays her medical bills; and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission makes your children's toys safe, etc.
Unfortunately, many politicians and congressional members target federal workers for cuts in pay and earned benefits as measures in a continuing fight over the federal budget. Federal employees' salaries have been frozen for nearly three years, contributing almost $114 billion toward deficit reduction. No other workers or private sector have been singled out for shared sacrifice or similar measures.
As you encounter these federal workers in our community, I encourage you to let them know you appreciate the work they do in your behalf. We are honored to serve you.
Don Savage, President, Indiana Federation of National Active & Retired Federal Employees Association
May 08, 2013
This letter is written in response to the letter ("Kelty 'kind-hearted, friendly' doctor," April 17) written by Anna Anderson. Miss Anderson stated that she had several surgeries while in Kelty's care. I question if they were necessary surgeries ...
It's been 20 years since I went to Kelty and was put on Xanax. I had no trouble getting prescriptions filled early. I became addicted. I was blind to what was ahead of me. I had been on Xanax for years when Kelty told me I needed surgery. I decided to get a second opinion.
I went to Dr. Garner, a well-known doctor in New Albany. He received the X-rays and he told me I didn't need any surgery. When I went back to Kelty, he cut me completely off Xanax ... I wish I had foreseen down the road what hell I was about to experience. I would never have taken that first Xanax.
I went to JADAC (Jefferson Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center in Louisville). I was so lucky and proud to have a husband who was caring and stood by me all the way. It was hard, but, once my insurance ran out, we couldn't afford $1,000 a day, so I went home to suffer withdrawals. I was physically and mentally a bed-ridden wreck. I remember before I admitted myself the doctor told me Xanax was one of the worst drugs to come off of. The best way I can describe it is I felt like a body of thin glass shattering in a thousand pieces.
Do you think it is only coincidence all those women, including myself, have come forward to the prosecutor with allegations of sexual misconduct and getting them hooked on highly addictive drugs? There is no doubt in my mind getting these women addicted to prescription drugs was a way he saw to make money and, more than anything, take advantage of them in their need for a fix.
I am glad for you that you weren't one of these women. ...
Jan Barton
Corydon, Ind.
May 08, 2013
Thousands of pieces of valuable materials, including historical documents and historical files, are housed at the Frederick Porter Griffin Center for Local History and Genealogy at the Harrison County Public Library. While searching these files, we have found some very interesting documents concerning the early education of our male citizens.
In the early history of the State of Indiana, the Board of Commissioners of each county was allowed to send two of its young men to study (all expenses paid) to Indiana University, "The State University" in Bloomington. We have found some of the original petitions that were written by these young men requesting the appointment by the Board of Commissioners to attend the University.
In 1902, the provision was extended to the law school by the decision of the Supreme Court. We do not have the dates that the Medical School, Purdue University and Wabash College were included.
We need your help. Kathy Fisher, department head of the library's genealogy department, contacted Indiana University seeking information of the attendance and later careers of these men. They do have some records but we still have several men they could not locate. We are asking anyone with information about these men to contact us so we can finish this chapter in the history of Harrison County.
The men who wrote petitions are: Joseph W. McRae, 1843; James Harper, 1845; Woodford L. Hurst, 1845; Henry Raeder, 1846; William Slaughter, Medical School, 1848; William Spooner, 1848; John Sonner, 1848; Abe W. Gilmer/Gilnor, Medical School, 1848; Ransom Byrn, 1853; Lewis Jordan, 1853; Joseph Funk, 1855; John A. McRae, 1855; Temple Harrison, Wabash College, 1857; George Harbison, 1860; Strother Stockslager, 1862; Simon Green, 1862; M. Isaac Love, no date; Warner Stevens, 1864; William W. Stevens, 1864; Mustica Z. Miller, 1874; Thomas S. Slaughter, Purdue, 1895; Charles S. Sample, Purdue, 1895; Ova L. Bulleit, Purdue, 1908; Daniel C. Bopp, Purdue, 1909; L. Carlisle Brown, Purdue, 1911; Clarence Wolf, Purdue, 1912; Leslie Brown, Purdue, 1912; R. Earl Miller, Purdue, 1914; Kean Irwin, Purdue, 1914; and Robert Presley O'Bannon, Purdue, 1917.
Please call or e-mail us if you have any information on these men, such as did they return to Harrison County, did they attend the university and/or complete their education, did they work here and were they buried here?
When finished compiling the information, we will put it in book form which will be housed in the Genealogy Library.
Please call Sharon Uhl at 972-0404 or send an e-mail to uhl@portative.net or call Lynne Keasling at 738-6921 or reach by e-mail at keasling 1987@insightbb.com. You can also contact Kathy Fisher by e-mail at genealogy@hcpl.lib.in.us.
Sharon Uhl and Lynne Keasling, Members of The Hoosier Elm DAR
May 01, 2013
In response to Jim Koerber's letter to the editor (April 24), titled "Common sense about gun control":
Yes, background checks sound like a good Idea — and an even better Idea when they include the record searches of the mentally ill — but there are several things to consider in determining whether or not it would accomplish anything of significance.
Common sense tells us that criminals are not going to comply with the law. They will either acquire their guns on the black market or apply with stolen ID's or simply find someone who owns a gun and steal it. Quite simply, anyone who is willing to kill will find a way to do it. Common sense tells us the problem is there are too many people willing to kill and, if they can't get a gun, they might even try a pressure cooker bomb.
You talk about all these women who are killed each year by their intimate partner. If those women had their own guns, maybe a few more bullying intimate partner males would be dead. Personal protection that makes you equal to any assailant is the only way for the good guys and gals to win. Yes, somebody will have to die, but better the bad guy than you!
Even limiting the size of the magazine or clip accomplishes nothing more than leaving the law-abiding citizen with less protection. In the shootout with the police in Watertown, the Boston bomber brothers reportedly fired over 175 rounds. How would you like to be in that firefight with a seven-round clip? If two or three bad guys break into your home, each carrying two guns each with 13-round clips, you better be a very good shot or you are going to run out of bullets and then you are going to die. You may be a good shot on the range but, when someone is shooting back, that all changes. Even if the cops can actually get there in 10 minutes, it will all be over in less than five.
If we are going to fight crime, then let's not make it any more difficult for the good guys to at least have a fair fight.
And speaking of the Boston bombers, who belong to a religion that believes you should die if you chose to belong to any other religion, why is that religion allowed here since it won't allow others the freedom of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment? What's with that?
Bob Laythe
Laconia, Ind.
May 01, 2013
I have thought long and seriously about what our government is trying to do to our Second Amendment rights. Congress and President Obama, acting on mass hysteria and broken hearts, speak to Americans about gun control. Relatives of victims speak to us through the media and lay guilt on everyone who does not immediately and vocally support their viewpoint. My heart goes out to all of them, but let's be realistic in what we allow our government to do to American citizens.
Let's look at what gun control has done to other counties in the past 102 years. It is not pretty. Do we want our country added at the bottom of this list? Our Founding Fathers gave us good guidelines to follow; it is up to Americans to protect our freedoms.
1911 — Turkey banned the right of its citizens to own guns. Between 1915 and 1917, 1.5 million of its citizens were annihilated.
1929 — The USSR banned the right of its citizens to own guns. Between 1929 and 1953, 20 million of its citizens were annihilated.
1935 — China banned the right of its citizens to own guns. Between 1948 and 1952, 20 million of its citizens were annihilated.
1938 — Germany banned the right of its citizens to own guns. Between 1939 and 1945, 13 million Jews, citizens of Germany, were annihilated. (Remember World War II? Some of us fought to correct that situation.)
1956 — Cambodia banned the right of its citizens to own guns. Between 1975 and 1977, one million of its citizens were annihilated.
1964 — Guatemala banned the right of its citizens to own guns. Between 1964 and 1981, one million Mayan Indians were annihilated.
1970 — Uganda banned the right of its citizens to own guns. Between 1971 and 1979, 300,000 of its citizens were annihilated.
In the 20th century, 56 million citizens of the world were annihilated in the name of "protecting" the general public through gun control. Their guns were confiscated, and anyone who disagreed with the political leaders of their countries were killed, often being buried in mass, unmarked graves.
When a country gives up its citizens' right to bear arms to protect themselves, it gives political control to persons who always use it to further their own agenda: total control of the citizens, a dictatorship. Beware, when our politicians chip away at our constitution, they are chipping away our freedoms.
Our country has many laws on the books to protect our citizens. They need to be enforced. There will always be people who want to hurt others no matter how many laws we have, and, in the right hands, anything is a weapon, even the fork you use at the dinner table.
So, consider carefully how much governmental control under which you are willing to live.
Harriet Meredith Davis
Corydon, Ind.
May 01, 2013
The School of Phlebotomy in Corydon appreciates all those who attended, donated or supported in any way our first Kim Baker Memorial Scholarship Benefit yard sale/silent auction.
Our ongoing fundraisers benefit deserving individuals in our community by helping them develop the skills necessary to achieve their health care career goals.
In the past several years, these scholarships have helped numerous students find meaningful employment in the health care industry, and the School of Phlebotomy is proud to be a part of helping change people's lives.
We look forward to working with the community in the future to provide ongoing scholarship opportunities for individuals who desire to begin a career in the health care field and just need a little help.
Our heartfelt thanks to all the local businesses and individuals who donated items for the yard/bake sale and silent auction. Without the support of these generous Corydon businesses and individuals, we would not have had such a successful event.
Catherine Ernst,
Administrator, School of Phlebotomy
Center for Phlebotomy
Education |
Corydon, Ind.
Catherine Ernst, Administrator, School of Phlebotomy, Center for Phlebotomy Education
Corydon, Ind.
May 01, 2013
What were they thinking?
This past week was filled with tragedies: Boston, Waco, Texas, and Washington, D.C.
In two tragedies, I'm proud of our first responders. In the third, I'm proud that Sen. Donnelly stood up to the NRA's Washington lobby and voted to expand background checks, something that 89 percent of fellow Hoosiers support. However, I am very disappointed in Sen. Coats for voting to block reasonable gun reform. What was he thinking?
Background checks are common sense. And they work. In states where background checks are required for handguns, far fewer women are shot to death by their intimate partner.
No one should rest while 33 Americans continue to be killed with guns every day. When will common sense return to Washington, D.C.?
Also, I applaud Adolphus Busch IV, a member of the NRA since 1975, for submitting his resignation to the NRA this week. He stated that he is simply unable to comprehend how assault weapons and large capacity magazines have a role in the NRA's vision. The NRA he sees today has undermined the values upon which it was established. Further, he said the NRA's current strategic focus places a priority on the needs of gun and ammunition manufacturers while disregarding the opinions of their four million individual members. I think more NRA members need to send the same message to the NRA's leadership.
Jim Koerber
Corydon, Ind.
April 24, 2013
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Corydon Democrat, 301 N. Capitol Ave., Corydon, IN 47112 • 1-812-738-2211 • email
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