Letters to the editor, FEb. 20, 2007

Monday, February 19, 2007 4:46 PM CST

Work to make schools safe

As a parent of four boys, ages 7 to 11, who attend Red Apple, I was completely mortified after reading the principal's letter Tuesday afternoon describing what had happened at Red Apple Tuesday morning and my heart goes out to the victim and his parents.

But what is also disturbing is that this community is now taking a tragic thing like this and playing politics with it ... playing the blame game. According to the Journal Times "Our Perspective" on Friday February 16th, some people are calling for the firing of Mr. Hicks and other school officials. This is ludicrous.

If we wanted to we could take the blame right back to the parents and other citizens who voted no on some past referendums, after all it takes money to pay for security doesn't it? It takes money, and a lot of it, to update schools built in the 1800s to bring them up to today's standards.

So why don't we all just stop with the blame game and work together to make not only our schools but also our community safer.

The building that Red Apple is in does not only house Red Apple Elementary, it also holds two other programs and there are, I believe, eight entrances. Two of these entrances are used by P-Coc (a program for 3- and 4-year-olds), two others are used by the district's special education preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds.

I have had children in the P-Coc and special education programs and have used those doors myself in the past and an intruder could get into any one of those entrances also. So to blame anyone from Red Apple, staff or parents, is simply not realistic.

This is a very unfortunate thing to have happened in one of our district's finest school and though it is very frightening to think that my children were in just as much danger that morning, I am confident (from speaking to my children regarding the new policies and from knowing how much the teachers, officials and staff care about our children) that Red Apple and the RUSD are doing everything they can to keep our children safe.

Now it is up to the community to come together, for the parents and the schools to work together to insure our schools are safe but to do it without creating paranoia in our children.

Starlet Makela

Racine

Potato patronage

A candidate for Congress in the potato area of the South assured the voters that he would pass a law stopping France from shipping french fried potatoes to the United States.

Some congressman.

Virginia Seitz

3920 N. Green Bay Road

Make Interstate a tollway

Auto rental fees, dubious. Another idea. Make I-94 a tollway with fees to also support KRM and area bus services.

Net effect would reduce some auto usage and utilize the transit system needed to help our area grow and generate new tax streams for community services. Rejuvenation of Racine is vital if citizens want to maintain property values, schools, a quality of life. Redevelopment of the vacant factory land must happen , otherwise people will get the lower taxes they want: the area will die. There is no free lunch, only death and taxes are certain, the latter necessary in some way or form. Hoped for increased property values means rising taxes, ameliorated to a degree, if new, profitable businesses are started also.

Those of us on fixed incomes don't want more expenses/fees/taxes. Neither did the generation before us. They survived, so will we. KRM can only be a positive step long term.

John Ramaker,

Racine

Help freezing pedestrians

Standing in the crosswalk of an uncontrolled intersection is a young mother and her children, trying to get to the store to buy food for the family.

They shiver and stamp their feet trying to fend off the frigid cold wind as they wait for a break in the traffic. Standing in the crosswalk on the other side of the street is an elderly lady wearing a thin scarf over her head and a well worn winter coat, trying to cross the street to catch her bus.

Not one of the warm, cozy, and comfortable car drivers stops to let these people cross the street. Why not? Please show a little kindness to those less fortunate than you, especially in this weather.

A. Lawrence

Racine

Dealing with dyslexia

Dyslexia is a physical handicap for children who have a reading disability. I have found out I have to go to Kenosha for a diagnosis. The cost is $400 and the insurance does not cover this, even though it is a medical problem.

I found out there is no class for this problem in Racine Unified. They do go into special education, but this is not enough. They need a special program and specially-trained teachers. Private tutors want $40 an hour with at least two hours a week. How many people can afford this?

If a child cannot learn to read in the elementary years by the time they reach middle school or high school they tend to get very discouraged and drop out. Some can find work and some wind up in trouble.

Is it better to spend the money when they need it the most or wait until they are in trouble or on welfare? Are there children left behind?

Are there other parents or grandparents concerned about this problem? If so, you may call me at (262) 637-7685 and let us see what we can do.

Rose Hovgaard

Racine

Evolution debate

There seems to be an unending controversy about the validity of evolution theory, which shows a lack of understanding about how science works. There is also an unending number of books explaining why that theory is wrong. My brother-in-law, who is Catholic, just sent me one of them for my amusement, but actually I find it rather sad.

Science accepts whatever theory best explains the facts. When Darwin proposed his theory in an 1858 article and 1859 book, few biologists accepted it and opponents tried, unsuccessfully, to refute it. It is here to stay unless someone comes up with a theory that explains the facts better, which is extremely unlikely.

Evolution is not just a few ideas, it is a complete science. If one looks in an evolution textbook or the journal "Evolution," one sees that this is the same kind of science as organic chemistry or nuclear physics or molecular biology.

Just because critics can find something that evolutionary science has not yet explained cuts no ice. One could do the same for the atomic theory, yet no one does because it is not perceived as a threat to religion.

What matters is explaining the facts that we do have, and there is only one way known to do that � Darwin's way.

Frank N. Egerton

Racine

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