Letters to the Editor
Indiana HB 1008 was a bad bill

Recent Indiana House Bill 1008 known as the cigarette tax, was wisely defeated 52-44. Only 19 of 49 Republicans voted for it. It was a classic mistake of combining various good intentions with poor, complex legislation.

HB 1008 would have raised the price of cigarettes 25 cents per pack. It would have funded with this increase various social programs for the poor. It also makes a pilot project for small employers to obtain health care coverage for the employees. Here lies a big problem. Is the bill's objective to get people to quit smoking? Maybe it's trying to raise taxes? Or, possibly, the bill is bent on making new social programs.

Conservative Republicans bristled at this tax increase and expansion of government. Regional Republican State Reps. Jim Buck, Bill Friend, and Eric Gutwein voted against it. Only Representative Rich McClain voted for it. Rep. Bill Dais called it, "The biggest entitlement program ever seen." Muncie Republican Jack Lutz said it would "create another government bureaucracy."

Sin taxes on alcohol and cigarette sales are traditionally unreliable and who would pay for the $260 million current price tag on getting these programs started? If the original dollar per pack had been passed on cigarettes imagine that fiscal nightmare. Fortunately, long-term visionaries defeated this bad bill. They should be commended for it.
                Rick Gibbs
Forces Indiana President
                Logansport
New cemetery flagpole to honor our veterans

This past winter the board of directors of the Maple Lawn Cemetery announced that they were beginning a fundraising project for a new flagpole for the Veteran's Memorial at the cemetery. Numerous community organizations and individuals have already donated to this worthy cause but more money is needed. The original plan was for the installation to be done in time for a dedication ceremony that would take place during the Memorial Day holiday.

The old flagpole is in bad shape and is definitely in need of replacement but there is a greater cause that exists in this project. We have many veterans already at rest at the cemetery and many more who someday will. The men and women who have served our country in times of war and times of peace made a sacrifice of their time and sometimes of their lives for the rest of us to enjoy the freedoms that we have. Those of us who have never served cannot truly understand the love for our country and their comrades that makes up the special bond that veterans share.

The veterans of World War I are gone and the veterans of World War II are joining them all too quickly. We have many among us who have fought in Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm. They have had duty stations that took them to the far corners of the world in all types of situations.

You may personally know someone who is on active duty right now in the Mideast in combat or a supporting role. They all serve because they love their country, their families and the friends they left behind. It is because of their sacrifice for us that they are worthy of being honored.

The flagpole that will be placed and the flag that will be raised is for all of them. Every donation that is given, $5 or $500, is for them.

I ask that every member of this community look at their lives and consider what it might have been if not for the sacrifice of our veterans. Please consider giving what you can for this worthy cause as it is truly larger than the flagpole itself.

Please make your checks payable to: Maple Lawn Cemetery Flagpole Fund and mail to Jerry Reinke, 1495 E, 50N, Flora, IN 46929. (Reinke is the chairman of the fundraiser.)

Please do not delay as the deadline is upon us. Thank you for your consideration.
Tom and Jill Kressley
                      Flora
Fear diary will harm environment

I am hopeful the people responsible for controls in the state and county have the necessary tools and people to keep our lands from becoming an environmental nightmare. However, I suspect our enforcement will drift along the path of Michigan and Ohio since their regulations didn't work well for them either.

I have already informed Myron Sink, our present tenant that our farm will not be used as part of the 1,700 acres he says will be needed for a "dumping ground" for the millions of gallons of manure. I wouldn't allow that to happen to our good friends and neighbors for any amount of money.

My dad always impressed upon me to try to "leave the place a little bit better than it was when you found it."

Lord help us as we throw ourselves upon the mercy of the state and county regulators to respect our property rights and to prevent our area from becoming an E-coli cesspool.
Bob and Bobbi Shaffer
        Vero Beach, Fla.
Disagrees with reasons for Camden school realignment

This is really disturbing. How is it that we can see the need to spend $4,000 on bussing software so that way we can solve the newly created problems from our new plan for the elementary school's; yet, we can't see clearly enough to use that same software as a useful tool before changing the entire elementary school's formats. Can't we simply figure out how to beef up the classrooms in Camden by rerouting the busses before we change the entire alignment of the schools! We can then be done with this problem of having to eliminate the 6 teachers required to make ends meet and not have to mess with anything else.

The bussing is going to be a disaster! We live in Burrows, which is 7 or 8 miles away from the Camden school and our kids are on the bus for an hour. Now we somehow think that we can bus 4 and 5 year olds twice that distance which will probably take twice the time. Even if they shuttle the kids from Hillcrest, they are still going to be in transit for 1½ hours - at least. It's insane!

To do that to a five-year-old is ridiculous (to a four-year-old, madness)! Maybe we should install some video equipment on the bus so the kids can watch Barney while they're traveling half the day (I'm only kidding, don't let a board member read that - they may make a motion to do it).

The board is boasting that they are doing all of this for the kids. Bologna! How can anyone boast that they are thinking of the kids first with a maneuver like this? Am I the only one that sees how the size of a school matters? The larger the school, the greater chance for cliques to be formed. As the social groups form, pressure from these groups (peer pressure) is heightened. This directly causes stress to the child that is distracting to his/her focus. This stress then produces a less than optimal environment for any child trying to study. Isn't this just common sense?

Smaller School = less cliques = less peer pressure = less distraction = good study environment = 4-star school. Any questions?

Remember, the only reason that Camden did not make the 4-star schools rating these past two out of three years was ONLY because the attendance record fell short of the mark. The test scores were there!

All it takes is a motion from someone on the board (and some common sense from three other board members) to change this back to the way it has always been. We can simply reroute the busses to add kids to the Camden classrooms and be done with this mess. My grandpa always said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Maybe he knew what he was talking about, huh?
Brad Powlen
      Burrows

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