By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

$9.4 trillion : Total U.S. public debt as of May 22

$23.5 billion : Amount of money Uncle Sam had in the bank as of May 22

$243.9 billion : Interest paid on national debt so far this fiscal year

$1.5 trillion : Money received by Uncle Sam so far this fiscal year through April

$1.7 trillion : Money spent so far this fiscal year by Uncle Sam through April

600,000 : Number of unresolved claims backlogged with the Veterans Administration

154,000 : Estimated number of veterans nationwide who are homeless on any given night

1.1 million : Number of signatures turned in on petitions favoring the California Marriage Protection Act for the fall ballot

61 percent : Percentage by which voters passed Proposition 22, which banned gay marriages in California until a 4-3 judicial ruling overturned it earlier this month

150,000 : The number of unauthorized copyrighted videoclips that Viacom, in its lawsuit against YouTube, claims YouTubers have stolen

$1 billion : Amount Viacom seeks from YouTube

4,082 : Number of people killed in Iraq since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, as of Monday

68,670 : Approximate number of people killed by drunk drivers in the U.S. since the beginning of the Iraq war

By John Rieping
MaderaTribuneRedLine.com

In 2006, the ABC News show “20/20” caused a bit of a stir with a special news feature on how high school education in the U.S. stacked up.

The feature, hosted by John Stossel and entitled “Stupid in America,” pointed out — among other things — the achievement gap between U.S. high school students and teenaged students in most other countries, as well as the fact that “many other countries that spend significantly less on education do better than we do.”

The show also poses possible ways to improve the situation, such as allowing healthy competition for school funding and reforming the tenure system.

The reaction to the broadcast was outrage by teachers’ unions, which claimed it was an outright attack on both students and teachers.

So how are our nation’s high schools doing two years later? Recent indicators do not seem encouraging.

Only this April did Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announce that states would be required to report high school graduation rates in a uniform and consistent way.

Why? Because of such creative methods as that of the state of New Mexico, which determined the official high school graduation rate as the percentage of students who enter the 12th grade and exit with a diploma — a method that ignores drop outs during the first three years. California’s method is also allegedly one that inflates the results, but despite this inflation California still reports a five percent higher drop out rate than the nation as a whole.

In all fairness, Madera’s schools rate average or better versus other schools in California according to the State Department of Education rankings released last week and celebrated at a Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday. Compared to state schools with the same socio-economic status, some of our schools — including one of our high schools — rank exceptionally well.

But such good news is like receiving an A, B or C on an exam that was graded on a curve. The value of the grade depends upon the strength of the competition.

How would we truly fare if U.S. high schools were seriously scrutinized in 2008? I guess we may have a somewhat clearer sense in the years to come thanks to consistency in reporting graduation rates.

And thanks to our severely indebted governments on the state and national level, we may soon have a chance to see if — like many nations around the world — we too can do better with less funding.

But pardon me if I don’t sound excited.

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The recent Madera County Board of Supervisors meeting in which the Chukchansi Tribe sought to stall the North Fork Rancheria resort project was sad in many ways but also contained a slight glimmer of hope for our two tribes as well as for Madera as a whole.

The sad part was the attempt by one tribe to interfere with and disrupt the federal land-into-trust process of another tribe. Such tactics resurrect the ugly spectacle of tribes fighting each other over money, federal laws, and even definitions of ancestral lands (as though Indians had traditionally lived with distinct boundaries and barbed wire fences with big ‘No Trespassing’ signs on them).

Yet a glimmer of hope emerged from this unfortunate spectacle and from a most unexpected source — the Chukchansi Tribe itself.

According to the video of that board meeting available on the county Web site, Supervisor Max Rodriguez’s wisely and bravely counseled both tribes to work together to create a climate “where all casinos benefit” through “more cooperation between the casinos.”

It was Dora Jones of the Chukchansi Tribal Council who then surprisingly picked up on that theme adding, “We could probably even put up a commuter system somehow between the casinos to make them more attractive to come to Madera County, spend your money in Madera County and have it remain here, not having to go out of the county, out of the state. It would stay here and you would have everybody coming together on this issue.”

This is music to the ears of the North Fork Rancheria, Madera County and countless other supporters of our project who have sought from the beginning to expand the local market through a mixture of friendly collaboration and competition.

As a Tribe, we have always believed and advocated that an additional casino will help, not hurt, to create and grow a regional destination marketplace for entertainment and hospitality in Madera.

Elaine Bethel-Fink,
Chairwoman of the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians of California

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

When Durango, Colo., liquor store owner Gabe Fidanque would catch a shoplifter, he would give the shoplifter a choice — give Gabe one of his or shoes, or he would call the police. His theory was that the shoplifters would be too embarrassed to come back again after the shoes. A sort of instant justice.

But the police told Fidanque to stop doing that, or risk facing charges of felony robbery.

That has me wondering. I’m sure the Durango police think they are making the right call, but I think Fidanque might have had a good idea: If someone steals from one, steal from them right back. Maybe they won’t steal again.

It isn’t the only example of crime victims getting mad at crooks, and getting even on the spot.

Every once in a while a story will hit the news about an irate homeowner catching a tagger and forcing the tagger to clean off his mess. Or, once in a while, the homeowner will point a can of spray paint at the tagger and paint him up before sending him home to his parents.

Turns out that’s illegal, too.

A guy in a town where I used to live would drive his pickup around on Saturdays and tear down all the illegal signs he could see on utility poles, and uproot the illegal ones poked into lawns on public rights-of-way. He would take them to the dump. The dump reported him, and he got a good talking to from the cops for all his trouble.

My father had a grocery store, and when he would catch the occasional youthful shoplifter, he would take him into the back of the store and spank him with a flyswatter. Usually the kids didn’t shoplift again.

That couldn’t happen today, darn it.

All comments are edited for length and content. Due to content some comments may not be published. Please limit your calls to two minutes or less. Some weeks, due to the number of comments and space, some may not be published.

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“I’m calling because I have a problem,” began a woman’s call. “It’s about the tennis shoes always hanging on the electrical wires on the streets. Wherever I go I see them and it bothers me quite a bit. Can someone cut them down?”

A woman gave another reason besides “hatred and racism” about the complaint last week concerning ballots “being printed in foreign languages. It is a matter of economics. Consider in order to print materials in two languages a bilingual person must be hired to translate. Plus the extra costs for additional ink and paper that is using our tax dollars.”

“In response to (Madera South) Stallion baseball,” began a man. “It seems some parents have not learned the role of the parent spectator or do they care to. Try attending more than just one or two games. This might help you to understand and appreciate what is being done by both coaches and players on and off the field. Whether they win or lose, quit complaining and being a know-it-all.”

A woman who has read the messages the last two weeks about “the Madera High South (baseball) coaches,” had this comment. “There is a major American Little League team who is going to the city championship four years in a row with different kids; four years straight, different kids, same coaches. So yes, it is the coaches. And for the kids sitting on the bench, why, so they can learn to lose? Their record isn’t much better than last year. Sorry, they’re wrong. It is the coaches.”

Another woman who said was “the lady who responded to Mr. J. Gonzales’ complaint about Madera High South baseball and coach and key players. First of all, I would like to apologize to the coach and his team for responding in a negative way. I have realized the team is young and inexperienced in playing varsity (level) teams. But they try, and for that, I am proud of them.

“It upsets me, Mr. Gonzales that you not only bad mouth your son’s coach, but your team’s brothers in public. I hope it made you feel better. Your son may be sitting on the bench, but at least he is not out on the streets doing heaven knows what. When or lose I support the players and coaches. Keep up the good work, Stallions.”

A man called about the trees being removed at Centennial Park. “Why haven’t they planted new ones?”

Another man seemed concerned about “Centennial Park,” and asked the district’s current supervisor, “what happened to all the grass?”

(Note: The construction at the park is for the new Madera youth center that will provide many activities, programs and projects for Madera’s youth.)

A woman named an “auto sales on the 400 block of South Gateway,” and wondered, “why is it flying the Mexican flag and not flying the American flag? I think it is very disrespectful.”

A woman responded to last week’s caller asking “where (supervisor candidate) John Silva’s residence is. John Silva is not moving around seeking election in different cities because he’s a crook. He’s doing it because he feels he can make a difference to Madera County residents regardless of where he lives.” (Note: Silva is a local resident and former county supervisor.)

A woman, self-identified as D.W., writes on the Red Line online, “Testing is money. Testing is not Teaching folks. NCLB (No Child Left Behind) is creating a bunch of fill in the bubble students, and really leaving our future, our students behind. MUSD has their bottom line and it is not your child’s future — it is all about the money. So they don’t care about the old custom of 8th grade graduation ceremonies.”

Another Internet visitor asks if submitting photographs to the Red Line is possible and writes, “I have a picture of a couple of businesses in downtown Madera that for some reason started construction and then stopped without completing it — Now the unfinished add ons to the buildings are dirty and disgusting looking. … Why will the city build new shopping centers but won’t clean up this or force someone to do it? I think there’s something wrong here.”

An online guest, “Janet,” writes about the Fresno-area death of Meli Sandoval, “It seems in todays society that if you have a rich, white family, you can get away with murder. House arrest, community service and probation is a fairly good exchange for two young lives. I guess two Hispanics gone don’t matter to anyone except to the people that lost them. But then again the people who committed the crime are told they are only to hang out with people of their own color. Racist people are still here, even in the valley…

“Just so you know I am white. I brought my children to love everyone, to help no matter how much it will get them into trouble. Kindness starts at home, too bad not for the the boys who murdered our best friend, sister, daughter, and aunt.”

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Thank you for your calls. Remember, the Red Line is open for your messages 24-hours a day by calling 674-4478, or by visiting www.maderatribuneredline.com.

Election season is upon us, and it is important to remember the local issues facing our Central Valley communities and commend the passionate individuals who are interested in serving as elected officials.

I remember John Silva at this time. John Silva was elected to and served on the Madera County Board of Supervisors when I served as director of the City of Madera Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department. During my employment with the City of Madera, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services established a productive working relationship with the Board of Supervisors by striving together to achieve meaningful recreational infrastructure development for the constituents residing in the city and county limits.

In particular, I remember John Silva requesting of me project ideas related to all generations. He then encouraged and supported funding allocations from Madera County State Park Bond Act money for many infrastructure projects. These facilities have benefited all citizens of the Madera city and county communities to this day.

In many cases, if I had not had the additional support of John Silva in advocating financial assistance for many of these projects, I would not have been able to pursue and complete projects in their entirety, as funding resources were often limited.

When you visit and utilize facilities in Madera such as the Millview Sports Complex, Mexican American Senior Facility, Pan American Senior Center and McNally Park, just to name a few, know that John Silva has played an important role in assuring that these and many other recreational facilities were enhanced and improved. He served as an important partner with the City of Madera during his tenure as Madera County supervisor.

I wish John Silva good wishes in his campaign and thank him for all he has done to make Madera a better place for all.

Diane E. Lewis,
Clovis

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

One thing that irks some people is running up against a language they don’t understand. If you are an English speaker, for example, you might be irked by public documents, such as ballots, printed in Spanish. If you are a Spanish speaker, English-only documents can put you off.

There is another language used in official documents that hardly anybody understands, and I think it is becoming more prevalent. You see more of it every time you run into official documents, or even semi-official documents. Yet, nobody has to use it. Some people call this language bureaucratese, some call it ibble-gibble. Whatever you call it, though, it consists of the Interminable Use of Unintelligible Initialisms. In bureaucratese, or ibble-gibble, that would be known as IUUI.

A good example of the Interminible Use of Unintelligible Initialisms was to be found last week in the agenda of the Madera County Transportation Commission. This agenda is the official notification of what the commission was to discuss at its meeting May 16.

Here is a sample of the initialisms, more or less in order of their occurrence, as they appeared on the agenda and supporting documents:

MCTC, FTIP, LTF, STA, SAFETEA-LU, SRTS, RTPA, VMT, COG, MCU, CAN, DAR, MAD, FED, CON, SACOG, CHIN, MOU, TIP, SSTAC, MAX, CATX, MCC, FAX, TAC, MCTA, DLAE, DLA, MPO, MUTCD.

I would suspect you don’t know what many, if any, of these initialisms means, just as you may not know what a word in Spanish means when you run across it. It’s very much a case of IMCD (Initialisms Making Communications Difficult). My advice: JURW (Just Use Real Words).

I’d like to tell you about the time since my graduation from Mountain Vista High School in June 1999.

I attended Gavilan Junior College for a semester. One month before the completion of my first semester I injured myself during training while playing for the junior college football team. I had to take time off to heal and in that time I decided if I couldn’t complete my education I would do everything I could to make a good living for myself.

I had 15 jobs in 2000 and 20 in 2001 before Sept. 11, 2001, at which time I found my calling. I joined the Marines. After boot camp, on Feb. 9, 2003, we flew out on orders to Kuwait in preparation for the Shock and Awe Invasion of Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. March 20, we moved in, racing for the heart of Iraq. I was a part of a Security Forces Detachment that was flown from one base to another, setting up security and protecting our fellow warriors and nation’s interests, while at the same time being able to meet the people of Iraq first hand, and seeing how relieved and excited they were to see Americans fighting to defend their freedom.

To cut a long story short, my unit, based out of Camp Pendleton, accomplished the mission and returned home Oct. 1, 2003. I was promoted to corporal, and spent my last year in the Marines as an NCO, leading from the front, training and preparing the next Marines to follow the meaning of honor, courage and commitment.

I got out of the Marines in November 2005 and returned home motivated as ever. I went back to college and was working two jobs, making good money, but that wasn’t enough for me. After 5 months of being home I flew the coup again this time ending in Mexico for three months and practicing my Spanish with a beautiful woman I met in San Diego from Acapulco.

At this time I missed being apart of something that kept me progressing at which time I decided to join the Army in August 2006. I went to school on Oct. 11 for retraining in a new military occupation skill, and am currently deployed to the region of Afghanistan in Kandahar. We live by the words, “We have a rendezvous with destiny,” that hasn’t been met yet.

In closing I’d like to leave you with words that will stay with you wherever you go, like us my fellow soldiers and I are a band of brothers, we all share a common bond no one can take away for today as well as the rest of your life.

SPC Brendan J. O’Donovan,
United States Army,
Afghanistan

By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune

There was a knock, and my mother squealed with delight. She ran, opened the door, and this tall, uniformed Naval officer, Lt. Cmdr. Carlton H. Doud, swept her up in his arms. He was home. World War II was over.

Joy filled in our little basement apartment in Idaho. I was just a tot, and hardly knew my dad because he had left for war not long after I was born. But even though I was still a young child, I knew a time of great danger was finally over. I knew my dad and our family had sacrificed much, but finally we were safe.

At about the same time in San Diego, another uniformed Naval officer, Cmdr. H. R. Packard, my uncle, rushed into his wife’s arms. His years as a Navy dentist were finally over. He could start the rest of his life. But there was more he had to do. He was called up for the Korean conflict, and spent more time in San Diego, keeping sailors healthy. Only after that war could his life, and his family’s life, go on. They, too, had given much, but they felt safe because of that.

Seven years ago, just west of the China Lake Naval Weapons Station in the Mojave Desert, Lt. Cmdr. Jason Bayer was in his last day of duty as a test pilot at China Lake. He was to be assigned to Lemoore for carrier training. But a contingent of safety specialists was practicing a helicopter rescue, and needed a “victim.” Bayer, ever willing to serve others, volunteered to go.

An hour later, he fell to his death in a craggy canyon of the Sierra Nevada when a helicopter cable snapped. He was a good friend, a good father, a good husband and a great American.

On this Memorial Day weekend, I honor these Naval officers and all service members now departed who kept me and all of us safe. May God forever hold them in the palm of His hand.

In the spring of 2008, construction was completed on 10 state-of-the-art horseshoe courts at Rotary Park. The new horseshoe courts were built in joint cooperation with the Madera County Board of Supervisors, Madera City Council, Madera Parks and Community Services and the Big Valley Horseshoe League.

The horseshoe courts have been a five-year project from start to finish, and were built to the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association specifications. The horseshoe courts include lighting for night pitching, are located adjacent to the Rotary Park Pavilion, and are open to the general public for family recreation and specialized events.

The Big Valley Horseshoe League was organized in 2001 to promote the sport of horseshoe pitching in the Madera area. Since conception, the amateur horseshoe league has expanded to six teams and approximately 80 horseshoe pitchers.

The league has established a National Horseshoe Association Club, and will hold tournaments on June 7 and Sept. 21 at Rotary Park horseshoe courts. The league and club membership is open to all regardless of skill level.

The Big Valley Horseshoe League is extremely proud of the new courts, and would like to thank a few individuals involved in making the project possible. (1) Diane Lewis, former parks director who accepted the idea, and agreed to the park site. (2) Larry Hibdon, project manager, who made it all happen (3) Mary Ann Seay, parks director, and Leon Emo, parks supervisor, for all the league support and guidance. (4) All the construction workers and park personnel involved in the project. (5) City and county officials who approved the project. (6) Art Burt, Bobby Chavira and Jessie Alvarado for league assistance. (7) Lastly, John Silva, former county supervisor, who provided the initial grant moneys to start the project.

The Big Valley Horseshoe League future plans include expansion of the amateur night league to include service organization, churches, after school programs, etc. Anyone needing assistance in establishing horseshoe tournaments, horseshoe rules, or those interested in joining the horseshoe league, call (559) 662-1994.

Once again thank you to all those persons who have contributed and supported the horseshoe court project.

Harlen A. Ripptoe, president,
Big Valley Horseshoe League,
Madera