A4 - THE PERKINS JOURNAL, Thursday, January 19, 2012
Opinions
Thank You!
I would like to thank Pete Seikel and the city maintenance
department for getting started on the re-painting of the cross
walks on Main St. I have noticed the differences with some
drivers that are actually stopping!
I would also like to say thanks to those that participated in the
donation drive arranged by the Perkins Vetefina Clinic, during
December (photo this edilion ). I would also like to re-mind folks
that Cats Are Treated Special is the only cat rescue and adop-
tion in Perkins, andis not a part of the City of Perkins Animal
Shelter. So if you Would care to make donations for an in-door
b 'uilding, you may do so through deposit at Payne County Bank,
or mailing to: 222 West Chantry St. Perkins, 74059.
i was able to rescue 8 more cats in the past 2 weeks.They have
been spayed/neutered, except for one little girl approximately
17 weeks old and pregnant. I think that is probably why she
showed up in my yard after dark. Very tame and sweeL Call
547-1224 to adopt.
Betty Ottaway
Perkins
Seeds of Change
I was still in public school when a Supreme Court decision
separated religious principles from education. School prayer,
Bible reading and all instruction purported to have any type
of religious connection were all banned from our nation's
schools. Even the Ten Commandments, acknowledged by
th F Supreme Court to be the foundation of law in the Western
World, were eventually removed from public schools.
Life itself has taught me that whenever you take a founda-
tional truth out of an entire society, your agenda has got to
be to replace the "old truth" with a "new truth." Appealing
Jto'our intellect, we•were told the Constitution of the United
States specifically calls for a,separation of church and state."
( point our framers obviously missed.)
'When the Bible (and God), etc., were removed from
all education, we were told that the children won't miss a
thing. They receive Bible training at both church and home.
We understood the rationale. In 1957 massive educational
reforms began and by 1963, the first significant downturn
inlSAT total scores began to fall and we began to hear of
the intentional "dumming down" of American school chil-
d/en.
As blatant sexuality found its way into middle school cur-
riculum, we were told that not all children receive proper
sexual training at home. Once again, we understood the
rationale.
Iremember thinking that"education" is taking my children
away from me."
,The truths I was teaching at home and those they were
learning at church were being undermined by what they were
learning at school. Situation Ethics taught them that "there is
a time to steal, a time to cheat, and a time to lie. They were
taught that not every issue is black or white. Now there are
shades of gray. Textbooks taught them that neither parents,
or preachers and not even teachers know what is best for
them. "Only YOU know what is best for YOU!"
By golly, I was born and raised in this country and it
juSt is NOT the same America which raised me. When the
President of the United States goes to Turkey and says to
tl people of the world that, "We do not consider ourselves
a 'Christian nation, or Jewish nation, or Muslim nation."
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By Superintendent Janet Barresi
This week I marked my one-year anniversary since
taking office as the,first new State Superintendent of
Public Instruction in Oklahoma in 20 years. It's been
an exciting year. But I can't taketoo much time to
reminisce; I've got reforms to implement.
As Indiana State Superintendent and my fellow
Chiefs for Change member Tony Bennett says, "Fail-
ure to implement is the graveyard of all reform." (
With that in mind, I'm moving fuIl-speed ahead
with what I call my C 3 plan - a plan to continue work
with all stakeholders to assure that each student in
the state is college, career and citizen ready by the
year 2020.
The plan builds on an impressive suite of reforms
He is NOT speaking for me! When he says, "We consider
ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and
a set of values," I realize that we were raised in two differ-
ent worlds.
I have said all that to say this. Speaking with a Perkins
teenager a few days ago, I said, '.iThe recent "Occupy" move-
ment was made up of socialists. I am NOT happy that high
school students are being taught to be socialists. She said,
"Oh, I am not a socialist, I am a communist."
Now when President Obama says he wants to fundamen-
tally transform America, I really get it. The fundamental
change Mr. O speaks of is here and those seeds of change
which were in the air "have been planted."
Fran Miller
Perkins
passed last year with the help of the governor and the
State Legislature. These include a law to end the social
promotion of students not reading on grade level by
the end of third grade, a new A through F grading
system for schools that will make it easier for parents
and community members to know how their school is
performing in terms of the measurable growth of its
Students, and more educational choices fur parents.
The C 3 plan builds also includes:
• The Teacher and Leader Effectiveness evaluation
system recently approved by the state Board of Edu-
cation, which will ensure an effective teacher in each
classroom and an effective leader in each building;
• The transition to Oklahoma C 3 standards, which
encompass Common Core Stale Standards it math
and English and Oklahoma's recently updated Social
Studies Standards;
• Achieving Classroom Excellence Standards, which
require this year's graduating seniors to pass four of
seven end-of-instruction tests to receive a high school
diploma. This is a vital reform that will present clear
evidence that those students who fulfill this require-
ment have mastered academic content.
• The development of a new longitudinal student data
system that will provide the backbone of showing
Oklahoma students are prepared for college, career
and life;
• And, the REAC3H Network, a grassrouts network
pairing school districts together to share best practices
as they enact reforms and transition to the Oklahoma
C 3 standards.
Ultimately, this is an empowerment agenda. Our
goal is to empower students by preparing them to
be successful in school, career and life, to empower
parents by providing them with easy-to-understand
information about their children and school, and to
empower educators to reach their full potential by
giving them a full range of tools for support.
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By Cecil Acuff ..
If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck - it' s
a duck! Not necessarily. It may just be Quackery;
having the practices and pretensions of a Quack.
It practices and pretends to be the real deal. There
are no Caveat Emptors (let the buyer beware) or
Disclosures.
A Research Director who studies the Retail Indus-
try calculates that in 2012 $2 billion in the gift card
business will go unredeemed. It has always been
such, but this is even an improvement. It has been
.... calculated that since 2005, $41 billion has gone
:: unredeemed.
It isn't that people have improved their cleaning-
out-drawers abilities; but Title IV of the Credit Card
Accountability and Disclosure Act of 2009. Junk
Fees are eliminated and expiration dates of less than
5 years have been voided. A value of $3.5 billion is
lost because of expirations.
Where does this money go? The answer depends
on a patchwork of state laws. Certain states have
removed unredeemed funds from their balance sheets
and reclaimed the amounts as revenue. New York
collected $9.6 million in unredeemed gift cards and
returned only $2,150 to the rightful owners.
Researchers believe that all this money is the con-
sumers. The whole nature of gift cards is that the
consumer gives money to retailers, asking them to
hold it until the buyer is ready to use the product. Just
because it has not been asked for in a certain length
of time doesn't mean it's no longer the consumers.
Oklahoma law prohibits expiration dates less'
than 60 months • from date of purchase. A gift card
or certificate without expiration date is valid until
redeemed or replaced.
When consumers buy a gift card, they do so
with the expectation that the recipient will receive
something !neturn, They do not buy cards from a
company as a charitable donation.
Product mail-in rebates almost faded away sev-
eral years ago when large companies said consum-
ers hated the hassle. But now, perhaps due to the
Recession, they're back. Sellers use variations of the
traditional rebate promotion to lure frugal-minded
consumers. But the incentive remains a trap because
buyers judge a product's value based on the expecta-
tion of receiving the rebate.
Updated methods of claiming rebates make the
process easier, but, the well documented truth - few
consumers get around to claiming their money. They
have that little round trinket labelled, TUIT.
Sellers use rebates because they work, enticing
buyers. They also know that it's good business when
almost one-half lose or neglect cashing them.
Consumer experts give tips for people who use
rebates. 1) Ignore them. If their use is always a wor-
risome chore, avoid the product." 2) File fast. Experts
say it's not so much the hassle, but the procrasti-
nation. 3) Read the fine print. 4) Get organized. If
consumer Xy Wyer isn't one who marks calendars
with dates, forget it. 5) Be aware of privacy issues.
Personal information may be shared or sold to other
companies.
Also interesting, consumers may buy autos based
on the best "Cash Back" offer. Sales Persons say,
"Buy the Jalopy, Rio Grande, only $25,and get $995
cash back." It's always nice to have instant cash,
but why not pay only $25,000, and keep the $995,
isn't that more Instant? by the way, is not Instant
an absolute word, or is it, Instant, more Instant, and
most Instant?
The inexpensive TV product says, a $69.95 value
for only $19.95, plus shipping and handling. Expect
4 to 6 weeks for delivery. But, wait. There's more!
Call in the next 10 minutes, and we'll double our
offer. Must be nice to draw interest on the consum-
er's money for a product that may cost little more
than the shipping and handling.
The Clothing Industry loves, "Buy one, get one
Free." Do consumers reason, "I cannot do without
2 of those $400 suits," when actually, each suit is
a $200 item.?
In all of the above, there are no Disclaimers -no
Explanations. Consumers should avoid the most
tempting but potentially averse features of acqui-
sitions. To wit; Impulse. Wait, Think; why is this
ad on this program? What audience is the target of
this ad?
