Pioneering spirit thrives in Berkey

7/26/2003

Those who are thrilled with the idea of Berkey residents having to deal with water problems should educate themselves.

The residents of Berkey who are having water problems consist not of transients but mainly of first, second, and third generations of families who did have a pioneering spirit and probably helped Toledo prosper.

A pioneering spirit strong enough and dedicated enough to help put food on your table so you could get fat and sassy and know nothing about what you are talking about.

I'd venture a guess the house you live in was built upon barren land and was built by the same “pioneering spirits” as those who reside in Berkey. Count your blessings. We aren't talking about homes that have spas, jet showers, or pools. We are talking about homes that have one bathroom, yet can't flush toilets or do laundry regularly. Watering lawns has rarely been a pastime within our community. Can you admit the same about yours?

My family has always conserved our water supply because that was the way we were raised. We are talking about households that are conservative and not wasteful of our natural resources. Recyling is second nature to us.

Berkey residents will continue to help Toledo's social base by volunteering our time and efforts to make Toledo a better to place to live and paying our payroll taxes regardless of the decision of Mayor Jack Ford, because our neighbors have no boundaries. We will continue to educate our children both within our community as well as Toledo's because the world is a vast classroom and we only want the best for all our children.

MICHELLE BURKHART

Berkey

I am amazed that University of Toledo President Daniel Johnson still has a job. Can you think of any company where a top-level manager can have a $40 million budget shortfall, fail to see obvious trends in his business market, and force eleventh-hour price increases, alienate his customer base, and not get fired?

Clearly he should have known in advance that there was going to be a large budget shortfall, as the state had to spend money elsewhere. He must have had a large lead time in order to deal with this problem. Yet he did nothing significant.

He had the good sense to begin to trim back the athletic programs, but left 14 sports that have a total of 393 students involved in them. I doubt that the enjoyment of those 393 students really justifies the expenditure in such a budget squeeze.

Now he announces that tuition must be increased, and that he is very sorry. Maybe if he had announced the tuition increase in time for it to be figured into the calculations for financial aid, then his apology would have meant something.

Instead, he sat on his hands until there was no time left. I have a news flash for him: No new revenue will be generated. The effect will be putting the students who can't afford the increase in cost out of college. The time to announce tuition increases is January, not July.

What does it take to get fired from this university, anyway?

DAN MUSZYNSKI

Sylvania

It's too bad Ray Kest did not take a good look at the land proposed as the Marina District site. Not a very attractive sight. A garden? A fountain? No! An arena? No.

I highly doubt the tourists passing by Toledo would bother to exit to explore Toledo after their first look at that view.

Travelers would miss all the great new restaurants on the east bank of the Maumee River. To say nothing of our great historical buildings, the new ball park, art museum, and zoo, just to mention a few of our city's points of interest. East Toledo has never seceded from Toledo - it's just always overlooked!

MARGE STOVER

Idaho Street

A recent article stated that Toledo City Council was considering a letter condemning the Patriot Act. John Ashcroft is trampling our rights under the guise of national security. Obviously Mayor Jack Ford, City Council, Dr. David Grossman, and the nonsmoking “majority” in Toledo are allowed to set our rights aside if it is for public health!

We have recently seen in Toledo and Ohio laws telling us how to live. Adult persons must wear a seat belt or get a ticket. Yet kids on school buses still don't have any protection.

Strippers have to be at least six feet from their patrons.

Gambling is still illegal, unless the state is collecting the revenue. The blood alcohol level has been lowered.

Instead of worrying about smokers, shouldn't Mayor Ford and Dr. Grossman be more concerned about drug abuse, child abuse, AIDS, teen pregnancy, water quality, buses spewing out carbon monoxide, Toledo's landfills (mandatory recycling), mosquitoes, disease-carrying stray animals, Toledo's infrastructure, obesity, toxic water in our lakes? And let's not forget Davis-Besse.

Are these not health concerns? If Mayor Ford and City Council want a smoking ban, why not put it on the ballot and let the voters decide. If there really is a majority of nonsmokers then it should pass with no problem, and bar and restaurant owners along with all citizens would have nothing to complain about.

Let the will of the people be our guide and maybe then our politicians can work on some of these other unhealthy matters.

THOMAS ALLORE II

Swanton

This idea of taxes being a confiscation is ridiculous. Taxes are revenues used to pay the bills of government. Our bill. Your bill. That's what we owe for services received. You want the best-in-the-world military? Who pays for all that? You and I, us, we are the ones. We should pay.

Those wages and that upkeep, the cost of those ships and planes and fuel is our bill. We each pay a part of those expenses. We pay it through taxes. Those who benefit most should pay the most.

Each of us benefits from military defense, policemen, firemen, Coast Guard, etc. And having a well-educated society and a healthy society also makes us safer. Research and many other services benefit us also. That all costs and is charged to us. Sure, it's your money, but it's also your bill. When I see an ambulance show up, I am very glad I paid taxes.

Republicans are borrowing money to pay the rich folks' part of the bill - their taxes. Which, eventually, will be paid with interest by someone else's grandchildren.

Is that fair?

I wish there was a way to separate those who don't want to pay any taxes from the rest of us. Let them live somewhere else and not ever pay any taxes. And let them provide clean water and a public education for their kids and health departments without paying for it. And when a foreign dictator attacks them, our Air Force and Army will look the other way. After all, they don't pay, they don't benefit.

There are other ways to stimulate an economy beside tax cuts.

Taxes are an investment in our future and our safety and are payment for services rendered.

MATT PERKINS

Heidelberg Road

Loyal grunt, yes, but hero?

Not to be a party pooper, but I don't get it. Jessica Lynch was part of a unit that went the wrong way and drove into an ambush, where several of them were killed. Private Lynch was in a vehicle that rolled over. The next thing she knows she is waking up in an Iraqi hospital.

She was in no way abused. The Iraqis treated her well. She is then rescued by American Special Forces. The media, with the Pentagon's encouragement, created all of these myths around her actions: She fired and hit several Iraqi soldiers. She was shot several times. She was stabbed. Untrue, all of it.

Jessica Lynch is a nice kid, a loyal grunt. She is not, however, a hero. It reminds me of the movie Stripes. Bill Murray and his unit screw up so bad that the Army, to avoid embarrassment, gives them all a hero's welcome.

What propaganda!

DANIEL TORLUEMKE

Adrian, Mich.