The Hays Daily News from Hays, Kansas • Page 4

TUESDAY SEPT. 29, 2009 riisi iiiiiiiiWT 10 iiiE I CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF; OR ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH OR OF THE PRESS OR THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE AND TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES. Cuest Editorial Schoo time Ihe length of the public school day and calendar is sonie- thing of an elephant in the room that President Obama is not afraid to discuss. Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan tliink that American school children need more time in the classroom for the U.S. to be competitive with achievement of students in many otlier countries.

They are right. And they also are right that the system we have now just doesn't make much sense anymore. "Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy, and not too many of our kids are working the fields today," Duncan said in an interview with the Associated Press. Sometimes talk of longer school days or "year-round" school is intimidating, but we aren't talking about great increases in instructional time. An extra 10 minutes a day can make a big difference in matii scores, according to Brookings Institution And tiie difference in the number of school days between the U.S.

and Asian countries that consistendy outscore the U.S. isn't that many 180 days in tlie typical U.S. school calendar versus 190 to 201 in Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong. Maybe if we focused on smaller, more incremental increases, the U.S. could make some gains without the change seeming so radical.

We also should focus on the long summer vacation, wliich is the element of the U.S. school calendar that seems to make die least sense and have the most potential for educational improvement. As the AP reported in a story Monday, tiiis feature is especially hard on children from underprivileged homes, because they don't receive the educational enrichment that other kids get from having educated parents, computers in the home, summer camp, vacations and other activities. That schoolchildren in other parts of the world are spending sometimes 25 percent or 30 percent more time in the classroom is only part of the equation. In die U.S.

we also need to be smarter about how we design the school calendar Editorial by the Hutchinson News The editorials represent the institutional voice of The Hays Daily News but are signed by the author tor the reader's information. Guest editorials are from other newspapers and do not necessarily represent the views of The Hays Dally News. Other content on this page represents the views of the signed columnist, cartoonist or letter-writer. is such a catchj word ust have been an interesting week, last week, when a KU School of Business white paper declared die Kansas Public Employees Retirement system to be "banki-upt under current operating assumptions." Imagine that if you are a state employee, a teacher, a retired or soon-to- be retired worker, you decided to just go aliead and drink that milk that is a day past its expiration date? Or shake out into the bowl tiie dust at dje bottom of the dog food MARTIN HAWVER At the Rail Count It as a slow news week, but reporting tiiat the petition system for tens of thousands of state workers is bankrupt is a littie like shouting "fire" in a nursing home. Oh, KPERS of course has financial problems.

Its earnings were hammered last year by the recession-sapped stock market, and at some point, the state is going to have to increase its payments mto the pension fund. It's not going to be fun, of course, because there's no immediate public relations payoff for diverting state dollars into a pension system. Members of the system are contractually due their pensions. This summer, tiie state initiated a new pension system for newly hired workers. For those joining tiie state payroll afterjulyl, die new system should take care of itself just fine.

But those already working for the state, in mid-career or even retired, well, tiiey are due tiieir pensions and that's the problem. Oh, not for years, of course, but the current KPERS system requires attention. The house isn't on fire The key to pension systems is tiiat they are long-term operations. If KPERS were to decide to go out of business, say, Friday, it wouldn't have enough money to pay all what they are owed. But it's not going out of business probably as long as there is a state of Kansas.

Bankrupt? Catchy, attention-grabbing, but probably a littie strong for the problems of KPERS. Will it get die attention of lawmakers who are in the next few years going to have to beef up contributions to the system? Undoubtedly. But it sure spooked some folks who probably don't need to be spooked. Syndicated by Hawver News Co. of Topeka.

Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver's Capito Report. To learn more about this statewide political news service, visit www.hawvernews.com. Where to Write U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, 109 Hart Office Building, Washington, D.C.

20510. (202) 224-4774. senals.gov U.S. Sen. Sann Brownback, 303 Hart Office Building, Washington, D.C.

20510. (202) 224-6521. back.SBnate.gov U.S. Rep. Jerry 1st District, 2202 Raybum House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

20515. (202) 225-2715. www.jerrymoran.house.gov Gov. Parkinson, 2nd Floor, State Capitol, Topeka, KS 66612. (800) 748-4408.

Your Kansas senator or representative, State Capitol, Topeka, KS 66612. (785) 296-0111. Fore-mail addresses, go to http:/Avww.ksleglslature.org/legsrv-legisportal/redis- trictlng.do Kansas Sen. Janis Lee, 36th District, Room: 162-E. (785) 296-7366.

Kansas Rep. Dan Johnson, Room 140-N. (785) 2967501. johnsonOhouse.state.ks.us Kansas Rep. Eber Phelps, Room 327-S.

(785) 2967691. Where to Write E-mail addresses for Hays City Comnnissioners: Troy Hickman: troy.hickman@hotmail.com Ron Mellick: Barbara Wasinger: Christopher Channell: Henry Schwaller: Reader Forum Eradicating polio Polio is a viral infection tiiat causes paralysis in about 2 percent of those infected. Thanks to the Salk and Sabin vaccines, polio was conquered in the U.S. and much of Europe by 1980. But in 1985 tiiere were still 125 countries in the world where polio was endemic.

That year tiiere were 350,000 new cases of polio worldwide. The victims were mostly cliildren. Today, there are parts of only four countries where polio is endemic, and the world incident of new polio cases has declined to about 1,600 per year What happened in the intervening years? The short and simple answer is: Rotary In 1985, Rotary, at its annual International Convention, decided to set as its goal the elimination of polio in tiie world by 2005. That year was chosen because it marked the 100th anniversary of Rotary The goal was almost reached, but there were several factors tiiat inhibited Rotary from meeting this goal. Among tiiem were population growth, politics, wars, cultural and religious beliefs along with fear and distrust.

But Rotary has not given up. We are so close to meeting our goal that we will not stop until polio is 100 percent eliminated. How was tiiis great humanitarian effort accomplished? First, the 1.2 million Rotarians contributed more than $700 million to this effort. Second, Rotarians made partnerships with important organizations like the World Healtii Organization, Center for Disease Control, UNICEF and the governments where they were carrying out the immunizations. Most important, Rotarians from around die world volunteered innumerable hours to organize, publicize and carry out extensive immunization campaigns in 122 countries.

In fact, tfiis is tiie only reason it has been so successful. Widiout die thousands of Rotary volunteers, there would never have been enough people to immunize more than 2 billion children. Why is it important that some littie kid in a foreign land be immunized for polio? First of all, there is die humanitarian issue. Wlio wants to stand by and see a child's life sacrificed to a disease that can be conquered for a mere 60 cents? That is right. The vaccine to immunize a child for life costs 60 cents.

Second, in this country it costs us about $10 million per year to immunize our children for polio. If tliis disease is conquered, that is $10 million we can save or spend on some other important health care need. Third, if polio is not completely eradicated, it will soon once again spread across tiie world. If you would like to be a part of diis humcuiitarian effort you can contact a Rotarian in your Xovm. Or you can go to www.

rotaryorg, click on "Contribute" and make a secure contribution electronically using a credit Ccurd or download a form cuid send a check. Rotary is a volunteer organization of 1.2 million business and professional leaders united worldwide to provide humanitarian service and help build goodwill and peace. About 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas conduct projects to address today's challenges including literacy, disease, hunger, poverty, lack of clean water, and environmental concerns while encouraging high ethical standards in all vocations. John Binder, Rotary district governor 2220 E. 27th Mad as hell On Sept.

12, my wife and I had the honor of attending the Washington, D.C, Tea Party. I'm so fed up witii the people running this country, (Republicans and Democrats), I decided I needed to go to this event. I had hoped that there would be at least 100,000 protesters. To my amazement, no matter what you heard on CNN or MSLSD, there were at least 1 million people just like me. This million man march was not like die last one, where most were not taxpayers.

These were ordinary people who have paid their taxes at one time or another in their lives, and are tired of taking care of everyone else with the wasteful spending tiiat's going on. We met people from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alaska, Texas and all over tliis great country These people are just like me: They're mad as hell! They are tired of the spending and corruption of this government of ours. Then you hear our president say he is going to pay for his healdi care plan by cutting fraud and corruption in Medicare and Medicaid. Only a complete idiot would say sometiiing like tiiat, unless he believes you to be an idiot, also. If he's such a good fraud and corruption detector, why didn't he get this cleaned up as a senator? Maybe he'll bring in Acorn or SEIU to investigate them? Just how stupid does he think we are? Our president says he is not going to spend one dime on health care.

How can tiiat be? He doesn't even have a health care plan. Rep. Joe Wilson was correct when he called him a liar I totally agree, tiiis may not have been tlie place, but by the sounds of what they are doing to the Senate and House bills last week, Mr Wilson was correct. If you don't want someone to call you out, tiien you probably ought to tell tiie truth. President Obama is supposed to be a great speaker However, a good speaker would never put himself in that position.

I have noticed he does tiiis almost every time he speaks. As I was walking down Pennsylvania Avenue, my eyes watered up just thinking about tiie men and women who gave their lives so I could walk down this street as a free man. My wife's father and my fatiier botii served in World War II, so we could be free. That includes the freedom to make our own decisions. If you're not happy with your life, you have die freedom to change it.

Don't expect government to do it, because it will only cost someone else. Take responsibility for your own life, don't expect government to take care of you. I was amazed how friendly every one was, even the locals I met from D.C. From past trips to New York City, I can tell you that's not the case tiiere. They never speak to each otiier on the street.

I might add that not one protester was arrested diat day. I guess maybe we are not die Nazis or hoods tiiat Pelosi thought we were. That women is a disgrace to any party. I have never gotten involved in politics. I was one of tiiose who set around on tiie sidelines and bitched.

I didn't want to take the time to get involved. Finally, the people we have in Washington have gotten me off the sidelines, I can't stand to see John McCain and lindsey Graham on TV filling me full of crap. It's time to get involved before these people become royalty. They are not representing us, the majority. If you feel the tilings tiiis government is doing are not right, get out and do something about it.

The next time you hear about a Tea Party, get out and see what's going on. Get involved. If we don't get involved, and soon, we'll have no voice. Our freedoms have been slipping away for years. We need to get back to tiie Constitution.

Big government is not the answer, but responsibility is. Elections have consequences. Hopefully, in 2010, we can find some people who will represent us, the American people. Terry W. Pieskei Victoria Reform research I am a on a health insurance reform committee for the Kansas Republican Party looking into possible changes that can be implemented in our state, while the national debate continues.

There is a lot of talk about the millions of people who have had to take out bankruptcy due to medical bills. Two of us on the committee are gathering information about bankruptcy and those who are uninsured (in Kansas). I would like to ask readers of The Hays Daily News to contact nie if they have personal knowledge of anyone (in Kansas) who has had to file for bankruptcy under such circumstances. We can not use instances of "I heard about this family from my Uncle Joe or my neighbor" Because I sell health insurance also, I have personal knowledge about uninsured. We do not need any more information in this area.

Thank you for helping John Pyle 3002 Columbine.