Kids should walk to school more
As I jogged by the Oakwood High School this morning, I couldn’t help but wonder with gas prices and childhood obesity rising at unprecedented rates, why was there a “traffic jam” of cars filled with kids being dropped off in front of the school? We are very fortunate to live in a community where everything is nearby. According to the census bureau, the city has a total area of only 2.97 square miles. Therefore one can say that “nothing is far” in Oakwood. Yet, during school hours, pedestrian traffic is overrun by cars. It is ironic and quite comical that kids will sign up for extra curricular sports and choose to run miles as part of their conditioning but need to be driven two or three blocks to school. Kids are also driving themselves to school and unless a car is needed for after school commitments, why block the neighboring streets with them? One may argue that they need to drive to school so they will have a car available so they can go out for lunch. Well instead of a calorie-rich, nutrition-poor and allowance-breaking meal, why not “brown bag it” and go for a walk during lunch. Although parents may argue that driving to school insures safe arrival, other innovative ideas could include walking with them or, to minimize total embarrassment, encourage kids to walk with a neighbor. Have the kids wake up a few minutes earlier, lace up the sneakers and march out the door. After all, before there were Ugg’s there were ‘boots that were made for walkin!”
Debbie Jackson
Oakwood
This is the first Letter to the Editor concerning the upcoming election. This newspaper invites both reasoned and heated opinions and debates on the election from both sides of the aisle. Feel free to go nuts. Plagiarize! Disembowel! Excoriate at will! Limit letters to 400 words or less. E-mail to: lance@oakwoodregister.com. Oh, and they have to be signed too. - Lance Winkler, editor.
McCain wrong man for job
The Republican party has presented the American public with a sleight-of-hand trick worthy of the great Houdini. We are, on one side, told repeatedly that John McCain is a “maverick”, but a true maverick would never bow to the agenda of the special interest groups of the religious right, which is precisely what he did when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. On the other side, we’re told that John McCain is a steadfast conservative, but such a conservative would never have wanted a pro-choice, pro-gay rights, Democrat like Joe Lieberman as his VP, which is, as we know, precisely what McCain wanted. John McCain, honorable though he may be, has proven he’ll say and do anything to get elected; selling out both himself and his supporters in the process.
The Republicans have spent the last couple of weeks tying themselves in knots in an effort to turn their vice-presidential sow’s ear into a silk purse. It won’t work. Sarah Palin’s non-record speaks for itself and the choice to put her on the ticket reveals a deep cynicism and contempt on the part of the Republicans. What we do know about her should give any moderate citizen pause:
a) She is aggressively anti-choice, opposing a woman’s right to choose even in the case of rape or incest.
b) She is anti-science, believing that creationism should be taught in public schools.
c) She doesn’t believe human activity has anything to do with climate change.
d) She will be but a heartbeat away from the oldest president in the history of the republic and positioned to choose supreme court justices with lifetime appointments.
Sarah Palin’s real asset is that she re-ignites the culture wars, whichis just a convenient way for the Republicans to distract the American people from the disastrous economy and world-wide messes they’ve cooked up over the last eight years.
We are living in serious times, and serious times demand serious people. Eight years ago we chose the wrong man for the office of the presidency and look where it’s gotten us. We now have an opportunity to correct that decision and reverse course. John McCain has led a distinguished life, but he and Sarah Palin represent at least four more years of the same Bush policies that have so threatened the future of this great nation.
Glen Cebulash
408 Corona Ave.
Dayton, OH 45419
(937) 297-0914
RE: Presidential race
This election year is an especially important one, particularly for us middle class Americans struggling to make ends meet. I have been unemployed for six months and struggling to afford even the basic of necessities. However, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama now is proposing to raise our already
high middle class taxes even higher. He plans to raise corporate taxes, making it even tougher for employers to hire me and other out-of-work Americans. Is this how Barack Obama plans to help the working class, by raising our taxes, and making these tough times even tougher? Haven’t we been struggling enough under Democrats? Its time for real change, its time to elect John McCain as our next president. John McCain may be another Bush term, but at least under Bush I still had a job.
Richard Biggs
501 Shroyer Rd
Oakwood
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September 17, 2008
Volume 17, No. 38
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