Letter to the editor — October 10, 2012

Dear editor,
This letter is in response to all increases in rates and tax levies that this city, county, and school system want to impose on the citizens of Iola and Allen County. I personally will not pay them! I will move from Iola before I have one extra penny taken from my pocket! I suggest that cutting some administration positions across the board in all the areas would be more cost effective. I also suggest that you start at the top of the pay scales. I also do not believe that my tax dollar should pay the county commissioners a salary and for their health insurance.
I simply will not pay for the mistakes of the past city administrator and human resources person. We need to get the health insurance payment policy for the employees and retirees rectified before we end like the cities in California and bankrupt!
We are losing residents of this city and county daily. We have houses sitting empty and for sale signs all over this city. I keep hearing about improving this city/county, try getting a grocery store here so I don’t have to shop somewhere else to buy apples. This city/county is losing sales tax dollars daily because people cannot get what they want/need in this city/county.
Another issue is the recall of the two city commissioners. I realize that a few people did not get their way, but really I have not seen such childish, I want my own way behavior since I was at a preschool.

Darcus Kottwitz
Iola, Kan.

Say it in writing

Hallmark is closing its Topeka plant, a decision that puts a Kansas face on the fact that greeting card companies right along with the U.S. post office are facing fallout from the electronic revolution.
More and more of us are communicating through email, Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Why pay $2.50 for a card and 47 cents for a stamp when you have already committed to an Internet contract?
It’s likely to get worse, though a quaint alternative exists.
It is really less expensive to write a note and send it by snailmail. More appreciated, too.
Sending a Twitter saying “Sorry mom died” really lacks class.
Ditto for posting a love letter on Facebook for the whole world to read. Just whose fancy are you trying to capture?
OK, written expressions of sympathy, love, appreciation or delight are old-fashioned. But they are also uniquely personal and, excuse the word, appropriate.
Make an impression. Say it in writing. A plain panel card from the five and dime and a ballpoint pen will do fine.

— Emerson Lynn, jr.

Political math

The median wealth of America’s families is in the neighborhood of $100,000. Most of that is in the family’s home. The median wealth of members of the U.S. Congress is $913,000 and rising.
The median family income in Kansas is about $50,000. Representatives and senators start with a paycheck of $174,000 a year and add on extras from there.
To understand what these numbers mean, the recession skipped the hallowed halls of Congress. A majority of our nation’s legislators are millionaires. Some are very, very wealthy. All of them who don’t belong to the top 1 percent are rich in comparison to the average American.
Because a good many members of Congress are earning much more than they were before they went to Washington — or would earn if they returned to the private sector — they are careful readers of the political tea leaves and do nothing to offend their voter base.
Political correctness has a new definition today — steer clear of controversy, avoid initiatives, go with the flow, consult opinion polls to discover what to think. Depend on the special interests to fund your campaigns for re-election. Smile a lot and keep your mouth shut.
Conclusion: Because we give the members of Congress a standard of living many could not achieve back home, they very much want to stay in office and won’t touch tough issues with a 10-foot-pole.

— Emerson Lynn, jr.

Correction

It’s Gus
An article in Tuesday’s Register detailing the Iola High junior varsity football team’s 32-26 victory over Wellsville should have credited Gus Hopkins with seven tackles.
Hopkins was incorrectly identified in the article.
The Register regrets the error.

SCC VB earns victories

HARTFORD — Southern Coffey County High’s volleyball team swept both of its matches Tuesday in 25-11, 25-12 wins over Marais Des Cygnes Valley and 25-16, 25-12 over host Hartford.
“The girls played well in both matches,” Lady Titan head coach Jeff True said. “We passed and set the ball as nicely as we have all year, which allowed for some good kills. Our serving was excellent.”
True noted the Le Roy team was a perfect 95 for 95 on serve attempts. “I’ve never had a team serve perfectly for an entire evening.”
Sarah Webb led the way with 23 kills and six blocks for the Lady Titans. Branna Isch added seven blocks. Carley Nelson had 19 assists. Martyna Hegwald had 14 assists.
True hopes SCC can maintain its momentum Saturday, when it opens Lyon County League tournament play in Emporia. The Lady Titans (13-14) are the sixth seed and begin play at 8 a.m.

Lady Cubs drop matches

CHERRYVALE — An undermanned Humboldt High volleyball team took to the road for a doubleheader Tuesday against host Cherryvale High and Eureka High.
But while the Lady Cubs lost both matches, several players stepped up in a tough situation, according to their head coach.
Humboldt lost 25-16, 25-22 to the host Chargers and fell 25-23, 25-12 to Eureka.
“I am very proud of this group of girls,” Humboldt head coach Stephanie Splechter said. “Our setter is injured and they had to step up.”
As a result, Branna Kline and Sheri Middleton shared setting duties in the first match. Kline handled all of the duties in the second.
“It was a first for both,” Splechter said. “The rest of the team had their backs and played their hearts out.”
Against Cherryvale, Middleton had 10 points, six kills, four blocks and an assist. Kayle Riebel followed with eight points, five kills and two digs. Kline had 10 assists, two kills and three points overall. Haley Riebel had one point — an ace — and three digs. Delaney Umholtz and Rachel Taylor had one and two digs, respectively.
Against Eureka, Middleton had six points, including four kills, two blocks and three assists. Kline registerd five points, two aces, three serves and five assists. Kayle Riebel had four points, an ace, two kills and an assist. Taylor provided five digs and two points. Umholtz had one point from an ace and three digs. Haley Riebel had a set assist.
The Lady Cubs are home next Tuesday to take on Burlington and Fredonia.

Wildcats sweep pair

MOUND CITY — The Marmaton Valley High Wildcats picked up a pair of wins on the road Tuesday at an invitational volleyball meet hosted by Jayhawk-Linn High.
The Wildcats defeated Northeast-Arma High 25-22, 25-15. Marmaton Valley was led by Emily Meiwes with eight points and six kills, Emily Boyd with six points and Kailey Boyd with five kills.
Marmaton Valley also dispatched Crest 25-15, 25-14. Kailey Boyd was good for 13 points and six kills. Mackenzie Tynon added eight points.
Marmaton Valley’s junior varsity split a doubleheader, while its freshman team won its only match of the day.
The JV lost to host Jayhawk Linn 25-19, 25-23 and defeated Northeast-Arma 25-7, 25-11.
The freshmen, meanwhile, won in three sets over Jayhawk-Linn, 21-25, 25-19, 15-13.
Leaders on the night for the Moran girls were Tessa Olson with 21 points, four kills and a block, Mackenzie Tynon with 15 points and three kills, Kenzie Harrison with 15 points and a kill, Molly Hamlin with 12 points and two kills, Ruby Mann with nine points, Ashlynn Pinkerton with eight points and three kills and Shauna Knight with eight points.

Iola volleyball earns road split

WELLSVILLE — Iola High’s Fillies had a pair of tough battles on their hands Tuesday on the volleyball court.
The Fillies wound up splitting the matches, defeating Central Heights in three sets 25-18, 12-25, 25-15, and falling to host Wellsville 25-17, 25-17.
“We had a tough fight against Wellsville, but we just couldn’t put all the pieces together,” head coach Emily Sigg said. “We went three (sets) with Central Heights and ended with the win, but it was a match we should have had total control over.”
In the victory over Central Heights, Katie Thompson registered seven points, including five aces, a kill, one solo block and a dig. Emery Driskel blasted 13 kills with three digs. Breanna Stout followed with six kills, two digs and an ace to go with three points.
Addie Haar delivered five kills with a dig. Emma Piazza dished up 15 assists, four points, a solo block and a dig. Kyra Moore provided nine assists, four kills and two digs with her four-point effort. Hannah Endicott had four digs, two aces and four points overall. Emma Sigg also had four digs.
Against Central Heights, Thompson was on a roll and served five consecutive points. She wound up with a kill, two digs and an ace as well. Piazza had seven assists and a dig. Driskel had eight kills, a set assist, one solo block and four digs. Stout had four kills, two solo blocks, another assisted block and four digs. Moore had five assists, two kills and an assisted block. Haar had a kill. Endicott and Sigg provided one and two digs, respectively.

THE FILLIE freshmen, meanwhile, won in four sets at Wellsville, 25-9, 25-14, 24-26, 25-8.
Taylor Heslop led the freshmen in assists. Mikaela Platt, Ashlie Shields, Tayler Sell and Valaree Burtnett led the team in kills, while Heslop, McKayli Cleaver, Miciah Larney and Joie Whitney were the leading servers.
The varsity Fillies return to action Saturday with a tournament in Garnett at the Anderson County Invitational, followed next Tuesday by a return trip to Anderson County High. The freshmen travel to Girard Thursday to take on Girard, Frontenac and Southeast Cherokee.

Georgia Spurgeon

Georgia Esther Spurgeon, 94, former resident of LaHarpe, died Friday, Oct. 5, 2012, at Argent Court Assisted Living Community in Brenham, Texas. 
She was born Oct. 5, 1918 in LaHarpe, the daughter of Charles Spurgeon and Blanche Shorter Spurgeon. Following graduation, Georgia moved to Houston where she worked for the Houston Astrodome.
Survivors include several nieces and nephews also a good friend and caregiver Edna. She was preceded in death by her parents; three brothers, Winfred, Everett and Wilbur Spurgeon; and two sisters, Elizabeth and Clara Spurgeon.
The Rev. Dallas Peterson will conduct graveside services at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the Bronson Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 1:30 p.m. Thursday until leaving for the cemetery at the Cheney Witt Bronson Chapel. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.

Hail, knowledge! Science show us a bright future

British researcher John Gurdon and Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka have discovered that ordinary cells in the body can be transformed into primitive cells which, like stem cells, can turn into any kind of tissue. They won the Nobel Prize Monday for their work, which was completed about six years ago.
While the medical implications of their study won’t be fully realized for decades, this discovery holds enormous scientific promise. It may be possible, for example, to coax ordinary cells in the bodies of the victims of diabetes to generate insulin, curing the disease. The possibilities for human engineering seem limitless.
Moreover, the work done by Gurdon, Yamanaka and their colleagues around the scientific world — a world without national borders, this pair demonstrates — has eliminated the necessity of destroying human embryos in order to obtain stem cells.
It is not only exciting to see the limits of human knowledge being expanded so dramatically, it is enormously comforting. Science and scientists — words derived from the verb to know — keep reminding us that study, experimentation and contemplation can solve the most daunting problems.
Gurdon and Yamanaka remind us that the enormous progress that has been made in medicine, most of which has occurred in the lifetimes of today’s grandfather generation, is still roaring ahead. Not only will most diseases be banished, as so many already have been, but pathways are opening now to the replacement of injured or nonfunctioning body parts.
Life has been extended for our species. Now the prospects for improving the quality of those extended years grow brighter.

THOUGHTS LIKE THESE prompt the cynical to object. Yes, they admit, all branches of science made the human species shine. We have a scientific miracle exploring Mars, sending pictures to us on Earth, analyzing the red planet, teaching us about another corner of the universe. We can prowl on the ocean bottoms. We are learning more and more about the gases that envelop Earth and support life. But, they say, science hasn’t taught us how to get along with our neighbors or even take good care of our own countrymen.
But that’s not really true.
The level of violence around the world has dropped even as the world’s population has increased. A smaller portion of the world’s population goes to bed hungry. There have been no wars between major nations for half a century.
The number of democracies — nations in which the citizens have real power — has grown very substantially and shows every sign of continuing to grow. Expanding economic freedom has cast a web around nations, drawing them into a one-world interdependency that makes war ever less likely because it not only causes blood to flow but also destroys wealth and halts progress.
We — meaning all of us, everywhere — are taking a lesson from science and creating better patterns of human behavior.
Heading for Utopia? Nope. Just a world that steers itself away from self-destruction. That may be as close to perfection as we can get.

— Emerson Lynn, jr.