Letters to the Editor
In behalf of the Cerro Coso athletic program
Contributed by Community Members
Editor,
I have been a year-round fan of the athletic programs at Cerro Coso
since Dr. McCue took me on a tour of the facilities when I moved here in
1990. Needless to say, I was very impressed at Dr. McCue's vision and
the programs intended to develop the youth of our community.
I was on the board of directors for the Coyote Boosters for a number of
years and have been able to watch our community college's reputation
rise to the top, largely in part to our athletic programs.
My son graduated from Burroughs High School and is now attending a
four-year university. He chose to return home for two summers in order
to take two academic courses at the college and play baseball for the
summer program.
I continue to be a fan of our community college programs and very much
enjoy watching our local youth participate in our athletic programs.
I am writing this letter, as an effort to plead with the powers that be,
to insure the continuation of our Cerro Coso athletic programs.
Much would be lost to the youth of our community. Not all of our folks
can move on to a four-year university and some would not even attend
college if it were not for the opportunity to play a sport. If our own
community denied our youngsters this opportunity I would withdraw my
support of Cerro Coso Community College.
We must find a way to make this work!
Laura Craig
Ridgecrest
Editor,
I was born and raised in the Indian Wells Valley. My earliest memories
revolve around the comprehensive year-round sports programs and
activities which were always an integral part of my life here.
Little did I know what a formative role those activities would play in
the shaping of my character and self discipline. Ultimately, when I was
awarded a full football scholarship to the University of California
Berkeley, my entire life and fortune was transformed by opportunities
that had previously been unimaginable!
I went on to become a high school teacher and coach. I am the first
person to have been awarded an Eminence Credential for teaching At-Risk
students in the state of California.
Sporting activities have always been one of the most vital therapies
known to man and I have always included this medium as a means of
achieving positive relationship with my students.
I am writing this letter to strongly advocate for the continuation of
the school sports programs at Cerro Coso College. Without such programs,
the college will lose its comprehensive stature and will lose a
percentage of students who might otherwise have attended. The
opportunity to attract corporate sponsorship and to engage the community
in positive and diverse ways will vanish along with the programs
themselves.
Perhaps utilizing a professional fundraiser could alleviate financial
shortfalls while maintaining the sporting excellence that has always
made Cerro Coso such a well-rounded institution. Thank you for your
consideration of this matter.
Stephen B. Metcalf
Ridgecrest
Editor,
I came to this valley in 1949 and I have watched our community grow for
the last 50 years. I believe one of our highlights has been Cerro Coso
Community College and more specifically, the athletic opportunities that
it now offers the youth of our community.
I had to attend Bakersfield Community College in order to pursue my
baseball career. However, I have been quite fortunate as a parent and a
member of this community, as I have been able to watch both my sons play
baseball for the Cerro Coso Coyotes.
Kevin Martin went on to the University of Southern Colorado on a
baseball scholarship and now plays professional baseball. My youngest
son John (JD) Martin, played summer ball for the college and was a
first-round draft pick for the Cleveland Indians.
I have been on the Boosters Board of Directors and continue to purchase
a Booster Corporate sponsorship. My entire family has enjoyed watching
the youth of our community grow through our athletic programs on the
hill. Our athletic programs continue to develop our youngsters as it did
both my sons.
It would be a travesty if we were to lose our athletic programs at Cerro
Coso. We would be losing an opportunity for each and every child to have
this avenue for success.
I would withdraw my support of the Kern Community College District if
this total disregard for our local youth were to take place.
I am writing to you and asking for your support and for you to continue
to fight to save our athletic programs at Cerro Coso Community College.
John C. Martin
Ridgecrest
Of government schools and God
Editor,
"No God means no law; no law means no crime; no crime means that
anything goes." (R.J. Rushdoony)
This is the humanistic/naturalistic/ evolutionistic syllogism operating
in much of today's world. Dostoyevsky said it: Eliminate God and
anything becomes possible. But the "anything's possible" age doesn't
mean that everything's right. Just because murder is possible doesn't
make it right. Just because abortion is "legal" doesn't make it right.
Just because homosexuality is claimed by a few to be a legitimate
alternate lifestyle doesn't make it right.
The central issue in government schools is not homosexuality, but
authority. All thinking appeals to some authority. Whatever your
authority is, that is your g/God. Government schools aren't god-less;
they just have the wrong god.
For the Christian it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the humanist/evolutionist/
naturalist/etc., it is fallen, sinful, estranged man, who can be rescued
only through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. (Ooops! An
intolerant, anti-multicultural, exclusivistic statement.) When man plays
god, every man does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).
So-called autonomous/independent man imagines that whatever he is,
thinks, says, does and stands for is right. But, "there is a way which
seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of
death."(Proverbs 14:12)
Many are rightly concerned about goings-on in government schools, but
are mistaken in imagining that the government schools can be reformed.
They can't. They should not be. They, like dozens of other government
projects, are unconstitutional. They are also socialistic and therefore
immoral. They ought to be abolished.
Let free-enterprising private entrepreneurs operate private schools of
all types (Christian, atheistic, Muslim, homeschools, etc.) and let the
parents choose and pay for the education of their own children.
Competition will sift the chaff from the wheat. The results will be more
efficient, effective, and satisfying to everyone except the statists.
And it will eliminate the largest single tax burden borne by the states
(=tax-payers). (About half of all state budgets, and a major portion of
the federal budget, goes to government education.)
During more than half of our country's history we managed nicely without
government schools. It is no accident that the beginning of the
spiritual, moral and educational decline of our nation coincided roughly
with the beginning of government education, which was heavily influenced
by unitarians/universalists and their intolerance of Christianity, which
has increased in our day.
It is a serious error to imagine that today's government schools are an
asset to our nation. They are a major part of the problem, which has
accelerated since relativism has become the spirit of the age. The goal
of the dominant radical government education-NEA axis is to isolate
Christians and make them feel helpless as the basic realities of life
are redefined in humanistic terms,
Until the question of ultimate authority is answered positively, the
only direction government education can go is down. When people wake up
to reality they will see what a fraud today's government education is
and make the right choices.
Paul W. Neipp
Pastor, Pilgrim Lutheran Church
Director, Pilgrim Christian School
Ridgecrest
March 7, 2003
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The Daily Independent.
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