Teachers thanked for their service
After reading a rant in Sunday’s Perspective section, I was compelled to write a response. The anonymous contributor referred to teaching as “a profession of the mediocre and the lazy.”
Chances are this person’s ability to read and eventually to write this coherent sentence, though ridiculous as it was, it due to a teacher. In my educational experience I had many wonderful and dedicated teachers.
I will have to say my two favorites at Ringgold were Mrs. Vivian Watkins in fourth grade and Mrs. Imogene Sheram in sixth grade.
When I started school in first grade in 1962, I could neither read nor write my name. I have wanted to thank my dedicated first-grade teacher for some time, and this rant has given me the opportunity to do this. My first grade teacher took over 30 students and taught us to read, write, and do numbers up to 50.
I sincerely want to give a heartfelt word of thanks to Mrs. Margaret Watkins for enabling me to begin an education which resulted in a high school diploma in 1974 and eventually three education degrees. Please take time today and say a thank you to the teachers who have had a positive influence in your life.
JOEL SELF
Ringgold, Ga.
Education needed for animal laws
I once read, “A nation can be judged by how it treats its animals”; but what about a nation that agrees to destroy many dogs based solely on their physical appearance?
Over 600 cities have breed-specific legislations. This either restricts the ownership of certain dog breeds or bans them altogether. The most commonly affected breeds are the bull terriers like the pit bull. BSLs focus specifically on the breed versus the actual disposition of the dog, claiming that by nature they are vicious.
In 2007, the National Football League player, Michael Vick, had 49 dogs seized from his property; they were fighting pit bulls. After an extensive evaluation, only one was deemed “vicious.”
Faulty statistics lead us to believe the breed is bad and people aren’t told how much it costs to ban them.
In Michigan, one proposed ban will cost $15 million while schools receive budget cuts.
Every few decades, the vicious dog dilemma falls on a new breed. The only way to stop this cycle is to educate our public. We should show them that one dog doesn’t represent the breed, and legislation should start focusing on the disposition of the dog. Only then can we truly stop the dog attack epidemic.
KATHERINE JAY
We are republic, not democracy
To those who do not know, we live in a republic, not a democracy.
The word democracy is not in our constitution or in the “Declaration of Independence,” or in Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” or in Washington’s “Farewell Address” or in the “Pledge of Allegiance” to the flag.
We say to “the Republic for which it stands.”
Article 4, Section 4, of our constitution reads: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republic Form of Government …”
Way back in 1952, Paul Harvey said it well: “We have pretty well identified our two-faced friends who might destroy our republic.
“It is they who sneak distortions into the books and magazines we read, the movies we see, and the radio and television programs that invade our parlor.”
Mr. Harvey also said one wonderful thing about this republic of ours is that we can erase some of our mistakes every four years.
CASS NEIGHBORS
Soddy-Daisy
Use ballot box for term limits
The U.S. Navy has a saying that goes, “A complaining sailor is a happy sailor.” Not exactly those words, but close enough.
Relating that to the non-military among us, when it comes to politics, there must be a lot of happy people in this country.
With congressional approval now at 9 percent and folks constantly complaining every day about politicians in Washington, I cannot for the life of me understand why and how these guys keep getting re-elected time after time, and once they are re-elected the complaining starts all over again. Happy people, I guess.
Somebody needs to explain this to me, because I have obviously missed the bus somewhere along its route. A growing number of people are wanting term limits for politicians. Well, as the gentleman who wrote to you a while back said, “You want term limits? You already have them. It’s called a ballot box. Use it.”
RICHARD A. SHANKEN
Rocky Face, Ga.
Social media use touted as benefit
You may believe that the use of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger and LinkedIn are soley meant for individuals chatting with friends and family. In fact, social media use is the next step in the evolution of business marketing.
Well-known Fortune 500 companies such as Walmart (No. 1), Exxon Mobil (No. 2), AT&T (No. 12) and Apple (No. 35) possess sections on their respective home websites urging visitors to “like” them, tweet them and watch their videos in order to provide feedback and receive updates.
Despite the fact that organizations are increasing use of social networking sites, opponents advocate for a decrease in the use of them by arguing that social media use interferes with employee production, lessens the use of material means of marketing, and blurs the personal and professional barrier. However, benefits include instant marketing and news spread, better understanding of the target market, quick contribution and feedback from the company’s community and instant collaboration between colleagues.
With the rise in Internet technology, there is no significant excuse for a business to not take advantage of implementing social media into its marketing plans in order to communicate with customers, colleagues, and potential partners. In the end the benefits of the sites largely outweigh the negatives.
KEVIN JONES
Google’s Street View is safety risk
A car is driving around your neighborhood photographing your home. Soon the photographs of your home are published online with your address available to anyone with a computer. This may sound like a scene from a futuristic Big Brother movie, but it is exactly what Google is doing with its Street View program.
Internet giant Google’s Street View allows users to walk down residential and commercial streets virtually. Cars with cameras attached collect images without regard for what has been captured. Images of children playing in the yard, with corresponding address, can be easily pursued by predators. While what Google is doing is legal — photographing private property and publishing it, the practice is not ethical.
This openness of information must be paired with greater responsibility. Google needs to take greater safety precautions. Tools should be developed to make it easier to blur images of children and license plates. Google should be required to send an informational letter informing the resident of the homes they are photographing listing the approximate time they will be photographing. Google Street View may have its benefits for small businesses and exploring new areas, but public safety must take priority.
LAUREN BUBULKA
Area cotton found in low fields
The article “In high cotton” (Times Free Press, Nov. 8) was very interesting.
However, the writer is incorrect when he states that one can drive from Monteagle across the southern Cumberland Plateau to see the roads lined with cotton fields. The plateau is the high land, about one thousand feet above the valley floor. The cotton fields are very near U.S. 64 and the Tennessee River, but the fields are in the lowlands, actually the Highland Rim. One must descend from the plateau to reach the cotton fields.
JOHN BORDLEY
Sewanee, Tenn.