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Sound Off for April 6, 2008
| Tuesday, May 27 2008 2:04 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, May 27 2008 2:32 PM
Reader: In Tuesday's paper I read about the Kern County Science Fair winners and it was so nice to see the winner honored. These students have spent months on these projects and have won at various school and district levels to be able to attend the science fair. My hat goes off to every student who made it to the county level.
I was disappointed to see that the paper did not bother to print the fourth and fifth grade winners. It does not matter that they do not compete on the state level.
This paper prints every name from the Kern County Fair that even has an honorable mention. The paper claims to support the schools but when you had a chance to honor all winners you blew it.
-- Julee Skowron
Jenner: I'm sorry to inform you that we no longer print the winners and placing finishers in every category of competition at the Kern County Fair.
Unfortunately we can't justify the many hundreds of inches of news space needed to print all those names.
I do wish we'd had the room to print all the science fair winners, including the fourth and fifth grade winners. Editors have to make tough decisions about what to include and what to omit in our print columns.
We don't have such space constraints on our Web site, where you can find the complete list.
Reader: I turned 11 on February 21st. Two days later I went to county for the Oral Language Festival. The next day I read the paper and it listed all the winners for the five categories.
Let me tell you I was very upset that you only listed THEM. You could have put in the kids that could have won.
-- Natalie Hernandez
Jenner: Natalie, I applaud your performance in the Oral Language Festival.
But according to Steve Talbot of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office, more than 190 students from 17 regions participated in that competition.
One of the unfortunate realities of my business is that you can't make everyone happy. And one of the unfortunate realities of life is that sometimes you have to win the top award to be recognized.
Reaching the county level of this competition is indeed a noteworthy accomplishment, and you should be very proud, whether your name made the paper or not.
Reader: The heartfelt picture of a son's return from war (March 19 Day in Pictures) captured a precious moment of time that even Hollywood couldn't duplicate. Sweet.
Rosemary Gutierrez and her handsome son, Miguel, embracing is a scene that illustrates the thousands of times since the beginning of time when boys returned home from war to the arms of their mothers.
We see in the mother's face gratitude for her son's safe return and their love for one another. The anguish and suffering of war is evident on his mother's face.
This picture depicts the many facets of war -- its tragedy and suffering.
The bond between mother and son cannot be described.
It just is.
The picture is a masterpiece. It touched my heart.
It is a scene reminiscent of World War II when my 21-year-old brother returned from war on a balmy, Wisconsin June evening, one of two survivors of his company. The others lay in peace in a Normandy cemetery.
-- Sue McBee
Jenner: Thanks for your comments. It was indeed a poignant image.
On the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, we devoted the entirety of our Day in Pictures page to images of local soldiers and Marines (and their family members) who have served in that conflict.
I'm glad you found it moving.
Reader: I see constant statements in The Californian about how neighbors should watch over empty houses in their neighborhood to prevent illegal parties and trashing of properties.
Come on -- are you afraid of offending your advertisers? In many, if not most of the empty house problems, foreclosed property is owned by mortgage lenders. They are responsible for security and upkeep of those properties. They and their agents, the realtors, stand to make money from the sale of those properties, and should be expected to watch over them.
Sure, when we leave town, we tell our neighbors, and if it is an extended time, we notify the local Police Department so the house gets a little more attention.
But if we left the property unattended for a while without doing any of those things, I sure wouldn't be blaming the neighbors or police if my property was trashed while I was gone. Property owners are responsible for property upkeep -- and that's a fact.
-- Fred Shaughnessy
Jenner: Huh?
We never said the owners of homes aren't responsible for them. But these homes aren't abandoned and run down. They are just empty with for-sale signs.
Neighbors certainly do have something at stake if kids identify these homes as party houses and trash them.
I see no reason why they shouldn't help by keeping an eye on these abandoned homes.