Opinion: Citizens can serve nation by staying involved

It's impossible to drive on any area roads these days without seeing bumper stickers and flags declaring patriotism and reaffirming American ideals. Unfortunately true patriotism requires more investment in time and energy than slapping a decal on your back window.

To truly honor the ideals of the founding fathers I'd like to make a few suggestions.

Consume less. Whether it's gas or supersized fast food, it'll help this country become less dependent on foreign oil and less encumbered with health costs.

Become informed. Read a newspaper or two a day and don't totally dismiss opposing points of view. For every Bill O'Reilly book you read pick one up by Paul Begala, or vice versa.

Give blood. There is always a need and in these troubled times there could be an increased demand.

Voice your opinion. Write your elected representatives and send letters to media outlets. This country wasn't conceived to be run by or for "bobble-heads" who never question what the government tells them.

Live your life as a free citizen. Take your vacation, go visit family or simply enjoy a beautiful evening outside.

In a country where we purport to support free speech, practice a tolerance for opposing views from individuals or nations. No matter how "wrong" France or your co-worker might be, there is always a chance that there is one precious morsel of truth that you have overlooked.

So keep the flag decals if you like, but make an effort to go just a little beyond your normal comfort zone. It could mean one less impulse to drive to the store, or it could be showing up to vote at election time. The military serves as directed. American citizens best serve when they become involved with the things that support the country. Slogans and sound bites will never ensure our safety from foreign threats or the challenges to the sanctity of our freedoms put forth in the Bill of Rights. The cornerstone of good citizenship is involvement.
-- Mark Weinkrantz, Palm Harbor

Renewable energy can be competitive

Re: Alternatives in the air, March 10.

Congratulations to Times writer Louis Hau for reminding us that renewable energy sources are a feasible alternative to fossil fuels. While it is true that the retail price of alternative energy sources is approaching that of fossil-fuel-based energy, if we looked at the true price of oil and gasoline (and arguably, nuclear power as well), we would find that renewable energy sources are even more competitive. That the U.S. government helps keep the price of oil low through tax breaks and production subsidies is well known. In addition, the government helps finance research and development, provides on-the-ground services such as land surveys and maps, and implicitly fuels (pardon the pun) demand for gasoline through its subsidies on transportation infrastructure. Some would go so far as to include the cost of military protection in oil-rich regions in the real cost of oil production.

Finally, to get an accurate picture of the market for oil, we should include the environmental, health, and national security costs associated with the burning of fossil fuels. It is the savings of these costs in particular that help even out the price of oil and the price of renewable energy sources. Indeed, a 1998 study by the nonpartisan International Center for Technology Assessment estimates that the price of gasoline would increase anywhere from 5 to 15 times if all of these costs were accounted for.

Current geopolitical events, tightening government budgets, as well as global warming and air pollution suggest that it is time to adjust the price of oil and gasoline. Let's hope that we as a country will be able to take advantage of renewable resources, which will bring economic, environmental and political benefits.
-- Rebecca Lee Harris, St. Petersburg

Let's move away from fossil fuels

Re: Alternatives in the air.

This article succinctly points out the need for the Florida Legislature and the federal government to pass legislation that will spur the development and use of renewable sources of energy such as solar power. We cannot wait for public demand to drive renewable energy development if we want a safe, clean and affordable energy future devoid of fossil fuels and other energy sources that are hazardous to public health and the environment.

Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson must lead our country away from fossil fuels, which are compromising our nation's energy security, emptying our wallets, polluting our air and water, and threatening our national treasures such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and our beaches. Our senators must support their fellow congressmen, such as Jim Jeffords of Vermont, in their efforts to require that an increasing amount of electricity to come from clean, renewable resources like solar, wind and geothermal energy. Such a national renewable standard would help reduce pollution, create jobs, and save consumers money. And it will provide the necessary funding to drive down the cost of renewable energy over the long term. Why must we wait for the alternatives when they already exist? Instead of waiting, we should insist that our state and national political leaders hasten the development and use of renewable energy by mandating a 20 percent renewable standard by 2020.
-- Jason Stabins, citizen outreach director, Florida PIRG, Tampa

We should recycle nuclear fuel

For the past 20 years, recycling has been part of our everyday activity and, in return, beneficial to both the public and our environment. Maybe we should apply recycling to spent nuclear fuel from the nuclear power plants?

The approval of Yucca Mountain as a storage site for spent nuclear fuel is a great stride forward for the United States. With the current demand for electric power increasing, before long, a new-generation nuclear power plant system is going to be ordered here in the United States.

Prior to granting an operating license for one of these new-generation systems, the option of spent fuel reprocessing, that is, recycling, should be considered as part of the utility-plant license.

Our current laws prohibit commercial spent fuel reprocessing. Spent fuel reprocessing is possible and spent fuel is not waste, as it is referred to at times.

Reprocessing of spent fuel is currently under way in Great Britain, Japan and France.

If we, as a nation, utilized more nuclear power to produce electricity, this in turn, would reduce the current usage of oil and the natural gas "peaking-power-units."

The United States must provide the current supply of electric power, and one way to satisfy this demand is with safe, clean, proven, environmentally friendly nuclear power. To accommodate this demand, we should proceed with the recycling of spent fuel, reprocessing, and thus avoid the storage of spent nuclear fuel.
-- Andrija (Andy) Vukmir, Crystal River

Let buses go to the airport

As a frequent traveler from Pinellas County, I have always wondered why Tampa International Airport is not served by public transit. Common sense said, "because TIA is in Hillsborough County and you live in Pinellas." Case closed.

But then I read (St. Petersburg Times, March 7) Pinellas County wants to buy buses to go into downtown Tampa. I called the Transit Authority to suggest routes from Pinellas to TIA, obviously a destination for many Pinellas residents. The gentleman from the authority said, among other things, that TIA does not even allow public buses from Hillsborough to serve the airport.

Would someone from TIA please explain why public transit from any county cannot use the airport? If it is the best in the country (and third best in the world) as reported, it should be served by public transit. The private limo services should not be protected at public expense. (TIA gets money for each passenger the limo services pick up at the airport.)

A fare of a few dollars would be preferable to the shuttle's questionable service for $29, albeit for door-to-door service. I have traveled around the world and never have paid nearly so much to get to and from an airport. Even Third World cities have municipal buses to their airports.
-- John E. Jacobsen, Clearwater

ESE teachers are caring and skilled

I was appalled at some of the responses in the March 11 letters by parents of ESE (exceptional student education) students to the March 5 story Special needs classrooms feel sting of lost funding. The parents should not make generalizations based on one personal experience. As a staffing coordinator in one of the Pinellas County elementary schools, I work with ESE teachers daily and know them to be caring, knowledgeable people who treat ESE students as individuals, working diligently to make sure that their IEPs (Individual Education Plans) are followed through. I would like to respond to some of the statements in the letters.

1. School personnel are held accountable for children's rights under IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Each year ESE teachers have to update IEPs, make recommendations for new evaluations and validate that each student is getting all the services to which they are entitled. If not, when the ESE folders are audited, the school and the county lose money.

2. ESE teachers (and all Pinellas County personnel) are provided with opportunities to receive training in their areas of expertise.

3. All the ESE teachers I have worked with in Pinellas schools are caring, hard-working individuals, who treat their students with respect and compassion.

4. The decision to place an ESE student on a Special Diploma track does not have to be made until the eighth grade. Most of the ESE students I have been involved with have been on the standard-diploma track. Special efforts are made to keep the ESE students working toward a standard diploma.

5. I don't believe that students' disabilities are used as an excuse as to why they are unsuccessful in the public schools. Each student's IEP is written with goals that the caseworker and the parents feel the student can achieve. ESE teachers constantly strive to challenge their students to work at higher levels.

6. The letter writers referred to ESE students' rights to a Free Appropriate Public Education. According to IDEA, this FAPE is also intended to be in the least restrictive environment. When considering a student's eligibility for ESE services, the level of service the student receives is carefully considered. A student is not automatically "shut away" in a center without taking his/her needs and requirements into careful consideration. Great care is taken to keep ESE students with the general education population as much as possible.

7. I agree that some schools lack physical accommodations. There is a process in place to put ESE students in schools where there are accommodations, personnel and services to meet their needs.

8. There are, in Pinellas County, psychologists who are certified behavior analysts. All school psychologists receive training, to a certain degree, in autism in their graduate programs. Not all school psychologists have the same level of skill in autism, depending upon the population of students they serve.

Despite the lack of funding in Pinellas County, this does not detract from ESE personnel's commitment to students.
Judy Jones, school counselor/staffing coordinator, Cross Bayou Elementary School, Pinellas Park

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