“An opportunity for real change”
Dear Editor:
I was disappointed by the angle chosen in the article “PR to the rescue: District 186’s plan to rebuild credibility” [June 26]. Headlines such as “District 186 reaches out to community” or “Public engagement: A new start for school district 186” would have better described the intent behind this effort. Yes, it is true that the firm hired by the district can be described as a PR firm. And it may be true that Unicom is, as education activist Kevin Killion puts it, “in the business to help their clients achieve immediate goals, such as passing referenda.” But Unicom was not hired for those purposes here. Unicom was hired by District 186 to help facilitate a process of public engagement. It was selected from three firms interviewed because of its extensive work with school communities.
One goal of this effort is to help restore confidence in the district by bringing together ordinary citizens to establish the vision for and direction of their school district. Another goal is to rebuild the relationship between educators and community members by promoting greater collaboration, communication, and openness.
This is an important and necessary step for District 186–one that will need an extraordinary commitment from the entire community. This article described me as one of the district’s “most vocal critics.” What it failed to mention is that I am also one of the district’s most active and supportive parents. This is an opportunity for real change. Unfortunately, it will fail if the community does not rise to the occasion. Contact the district to get involved–this effort is what many of us have been calling for.
Sheila Stocks-Smith
Springfield
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Message from Canada
To the editor:
As a Canadian with 34 years of service in the Canadian Armed Forces, I had assumed the Pentagon was staffed by people with a high degree of intelligence. But when Major Harry Schmidt and Major William Umbach were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, eight counts of aggravated assault, and dereliction of duty for mistakenly dropping a bomb on Canadian soldiers, I realized the Pentagon had the same intellectual staffing problem we have in Canada. In nearly every article I have read on this tragic situation, the mistake is blamed on the pilots. No one blames the higher authorities who failed to brief the pilots about the Canadian night training position. The very fact that the Pentagon brought charges against Major Schmidt and Major Umbach smacks of a familiar situation–cover the ass of the senior officers and find a scapegoat, no matter the cost. I can understand the government getting away with this scenario in Canada because Canadians on the whole are a bunch of pathetic wimps when it comes to confronting government. Most Canadians don’t even bother to vote. I had a much higher regard for Americans because most Americans exude patriotism. What has happened in this case?
When I volunteered during the Korean war I was made aware that my decision may cost me my life. I accepted that condition. I have a lot of sympathy for the relatives of the dead soldiers. Losing a loved one is hard to take and sometimes grief overcomes reality and revenge takes its place. But that is not the answer; the emotional damage done to the pilots and to their families is also irrevocable. Blaming Major Schmidt and Major Umbach for this tragic accident is a blatant miscarriage of justice. They are not to blame–they were doing their job. These two pilots offered their lives for the protection of the American public and, indeed, all free nations, including Canada, as did our young soldiers. This is a fact that must not be forgotten or overlooked.
For people who offer their lives for their country, the United States and your president have a strange way of showing appreciation. We have a serious problem with political correctness in Canada. It appears Americans are also cursed with this political stupidity. In war, accidents are inevitable. If military personnel are going to be prosecuted for obvious friendly fire accidents, why would they want to defend the freedom we all hold so dear? I understand Major Schmidt is requesting a court-martial to clear his name. Under the circumstances, I admire his courage. Let us all hope and pray that sane minds prevail and ignorant bureaucrats do not get involved.
Ken Butchard CD
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
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This article appears in Jul 10-16, 2003.
