4 The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, May 27, 1998 IEC LITYE ‘outh violenceisa ‘shock, not a surprise Like a fighter who has taken too many punches, America is reeling from the shock of another teen shooting incident, this one in Oregon leaving four people dead and two dozen injured. Through the fog of our dazed senses, we're also wondering why these senseless acts of violence occur, and what we can do to prevent them. The answers are far from simple, which makes remote the prospect for corrective measures in our fast-paced, quick-fix society, at least until the violence becomes so over- whelming that we can no longer rationalize it. Surely, the greatest stimulant to vengeful murderin America is welcomed into our homes every day: Television shows not only glorify violence, many of them offer it as the correct and effective solution-o interpersonal dilliculties. This is not a new phenomenon: Baby Boomers were raised on shows like Bo- nanza, in which the good guys always won, often with guns blazing and fists flying. We are so inured to violence that you may have passed over the reference to boxing in the first sentence without even noticing how incongruous it is in this context. Movies offer even more fighting, shooting and Killing per minute than television, frequently with humor, as in the Home Alone series, in which a young boy visits all manner of injury on bumbling would-be burglars, to the delight of the audience. But our affinity for violence is only hall the story, or maybe less. Violent thoughts alone don't kill people. Since most of us lack the strength or will to kill with bare hands, we need an instrument to carry out our aggression, and no nation in the history of the world has offered such a huge market for the most deadly weapons, guns. No, guns don’t kill people all by them- selves, but people with guns kill at an alarming rate, and the perpetrators and victims are less often criminals than a spurned lover ... or the unhappy kid next door. Yet, we spend billions of dollars to lock up penny ante drug pushers while true merchants of death not only escape our attention, they are actually defended by politicians too cowardly to take on the gun lobby and enact reasonable restrictions on the traffic in firearms. Government acts counter to good sense in other ways. Using the death penalty as punishment makes legitimate the eye-tor- an-eye mentality that spurs much of our violence. When the state shows by example that it is permissible to take the life of another person, some people — especially the young, impres- sionable or vicious — interpret that as a license to exact their own payment lor perceived wrongs. The United States now holds a higher share of its citizens in prison‘than any other nation, yet we also have by far the highest rates of murder and other violent crimes. Something doesn’t add up. Then there's the media, the whipping boy lor many critics in time of crisis. Do television and newspapers, along with minor news outlets, share the blame for our violent tendencies? Probably not, but it is certain that publication and broadcast of one crime can lead to copycat actions. II nothing clse, the speed and reach of today’s news outlets, especially television, bring gruesome scenes into our homes and minds far more quickly and completely than ever belore. But the media's presence is not completely innocuous; there has been a para- digm shift in editors’ sense ol responsibility, so that almost anything now goes, hopefully belore the competition, as news outlets scramble for circulation and ratings with which to lure more advertisers and make more money. Ultimately, of course, we are our own worst enemies, and each murder has its own unique causes and consequences. But it is futile for Americans to deny that our society, made up from a little piece of each of us, condones — even celebrates — violence as a means to an end. On television and in the movies, that end is usually a good one, but in real life it seldom works out that way. Publisher's notebook Ron Bartizek Moving may be one of the most revealing experiences in life, and what we see is often not pretty. We've just moved for the first time in nine years and two children, and the stuff we carted from one house to another tells at least a chapter or two in the story of our lives. We're glad it hasn't been published. Being of the baby boom generation, moving is second nature, of course. We each packed and unpacked several times before meeting, and this is the fifth transplant together, so the boxes of old business clothes and the dozens of picture frames and perennially unframed artwork that go with them were not a surprise. Ditto for the glassware, pottery and accessories that haven't seen the light of day in 20 years. But now the kids have made their contribution to the clutter, including a box of stulfed animals that would be worth a fortune if they had TY tags on them. : As they have so many times belore, pledges to clean out and throw out have crossed our lips, but this time it will be different. (Yes, we've said that before, but this time we really mean it.) If we make good on our promises, you can look forward to the most fully stocked odds ‘nn’ ends booth ever at this year’s library auction. But we won't tell you which items are ours. The Dallas Post Published Weekly By Bartsen Media, Inc. P.O. Box 366, Dallas PA 18612 717-675-5211 Charlotte E. Bartizek ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Ronald A. Bartizek PUBLISHER Kylie Shafferkoetter REPORTER Jessica Appolo ADVERTISING ACCT. EXEC Ruth Proietto PRODUCTION MANAGER Olga Kostrobala CLASSIFIED/TYPESETTING Jill Gruver OFFICE MANAGER A sane rd INN : PENNSYIVANIA NATIONAL NFWSPAPFR WSPAPER ASSOCIATION NEWSPAPER PRINTED WITH SOV INK|_ Dog days arrived carly this year. Photo by Charlotte Bartizek. J ETT S RE I—, Youth musicians deserve recognition, as athletes do ICditor: I commend your editorial and lecature article in the April 8th edition ol the Dallas Post honor ing the fifteen Dallas and Lake- Lehman high school musicians who have been selected for Res gional band and orchestra com- petition. Your recognition of their dedication and long hours ol hard work is a great tribute to the mu- sicians themselves as well as to their band directors, parents, and A Case for CONSL ation { TL ry < Alene N. Case =] Note from A. Case: My husband recently wrote the following essay reflecting on the last 20 years of discussion and the current actions regarding the Susquehanna River inthe Wyoming Valley. Lwanted to Share it with you. We all live within this watershed and we need lo male informed choices as (oils management. Listen with me (o the Professor. By Dr. J. MICHAEL CASE The Susquehanna River drain ape basin is a historical stage lor a struggle between factions which degrade the land and aquatic re- sources and factions which work lo conserve ccosystem function. The river and its tributaries are central players in this struggle and are generally viewed as adver- saries (to be tamed by constructed levees. 1 choose the word adver- sary because the people ol this region imbue the river and its tributary system with attributes ol incivility they identify in people and animals they dislike. Any recognition of the natural hydro- logic response ol a watershed to precipitation is readily abandoned by public citizen and politician alike when economic development presents its lure. In other words, short-term and short-sighted eco- all the other devoted individuals who generously give of their time and talent to make these music programs the successes that they are, The Dallas and Lake Lehman bands are both award-winning bands. They spend many long, hours practicing lor their perfor mances and inorder to enter and qualily for the many competitions that they participate in cach year. One ol these competitions, the Lament for nomic motives obscure the fact that lorest ecosystems buller flood response through retention and transpiration of the storm walter. In reality, large tracts ol forests and wetlands provide better flood protection than levees. And, once the water is in the main channel, how casily we forget that rivers are meant naturally to meander, to spill onto flood plains, and (o build natugFlevees. Insceure as river cotimunilics are, we assume (he misguided duty (o “tame the beast” and conline the channel system to the desired pathways. The U.S. Army Corps ol Engi- neers is always willing to lend a hand to save communities from the perceived ravages ol inland rivers and streams or the foree of coastal storm waves and rising sca level. Their existence is predi cated on banks or shores that encounter the energy ol moving water. Bul, more olten than not, the Corps’ hard-stabilization projects are performed out of the context of the larger hydrological and biological realities of the watershed or coastal system. I recall clearly, as a young pro- lessor, aking my hydrology stu- dents in October, 1978 to the fed- cral courthouse in Wilkes-Barre to the first public hearings on the proposed levee-raising project. The meeting was acrimonious. Initially, we just listened withoul comment Wilkes-Barre blasted the Corps’ engineers and their lawyers for wanting to build a levee system which would cause increased in- duced flooding above Forty Fort and down at Shickshinny. [I re- hard - stabilization ol while the citizens of [} - L] are dedicated to and thoroughly cnjoy the band and music pro grams in the Dallas School Dis ‘trict, my husband and | were de lighted wilh your acknowledgement ol the aecon plishments ol these other all stars” and your recognition of Their special gilts and talents. Thank your. Atlantic Coast Championships, takes place in our own backyard al the Lackawanna County Multi Purpose Stadium. 1tis the largest band competition on the ast Coast drawing thousands ol high school musicians from ten states. Your observations on our “sports crazy culture” are reflected by the minimal coverage that this tre mendous (two-day event reecives by the local media. As the parents ol two sons who Vivian J. Bédna'z Shavertown our watershed « ol silver maple and black locust (rees with attendant wildllowers and warblers are destroyed and displaced. Along with them, the channel shape, depth, and (ex ture may change, perhaps clini, nating a lew more populations ol lreshwater mussels. Nol surpris ingly, (he degradation of stream habitat by dams, levees, delores tation, and siltation is the single mostimportant faclorin (he elimi nation ol aquatic animals in Penn, sylvania. : The new levee system will only be a “hand aid,” and, inevitably, future calls to raise the levees will be heard again and again... The work. of the U.S. Army Corps ol Engineers is a waste of time.in a larger sense. The levees are a paci lier. In reality, without a compre hensive plan to protect the nad rally absorbent surfaces ol, the watershed, storms will produce cver steeper, more cnergelic and crosive hydrographs. When the Susquehanna River again spills into the streets of our communi member one elderly Wilkes-Barre gentleman who asked, “How can you possibly justily saving Wilkes- Barre at the expense ol our friends and neighbors above and below us on the river?” Time is on the side on politi- cians and developers. Good argu ments were ignored or forgotten. Toward the end ol the hearings, some ol my students raised a good point about whether or nol we should also develop a comprehen sive watershed management plan lo ensure the integrity ol essential forest and wetland regions. Per haps my students were just trying, to impress me that they had learned a fundamental point about surface walter hydrology in my course. Bul, I don’t think so. 1 was the one who was the recent immigrant to the areca. They and their Lamilies were the ones who had endured the recent Agnes ood. These students clearly un derstood that you cannol “Lame the beast.” You must learn how to live rationally with a river. And, that requires two major cominit- ments: (1) avoid placing yoursell and certain activities on the Hood plain where you expect the kinetic cnergy ol ood flow to be dissi- pated and where sedimentation naturally occurs; and (2) conserve and preserve the watershed through diligent, thoughtful plan- ning to delay the arrival of storm runoll in the distributary system. Alas, we have nol learned our lessons. So, now, the levees of Lhe Susquehanna River are being raised again in the Wyoming Val- ley. The usual sacrifice is exacted — bottomland hardwood forests tics, washing away our (reasures or coating them with mud, Fwill he there shoulder-to-shoulder to help clean up. But, when the Hlood is over, and you ask why this hap pened and why the walls were nl high cnough, | trust we will all consider seriously the fundamen tal lessons ol hydrology and riv, crs. | pray that we will act to rebuild our commumities and lives so that we can live al peace wilh the river — nol al war against il. J. Michael Case, Ph.D is a pro fessor of Geoenvironmental Scien: and Engineering al Wilkes Univet sity. He lives in Shaoertowon. WORD ON THE STREET | 5 Q.: What are your plans after graduation? Where asked: Lake-Lehman High School [Y n NICOLAI YOBLONSKI 18 years old "I'm going to Temple University to study media arts." I ———— NICK COSLETT 18 years old "I'm-going to get a job over the summer and then attend PSU- Wilkes-Barre and go from there." Do you agree? Disagree? “I'm going on a mission for my church for 2 years, then on to college." [Editorials are the opinion of the management of The Dallas Post, and arc written by the editor unless otherwise indicated. We welcome your opinion on contemporary issues in the formof letters to the editor. If you don't write, the community may never hear a contrasting point of view. Send or bring letters to: The Dallas Post, BRIAN KEMPINSKI 18 years old "I'm going to take a year off and: work and then go to college.” JAMES PITCAVAGE 18 years old 607 Main Rd., Dallas PA 18612. Please include your name, address and a daytime phone number so that we may verity: authenticity. We do not publish anonymous letters, but will consider withholding the name in exeeptional circumstances. We reserve the right to edit for length and grammar. a 11e GR ect LJ C
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