Saturday, Jul. 19, 2008

Saturday Letters to the Editor

• Even driving 60 saves a lot on gas

I was glad to see your article about the savings incurred by driving 55 mph. I drive a 2000 Olds minivan and have tested the savings by driving 60 mph versus 73 mph on several trips. I use the instant miles per gallon feature on the car and reset it after attaining cruising speed. The results average 26 mpg at 73 mph and 31.9 mpg at 60 mph — a savings of 23 percent.

I was shocked by the difference and have been driving at 60 mph ever since and have found that the time difference is minimal. Last week, I drove to Myrtle Beach and estimate the trip took an additional 28 minutes driving the slower speed.

Your internet survey shows the majority of respondents say they do not intend to drive 55. Apparently the general public does not realize how much they could save by cutting speed.

If the speed limit were lowered, and enforced, we would save 20 percent to 25 percent in fuel costs, which would then lower the price of gasoline and create an even greater savings because everything we buy moves on oil. Have you noticed how much milk and bread have gone up?

Your survey only gave the option of driving 55 mph rather than allowing for other options (such as driving 60) and other suggestions for savings on fuel costs. Saving on gas equates to savings in so many other ways. Wake up, America! We are in a crisis that goes far beyond the cost of gasoline.

ELLIOTT SHEORN

Camden

• Gas crisis not getting any action

Our No. 1 national economic problem is the gigantic rising price of oil.

Who is doing anything about it?

ERNEST E. WESSEL

Columbia

• Schools can’t replace what’s lacking in homes

I read with interest the editorial on the education system in South Carolina, and wonder why nobody gets it. There were statistics on children dropping out of school, one-parent homes, poverty and the number of children being locked up in jail (no data on the charges).

When I was in school in the ‘50s and ‘60s, not everyone finished high school, but 99 percent of the time it was because they went to work to help the family, not because there was a baby on the way.

That was very rare then because no one was responsible for that baby but the person having it; the grandparents did not step up and reward a daughter who got pregnant by taking care of that child born out of wedlock.

There were no government programs to help. There were no drugs in the schools, and we didn’t drink. Prom night was really a big deal, but not because students got drunk and high or had fake IDs so they could get in clubs they shouldn’t be in.

I didn’t know of any kind of violence in the schools or gangs, and if you got in trouble, in elementary school your hand was paddled and your parents were notified, and guess what — the parents didn’t attack the teacher, they did a little paddling of their own, and it wasn’t your hand. Parents always upheld the teachers.

Children were not put on Ritalin or other kinds of medicine because they were unruly; they were dealt with by teachers who made them do extra work or contacted the parents. There was no 4K or 5K, just first grade through 12th.

How did this happen? The answer to all of these problems begins in the home, and until parents support teachers again, set up guidelines for children, stop accepting the girls who get pregnant who are not married and take responsibility and contact the police if they think their children are on drugs on in gangs, they are responsible for these acts.

None of the problems we have today will ever go away because the families these children come out of are not caring and responsible and don’t really care to do the right thing by raising a moral family.

So you can start children in a 3K, pour millions of dollars in the education system, and it won’t make a difference with a certain segment of society.

LINDA WATERS

Lexington

• Vegetating leaders keep S.C. down

I never volunteer to people I meet on a plane or out of state where I’m from. Why? Because I’m embarrassed.

Our antiquated, misguided laws and our tax system are two reasons I feel this way. We seem to have a reverse IQ test for being in the Legislature — if your IQ is above that of a radish, you can’t be there. (A few decent ones slip through, but we do everything we can to diminish their power.) We never miss a chance to create new regressive, unfair taxes.

We want everyone to be “responsible” for their own behavior and throw young and old in jail every chance we get, whether it’s for forging a check or murder, but we won’t pass laws to protect children. Oh, wait, I forgot, we did that — with abstinence-only sex education.

And then, for people who read, we have “I Believe” license plates. Yes, we’re such moral, charming people, and we often sneer at those crass godless Yankees in Northeastern states who have such high taxes — and good roads and schools and rational, forward-looking legislators. Nope, we sure don’t want those.

Why don’t more businesses want to move to South Carolina? How about the lousy schools and low-skilled employee pools in those places where they want to build?

It’s all horribly ironic for a state that considers itself to be the essence of hospitality and oh, so religious. We’re only hospitable if you think and look like the majority, i.e., white, conservative, heterosexual and Christian. I know a lot of smart, good-hearted individuals in South Carolina, but many of the so-called “Christians” here better hope there’s no rapture, because it won’t be Jesus with whom they’ll spend eternity.

I’m still here because I still have hope we have enough of those good-hearted, smart people here to turn South Carolina around.

PAT MOHR

Columbia

• Columbia’s rivers treated like garbage dumps

Ever since my wife bought me a canoe for our 13th wedding anniversary, I’ve been out on the three rivers of Columbia (the Saluda, Broad and Congaree) as often as possible.

On July 5, I put in just before 9 a.m. below the canal diversion dam on the Broad River, having left my bicycle 7½ miles downstream.

Just below where River Drive crosses over the Broad, I watched an osprey as he soared and slid through the air, rising for moments to nearly a hover in search of fish. Five times he dove, once making such a grand splash I saw and heard it plainly 100 yards away, where I was paddling slowly so as not to disturb him.

As I passed under the twin bridges of I-126, and then the railroad trestle, I saw three white egrets playing in the shallows. As they sensed my approach, they sailed around the bend where the Saluda joins the Broad to form the Congaree. As I reached the confluence, I noticed other white objects on the far bank — not birds, but floating litter, caught against a log. The low water levels and the great bird-watching had made my progress downstream slow, and I had already picked up dozens of cans and bottles from the shallows where the osprey so spectacularly dove, so I paddled across to the clutter,

Around 1 p.m., I made my way off the river, unlocking my bike and locking my trash-filled canoe at the Cayce landing. It was the second time I’d filled it. In the mile of water between the Saluda and the Highway 12 bridge, I had gathered enough litter to fill to overflowing a trash can on the riverside pathway. In all, I pulled enough garbage from the waters and shallows to fill more than five 30-gallon trash bags. I’ve often pulled trash off the water, but this time was different — so much was clearly recent.

As I drove home, I realized that the riverbanks were about as cluttered with litter as the ditches along the road are. As sad as it is to see what litterbugs do to our roadways, it is even more disturbing to realize that fewer people use the rivers than the roads. Thoughtless people are trashing miles of rivers, which are home to osprey, bald eagles, lesser and greater herons, egrets, kingfishers, otters, beavers, muskrats and numerous types of fish.

The litter comes mostly from people coming to boat, float, play and fish. The majority of the trash is obviously stuff that people brought to the river, used and tossed as if the water were a garbage dump.

If you take it to the water, take it away! If you enjoy the water, carry your own trash out, and carry a few pieces of someone else’s out, too. Unlike the osprey, none of us must eat only what we fish out from the water.

MARK WENGER

Lexington