Clear Skies Common Sense

Clear Skies Common Sense by Jim Russell

Looking at Real Public Workers Protecting Us as Budgets Cut Services

Why would I spend a day listening to Douglas County Sheriff’s Department employees talk about their jobs? Because understanding how they work and who they are helps me publish more accurate information. Why should you care? You pay law enforcement in an era where shrinking public budgets is supposed to create jobs and improve our lives. That idea is overcooked.

The Civil Division serves legal documents, performs evictions and enforces court orders. Its Chief is Civil Deputy Kelly A Soltwisch, who’s so well respected she’s been reappointed by the last three Sheriffs. The division uses paper-less processing, a performance better than eighty percent of Washington counties. When a County conviction was not posted in other counties, her office confirmed the conviction as a third strike before sentencing was completed in another county. Evidence carefully kept on file since the 1990s helped local detectives validate the killer in 2012, bringing a sense of peace to the victim’s family. Indiscriminate national and local budget cuts threaten thorough law enforcement.

Chief Soltwisch serves court ordered immediate, night-time eviction notices accompanied by bank and landlord representatives. Asked if such evictions could put families with babies on the street, she left no doubt she’d have the courage to tell those representatives they needed to a better way for this family. Do we really believe we’d serve society better by unleashing banks and landlords where their only restraint would be competition of similar property owners?

Another espoused attitude I hear is government shouldn’t be able to tell us what to do. It tells some sex-offenders they must register with the local Sheriff’s department. Record-keepers told me how to identify four Level II offenders living within one mile of my home and two nearby elementary schools. Offenders must re-register and get re-fingerprinted in face-to-face meetings with workers. The Division prides itself on pleasant, respectful treatment for those offenders who are obeying the law because such service increases the likelihood they will re-register.

The Sheriff’s responsibility to protect federal critical dam infrastructure on the Columbia River has allowed the Sheriff to partially equip marine patrols and a Special Response Team with funds from the Bureau of Reclamation, US Army Corps of Engineers and Homeland Security. Marine patrol recently rescued somebody’s son who attempted suicide from a bridge. The SRT responds about four times a year for drug raids and domestic violence. They also have plans to respond to every local school in the event of violence. If Congress cuts those federal agencies, how would we maintain our local capacity to protect us?

Another high decibel complaint I hear is government shouldn’t intrude on what I can and cannot do with my body. Sheriff patrols tell people they can’t drive after making DUI arrests. I don’t mind those intrusions since traffic crime affects me more than any other crime. In 2008 Chelan-Douglas accidents cost $80 million, mostly because of speeding and impaired driving. Sixty people per month were arrested locally for DUI, and thirty two were arrested for speeding. If we shrink sheriff patrols, how is the free market place going to make me safer?

And if they take my cell phone after I crash, why do they have to right to open it and get information about who I’m talking to? Sheriff’s detective may open it, but first they have to fill out paperwork and get approval to ask for a search warrant from their supervisor, prosecuting attorney and a judge, a day-long process. Detectives better have a good cause. And by the way, they need to take time away from investigating homicides like the local Cowell case, where they’ve been involved with 100 interviews, each of which has to be transcribed word for accurate word.

Before you rally around cutting taxes to limit government and create jobs, we need to recognize what good government requires so we can keep those jobs that are being performed well by proud public servants.

Posted by JSR at 5/24/2012 12:20 AM | Add Comment

Why Do We Allow Smart Phones Make us Feel Stupid and Act Stupid?

Our new smart phones make us feel stupid and act stupidly, though we prefer to say ‘temporarily technologically challenged.’ Worse, they steal our precious time. We’re retired! Why are we doing this? Because we believe they’ll save us time and add value. After two weeks, it’s still a close call.

We plunged in with a deal to buy them at no cost and a shared belief they’d be easy to master. The salesman demonstrated his smoothly. They arrived with a tiny booklet titled Master Your Device. The booklet fits in my hand like my phone but with half the thickness for 48 brief pages of instructions. The first 19 pages are pictures of button locations and charging instructions. What could be difficult? Finding buttons, for one thing. After re-examining the pages, my nascent mastery level is locating each button.

Page 24 begins text instructions to master making, answering and retrieving phone calls. What could be difficult? Plenty. I’ve mostly mastered calling. However, after sweeping my contacts screen, my list whizzes by and I accidently call someone when I tap to stop it. Answering requires un-holstering my phone and sweeping a green button across the screen. I can’t see the button in sunlight, so I’m blindly estimating where it’s located. I’ve lost time and phone calls. Do I have to ignore my phone in sunlight?

Apps and Feature instructions begin on page 33, perilously close to the end and a long way from mastery. Apps hold the promise to transform our lives and save time. Our youngest awoke to an electrical blackout around her Portland home. Within five minutes she viewed a map of the blackout as the utility’s information officer explained her service should be restored in four hours. That’s mastery and I want to get there, but I’m pleased just to find an app called Guided Tours that displays mastery on videos of “Calling and messaging.”

We’re committed to them, although at times I wonder if it’s making me act stupidly. I end up deleting emails on my phone and my computer. There has to be a way to avoid that if I could find the time to solve it. I send an email and a copy automatically arrives on my computer, increasing my emails. Sunday I postponed reading emails until I rode with Karen to church. At church I realized I’d read emails instead of talking with my children’s mother on Mother’s Day. I felt stupid confessing that trespass.

Smart phones should improve our communication. A young teen at church said sometimes she and her girlfriend sit at a table texting each other because neither has the energy to talk. Karen linked her calendar online so we can share calendars on our phones. Now we need time for her to show me how.

Karen saved a chunk of time in Seattle when she used a traffic app to navigate her and a friend around traffic jams. Karen and I turned off our TV while I showed her a dictionary app that can be voice activated. She showed me how to shop in Play Store for more apps. We quit when she asked, “Why am I doing this instead of reading in bed?” We increased communication that night because she reveres huddling in bed with her books, a sure sign communication is over for the day.

When Karen and I traded our identical phones to show each other how to find apps, she said, “Mine doesn’t have these icons. Mine has lists.” I didn’t know why. I didn’t do anything. We finally figured out how to switch views.

Instances of mastery suggest smart phones are a smart investment even though I feel stupider now and lose time. Maybe I can find an app that will monitor our usage and guide us to smarter behaviors and more free time.

Posted by JSR at 5/17/2012 3:03 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Why Should Fairness and Neighborliness Surprise Us?

We rural, clear skies Washingtonians usually fail to win ballot measures against densely packed damp citizens west of the Northern Cascades. Surprisingly, I found myself in the majority of Douglas County residents who overwhelmingly passed an odious tax onto rural citizens. The bitter fight nevertheless produced a margin of victory that surprised almost everybody, including me. We were surprised because we overlooked our traditions of fairness and neighborliness.

To be clear, the size of the tax was not the issue, ten cents per $100 of personal goods excluding groceries and prescription drugs. The tax would have added twenty five cents to my wife’s and my shopping the last two weeks.

To be even clearer, the tax fully bailed out investors holding defaulted debt for an overly expensive regional Public Facilities District (PFD) Event Center in the City of Wenatchee. Coincidentally the tax bailed out Wenatchee, whose leaders guaranteed the debt and promised there would never be taxes on any jurisdictions that joined the PFD. My County had unanimously joined without voter approval, but two new commissioners have won election partly on their opposition to County participation.

Amid months of wrangling, local State Representatives attempted two rescue bills in the House that failed in the Senate because local citizens and officials remained divided about the feasibility of the bills. To the end, my County Commissioners kept their pledge to prevent a county-wide vote, instead proposing a plan to tax Wenatchee and my city, East Wenatchee.

State Senator Linda Evans Parlette wouldn’t endorse either of the two bills and my commissioners complained to her. She told me, “I told everyone I wouldn’t support any plan without full local agreement and that did not pencil out. The legislature is sick of this because the House voted twice on bills that did not pass.”

Finally my Commissioners united with others to avoid legal expenses from default. They signed a detailed agreement that included putting the tax measure on the County ballot and addressed rural objections by requiring Wenatchee pay most of the cost and pursue legal claims for damages that would reimburse taxpayer funds.

. Parlette told me she inserted authority to propose the tax into existing Senate Bill 5984, which also strengthened State Treasury oversight to avoid similar financing disasters. She wrote provisions to terminate the taxes after debt was paid and brought together the Senate Ways and Means attorney and the PFD attorney to craft the bill according to the agreement.

The three Commissioners expected a close vote based on fierce opposition from their neighbors lying east of the great divide of the Columbia River. The one surviving Commissioner, the southerner, lives the furthest south in East Wenatchee. A second Commissioner, the central resident, lives in a precinct in the middle of the rural plateau atop the county. The third Commissioner lives in on the crown of the county in a city where he successfully led his citizens to stay out of the PFD when he was mayor. Therefore, he didn’t even have a vote and didn’t take a position. He told me neighbors outside his incorporated city were angry to discover they had to vote, although they were glad they could vote against it. We had a political thriller on our hands.

Sixty-five percent of voters overwhelmed thirty-five percent of the voters, a margin within two percentage points of two-to-one. Official results showed voters approved it in each of the Commissioner Districts, including sixty-six percent in the northerner’s district. How did that happen?

Event Center ticket buyers supported it. After a tip from a reader, I asked the Center for data on ticket buyers by zip code for 2011 performances, excluding the popular hockey team. People in the zip code for East Wenatchee’s urban area purchased 7,136 tickets. While I couldn’t precisely match zip codes to precincts, I estimated 82 percent of county voters were from that area and they voted heavily in favor.

People in the remaining zip codes purchased 610 tickets. Voters in those zip codes voted against the bailout, but represented only 18 percent of the vote. They were buried in a landslide.

Then why did all three commissioner districts support the tax increase? Because of Washington’s rules for fairness in forming districts. Washington law assumes fairness may be achieved by meeting these three legal criteria: commissioner districts shall be as nearly equal in population as possible, as compact as possible and all precincts geographically contiguous. The only way to make our County Districts equal is to slice East Wenatchee precincts into all three districts and trade off compactness versus contiguous. The County approved the new Districts after the vote, but they are similar to those existing during the vote.

The tradeoffs for fairness make strange districts. The southerner’s district is a small contiguous area almost exclusively in East Wenatchee’s zip code. The central Commissioner’s district is centered on the plateau, but swings east and south to county lines and encompasses the southern area of urban ticket buyers. The northerner’s district encompasses adjacent precincts north to the Columbia River and then swings west and south along the shoreline past the middle district and inward to the urban area east of East Wenatchee, looking like a giant, backwards apostrophe. The heavily populated wealthy districts of Fancer Heights and Broadview on the slopes of the plateau overlooking the Wenatchee Valley are voting constituents with the remote, rural northerners who opposed participation from the beginning. The urban areas voters represented 81 percent of the northerner’s district. His opposition reflected his rural neighbor’s opposition.

We should not be surprised when the tyranny of an urban majority triumphs again. We should be pleased the Commissioners from rural areas represented residents well by extracting concessions before the issue went to ballot. After all, they’re neighbors, and being good neighbors is the saving grace of democracy’s tyranny.

Posted by JSR at 5/10/2012 8:56 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

The Real Social Security Deficit is the Congressional Action Deficit (CAD)

Recent headlines about Social Security Trust Funds warned of “looming insolvency” and “grim news for future retirees.” The real Social Security deficit is CAD, the Congressional Action Deficit. The solutions are clearly understood, frightfully unpalatable, and politically inevitable. Readers, here is my attempt to get real.

Doomsday headlines arrived after the annual report by the Trustees of Social Security funds. I’m going to cover Social Security Old Age and Disability Income (Social Security and Disability Income) as one trust fund (OASDI), because they both have deficits and the solutions are similar for both. Medicare and Medicaid funds also show deficits, but that’s for future discussion.

Congress has been blessed with three presidential commissions in 1983, 2002 and 2010 that have proposed consistently reasonable policy solutions to solve this non-crisis. The 2002 Commission warned Congress to act, and despite admitting acting sooner is better, Congress has not improved funding for eight years.

Undaunted, Trustees once again proposed a payroll tax solution to solve the deficit by increasing taxes 1.335 percent on employers and employees. Households with the approximate median income of $50,000 would pay tax increases of $668 a year or $55.63 a month. Working people paying the tax appeals to me as a retiree because my benefits would stay the same. After all, I paid my taxes to support retirees before I retired. It’s future retirees’ turn to pay mine, thank you.

Workers, employers and my children could insist Congress do nothing because current law has a solution that prohibits the fund from dropping to zero. It’s the exhaustion trigger. Exhaustion is not zero. It’s when the fund level drops to a point where continuing to pay current benefits would zero out the fund eventually. Instead, payments must be reduced to a sustainable level.

The mandated exhaustion cut would be deep, estimated at 25 percent. The current average payment to a retiree is $1,230 per month, so 25 percent would drop payments $308 per month. Ouch. The only good news for retirees is fund levels should pay that income permanently. That would eliminate the annual May disaster warnings. Future reports could announce, “The fund is still exhausted.” Congress could debate other inactions. Current working folk and businesses would avoid tax increases.

Working folk would have to increase their savings rates because they’ll suffer lower social security benefits when they retire. They could cut their current spending and save the $55.63 they’d pay under a tax increase. They should plan to work longer. Unfortunately, their parents and grandparents on reduced social security may need more financial help.

Given these singularly unacceptable solutions, the presidential commissions proposed combinations of increased taxes, reduced benefits and delayed retirement ages. The combinations are so simple you can choose your preferred cuts by playing the game on the website actuary.org/socsec.asp. I solved the deficit in ten minutes by increasing the retirement age, decreasing benefits at higher income levels (including mine) and increasing payroll taxes by half-of-one percent. The tax hike costs $20.83 per month from a $50,000 household income. I think my children and I could agree on that.

Other solutions exist. Economists since Paul Samuelson have shown our economy has grown for centuries when qualified, skilled immigrants perform work our consumers need. Companies unable to find workers here ship jobs offshore, reducing our payrolls. Yet most immigration policy discussions focus on illegal immigrants taking low-level jobs. Lifting our vision to realize we block high paying skills our nation needs that would add a wealth of good to our economy. Congress could also index social security taxes to automatically rise or fall to match the income needed to fully fund the trust.

Such common sense ultimately triumphs in our nation. When Congress once again gets real, a sensible, equitable Social Security system should survive. Congress, eliminate your self-defeating CAD, your Congressional Action Deficit.

Posted by JSR at 5/3/2012 6:10 AM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment

Douglas County Commissioners United to Use Good Judgment

Under reported to this date is the vital role Douglas County Commissioners Ken Stanton, Dale Snyder and Steve Jenkins played in crafting the successful 0.1 percent district sales tax. They vetoed all plans for a County 0.2 percent sales tax because they wanted to use those taxes to increase law enforcement funding. The Commissioners found a way to unite with others. Local unity moved mountains of resistance and won over voters.

The County planned for over a year to restore budget cuts in criminal justice with all or part of a 0.2 percent sales tax increase. The Sherriff’s department had eliminated four positions. Sherriff Gjesdahl had increased overtime, but told Steve Hair of KOHO officer morale was suffering. Residents in northern areas wanted more protection. Stanton told me, “We were adamant the 0.2 percent sales tax in Douglas County was not going to a vote.” They meant adamant.

In 2011 commissioners received a financial plan from auditor Thad Duvall and treasurer Karen Goodwin proposing Wenatchee eliminate most of the debt without raising County taxes. County officials urged Wenatchee to initiate action, but they couldn’t reach agreement.

Meanwhile Senator Parlette invited leaders to meet with state treasury officials for new legislation. Commissioners opposed it. Stanton said, “The state plan would have been murder. Basically it was a bridge loan with up to a year to get agreement. If it didn’t work, the state would still get its 0.2 percent.” With local opposition, the bill died.

Early in 2012 district municipalities met amidst a mood change to unite behind a plan. East Wenatchee Mayor Steve Lacy proposed a plan crafted by treasurer Nick Gerde that wouldn’t require legislative changes. Wenatchee mayor Frank Kuntz improved communication. Communities realized legal fees would prevent municipal improvements. Mayor Royal Delaney of Waterville said, “It was a big problem. How do you do any planning?”

The three commissioners from each county met on January 30th at Douglas County and held an Executive Session with Kuntz. Snyder said, “We sat down to learn, ‘What plan can we get behind and solve this problem?’ Kuntz came to ask for help. He said they didn’t have time to go through a process [for a 0.2 percent City vote]. We trusted them to do everything they could do.”

But Kuntz needed legislative approval for councilmanic authority for Wenatchee’s 0.2 percent sales tax and they needed more revenue. Jenkins said Wenatchee agreed to shoulder most of the burden. Other issues were acceptable too, such as reorganizing the board and Wenatchee pursuing legal action to recover costs.

Consequently Stanton said, “I proposed we get on the bandwagon to go out for a 0.1 percent vote.” That left 0.1 percent for law enforcement, which should be sufficient given the 2011 upsurge in County sales tax revenues. Dayna Prewitt, Clerk of the Board, emailed me, “I have no formal action.”

All elected officials quickly moved in unison on those terms. Dayna Prewitt, Clerk of the Board, emailed me, “Stanton then attended a working meeting with representatives from all 9 agencies (no quorum) on the 1st of February. The [County] prosecutor (Steve Clem) then provided a draft interlocal [agreement] to the Board for comment on February 6th. Final interlocal agreement was signed on February 13th.” Legislators passed enabling legislation. Wenatchee passed the councilmanic plan for a 0.2 percent sales tax. The PFD placed the vote on the ballot. Voters would decide.

Commissioners expected a close vote. “Snyder said, “People had good reasons for voting no. I guess we officials all held our noses to vote yes.”

Douglas County voters thunderously approved it with a 63 percent majority. Stanton said, “Yes, I was surprised.” Devaney said, “I was totally surprised at how many stood up and said OK.” Jenkins was surprised. “I want to see how my northern precincts voted.” Jenkins lives in Bridgeport, which refused to join the original agreement when he was mayor, so he had no vote. “I supported putting it on the ballot,”

I asked Snyder if he was pleased. “No, I’m not pleased, but the building is there. I’m glad to have the issue behind us and move forward.”

Despite commissioners’ frustrations and strong voter resistance, they united behind a district plan and protected revenues for criminal justice. A strong majority of County voters agreed with them.

Good work, gentlemen.

Posted by JSR at 4/26/2012 1:18 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

The Currently Routine Serious Crime Investigations in Clear Skies Suit Me Fine

Bungling criminal investigations like the Martin murder in Sanford, Florida enflames racial tension. As a media watcher, taxpayer and possible juror, I prefer paths to justice beginning with even-handed administration.

As a media watcher, I prefer focused issues. That’s difficult in the Martin murder based on a report from McClatchy newspapers. There are two eye witnesses. They contradict each other. There are seven 911-callers. They give contradictory reports. With seven inconsistent callers, broadcast media could bombard me with a different viewpoint every day for a week. Maybe they have.

As a taxpayer I like economical, boring consistency. Sanford’s temporary contact center to handle national media is expensive. Sanford’s probably going to pay for another search for a police chief after hiring the current one last spring. The former chief resigned over a video of a black homeless man beaten by the white son of a Sanford police lieutenant who was not originally charged. A local NAACP official reported his office has done independent investigations to adjudicate cases. Re-investigating cases is expensive.

Douglas County’s Sherriff Harvey Gjesdahl told Steve Hair on KOHO that when he took office there were issues concerning gangs in Bridgeport. He formed a team of enforcement officers, including one Latino officer, and citizen outsiders. Norma Gallegos, a prominent valley Latino and one of the outsiders told me there were also issues with immigration. “We did a community needs assessment, talked to the people and Gjesdahl responded. To me that deserves a huge sign of respect.” Respect yes, but boring.

Gjesdahl expressed confidence in the department’s 26 investigators, detectives, officers and administrators plus outside resources such as the county prosecutor/coroner. “I feel very blessed that … we have a wide variety of criminal investigations experience and are fastidious about keeping everyone current on technical and legal training. The record keeping, judiciously and legally managing public disclosure, and knowledge of a complex job are all extremely important.”

A strong staff might have helped the new Sanford chief. A local blog reported he was widely welcomed as a “good old boy” who might bring harmony to a divided community. That support evaporated quickly. As a juror I would NOT want to listen to defense attorneys in a murder case put the chief and department on trial like we heard in the OJ Simpson case.

Preferring unambiguous evidence, I asked Gjesdahl what is expected in homicide investigations. I never asked his opinion of the Sanford investigation because it was out of his jurisdiction, nor did he offer an opinion.

Photographs are expected of suspects and victims whenever possible, especially with today’s digital technology. When Gjesdahl saw blood on a suspect, he took pictures with his cell phone and swabbed it for later testing. He said, “I want to know if it’s his blood or the victim’s.”

In the Florida case, a revised police report added an officer’s comments about the suspect’s bloody nose and injuries to the back of the head. Sanford Fire Rescue had administered first aid to him at the site. McClatchy newspapers reported a video showing one officer examined the back of the suspect’s head, then wiped his hands on his pants. If I had to judge the guilt of Martin’s murderer beyond a reasonable doubt, I’d want to know if the officer’s pants were swabbed before being cleaned.

It’s common practice for investigators to interrogate the suspect and other officers to interrogate witnesses. The police report needs to integrate various interpretations before being approved and released. Martin’s murderer was released after his interrogations were completed, but before witness’ contradictions were compared to it.

A confidential State Attorney General’s report has charged the suspect with second degree murder charges. I’m glad I won’t be a juror nor paying Sanford taxes. I would be willing to support increased resources for effective law enforcement. And fortunately, I have a writing hobby to vent frustrations with the broadcast media’s mishmash of inconsistencies from ineptitude.

Posted by JSR at 4/20/2012 9:50 AM | Add Comment

Emile Fogle, A Serious and Successful Homeschooler and Advocate

Emile Fogle, East Wenatchee, homeschooled her two boys from kindergarten through two-year community college Running Start degrees at the ages of eighteen. She shared her love of learning as she guided their learning. She’s now Chair of WHO, Washington Homeschooling Organization, the only statewide secular nonprofit committed to providing accurate information on Washington’s homeschooling law, local support, resources, services and advocacy for people interested in homeschooling.

Her plans evolved as she helped teach her eldest in a cooperative preschool classroom. She feared he would withdraw and believes her youngest would make class fun for everybody, to the detriment of their learning. She remembered her school experience. “I loved learning, but not school.” Her love of learning even extends to a 2nd degree in Shudokan karate and playing and making a Japanese Taiko drum.

As kindergarten approached, she concluded, “I could do this.” She told her husband, “I couldn’t do any worse.”

Her oldest is graduating this spring from Central Washington with his second degree, but she admits, “I always worried I could be making their lives more difficult by homeschooling.” Her husband was finally comfortable when they entered college.

After three years of homeschooling, her oldest wanted to try third grade. He lasted six weeks. He questioned rules like, “I can’t play in puddles,” which, ironically, Emile had to justify.

She didn’t spend money on curricula. “Textbooks are horrible.” She trusted they’d learn if they had a purpose. She insisted they read what they wanted in the morning as long as they learned history and functional math. She added field trips through free community resources in Washington and Oregon. They’d listen to a geologist at a museum. They consumed library offerings. “Libraries love homeschoolers. They make library circulation look good.”

She merged their learning with her interests, which included a B.S. degree in forestry and a minor in wildlife. On nature hikes she drew on those courses as she led boy on nature hikes. “Afterwards we’d flip through wildflower books to learn the uses of native plants.” She smiled and added, “No memorizing.”

As the boys grew older they took more formal education in classes that interested them. They took courses at WVC and at Eastmont School District, where incidentally, they had lots of friends. The youngest took metal working and welding classes. She said, “I was present when the radio-controlled car students collaborated in making had its maiden journey in the parking lot. I was the only parent.”

Washington law requires she complete the Declaration Intent form to homeschool and annually assess them in 11 areas for progress by grade level. Finding an authorized standardized test was easy through the local network called Valley Home Educators that has approximately two hundred members (contact Sandy Briggs at esbriggs@aol.com.).

Emile bought a test that allowed her to proctor it. They never took the SAT and did well on the entrance exam for WVC.

Co-creating their learning was part of her motivation. Another part was shielding them from what she’d experienced, such as high stakes testing. “I’m opposed to high stakes testing.” Or disagreements like one she got into with a high school teacher by saying Edgar Allen Poe may have been a genius, but he was also a crazed addict. Or bullying. Or degrading comments to her children. “I heard a student tell a teacher, ‘I just don’t get it.’ The teacher said, ‘That’s not my problem.’” Or “You’re bad at math. You’ll never understand biology.” She said, “You can understand concepts without the math.” She recommends, Physics Without Math.

Through WHO she gets calls and emails from parents who range from desperate to considering homeschooling. She tells them they’re lucky because Washington’s homeschooling law is one of the best in the country. “I tell them homeschooling has to work for your family, for you. There are lots of free resources. I was not a pioneer.”

She added, “I pity parents today because homeschooling has a become a market. They’re told, ‘If you buy the right stuff, you’ll succeed.’”

She made homeschooling work for her boys and learned from others’ experiences. She’s available at pleatus@hotmail.com.

Posted by JSR at 4/12/2012 9:22 AM | View Comments (3) | Add Comment

Homeschooling – Are You Serious?

At times I wish I was homeschooled. My sophomore high school teacher refused my request to write a book report about John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I meekly obeyed without asking my mom, a librarian and Phi Beta Kappa, to help me. She would have.

Curious about homeschooling, I asked Emily Fogle, East Wenatchee homeschooler and chair of the secular Washington Homeschool Association, to talk about her experiences (see accompanying article). Homeschooling is an option that may be more enjoyable and educational for a child you know in grades K-12.

Parents choose homeschooling primarily because they believe they can give their child a better education. Other common reasons are adding religious instruction and avoiding poor school learning environments. These reasons are comforting. Otherwise I’d worry parents want to give their children a worse education because they deserved it.

As a former community college dean, working father and dabbler in information technology, homeschooling appears more feasible today. I’ve counseled many young adults motivated to repair their partially self-inflicted damage in public education. Our faculty developed applied courses to replace unsatisfactory theoretical ones. I marvel at easily available answers on rapidly evolving digital devices. I’d enjoy exciting my grandchildren with learning, but they’re doing fine and that’s fine. The good news is the potential is there if homeschooling is best for the family.

Washington legislation (RCW 28A.225.010) effectively enables homeschooling to complement public/private schools and alternative learning experiences. Parents may provide home-based instruction so long as “students are receiving planned instruction in occupational education, science, mathematics, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling, and an appreciation of art and music.”

I’d worry about my qualifications because I’ve forgotten much of that and count on calculators and spell checkers.

The legislation defines who’s qualified. Parents could work with a certificated educator. They’re qualified with 45 credit hours of college education or by completing an approved course on home-based instruction. Finally, they may be “deemed sufficiently qualified by the local superintendent.”

If you want to teach your children, get qualified and link up with others who are qualified. Parents can pool resources and teaching skills. Locally, Valley Home Educators, coordinated by Sandy Briggs, is a Wenatchee Valley resource for two hundred or so parents (esbriggs@aol.com).

Building a full year teaching plan would be challenging for me who’s planned courses and programs. But Washington legislation provides this soothing clause: “The legislature recognizes that home-based instruction is less structured and more experiential than the instruction normally provided in a classroom setting. Therefore, the provisions of … this section relating to the nature and quantity of instructional and related educational activities shall be liberally construed.” That’s helpful. I learn by roaming through resources for questions I’m pondering.

Fogle says resources abound. Beginning with kindergarten, she arranged her boys’ studies by having them read mostly what they wanted as long as they studied history and functional math. She supplemented the rest with computer and community resources, which is the way I’m learning. Home-based curriculums are available for a price. My daughter knows of libraries that arrange homeschool Fridays. Students can enroll in classes in public schools.

Homeschoolers claim their approach benefits their children. They achieve higher test scores on standardized tests, which Washington requires homeschoolers use. Children play more and spend less time doing homework. As a former child, I wish I learned more and played more.

Critics dispute the achievement results. Nationally not all homeschool students take tests and/or don’t report them. Critics say homeschoolers don’t have to take the No Child Left Behind testing. Based on my graduate work in psychometrics, avoiding that presently administered testing would be beneficial.

But if you’re a Washington homeschooler, these arguments are irrelevant. Available standardized tests assess annual progress for your children and yourself. Be willing to fire yourself. Of course I’m assuming you want your children to succeed.

Washington’s home-based schooling option is viable if it fits your family. Both a child and a parent might benefit.

Posted by JSR at 4/12/2012 8:58 AM | Add Comment

Going Mildly Berserk in the Mega Millions Lottery

Late last Friday I bought my first Mega-Millions raffle tickets to win $640 million. I wanted to experience the frenzy. I went mildly berserk.

The 7-11-store where I purchased them was abuzz with constant buyers but short lines. I waited in them three times. I had no idea how to choose the six numbers but vaguely wanted to use our wedding date or Karen’s birthday. She might be less disgusted when I confessed succumbing to an impulse to gamble our dollar.

My strategy got complicated. The helpful sales clerk asked if I wanted the machine to pick the numbers. Well, no because I’d increase my chances if I chose the numbers. I’m lucky.

And fearful. I now understand I avoided being devastated if our lucky numbers won and I didn’t pick them. Am I serious? I couldn’t live with myself if I lost against odds of 175-million-to-one? Yes, absolutely. I had to ride this bet with our lucky numbers and if I lost, so be it. My purchase was testimony before the omniscient cosmos that those numbers are more important than $640 million. And I’m lucky. That’s being at least mildly berserk based on the way Karen looks at me when I justify it.

My purchase was clumsy. The Mega Millions sheet has five tickets, called panels. Five tickets! Five is our family’s special number. We embraced that number when we celebrated our fifth anniversary in our fifth home with five in our family. I felt our odds improved with six numbers for each birthday on five tickets. Our odds of winning increased fivefold by spending five times more money. Cleary this was going better than anticipated.

My numbers strategy wouldn’t work. Each ticket has a white section with numbers from 1-56 where you pick five numbers and a yellow section with numbers from 1-46 where you pick one number. That meant I could only pick one number twice. Karen’s birthday has 2 ones and 2 twos. Karen’s and my birthdays were split across tickets. Others were split also.

I had trouble marking them. I tore up one. I’m usually good under pressure. When I got all five birthdates on four tickets and saved a dollar, I voided the remaining panel incorrectly. The machine rejected it twice. If we’d tried five times, it might have worked.

On the third try I marked our wedding date on the fifth panel. Five birthdays and our wedding date on one sheet was optimal performance. It took three times, but I maxed out our chances.

The rest of Friday was less exciting. My anticipation was squeezed in between reading, dinner, movie time and going to bed early. I envisioned remaining incognito. I’d eliminate our kids’ debts and establish trusts. At breakfast TV announcers said there were no winners in Washington. Oh well.

What I learned later is there are over 16 million winners. There are nine ways to win prizes worth $2 on up to the jackpot. There are five Washington winners. The odds were 40 to 1. My receipt showed my five-ticket strategy had improved my odds to 39.9-to-1. I dug into my carefully stored receipts. I matched two white numbers but won nothing.

Even worse I calculated my strategy reduced my chances of winning. My month numbers were limited to 1-to-12 instead of the full ranges. Days of the month were limited to 1-31.

But I’m lucky. I’ll be better prepared next time. I could let the machine pick five different numbers. Wait, if I gamble when the jackpot hits $1 billion, the ages of my family plus combinations of our lucky numbers would cover the full ranges. I’d most likely be one of the 780,589 winners matching two white and one yellow numbers. They won $10 each. With another $5 investment, I could break even.

Based on media reports of office pools, I wouldn’t foolishly buy a ticket for Karen. She said that wouldn’t be a problem.

Posted by JSR at 4/5/2012 12:11 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

Why is it so hard for retirees to live with computers?

Why is it so hard for retirees to live with computers? The answer is computers don’t think like most of us and our experts are usually unavailable.

Most retirees depend on their personal experts instead of translating instructions on telephone calls to someone somewhere in the world. Retirees have personal experts such as any niece or nephew, child, or in my case, my wife Karen. We have to wait until they are available on their terms.

Karen has the extraordinary ability to create personal relationships with each computer. She was a network administrator who installed and maintained massive Sun Microsystem computers for geeks drawing engineering diagrams of Freightliner truck engines. When she’d ask geeks why their computers would suddenly have problems, she got the same answer: “I don’t know. Suddenly it stopped working and I didn’t do anything to it.” I’ve given her that answer and seen her eyes instantly freeze.

She prefers speaking out loud to my unresponsive computer, somewhat disrespectfully, but persistently, patiently. “Why did you do that?” “I already did that.” “Where is the file I just saved?” I have asked those questions, but somehow she gets answers. Maybe I ask the wrong questions.

You might think Karen is frequently available to me, but she is not. A personal relationship with my computer feels like work, the most disagreeable part of work she left behind eleven years ago. She’s replaced those relationships with people on tennis courts, community theaters, bridge tables and most serenely her loom and computer software for weaving. To fix my system she has to take time from her weaving.

It’s wiser to cajole my computer into working. Mysteriously her computer printed with the most recent version of Adobe software, mine did not. I’d click on print and the printer would burp, but not print. The computer wouldn’t say, ‘It’s not printing,’ or ‘There’s a problem with printing.’ Nothing. It doesn’t think like we do. I told Karen, and at least she said, “I can print from my computer. Goodbye, see you at lunch.”

Left to my own inadequacies, the mystery deepened. I searched the Adobe website for printing problems and found a page that said, “Printing bugs identified at release time. Was that helpful?”

“Not really,” I said. “I want solutions.” I clicked ‘No.’ The website wouldn’t respond. Subserviently, I clicked ‘Yes.’ Nothing happened. I asked, “Am I supposed to search about problems with getting Adobe’s website to explain how to fix problems with printing?” No answer.

I asked the whole Internet. It was full of answers since the problem had existed since 2011. “Why is Adobe’s most recent 2012 version still having the problem?” No answer. I followed the instructions, which told me to download the most recent version again and then download another program that fixed it. “Why couldn’t Adobe fix its own software before I downloaded it?” No answer. I may offend my computer. I confess I’ve yelled questions so loudly my condo neighbor could have heard them.

Anyway, after I downloaded the version and update, the most mysterious question arose. Adobe directed me to restart my computer. The first message after restart was, this is true: “There’s an update available. Do you want to download it now?” Of course, why not? It updated by Flash Player, which I don’t use. I clicked on print, the printer burped, and printed.

Karen set up this computer a month ago. I have some improvements and other setbacks. My old system was so slow I’d clean up my desk while it loaded. Now it’s ready too soon. My desk is a mess.

I’m beset by mysteries. Why do I suddenly have a graph page in my word documents? I didn’t do anything. Why do I have multiple Contact folders in my email system? Why did the contact I just added disappear? Why don’t I have one Contacts file liked I used to have that was faithful, accurate and reliable?

When is Karen going to be home and not weaving?

Posted by JSR at 3/29/2012 7:29 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

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