Letters to editor
GEAR UP thanks supporters for great career fair
The GEAR UP Program (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) and 12th grade counselor from Pahrump Valley High School would like to thank the following businesses, colleges, and military recruiters for taking time out of their busy schedules to make our College and Career Fair that was held at the PVHS gymnasium on Oct. 24 an overwhelming success. We would also like to offer our appreciation to all of the volunteers, (students and adults), staff and administration that helped with making the Fair run smoothly from setup to finish.
Desert View Hospital, Fitness for $10, Mastertech Computers, NCSD CTE Technical Advisory Committee, Nevada Highway Patrol, Nevada Realty, NyE Communities Coalition, Nye County District Attorney’s Office, Nye County School District, Nye County Sheriff’s Office, Pahrump Family Dental, Pahrump Physical Medicine, Pahrump Valley Disposal, Pahrump Valley Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services, Platinum Home Mortgage, Reflections Healthcare, Saitta Trudeau, Sheet Metal Local 88, Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, U.S. Ecology, Valley Electric Association, Vanderbilt Minerals LLC, Wells Fargo, U.S. Army, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy, Art Institute of Las Vegas, College of Southern Nevada, Culinary Academy of Las Vegas, Dixie State University, Great Basin College, Nevada State College, Northwest Lineman College, Paul Mitchell The School Las Vegas, Purchase College, Universal Technical Institute, University of Montana Western, University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Nevada Reno.
Students were engaged learning about college and career readiness. In addition to the information, students also received many different keepsakes from the businesses, colleges, and military recruiters and made numerous contacts to continue receiving valuable information in the future.
Lisa Hamrick
GEAR UP site representative at Pahrump Valley High School
Animal society worker will be greatly missed
We were devastated, absolutely devastated when we heard that the Maddie’s Project and Don Jennings had been dismissed.
Don brought with him years of education, training and experience in the field of shelter management. His love of animals and dedication to improving their quality of care was evident from day one. Shortly after his arrival, we saw deliveries almost daily of much-needed equipment and supplies. He visited local boarding facilities and made arrangements to temporarily house many dogs to help alleviate overcrowding. He also transferred many to Reno for better adoption opportunity. He instituted universal precautions and trained volunteers in the proper handling of animals who were ill.
Very shortly, we saw a marked improvement in the health and well-being of the animals. Additionally, he hired and trained five new employees. Members of the Maddie’s Project came from Reno, each with expertise in organizing the physical space to the optimum, preventative vaccination, and organization and management of animal records.
Don worked tirelessly on behalf of Desert Haven Animal Society and as volunteers we were thrilled at the great strides toward improving all aspects of the shelter. We pray that the benefit of his short time here will not be negated. God bless you, Don, and everyone at Maddie’s project. We shall not forget what you did for us.
Debbie Butterfield and Sandra Chebahtah
Reader disappointed, disillusioned after election
I am at a loss to know what to do with certain thoughts and feelings following the mid-term elections.
I am relieved that my wife and I, as well as tens of millions of other Americans, will not have to fear our Social Security retirement benefits being cut by 25 percent by the Republican Senate and House. With the Democrats taking over the House, we will no longer have to be scared for the next two years. The Democrats will block any Republican attempt to cut our benefits. The same holds true for those who rely on Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, college student loans, and Unemployment Insurance benefits.
But I am angry, bitter, resentful, and disappointed with many of my fellow Democrats who I thought cared about people like me who have low incomes. These affluent Democrats are members of the upper middle class and the upper class, although they don’t see themselves as wealthy and well-off.
I am angry at how they scolded me, admonished me, and tried to shame me and bully me for the past two years because I did not care much about the “identity politics” and “cultural war” issues that they constantly bashed Donald Trump over. I focused on the bread-and-butter and kitchen-table issues of everyday survival. I focused on protecting the safety-net programs like Social Security.
These financially well-off “liberal/progressive” Democrats thought that I should have been more concerned with the plight of illegal immigrants, for example. I don’t understand how they could have been so insensitive to my plight and the plight of millions of us seniors who have to live on Social Security checks of $1,200 per month.
A good friend who does not earn as much as they do has provided me with the answer- they can well afford to care primarily about the “identity politics” and “cultural war” issues and to focus on constantly bashing Trump over them. People like my wife and I can’t afford that luxury. We don’t have their high yearly incomes. They don’t need Social Security. They never will. It will not affect them if their Social Security checks get cut by 25 percent.
Yet I am still surprised and disappointed that these self-proclaimed “humanists” are so insensitive. I expected more empathy and compassion from them.
For the next two years, I will still focus on the bread-and-butter issues that the poor, the near poor, the lower middle class, and the middle-class struggle with that these affluent Democrats do not.
Sincerely,
Stewart B. Epstein
Rochester, New York
P.S. I am a retired college professor of Sociology and social work. I taught at West Virginia University and Slippery Rock University.
