 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
MEMO BLOG | |
Memo Calendar | Memo Pad | Business Memos | Loaves & Fishes | Letters | Home |
The Mid-county Memo is your newspaper. We want to hear from you. Discuss an important issue or address a concern you want to call to the community’s attention. We prefer e-mailed letters to the editor sent to Darlene Vinson at editor@midcountymemo.com. Please put “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line. You may also mail your letter to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR 97230 or fax it to 503-249-7672. The deadline for the December issue is Saturday, Nov. 15.
PHS football team: Should we believe or shouldn’t we?
I believe there is hope for the Parkrose High School football team! I do not believe that (Athletic Director) Sanjay Bedi and Tim Price, the football coach, are striving for naught. Neither do I believe that Dr. Gray “has her head in the clouds,” as Ashley Nichols stated (“Too much attention being paid to football,” October 2008 Letters to the Editor).
The mere fact that the community is rallying together is proof that there is hope. If people come together because they care about the students, the school and community pride, then there must be a strong enough passion within the believers to not give up. Maybe there is even enough passion or faith to move mountains of disbelief and negativity.
For some reason, football is a sport that rallies the community in a way that other sports don’t. It’s just a fact. Unfortunately, the PHS football team has not done well for such a long time that many have become discouraged and embarrassed. That is why so much time, energy and focus have been put into the football team. That is also why so many movies have been made about underdog football teams that improve and become great. That is why the Parkrose community longs to see a victorious football team. There is a longing within to win!
But that kind of faith requires determination and guts, which some of us just don’t have. Some people give up before the victory. My hat goes off to Sanjay Bedi, who has not given up. (Sanjay,) you have made a difference already, and I think you are a real hero! I have prayed for PHS and for the football team because the team matters, the students matter (and) the Parkrose community matters. I believe that things can change. I believe that the community wants to be a part of a movie in progress. I believe (the community) want(s) to see the football team (succeed). I believe PHS can have a winning football team. Because of believers and people who care, PHS is already a winner!
When one believes or has faith, he/she has a vision that motivates him/her to press on and do whatever it takes to make the vision reality. The person must act as if the vision is (reality), although it is not yet (one).
I would much rather be a believer cheering on the sidelines than a doubter who has nothing good to say. I would rather be considered a fool with my “head in the clouds” (and my) faith and encouragement than to be one who criticizes and points out every mistake. I would rather be one who helps than one who throws stones of discouragement. I would rather be one who cares than one who doesn’t. I would rather be one who says, “I knew you could do it,” when we win! Wouldn’t you?
GO BRONCOS!
Jennifer Markham
Parkrose parent and employee
pray.4.phs@gmail.com
Editor’s note: After going winless in 2007, Parkrose ended their first campaign under Coach Price’s tutelage with a 2-7 record.
Roseway resident questions city’s commitment to conservation
I am writing to alert your readers of what I see as unfairness in the new garbage rates that the Portland City Council voted into effect this year on July 1. It appears the lowest users were given the largest increase in fees. My bill, with garbage pickup of only one 32-gallon can of garbage once per month, went up a whopping 29 percent. That service, with the normal additional pickups for yard debris and recycling, climbed from $12.10 per month to $15.70 per month.
When I called Commissioner Dan Saltzman’s Office of Sustainability, which oversees garbage pickup, I was told the average increase for the service was only 17 percent. That means someone dumping as much as more than 10 times the amount of garbage that I dump monthly is getting a bigger price break than I.
Why is the lowest user being penalized? Isn’t that kind of conservation what the Office of Sustainability is supposed to be all about?
Sonya Zalubowski
Roseway neighborhood resident
 |
 |
 |
MEMO Advertising | MEMO Archives | MEMO Web Neighbors | MEMO Staff | Home