Published: April 04, 2008 07:49 am      

Letters for April 04, 2008

Swimming team deserves praise

Kudos to the Oneonta YMCA Orcas! The Oneonta YMCA Orcas swimming team gained a lot of respect and surpassed the expectations of the much larger and well-established teams we faced at the New York state swimming finals the weekend of March 14 through March 16.

Nine local kids from the Oneonta YMCA Orcas Swim team competed at the Nassau Aquatics Center on Long Island. One of the children, a 7-year-old, finished second in the state for boys 8 and under in breaststroke, beating his seed time by close to a second, a remarkable achievement in a race that lasted barely 21 seconds. Another 7-year-old boy finished 13th in the 100- yard freestyle, and was beaten by only one other 7-year-old. These two boys will be competing again next year in the 8 and under category.

We should be very proud of all 30 kids on the team who trained all winter, an average of three days a week, and competed in nine meets over the course of the swim season. These kids, ranging in age from 5 through 17, traveled to practice and meets in the cold and inclement weather, frequently getting up at 5:30 a.m.

on a Saturday morning to get to a meet two or three hours’ drive away.

These children demonstrated a dedication to their sport that portends great things for them in the future. Not only did these kids work hard, but they had fun.

More kids should join the Orcas where they will learn perseverance, discipline, how to work together as a team and how to have fun while keeping fit.

Anne Green
Oneonta

Congratulations, Brenner, Kang

I should like to extend my personal, public congratulations to two friends recognized in the March 27 edition of The Daily Star.

First, congratulations to David Brenner for his recognition as Citizen of the Year. I have known Dave for almost 40 years. We met when he was chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives and I was on the Citizens Advisory Committee.

Much later, when I was teaching state and local government at Hartwick College, Dave graciously accepted several invitations to come speak to my classes.

This not only gave us the benefit of his knowledge but exposed the students to a real, live politician and office-holder. Thank you, Dave.

I also congratulate my good friend and former colleague, Sugwon Kang, on his selection as Fulbright scholar. It is a richly deserved honor.

Howson Hartley
South Worcester

Cut through lies in election year X-ray vision.

If there is one common attribute that all voters need this election year it is Superman’s X-ray vision. If we all had it we could see through the dismal pall that has descended over the campaigns and the media, a pall created by the campaigns’ free-flowing rhetoric, misrepresentation and, in some cases, downright lies (by the way, the new word for lie is mis-spoke) and mudslinging. This steamy dark is compounded by 24-hour coverage by a voracious media desire for the outrageous, extreme and controversial. The talking heads of all media outlets feed on a phrase, a word or an image and pound it at us in machine-gun fashion. The media’s contribution to the pall is a constant barrage of accusation, doubt, confusion and inane chatter to clutter to the dark and dreary scene. If we all had X-ray vision to cut through the dark and soggy pall and expose the unblemished truth, we wouldn’t have to sit huddled and ignorant in the dark. What happened to real reporters? Why do the talking heads have to editorialize or try to amuse us? We are all old enough and smart enough to make up our own minds based on the facts.

Meanwhile, keep on squinting and searching for the truth ... our country needs it desperately.

Richard Stinson
South Kortright