April 04, 2008 07:49 am
—
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
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