Fresno Bee Opinion Talk

I spent a delightful Saturday morning with Fresno/Clovis area middle school students and their parents as the students were getting ready to depart on a People to People trip to Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France. I was asked to be part of the program that helped launch the students on their trip, which begins June 25.

If these 18 students are representative of their peers, we will be in good hands with this upcoming generation of leaders. They are smart, curious and respectful. I was impressed with each one -- as well as their supportive parents and other family members.

I was introduced by McKay Duran, a 12-year-old ambassador, and then said a few words of encouragement before the pinning and lanyard ceremony. The ambassadors range in age from 12 to 14. The first legs of their trip will be San Francisco to Chicago and then on to Rome. It will be an experience that will forever change them. Teacher Rachelle Cornwell expertly oversees the local delegation.

People to People was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who thought having citizens from the U.S. and other countries in face-to-face contact would help break down mistrust and bring about a more peaceful world. Clearly, this world needs more student ambassadors.

The local ambassadors are committed to doing their part.

This weekend, columnist Victor Davis Hanson writes in Sunday's paper that Europeans ought to let sleeping Germans lie:

"There is one general rule about the history of the modern state of Germany since its inception in 1871: Anytime Germany has been both unified and isolated, armed conflict has inevitably followed."

Our lead Sunday editorial looks at some education codes that are barriers to quality teaching.

Saturday's page features a Valley Voice written by a young woman who finds it challenging to be a cyclist in Fresno. Katie Kellum urges drivers to get out of their cars to join other riders during Bike Month.

Also on Saturday's op-ed page, writers from two opposing viewpoints discuss whether or not Congress should enact taxes on obesity-producing foods.

In Monday's page, Harry G. Harris discusses how Taiwan serves as a catalyst for China's political reform:

"China cannot be content with cosmetic changes while maintaining an authoritarian grip on its people. The government remains active in blocking Internet access and other forms of information. Citizens are resilient in overcoming these obstacles."

(Links to the section indexes are live, but the mentioned stories will be live on the publication dates noted above.)

It's easy to think of gadgets and innovations common today that didn't even exist when we were younger. My youngest daughter was horrified at the thought that I didn't get my first cell phone until I was in my thirties.

But we had some cool things in our day that aren't around any more or are nearly gone.

This article in The Business Journal made me think, I don't think my three youngest children have ever experienced a movie at a drive-in theater. And not that many remain in the Valley:

About 4,000 drive-ins were open in the U.S. in 1958, according to the United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association. As of September 2010, there were about 370 left. Throughout California, there are only 18 or so drive-in theatres still running.

I remember as a child in Bowling Green, Ohio, our parents would pile us into the car for a night at the movies. As a teen, I went to Woodward Park Drive-In with friends from my church youth group and later, with boyfriends. Films I remember first seeing on the big outdoor screen include "Beetlejuice," "Rambo II," one of the Jurassic Park sequels and "Karate Kid."

There's something special about watching a movie on a cool (or hot!) summer night, hearing the echo of the speakers coming from the other cars around you.

When Woodward Park Drive-In closed in 2002, to make way for the shopping center where Costco and Home Depot now stand at Blackstone and Herndon, Sharon Kille Jenkins wrote this Valley Voice about how much she would miss her old friend:

It was never quite dark when the previews began. We strained to see. A strip of film appeared on each screen reminding patrons not to sit on the ground, replace speakers, drive 5 mph and enjoy the show. That was amusing, as most people were sitting on the ground. Surrounded by Freeway 41, Malibu Grand Prix and eventually Camelot Park, you could be distracted if you allowed yourself. But regular, die-hard drive-in fanatics weren't taken in. It was the atmosphere we were there for. Nostalgia, fresh air, fun! It was all part of "The Drive-In Experience!"

"The Drive-In Experience" is something I want my children to experience at least once in their lifetime, while they still can. This may require a road trip.

I hate not to finish things that I've started. And this year, I'm keeping a journal of the books I read and finish. This came out of a challenge I saw to read 52 books in 52 weeks. No way will I achieve that goal, but I'm doing better than I usually do (I've completed 14 so far this year, and have a few others in various stages of progress).

Anyway, it's felt like an accomplishment to get through more books than I usually do. Until I got to "Lamb."

This is what the novel's description on Amazon.com says:

Lamb traces the self-discovery of David Lamb, a narcissistic middle aged man with a tendency toward dishonesty, in the weeks following the disintegration of his marriage and the death of his father. Hoping to regain some faith in his own goodness, he turns his attention to Tommie, an awkward and unpopular eleven-year-old girl. Lamb is convinced that he can help her avoid a destiny of apathy and emptiness, and even comes to believe that his devotion to Tommie is in her best interest. But when Lamb decides to abduct a willing Tommie for a road trip from Chicago to the Rockies, planning to initiate her into the beauty of the mountain wilderness, they are both shaken in ways neither of them expects.

Lamb is a masterful exploration of the dynamics of love and dependency that challenges the boundaries between adolescence and adulthood, confronts preconceived notions about conventional morality, and exposes mankind's eroded relationship with nature.

There are many elements of that description that caught my attention. But in reading the book, I just found it to be creepy and disturbing. And in reading reviews by people who made it all the way through, they seem evenly split between those who found it to be an amazing (if harrowing) impressive first work for the novelist Bonnie Nadzam, and those who found it as uncomfortable to read as I did.

I gave it a good shot -- I made it through the first third. But then I decided that reading (as I've decided before) shouldn't be an unpleasant experience. I've moved on to another title for now. Now I'm reading "The Breakdown Lane," which deals with a woman suffering the upheaval of her life in her forties. While that can still be heavy subject matter (and a topic I can relate to), the way it's written makes me laugh in places instead of cringe often.

Have you ever quit in the middle of a book, or walked out in the middle of a movie? How bad does a book or movie have to be to do that, throwing away whatever you have already invested in it?

By the way, the book that I would most strongly recommend so far this year is "The Hunger Games," by Suzanne Collins. THAT was worth my time!

The city of Fresno has major budget problems and it will take cooperation from the public employees unions, especially the Fresno Police Officers Association, to solve the problem. If the unions balk, it could push the city toward financial insolvency. That would not be in the unions' interest, so you'd think there would be more cooperation.

Unfortunately, the only time city and union leaders seem to act is at the 11th hour. A balanced spending plan must be in place by July 1. There must be wage and benefit cuts because those categories make up 80% of the city budget. Public safety gets the biggest share of that spending.

Today's editorial in The Bee urges quick action: "There's a lot at stake for the San Joaquin Valley's largest city, and we would like to see City Manager Mark Scott and FPOA President Jacky Parks approach the issue with much more urgency."

The budget numbers won't get better by delaying a solution.