Commentary : Sifting Through Year’s Opinions

D uring 1986, many Orange County residents wrote about their feelings and thoughts in articles submitted to our Sunday commentary columns. As we look back on the year, some of those thoughts are recalled:

Jose Vargas on immigration:

I have been on both sides of the immigration issue, as an undocumented person and a police officer (and naturalized citizen), for many years.

Many of us came here because we were hungry. When you listen to a child cry because they want food, a paper that says you cannot go to a certain area to search for food becomes worthless. People with their bellies full should not tell hungry people how to conduct themselves, because hungry people will put out to sea in leaky boats or jump over a fence to reach a place where food is.

Dr. Stanley van den Noort on helping the poor:

I find it fascinating that the retreat from the war on poverty has not been attended by a major retreat from other basic functions of government. Roads are built. Marinas to hold yachts are built.

I don’t understand what happened to our priorities. Why don’t we use tax dollars to care for the poor and raise funds for the roads and marinas?

Kenneth A. Small on freeway user fees:

As I understand the debate over Orange County’s proposed new freeway corridors, I have two choices:

Oppose the new freeways, in which case the South County will still grow and congestion will become intolerable.

Build the freeways, in which case the South County will grow even faster and congestion will become intolerable.

I want to vote “none of the above.” There is a third choice--user charges--that can change the terms of the debate. We will be better off paying more for rush-hour trips, and getting the quality of service on those trips that is appropriate to a well-functioning metropolitan economy. Orange County deserves freeways that will work, not more freeways that don’t.

Robert G. Haskell on county problems:

Traffic-clogged roadways and unaffordable housing have once again been ranked as Orange County’s top problems.

But beneath the obvious ones, the United Way/Orange County Needs Assessment has found new, more hidden problems, which signal a change afoot in the county.

It used to be easy in beautiful Orange County to avoid facing problems and focus only on the “good life.” It is getting harder to do that today. In fact, the situation demands that we turn our talent and attention toward improving the quality of life here for all of our residents.

Rusty Kennedy on parental roles:

Things are a little different in my house. We’ve broken with the tradition that our parents demonstrated--father: breadwinner, disciplinarian; mother: nurturing homemaker. I don’t reject these roles. In fact, I love and respect them. But in our house fatherhood has many faces. It can include homemaking, child-rearing, house cleaning and breadwinning. It is not a preset role with an established inflexible mold for men only.

Pearl Jemison-Smith on AIDS:

As an infection control practitioner, I teach and consult on AIDS as well as other infectious diseases. I am involved with AIDS because I believe that we are facing a crisis that the majority of the general public is ignoring because it doesn’t affect them personally.

I challenge you to learn more about this disease. Don’t sit back and say it can’t happen to me or anyone I know because it can--and probably will.

Dave Baker on the county’s quality of life:

No issue is more important in Orange County than growth. No issue engenders more speculation and parochial fears than growth. No issue is more exploited.

If we are to truly preserve our “quality of life” we must first rid ourselves of the rhetoric on both sides of the growth issue. Only if cities, communities and individuals work together will we ever fully protect and retain the quality of life.

Henry T. Segerstrom on the Performing Arts Center:

It has been an enriching experience to witness the unselfish generosity of our donors for the benefit of others--and to observe how the Performing Arts Center has unified our county.

From this time forward a new cultural era will dawn for us and our future generations.

Dr. Ralph W. Rucker on child drownings:

Certainly constant vigilance is mandatory. And certainly it is difficult. What must be remembered is that no family with a pool and young children is immune to the problem; that a child can drown in an amazingly short time, and that one can never be complacent about a pool in the backyard.

Greg Winterbottom on losing an election:

After battling through a campaign, losing, spending my own money, and talking to cynics who seem to be correct at a maddeningly accurate rate, I’m disillusioned.

But I’m not ready to give up. I believe democracy can work.

But even the most hard-bitten of these political cynics agree: If enough people work hard enough, we can make our system work.

Paul J. Vandeventer on brother’s death:

The words choked in my father’s throat. “For me Paul, the war is over.”

Seventeen years have passed since the (Marine Corps) major visited our home, and since Jim left it. The ache of loss has lessened with the years, and yet I still find myself taking issue with my father’s words. The Vietnam War, Dad, is not at all over.

As long as there survive, like ours, the families of soldiers killed in combat, or Vietnam veterans, some whole, some maimed in mind and body and spirit, and as long as there survives in this nation a conscience capable of wrestling with the consequences of that war, then so too will the war itself remain alive.

Jennifer Nicholson on accident lawsuits:

Orange County now leads the state in the rate of auto accident lawsuits filed.

More and more Americans have turned to the courts to resolve differences, settle claims or seek windfall judgments. But maybe it’s time for the public to rethink that permissive attitude, for ultimately it’s the consumers who pay the price--through higher insurance rates, higher taxes and higher prices for goods and services.

One solution would be to curb the “psychology of entitlement “ in which some people file lawsuits for every perceived misfortune, intent on being compensated, without regard to who is really responsible.

Raghu P. Mathur on educating children:

The teachers and the schools cannot do the job alone, so parents must take a greater interest in the education of their children than merely sending the child off to school. They are teachers, too, and their children look to them first. Parent involvement and student achievement go hand in hand.

Gerald Charles Lasensky on charity:

The demand for money for our community organizations seems to be limitless. More philanthropic dollars than ever before are going to support our causes, but still we are not raising money fast enough.

The Orange County community needs to develop more cohesiveness. And heighten its social conscience. Fund-raisers must make residents more aware of the community’s needs.

State Sen. Marian Bergeson on growth:

In my 37th State Senate District, growth continues at a rate of 10% in Orange County, 14.5% in San Diego County and a whopping 23.8% in Riverside County.

In the midst of the growth pattern is the no-growth or slow-growth sentiment in our state.

So as chairman of the new Select Committee on Planning for California’s Growth, I must recognize the indisputable link between a healthy economy base for our state, the ability of the state to keep pace with its growth through responsible planning for infrastructure needs, and the concern of our citizens over the quality of life.

As an optimist, I believe the challenges can be met through public awareness, education and participation.