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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2006)
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, December 6, 2006 Page 8 Temporary OSP leader appointed Deputy Superintendent Tim McLain will become interim superintendent of Oregon State Police until a successor is appointed and confirmed by the Senate, Gov. Kulongoski an- nounced. McLain replaces retir- ing OSP Superintendent Ronald Ruecker. “Deputy Superintendent McLain is an outstanding public servant and an exceptional representative of the Oregon State Police,” Kulongoski said. “Not only has he been with OSP for more than 27 years, he also has a deep understanding of our state.” McLain, 50, joined OSP in April 1979 and was origi- nally assigned to the Patrol Division in Roseburg. Dur- ing his career, he also has worked in Portland and Baker City. McLain was assigned as commander of the South- west Region Headquarters in Central Point before mov- ing to OSP General Head- quarters in Salem, where he served as lieutenant colonel overseeing all law enforce- ment operations. ILLINOIS VALLEY YOUTH WRESTLING Club held its annual tour- nament in Ken Mann Me- morial Gym at I.V. High School Saturday, Dec. 2. Wrestlers ages 5 to 15 and their parents, friends and coaches filled the gym during the competi- tion that lasted approxi- mately five hours overall. Competitors came from around Southwest Ore- gon. The IVHS competi- tion cheerleading squad opened the event with a special routine. (Photos by ’Illinois Valley News’) $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Now Accepting Applications!! $ $ Starting or Growing a Business? Need Funds? $ $ Micro Business Loan Funding Always Available! $ $ *The IVCDO has $$$ available for Micro Business Loans $ $ in the Illinois Valley. $ *Everyone is encouraged to apply - start-up, existing, home-based $ $ $ or other business enterprises. $ *$200 minimum to $10,000 maximum. $ $ *Pick up applications at the IVCDO office (next to Caves Pharmacy). $ Questions? Phone 592-4440 $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Don’t drink and drive ‘Dependence on government disrupts civil society’ By ED FUELNER The holidays are the perfect time to count our blessings. Many will prefer to follow Will Roger’s ad- vice and “thank God we’re not getting all the govern- ment we’re paying for.” Unfortunately, that quip might not remain true much longer. A new study from The Heritage Foundation shows that Americans are saddled with more govern- ment every year, and we’re becoming steadily more dependent on it. The soon-to-be-released 2006 Index of Dependency aims to measure the “progress” of the federal government in crowding out private- or community- based services and pro- grams. It focuses on five main categories of federal programs: housing assis- tance, health and welfare spending, retirement in- come, educational subsidies for college students and farm subsidies. So how much does our nation of pioneers rely on government? Since 1980, dependency has more than doubled, rising by 138 per- cent. That long-term trend continued during recent years under a Republican president and (outgoing) Republican Congress. Just since 2001 the Index has jumped approximately 20 percent. To put it simply, the federal public sector is shouldering civil society aside. And it won’t be easy to reverse that trend. Con- sider health care. Medicare and Medicaid were enacted in the mid- 1960s, during the height of President Johnson’s empire- building “Great Society” Electronic age advances seen via OSU optic study Physicists at Oregon State University (OSU) at Corvallis have discovered a way to manipulate the trans- mission of optical signals in tiny wires -- a major ad- vance that could open the door to a new era of com- puting and information processing based on optics. The manipulation dra- matically slows, stops or even speeds up optical sig- nals to velocities faster than the speed of light. The findings, being published in the journal, “Physical Review Letters,” are an important step toward manipulating light pulses in the same conceptual way that conventional electron- ics, since the dawn of switches, semiconductors and transistors, has manipu- lated electrons, OSU said. The potential payoff, experts say, might be a new generation of computers, communications or other devices that are no longer hamstrung by the limited speed of electrons -- a speed that may seem extraordinar- ily fast in one sense, but is painfully slow compared to the visionary possibilities of optics. “At least in theory, computers based on optics might be a million times faster than those used to- day,” said Viktor Podolskiy, an OSU assistant professor of physics. “This is because the frequency of light is about one million times faster than that of electrons, and the devices we envision would be based on photon- ics rather than the move- ment of electrons.” Some important uses of photonics, of course, are already in common use -- the fiber-optic cables used for high-speed telecommu- nication; and the optical disk readouts used in most PCs. But there currently is no way to manage and manipu- late optics in any small de- vice the way that electrons can easily be controlled in everything from computers to cell phones. No, really -- don’t drink and drive initiative. They quickly be- came sponges, drawing off ever-more federal spending. In 2005 these two programs alone accounted for a fifth of all federal spending. This dangerous trend is only going to accelerate. Within the next five years, approximately 77 million baby boomers will begin to retire, which will force Medicare to deliver a steady stream of new benefits and services. By 2015, federal or state governments will pay half of all health-care costs. Medicare and Medicaid alone are projected to cost federal taxpayers $9.1 tril- lion by 2016. Young adults are grow- ing increasingly dependent on government as well. This year the federal government will help approximately 10 million students pay for col- lege. But hold your ap- plause: That increased fed- eral spending actually crowds out existing family and community support sys- tems, so as costs keep in- creasing, there’ll be fewer places for students to get funding. Meanwhile, a big chunk of this spending is going to students who are already well off. As the College Board points out, “recent changes in student aid poli- cies have benefited those in the upper half of the income distribution more than those in the lower half.” Yet we’re not helpless. We can reduce our depend- ence on government. The 1996 welfare reform bill proves that. During 1994, 14.2 mil- lion Americans were on welfare. That’s 5.5 percent of our population. But in 1996, lawmakers changed the nature of welfare. In- stead of simply sitting back and collecting a check, re- cipients had to prove they were working or training for a job. This helped break the cycle of dependency. Since the reform, 2.3 million children have been lifted out of poverty as their parents found jobs and be- came self-sufficient. Be- cause government finally forced these parents to take some responsibility, the poverty rate for Black chil- dren and single mothers has plunged by a third in just a decade. It’s amazing what people can accomplish when the government gives them the freedom to do so. The growth in the size and scope of government can’t go on forever. As Tho- mas Jefferson put it, “Dependence begets subser- vience and venality.” Even- tually, over-reliance on gov- ernment will eat away at American independence and ingenuity, the very traits we’ve relied upon to build the world’s greatest nation. If we want our grand- children to be able to give thanks for being Americans, we’ll need to heed the warn- ing of the Index of Depend- ency. It’s time to start steer- ing a course away from gov- ernment control of our lives -- and start moving back toward greater personal re- sponsibility. (Ed Feulner is president of The Heritage Foundation, heritage.org.) Linda Sallman 128 S. Redwood Hwy. Cave Junction OR 97523 541-592-4541 Across from Select Market on Redwood Hwy. Open Mondays - Fridays, 9 to 5 Auto - Home - Life - Commercial Christmas Decorating Contest For Valley Businesses Decorations must be ready for judging by Friday, December 15th Entry deadline Wed., Dec 13th Sponsored by Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce Business ______________________ Address ______________________ Indoor Outdoor Send to I.V. Chamber at P.O. Box 312 Cave Junction OR 97523 or deliver to chamber office in the I.V. Visitor Center. Phone 592-3326 MANSFIELD R. CLEARY Attorney at Law General Practice in Illinois Valley since 1980 Practice includes but not limited to: Bankruptcy - Eliminate financial problems Living trusts - Avoid probate Estate planning - Wills, power of attorney Domestic relations Auto accident - Personal Injury Criminal - DUII Real Estate contracts - Foreclosure 592-2195 200 W. Lister
