Pickup attempt

Most children aren’t taken by strangers

I was saddened by an article in the Oct. 21 issue about a 12-year old girl being offered a ride by a stranger. I wasn’t saddened because now we have a potential child abductor on the island, but saddened because this was most likely an innocent, albeit ill-considered, offer of a ride home to a child.

It saddens me because, as a man in my 40s, there is absolutely no way I could possibly stop on a rainy, dark afternoon and offer a neighborhood child a ride home. I would be reported to the sheriff and quite possibly picked up as a potential child abductor.

It saddens me because families live in an irrational fear of an extremely rare event. Despite media portrayals to the contrary, child abductions by strangers with intent to harm, represent as little as .025 percent of missing children. The overwhelming majority of missing children either run away or are taken by a family member as part of a custody dispute.

Perhaps the thin, wiry, blond-haired man could come forward and let the community know that he made a mistake by offering this child a ride and that he had no intention to abduct this young girl. That he is like me, that he is like you, just a regular person, going about his day, and that he would do everything he could to protect his own child or help yours.

— Michael J. Kleer

Homecoming

Students’ dancing is shocking

WARNING: What you’re about to read contains sexually explicit details. But hey, this is what our 14- to 18-year-olds are doing at their Homecoming Dance under the watchful eyes of faculty and adult chaperones, so it shouldn’t be a problem to describe it in detail for the local paper.

Here goes: While the music pulsates, the boys stand behind the girls, grab hold of their hips, press their groin into the girls’ rears and start grinding up and down and all around — through the entire song. The only rule is that the girl is not to bend over. Many of the freshmen are not yet indoctrinated to this form of dancing, so you see them hovering at the back of the huge group of grinders, looking awkward and interested and sometimes happily joining in.

If I hadn’t seen this with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. My husband (a Vashon High School football coach) and I thought we were somewhat hip parents. We had heard the stories about the dances and thought we were prepared. But no way. We were shocked!

I am writing this so that our community knows what’s going on. My husband and I take the stand that this is entirely inappropriate behavior. We completely understand that kids will be kids and will do things we don’t like. But let’s not sanction this behavior at school-sponsored events.

Some say students won’t come to dances if the grinding isn’t allowed. I’ve been told there are lots of kids that don’t come because of it. Why can’t we just be the adults and set the standard instead of leaving it to the kids? Why are we being so wimpy about this? I’ve heard this issue flares up every new school year and nothing ever changes.

— Lisa Betz

Road paving

Project is a wise investment that will save public dollars

I would like to clarify some misconceptions expressed in an Oct. 7 column concerning recent paving work conducted by King County on several Vashon and Maury Island roads.

Contrary to assertions made in the column, the purpose of King County’s annual overlay program is to extend the life of roadways and to prevent deterioration that can lead to costly reconstruction. The cost difference between overlay and reconstruction is approximately 10-fold per lane mile. That’s why it’s so important to resurface when the road begins to show signs of cracking, rather than waiting for more obvious damage and potholes — warnings that significant deterioration has already occurred.

This approach is similar to re-roofing your house. It is prudent to re-roof before all the shingles have weathered away and roof rot has already set in. 

Bituminous Surface Treatment (BST), commonly referred to as “chip seal,” is a cost-effective, short-term pavement sealing option. In view of rising oil costs and declining revenues, the county sometimes conducts a BST program for roads classified for rural local access. BST is a combination of asphalt emulsion to seal the road and aggregate to provide skid resistance.

Rural local access roads are good candidates for this type of paving because they often have an existing BST surface and have low traffic volumes and speed limits, which result in reduced risk of skidding and chip damage to vehicles.

I am happy to report that the roadway striping of the resurfaced road segments was completed two weeks ago, and the markings and installation of raised reflective pavement markers will be accomplished by the end of November.

These activities wrap up the 2009 pavement resurfacing project — a project that will help to ensure a long and useful life for the Island’s road network.

— Linda Dougherty, director, Road Services Division

King County Department of Transportation

School levy

Students need technology to succeed in school

Please vote “yes” for the Vashon Island School District technology and capital maintenance levy on Nov. 3.

Our current funds will be depleted in August. Our infrastructure, labs and teacher stations all need ongoing maintenance and upgrades. I teach technology skills to more than 200 middle school students a year. Some of our software is outdated, keyboards are broken and many of our hard-drives and monitors have already been replaced.

Students utilize technology on a daily basis to research, write, create multimedia presentations and publish projects. Our staff uses computers, projectors and document cameras for presenting lessons in way that engages to many of our students’ learning styles. Our schools use technology for food service, attendance, tracking grades, library catalogues and communication. The budget system for education is extremely complex, and certain funds can only be used in certain ways. We carefully prioritize and utilize our limited funds to best meet the needs of our students and staff.

Students need technology skills for school as well as in preparing for their future jobs. Please support your students, schools and community by voting “yes” on Tuesday.

— Carrie Power

McMurray technology teacher