March-April View from the Hill (Sierra Foothills that is!)

Written by: Seth Stairs on Apr 3, 2008 12:28 PM EDT

A quick glance at the calendar tells me that Spring Break is upon us once again. With this, can it be much longer until school is out for the summer? Ah, so much work to do, so little time. Forty scholarship applications have hit my desk from students of the Yosemite high school system, each trying to win one of the 3 scholarships that are to be awarded through the joint efforts of the Oakhurst and Coarsegold Democratic clubs. A quick glance tells me two important facts: 1) These papers are of super quality compared to years past; 2) There is more student involvement this year than in the past. Searching for logical reasons, I have to consider the following: the political climate this year (a close primary with 2 exceptional candidates), more high school grads planning to attend college or high cost of advanced education and students looking for help. Whatever the reason, the student involvement is great to see. The various reasons for the involvement are all great with the exception of the last; high cost of advanced education. With our economy on very slippery footing (might check out some of my other articles over the past several years concerning this), it will be all that our younger generation can do to pay for an education, get a job and then pay off the student loans associated with that degree. Or worse yet, get the loans and drop out of school because they just can’t afford to stay the course. Now they can’t even get a decent job to support them, let alone pay off the student loans. There has got to be a better way, and it’s not going to come from the Party that wants to privatize everything in its path.

Miscellaneous ramblings: What happened to our rain? As I stated last month, conservation will be extremely important this year, both in energy (PG&E bills!) and water! We might as well start now and get used to it. We will try and set up a local seminar as a public service to discuss both water conservation and the use of wind and solar energy in the spring or early summer.

Our next meeting will be held at the YLP clubhouse library on April 12, 9:30AM. Please call our Democratic Club hot line at 683-1313 for more information and a volunteer will get back to you.

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Location: Coarsegold, CA 93614