Choosing the Alternative:
"Consolidation of city and county government would be the best alternative
for [cutting the cost of] government. It would not solve all our money problems but it would help. We
came up with this answer from polls and research, more polls, and more research. É Consolidation would
reduce costs, increase efficiency, reduce taxes and office space. There would be less paperwork, better
communication, and less payroll."
Angela M. Nelson, Helena High School, Helena, Montana
"Our
class decided to make the library the subject of our proposal. In our proposal we used various methods
of fund-raising and community awareness to save our library."
William Hawkins, Camden Central High
School, Camden, Tennessee
"The objective of the proposed youth center would be to discover below-the-surface,
as well as obvious needs of individual youth, alleviate those needs and provide essential social activities
that teach citizenship, leadership and sportsmanship."
Melissa York, Salem High School, Salem, Missouri
"Placing
adds on State and Federal motorpool cars was the idea chosen. This is a fairly simple idea. Twelve by
twenty-four inch spaces will be made available for private businesses to purchase on public passenger
vehicles, busses, trucks, and heavy vehicles. É The size of the vehicle will [determine] the amount
of advertising space. Passenger vehicles could hold at least ten signs (five on both sides, businesses
will pay $125+ for two signs per car), busses and trucks could hold up to 20 signs, and heavy vehicles
could hold a total of 40 signs. The estimated total revenue generated from the use of these signs is
in excess of $75,528,000 a year for the state of Montana.
The idea of businesses buying advertising
space in public and government owned items isn't new. For years some schools have allowed companies
to purchase advertising space in halls and lunch rooms. Businesses will often buy rulers for schools
that have the companies logos and slogans on them. Even book covers have been [used for advertisements.]
This practice is mutually beneficial to both public and private sectors."
Craig Kissinger, Helena
High School, Helena, Montana
"The proposal agreed upon by our class includes awareness programs.
These would include a day care, sexual education classes, and condom distribution. The effort could
be a small one for such a large problem, but helping one student would prove its worth."
Amy Mitchell,
Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Illinois
"The students who have addressed this issue have
come to their own conclusions. Pregnancy among teens and ignorance is a growing problem. With much debate,
the class proposed to offer classes to teens and parents, and also to set up a day care system at the
school, to help keep the students in school."
Heather Gibbs, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg,
Illinois
"The classes have also proposed that we start a recycling program. The recycling project
would have all the classes in the school bring in cans and have volunteers from our classes go and pick
up the items during the day. The classes would store the cans in back of the high school in a small
shed. Then volunteers would take the cans to the nearest recycling center, which is in Vandalia, about
20 miles south of Ramsey. The recycling program would raise enough funds to help support the police
service."
Christa Rosenberger, Ramsey High School, Ramsey, Illinois
"Our [class] alternative
was [to combine] fire and police. This would cost money now but save a tremendous amount of money in
the long run. Instead of replacing a police car and a fire truck, you would only have to replace one
vehicle. É We could [at least] consolidate the management to save money."
Jess Mortensen, Helena High
School, Helena, Montana
"My class and I came up with a plan to build a recreation center that
is built and owned by the community. Its revenues can go to the city to help pay for roads, sewer, schools,
etc."
Jeremy E. Riley, Harrisburg Union High School, Harrisburg, Oregon
"We felt that a few
billboards would provide an excellent source of advertisement, but found that each would cost upwards
of $20,000, and quickly threw that idea out. É Our next move was to [check out the possibility of] placing
ads on personal property along the interstate highway É We would place [signs] alongside I-90, an interstate
that runs from Seattle, Washington to as far as Missoula, Montana, and [beyond]. This major traffic
artery would reach thousands of people every month and urge tourists to stop and sight-see."
Chris
L. Carignan, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"The city of Ironton with a population of thirteen
thousand residents has only two police officers on duty at any given time. This led us to devise a plan
that would use volunteers to increase safety. We propose IVAP, the Ironton Volunteer Auxiliary Patrol.
IVAP, which would consist of volunteers equipped with flashlights, mace and walkie talkies, who would
patrol the city of Ironton. The plan calls for Ironton to be divided into seven sectors, six of which
would be patrolled on foot, while one sector would require vehicular patrol. The main duties of the
IVAP would include neighborhood surveillance, public services including inspections of homes whose owners
were out of town, as well as traffic reports and control. IVAP volunteers would not be acting police
officers; they would not carry weapons or make arrests, but they would be trained in CPR and first-aid
as well as self-defense. As with any volunteer service, the question of insurance arises. But here it
is simply answered with IVAP falling under the general liability of the City of Ironton. The only added
expenses to the City would be payments made into the workers' compensation fund. We also believe that
Ironton area businesses and private citizens would be willing to donate money to the program to help
defer some cost."
Meredith Chapman, Rock Hill High School, Ironton, Ohio
Harrisburg, Oregon students were realistic about funding the chosen Alternative:
"The complex won't appear out of thin
air; it will take a tremendous amount of community support. We will need about $2,150,000 (this amount
was estimated by the class) to build the center."
Jeremy E. Riley, Harrisburg Union High School, Harrisburg,
Oregon
"With every new idea comes the question, where can the money for this project come from?
There are of course the regular routes taken by a town when they need funding. These are applying for
grants and starting a donation program."
Nicole Hughes, Harrisburg Union High School, Harrisburg, Oregon
"The class looked into applying for state and federal grants. They found that Harrisburg had received 12 grants from 1993 to 1995. Harrisburg received a grant for a family resource center based on financial need. To qualify for a financial need grant, a town has to have 51 percent of the population in the low and moderate income bracket (less than $23,000 per year). With the new housing developments the chances of Harrisburg receiving a financial need grant was not very promising. They found several grants available for community development and gang prevention, a growing problem in neighboring Eugene and Corvallis. Lottery money was another option they looked into. Harrisburg applied for lottery money to help pay for a water front project in the fall of 1993. The only restriction put on applying for the Oregon lottery money was that the money had to be used for economic development. The Harrisburg Recreation Center [should qualify.]" Angel Lundeen, Harrisburg Union High School, Harrisburg, Oregon
"We
would reduce the total cost of the recreation center by pulling together our community resources; ...
skilled carpenters, legal representatives, knowledgeable landscapers, and trained contractors who would
volunteer their knowledge and time to improve their community. In return the rec center would issue
free passes to the volunteers. É Also the land is owned by a resident of the community who just might
give a reduction on the price. In exchange he would be recognized for his part in the project."
Tom
Sheffield, Harrisburg Union High School, Harrisburg, Oregon
"Valuable advertising space could
be given to those who donate equipment, or sold to those who would pay to have their logo displayed.
If Spalding donated some racquetballs and racquets, we would paint an ad upon our racquetball courts."
Michelle Knutson, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Oregon
"We want to stress the importance of the
community's involvement in this project. There cannot be a rec center without a community ... We would
like everybody in the community to talk over the present proposal. We feel that in order to accomplish
this goal we need to express the importance of volunteerism in the community."
Tom Sheffield, Harrisburg
Union High School, Harrisburg, Oregon
Funding was a challenge for every class:
"Jared and I sat
through the entire meeting, listening to other peoples' proposals and [noting] how they proposed them.
At the end of the meeting, Jared and I approached one of the council members to question him. The city
council member told us they [the council] would not approve of our idea mainly because of the money
that would have to be spent, which he felt was not in their budget. We asked if he felt the opinion
would change if our class did some fundraising such as selling coffee at Wallace's' information center,
putting jars for donations up in stores, and perhaps holding rummage sales and car washes, and we raised
all money for everything on our own. He said it would be difficult, but if we could do it, he was sure
it would be approved by the rest of the council. With this, we decided fundraising was our only solution
and we would have to ask for as many donations of the sign material as we could, so we could keep the
cost down as low as possible."
Shelly Sparks, Wallace HS Wallace, Idaho
"One alternative the
classes came up with for funding is to recycle. Paper, plastic, and aluminum cans can be collected
at the school. The Lion's Club will then take the collection to Vandalia, Illinois. A second alternative
is to get volunteers from the community to get together to form a neighborhood watch."
Patsy Pease,
Ramsey High School, Ramsey, Illinois
"It is important to remember in approaching this project
that raising funds is not going to be easy. It is definitely not going to be an overnight project. However,
it is also important to remember that no matter how difficult the process may be, it isn't impossible.
Funding for the program may take several years, but with a lot of work, dedication and sacrifice, we
can bring a youth civic center to the Salem area."
Jonathan Thomas, Salem High School, Salem, Missouri
"The
question arose in our group discussion where exactly the money would come from if we did have officers
on every campus. Our arguing resulted in two ideas: cut 'blow-off' classes (i.e. health care, home economics,
auto mechanics, etc.) and rally to find more supporters of the school."
Joyce Compton, David Crockett
High School, Austin, Texas
"Our class discussed many fund-raising ideas. We thought about having a fish
supper. We would get the food donated by a local restaurant or grocery store, then we would charge $4
or $5 a ticket. We spoke of car washes and outright donations. A community cookbook was mentioned as
a way of raising money. We would gather recipes from the community that had a family history, or some
special story behind them. We would print the recipes along with their family stories and sell them
for about $15 each."
Kristin Sullivan, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
"Now one
of [the] problems was how were we going to get the money to make the signs and what were the signs going
to look like. We came up with a fund-raiser that would not only make money, but would give us design
[ideas]. We were going to have a contest where a person would create a series of pictures of Wallace
for our sign. The winner would get his/her name put on the sign. The entry fee for this contest was
to be five dollars."
Margaret Reynolds, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"The reduction in
costs results from paying for the revisions over an extended period, instead of all at once. This would
alleviate part of the funding obstacles. Networking will also help this. In conjunction with the school,
the hospital, the city library and court system can be included to help spread the cost and reduce the
burden on the taxpayers of Kinsley."
Davida Eubank, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas
"If
we get rid of officers [patrolling the schools] taxpayers won't have to pay for them anymore. Also,
with the money that is saved, the schools could direct the money towards other things like enhancing
after-school programs. The money could also be used for repairing or remodeling the school itself."
Rachel
Antonio, David Crockett High School, Austin, Texas
Students in West Virginia planned to muster volunteers:
"How could we possibly fund such an extravagant
project? For starters, we planned to ask for donations from local and private organizations such as
the Kiwanis Club, Alumni Association, and School Improvement Council. On the county level, funding could
come from the County Commissioner and the County Board of Education. É Diana, Ramona, Harmony and I
began to flip through the pages of a West Virginia Blue Book and with the help of our government teacher,
we chose the committees that would possibly fund such a project."
Daronna Bowles, Meadow Bridge High
School, Meadow Bridge,West Virginia
"A decision was reached to round up volunteers to do the work.
Salaries were way too expensive to hire workers. The group felt that the people of the community really
wanted to see this park come to life and they believed they could come together and make it happen.
Two local engineers were contacted and were more than happy to help out."
Patti Reed, Meadow Bridge
High School, Meadow Bridge,West Virginia
"Many residents of Meadow Bridge own farming equipment
and would be willing to donate such equipment in building the park. Also, many have vocational talents
which could contribute to the work funding. In my opinion, volunteer services which could definitely
be of use are often ignored. Ron Patterson is a highly trained engineer, Thomas Acord is a skilled welder,
and many of the school's vocational students would be willing to share such skills as masonry, carpentry,
and other mechanics. É If people were hired to do these jobs, the park would no longer be economical."
Ramona Acord, Meadow Bridge High School, Meadow Bridge, West Virginia
"Those helping their community
could be given memberships to the natatorium [swimming pool and gain the] personal satisfaction of knowing
they contributed in building the only park in Meadow Bridge."
Audrey Brandstetter, Meadow Bridge HS,
Meadow Bridge, West Virginia
Using volunteers to cut costs was a common suggestion:
"Dix Johnke,
a local farmer, volunteered to donate the gravel to fix the driveway at the beach. For campfires, we
decided to build our own with small rocks as a ring. To get community support, our class felt that advertisement
in the local paper would be sufficient. The class thought that we could ask the community to donate
materials like lumber, nails, and grass seed. The Garden Club, Centerville Boosters, and other various
community organizations, offered to donate materials and time. The Garden Club offered to organize materials
and volunteers, as they are mostly retirement age women."
Stacey Thompson, Centerville High School,
Centerville, South Dakota
"We were a little dismayed, but decided that the Wallace business community
could greatly benefit from our work, and decided to propose that they help pay the bill."
Chris L. Carignan,
Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"I'm sure we could easily get parent volunteers to come in
once a month and watch over a couple of classes."
Rachel Antonio, David Crockett High School, Austin,
Texas
"I think we can boost the incentives of this project by providing volunteers and donators a free lunch on the day they work; we could have it set up like a raffle. We could have a prize set aside for the person who does the most work or donates the most supplies or labor. I feel that we can get the city involved more by listing in the local paper some of the ways this project can help the city. For example, the clean parks bring more people here from other towns (almost like a small tourist area.)" Pat Lee, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"The community said that
they would feel safe with a neighborhood watch system. People would have to be willing to volunteer
their time in order for this system to work. In a small community, like Ramsey, this system would work
because everyone knows each other. In a larger community, people would have to be very cooperative and
make sure everyone has their neighbor's phone number."
Christa Rosenberger, Ramsey High School, Ramsey,
Illinois
"People in the community could volunteer materials, and their services through working
to help build and establish a recreational area on the desolate land owned by the school. Machinery
could be donated by people who have it. É Workers would not only come from volunteers, but perhaps we
could work with the Health and Human Services and give training to the needy people in the community."
Lisa
Kincaid, Meadow Bridge High School, Meadow Bridge, West Virginia
"Good things come to those who
wait. I really think that everyone will work together and no one will care how long it takes as long
as we get it done."
Jillian Harbert, Ramsey High School, Ramsey, Illinois
Cost cutting was on everyone's mind:
"The city of Medicine Lodge, which is the county seat, could cut expense by having
the Sheriff Department take over the inefficient Medicine Lodge Police Department. With a decrease in
taxes from cutting these unnecessary expenses that have little or no return, Barber County could afford
to advertise to more companies and businesses and they would be more eager to come to a county where
they would not be paying for useless programs with the money that should be profit for them."
Matt
Ricke, Medicine Lodge High School, Medicine Lodge, Kansas
"We can even do like they did in the
old days where they had school kids as hall monitors and let them help keep their own school under control
and keep the kids from getting too wild. The students with off periods are usually ones that are excelling
in most of their classes and they seem responsible enough to control their school's maintenance and
keep them in line."
Lisa Bonin, David Crockett High School, Austin, Texas
"There are those who
believe that one way to increase efficiency and lower taxes is to consolidate city and county government.
Because many of the jobs are the same, bringing them together could greatly decrease costs and cut out
the unneeded services."
Janet Diane Lay, Helena High School, Helena, Montana
"We found that it
would be cheaper to get wood posts and some metal sheeting [rather than have] the Highway Department
make the signs. We decided that this could be a job for someone É and we could [also] hire someone to
make and put up our signs."
Margaret Reynolds, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"By using
the needy to help build the recreational area it would lower the cost because the salaries paid to the
needy helpers would not be as high as the salaries required to pay certified and licensed workers.
Using the needy would benefit the community in other ways too. It would give the needy a purpose and
possibly the training needed so that they could find jobs, support their families, and not be dependent
on the state and federal government. [This] could lower taxes and É benefit the community as well as
the [entire country]. É I feel that this proposal is a really wonderful idea. The community wanted a
recreational area, and they felt it was important. Perhaps the recreational area would even lower the
crime rate."
[What about the 'certified and licensed workers?']
Lisa Kincaid, Meadow Bridge High School,
Meadow Bridge, West Virginia
Students saw problems in their communities:
"Just because Salem is a small, rural community does not
mean that it cannot have the problems of a large city."
S. N. Ball, Salem High School, Salem, Missouri
"Centerville
is just like your average small town: quiet, friendly, a few assorted businesses. Centerville is not
without problems, however. The streets are bad, the water system is worse, and there hasn't been a real
student hang-out place since the Slack Time pizza parlor closed in May of 1994. To find a possible remedy
to one of these problems, the junior class took on the Harry Singer essay [project]."
Luke Johnson,
Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"The mayor of Ironton, Ohio, told us of the
problems he faces when it comes to the protection of Ironton. The funds he has to work with are inadequate,
resulting in only two patrol cars protecting our community around the clock. This may seem laughable
but it is a very dangerous situation. We wanted to help our community, yet not raise taxes to an undesirable
rate."
Ginny Scott, Rock Hill High School, Ironton, Ohio
"When I-90 went through Wallace we always
had the tourists, but now that the new freeway has been built, hardly any tourists stop in to look at
our beautiful shops."
Christina Houchin, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"Local police
are needed very much in Ramsey. I had a wreck about two weeks ago, and it took 45 minutes for the
police to get to the accident site two blocks from Ramsey High School."
Jennifer Austin, Ramsey High
School, Ramsey, Illinois
So the students became problem solvers:
"My own example as an alternative
would be to have more community services [handed out] for misdemeanor convictions. There needs to be
more work in elderly homes and charitable organizations. There could be more work on cleaning streets
and roadsides. É People who break the law should have to give back to the community É in some way. This
way 'white collar' crimes would be discouraged."
Matt Thompson, Helena High School, Helena, Montana
"In
Illinois, we have what is called 'high sulfur coal.' This means that when used, it emits harmful chemical
into our air. Government has decided that 'low sulfur coal' is better. Thus, instead of using our own
resources, we are forced to buy foreign coal. My proposal is that we bring in the technology needed
to reduce the sulfur in our coal. This way we could keep our mines in business, and jobs would come
back to us. We wouldn't have to retrain the coal miners to learn a brand new job because this is what
they already know how to do."
Elizabeth Hope Angelly, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Illinois
"So
if you are a concerned citizen and want more protection on your streets, do not be afraid to pay higher
city taxes. Without some savings, grants or downsizing going on there will be higher taxes to pay."
Eric Adams, Rock Hill High School, Ironton, Ohio
The project required alternatives to raising taxes:
"This year at Ramsey High School, the American government and sociology classes participated
in an activity to better the community. The [class] surveyed the community and [uncovered] needs that
tax money did not [alleviate]. The class É looked for laws that stood in the way of accomplishing the
objective. They then figured out ways to raise money for the project without raising taxes."
Brandon
Luster, Ramsey High School, Ramsey, Illinois
"Depleting funds and budget cuts in all levels of
government are causing everybody to look for new and innovative ways to solve community problems. The
more conventional ways of raising funds for community improvement projects are becoming less and less
effective. People are becoming less willing to pay taxes for community services and more cynical of
the system that manages these funds. For this reason citizens are looking more to the private sector
to get community projects accomplished. I feel this is when the innovative and creative ideas come together.
When a community comes together to solve a problem or make a project, they feel very strongly about
it. They also might feel more secure in the fact that they know where their money is going, see the
progress and, more importantly, are less likely to take the service or project for granted."
Doug Heckart,
Harrisburg Union High School, Harrisburg, Oregon
"The thought of taxes going up is very unpleasant
for everyone, so throughout this paper I, along with my class, É will give alternative methods to [obtain]
services needed by the community."
Kris Franklin, Ramsey High School, Ramsey, Illinois
"In
the spirit of Vice President Al Gore's Reinventing Government proposal, the students of the Centerville
junior class looked for ways to save money and stretch resources in their local government. In short,
the students worked together with the community to come up with many ideas to achieve this goal."
Spencer
McCombs, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"Medicine Lodge is the typical United
States small town. To help us survive in the modern world, we must be willing to sacrifice some of our
small town beliefs in order to attract new businesses to town. Helping our economy grow is the only
way we are going to be able to keep the services we have in our town. With hard work and some thought
on economic matters, we can accomplish this task without raising taxes."
Heather Poland, Medicine
Lodge High School, Medicine Lodge, Kansas
The project turned out to be a unique learning experience for participants.
Students learned something about public relations:
"[Our] American Government class also published an article [in the] local town
newspaper letting everyone know that we would appreciate cooperation in this survey and listing the
results of the first survey. This also gave others the opportunity to let us know how they felt and
[express] their opinion on what our community needs most."
Jillian Harbert, Ramsey High School, Ramsey,
Illinois
"We came up with ideas to get public awareness ... such as flyers, posters, billboards,
signs, radio commercials, and public rallies. Then we all got together and wrote a letter to the editor
of both the Camden Chronicle and the West Tennessee Journal. On April 17th we also decided to go to
the County Commission's meeting prepared to ask questions."
Nora Morgan, Camden Central High School,
Camden, Tennessee
"We have to buy a lot of equipment and hope the companies that sell equipment
will give us a discount in trade for advertising. The pool tables will cost us the most and we want
to talk to the company and offer them the opportunity to sponsor a big pool tournament and also [to
get] free advertising in our recreation center."
Jamee Nerdin, Harrisburg Union High School, Harrisburg,
Oregon
And something about law:
"Once we decided what we were going to do, we had to figure out
how to do it. This led us to call an attorney. É Mr. Ben Simpson generously donated about twenty minutes
of his busy day to explain ... the law and restrictions on hanging flags. We also discussed liability
insurance in case someone was injured while [hanging] the flags. He told us that since Washington Water
Power uses cherry-picker trucks to hang up the flags during Christmas, their insurance would cover accidents."
Matt Davis, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"Next, the two classes talked to a volunteer
lawyer. He told us about the restrictions and regulations that coordinated with the alternatives."
Amy Ertel, Ramsey High School, Ramsey, Illinois
"As a class we were worried that there [might
be] a law that would prohibit us from getting a police officer. I talked to our mayor and he informed
us that there was nothing to worry about. As long as the officer was qualified and as long as we did
not break any laws in getting the money."
Jillian Harbert, Ramsey High School, Ramsey, Illinois
"When
our classes researched the laws to confirm we could do this legally, we found É you cannot do something
if you do not have the proper training. For example, the neighborhood watch program: the volunteers
could not take the law into their own hands and try to apprehend criminals. (Volunteers) would have
to call professional police to respond to the problem. With the recycling, the people who donate their
materials could only drop them off. They could not smash the materials using the heavy machinery. Professionals
would take care of the additional work."
Andrea Hortenstine, Ramsey High School, Ramsey, Illinois
"When
discussing laws, there are two major categories, criminal and civil. Criminal law is a proceeding of
the state against one suspected of a crime and civil law settles disputes between two or more parties.
É (Torts) are concerned with the prevention of, or compensation for harm sustained by a person through
the unlawful or dangerous activity of others. The law of tort regulates an individual's behavior ranging
from physical attack and dangerous negligent conduct to violations of damage to one's social reputation.
Tort suits are brought by injured people as private plaintiffs. Presently under common law, torts are
distinguished between those that are intentional and those that are negligent. So even someone who was
not É intentionally trying to break a law could do so by trying to take the law into their own hands."
Dana Engle, Ramsey High School, Ramsey, Illinois
"To be sure that we were within our legal bounds,
we invited a lawyer to visit our class and explain our legal rights. [He] explained how we had to contact
the Highway Department and get the ok from them. He also explained to us the act that Lady Bird Johnson
put into effect on highway advertising. This law stated that you cannot put signs just anywhere; they
have to be legally approved and the Highway Department is the one that regulates this. In addition to
these obstacles, we also had to find our private land, compensate the owner for it, and find a way to
get the spare time to actually do this project."
Chris L. Carignan, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"A
student from the class called a local law office É and asked for the definitions of the following terms
and if they would effect us in any way with the project that we are doing. The student found out that
sovereign immunity is a term that came from the common law which meant that the king is sovereign and
that he cannot be sued. This is the same with the state; the state cannot be sued unless given permission.
Therefore the school, which is a part of the state, cannot be sued. She also found that the meaning
of strict liability was concerning things that are manufactured; and the term tort law is based on the
concept of negligence and reasonable care. The student also asked É whether the school insurance policy
would cover anything that might happen, or if it was in the city's policy. She found out that since
this project was not being done during school hours, the school would not in any way be liable and that
yes, it was in the city's insurance policy."
Carrie Peterson, Centerville High School, Centerville,
South Dakota
They encountered unemployment issues:
"My AP English class conducted two polls
concerning the unemployment problem in southern Illinois. The first poll [directed] questions to businesses.
When asked whether they had laid off employees due to government or budget cutbacks, the majority replied
no. Two more questions were asked in reference to whether businesses would help with the unemployment
problem; yes and no answers were about equal. The final question asked if they were willing to work
to bring jobs to the area. Nearly all those polled replied that they would. É The second poll concerned
individuals. From the poll's results, twenty-nine were coal miners, and about half had been affected
by cutbacks. Two questions concerned taking advantage of opportunities at community colleges or job
corps. The majority replied yes to college, but no to job corps. The final question showed that on average,
each person knew fifty people who were laid off."
Amy Molinarolo, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg,
Illinois
"One thought was privatizationÑgoing from government funded programs to privately owned
practices. We ran into one major dilemma here: the displaced worker problem. In order for us to privatize
government programs, [public] employees would have to lose jobs. They could of course be hired by the
private business, but with a major pay cut and considerably decreased benefits. This was not thought
to be the most feasible decision."
Ginny Scott, Rock Hill High School, Ironton, Ohio
"Due to
the new legislation which will eliminate welfare within three years and the opinions of the people who
were interviewed, we believe that it is necessary to train welfare recipients in job skills. This essay
will prove that both welfare recipients and jailed individuals would benefit from a job skills program.
By being trained in necessary job skills, it would be possible for these individuals to assume jobs
previously done by volunteers. Although this program might increase government spending at the beginning,
in the long range, it would reduce cost to government. When a person is removed from the welfare rolls,
or is released from jail, never to return, this reduces expenses. A person who is earning a salary would
return part of the salary to the government in the form of taxes."
Laura Vaught, Niantic-Harristown
High School, Niantic, Illinois
"I believe the easiest workers to cut would be the county workers.
Although there are a few times a year we need all of them, the rest of the year they are an unnecessary
expense. If we could have part-time help instead of full-time help, or lay off one-fourth of the people
who are currently working for the county, it would save Barber County thousands of dollars every year.
The only difference would be instead of having one guy digging a hole and three people watching him,
there would only be two watching. A problem with laying off county employees is again, the displaced
worker problem. If people who are laid off have to move, it makes the tax burden greater on the people
who are left in the county. Another problem would be finding enough people to help in emergencies, like
snow and ice storms, when they have to clear the roads."
Matt Ricke, Medicine Lodge High School, Medicine
Lodge, Kansas
"Our alternative of consolidating all city and county government, unfortunately
does displace a few workers. According to the employment agency, about thirty-five workers would be
displaced. They also said that this would [reduce salaries] which would lower tax income."
Jolene
Ann Bruce, Helena High School, Helena, Montana
"If our alternative were to be instituted, it
would result in little or no job loss. It would actually create jobs, as well as generate a large amount
of money. The only possible areas that jobs could be lost is in other advertising markets, Our plan
could be so effective that it weakens other marketing mediums [which] could result in possible layoffs
due to lack of business. If anything our plan would create jobs among the companies that sold and distributed
magnetic signs. There would also have to be people to attach them to the vehicles, another new and necessary
job. It's a new and original idea that should be looked at very closely."
Brad Naegele, Helena High
School, Helena, Montana
They became acquainted with consequences; intended and unintended:
"What impact would the
displaced workers have on the community? Would [revenue decrease and the need for services increase?]
The Employment Office said the average cost per person would be $20,000. There would be an average of
35 displaced workers, which means a lot of people out of jobs and more people on unemployment. Workers
Comp said that it wouldn't cost them a dime; they only pay for someone hurt on the job."
Kari Hegreberg,
Helena High School, Helena, Montana
"It has been said that for every job terminated, five other jobs are affected. For instance, when a mine closes [truck drivers, engineers and construction workers lose jobs right along with coal miners.]" Elizabeth Hope Angelly, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Illinois
"The size of our town would be a disincentive; we do not have much to offer. We would
have to cut taxes greatly to attract new businesses; this means displaced workers. The new businesses
may not create enough jobs for these workers. Without proper schooling, these workers may not be skilled
for the new jobs that the businesses would bring in."
Sheryl Ott, Medicine Lodge High School, Medicine
Lodge, Kansas
"We realized that there would be no real danger of anyone losing their job. But
the fact that we could, maybe, be creating jobs, made us want to do this exciting topic more than ever."
Owen Cotter, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"'I've had to go from making $11 an hour to
$4.25 an hour working at Wal-Mart,' said one former employee of the Sahara Mine in Saline County. Many
of the people that our class polled made similar statements about their job situation, prompting us
to decide that the major problem in our area is unemployment resulting from the shutdown of many coal
mines."
Jenny Hankins, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Illinois
"In the case of cutting
teachers, privileges will be lost to the students. The loss would be the student not being able to
take the course that might bring an advantage to him or her later in life. Another issue É would be
the unemployment of the former teacher. Cutting the teacher might help in solving one problem, but it
would add to another."
James Goebler, David Crockett High School, Austin, Texas
"Some unemployment
is caused by people just not being able to find a job, while other unemployment is caused by people's
way of life or skill being discontinued. This is obvious when looking at the small family farmer who
has been put out of business by the big farmers and the government; or the factory worker whose factory
has moved overseas. To combat this type of unemployment, the government has developed a program called
the displaced worker program. In this program the government will furnish individuals with an education
or the training required to get another job in a new area."
Dana Engle, Ramsey High School, Ramsey,
Illinois
"Programs such as condom distribution could backfire and encourage students toward sex.
Many feel that since [others], provide free condoms, passing them out at school would only be misunderstood.
Several churches and parents could protest."
Amy Mitchell, Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg, Illinois
"If
we were to combine the police and fire departments we would have to [train] policemen in fire fighting
and É first aid. ... [We] would be better off sending the firemen to police training. It would be cheaper
because all they would have to learn is [one skill.] É So you would cut out most of the policemen now
working, [in an attempt to cut] costs. Other displaced workers would be the office people who would
be cut at least in half because you wouldn't need fifty people to do the work if twenty-five could do
it É janitors would have one, not two buildings to clean. There may also be some salespersons displaced
because the police departments buy cars from dealers and if there are less policemen there will be less
need for new cars. This is basically a chain reaction."
Terry J. Gould, Helena High School, Helena,
Montana
"After being transferred to seven different offices, the county commissioner's office
finally answered our questions. They said they would have to consolidate services, like police, fire
department, and finances. City court would be doubled or maybe upgraded to justice court. ... After
being transferred twice the city commissioner's office finally talked to us. They said they would have
to pay off all the cumulative costs, like vacation time. It would have a great impact on the community.
The displaced workers could draw unemployment for a minimum of 26 weeks and a maximum of one year. After
that they could go on welfare."
Kari Hegreberg, Helena High School, Helena, Montana
"Recycling
will not take jobs away, in fact, it is going to provide jobs for police officers. The classes thought
that recycling might affect a local citizen who collects cans, but É decided it would not affect him
because he collects from trash cans and ditches. The community would be getting É cans, paper, or plastic
from people donating the recyclable materials, not from trash."
Amy Wonnell, Ramsey High School, Ramsey,
Illinois
"The citizens polled [showed a willingness] to take advantage of all available opportunities
including educational training at the local community college. Close to one third of the people polled
were ex-coal miners and one half of the people claimed that the government cutbacks had affected their
jobs. The average [respondent personally] knew of fifty unemployed people."
Kelly Gorman, Harrisburg
High School, Harrisburg, Illinois
"Why would people have so much resistance on placing ads
on these cars? They say it is because people will lose their jobs, but then we called Workman's Compensation
and they said that there was no way that placing ads on cars would put anybody out of work. In fact,
it could possible create more jobs for the public."
Heather Braten, Helena High School, Helena, Montana
Students developed group skills:
"By working together, the class was able to develop an alternative plan and
get experience at being on a decision-making committee. The experience will enable them to make important
decisions in the future in a mature and complete way."
Becky Ward, Centerville High School, Centerville,
South Dakota
"The more we found out, the more we began thinking differently. É We all worked
together and helped each other see the [various] aspects of the problem and we all [had] our own personal
views."
Melanie Burr, David Crockett High School, Austin, Texas
"All in all, through the conflicts
and doubt, we cooperated and came to a solution. We worked out all of our problems and together decided
how this can all work."
Tara Edman, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"Now
that we knew what the people of Wallace wanted, we had to decide which idea our class wanted to pursue.
We all came to class with pros and cons about each idea. One by one, we eliminated the ideas that didn't
have much support from the community. We were left with the following projects to choose from: increase
the advertisement of Wallace, add a city park in Wallace, and raise money for the city pool. As a lifeguard,
I was trying my hardest to push the others to choose to raise money for the pool. My persuasion didn't
workÑthe pool was the first to be crossed off the list. As a class we then decided that installing a
city park would be too hard because there was no place in Wallace to put it. We discussed increasing
the advertisement of Wallace and decided that was something we not only wanted to do, but it was also
something that we could probably do."
Angela Bailey, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
"Resistance
came from within our group. We took votes on who wanted officers and at first everyone agreed. Then
we flipped over to not having officers and again we all agreed. Then we voted on which to choose and
the group became split on the decision."
Joyce Compton, David Crockett High School, Austin, Texas
"Next
as a class we analyzed and interpreted poll one and poll two. Together as a class we produced 89 areas
that we felt could possibly be an alternative for funding in government. We spent several days discussing
the positives and negatives of the 89 options. After we researched these areas we [narrowed] the 89
options down to the most realistic and vital eight. É My seventh period class voted four times before
arriving at an agreement."
Jennifer Johnson, Helena High School, Helena, Montana
"Coming up
with a project that everyone agreed on was the hardest part of this process. We spent ten days reviewing
numerous ideas. Potential projects we discussed included: starting a community center, building bike
trails, putting a fence around the park, making repairs and improvements to park facilities, and putting
up a welcome sign. From vote results, our class chose to build a community center."
Jessica Lounsbery,
Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"For the last twenty minutes of one class,
all the students did was brainstorm for potential success stories and solutions to the problem. When
the time came to write our rough draft, a majority of the students knew how they were going to compose
their essay to get across the point that our school system needs a better sex education class and parents
need to communicate with their young adults."
Elizabeth Garnett , Harrisburg High School, Harrisburg,
Illinois
"The process we used was to get ideas from all the classmates, narrow each one down,
and then work from there. We worked with about four or five different ideas."
Patrick Carlson, Centerville
High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"After two days of debating, which was frustrating and
maddening, it made us realize this is a huge problem and solving it will not be easy."
Sravanthi Devabhaktuni,
David Crockett High School, Austin, Texas
"Deciding upon an alternative project for this essay
was the most difficult part. Not because the students didn't have good ideas, rather because there
were too many good ideas."
Becky Ward, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"The
act of working together can show friendship and service. Not only is this essay a grade, but it would
be a joy of service to accomplish it."
Spencer McCombs, Centerville High School, Centerville, South
Dakota
"We decided that to pursue this project any longer would cost more money and take up more
time than we had. If we had the time and funds, this project could be accomplished. I feel this project
brought my English class closer than we were when we started. I learned a lot of things about people
that I didn't know before, such as their opinions on things and how they go about accomplishing certain
tasks. We agreed and disagreed on things but through many compromises we made it through our troubles
and came up with fantastic ideas. We had fun going uptown and talking to people together to find out
questions we had about our community. This was a great project in my eyes."
Donnie Hulsizer, Wallace
High School, Wallace, Idaho
"One group had to poll the community, another had to come up with
ideas to help better the town, and another had to come up with incentives and disincentives."
Travis
Andersen, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"[Upgrading] education was the number
one [topic] picked on the survey. We, as a class, then brainstormed a list of items relating to education.
É [We came up with] attendance, discipline, the selected school officials, more variety of classes and
better communication. Each student picked three areas and named the merits, the demerits and then gave
possible alternatives. In groups of five we listed the merits, the demerits, the alternatives and a
purpose for each activity. The topics picked were library use, more variety of classes, update of school
facilities, and ITV [Interactive Television]. Before voting on one topic, Mr. Dunn and Mr. Swager, school
administrators, gave information on all topics. We voted on the topics and ITV won."
Kellie Gartung,
Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas
"Imagine you play football on a team; however, this time
you are the only player for the team. You, who are a fairly good player, are expected to play against
eleven other sizable men. You have to be on the defense, not to let the other team score, and you also
have to try to score for yourself. Could this be done? Of course not. You would be destroyed. This same
thing often times follows in school and in other activities. In order to get something done, you often
have to work as a team. In our class project for this Alternatives essay, we had to work as a team.
As a team we had to divide up the workload and work together to complete the project. This included
calling community members for the poll, determining a proposal for our essay project, and researching
the project to determine the legal aspect."
Carrie Peterson, Centerville High School, Centerville,
South Dakota
They struggled with communication problems:
"We encounter conflicts of opinion in government every day.
Many people are convinced that their opinion is the right one and all others are wrong. It is not a
matter of right or wrong. It is a matter of what will work best to benefit the people most. Many members
of the public have thoughts and ideas to improve government. [Through] class research [we uncovered]
some of these ideas."
Sabrina Skinner, Helena High School, Helena, Montana
Is Sabrina correct?
Is it really..."a matter of what will work best to benefit the people most?" The issue is crystallized
in Sabrina's earlier sentence: "Many people are convinced that their opinion is the right one and all
others are wrong."
The problem, not addressed, is that some entity has to define benefit. This, of course,
leads to Sabrina's "conflict of opinion."
Lisa, below, doesn't seem to think it matters very much, at any rate:
"Our elected persons will do what they want regardless of what we ultimately think.
We are the public, but we can't all be heard. Most people wouldn't know the first thing to do to get
in touch with our officials in charge of making these decisions."
Lisa Bonin, David Crockett High
School, Austin, Texas
Shayne backs up Lisa with an example of his own from Tennessee:
"By comparing
the results of Groups I and II, we can see that there is a lack of communication between the people
and the leaders. The people wanted a new library, but the leaders thought that the funds that would
be cut would be the funds set aside for the new library. This lack of communication was the stepping-stone
that led us to the first step of implementing our proposal to build a new library, which is increasing
community awareness."
Shayne Holland, Camden Central High School, Camden, Tennessee
A Kansas student has his own example of the public's inability to communicate with officials:
"The elected officials
polled said that recreation is definitely something this town needs, but recreation programs were the
first ones they said to cut if they did not get the needed tax money. They contradict themselves."
Keri Cline, Medicine Lodge High School, Medicine Lodge, Kansas
Lesleigh found the same problem in Austin, Texas:
"There were many obstacles in our poll that we tried to overcome. It was very hard
to contact the politicians because they never had the time to talk. When calling them we talked to their
secretaries and got a second-hand answer of the politician's views. They asked us for our addresses
and told us that they would send us answers later. 'Later,' was not the word we wanted to hear. We wanted
to have answers to simple questions, but found out that politicians often talk in circles and could
not give straight answers."
Lesleigh Welch David Crockett High School, Austin, Texas
Rebecca, in Meadow Bridge, West Virginia, was disillusioned:
"Ten elected officials were also asked to participate
in the polling, but they refused to speak to the students conducting the polls. Numerous excuses were
given such as they were in a meeting, they were out of town or they were on a break. These excuses from
officials, including Jay Rockefeller, Bob Wise, Gaston Caperton, Nick Rahall and Robert Byrd, led the
students to believe that they were not as interested in their communities as they had proclaimed to
be during elections."
Rebecca Mullins, Meadow Bridge High School, Meadow Bridge, West Virginia
So was Joyce in Austin, Texas:
"Other resistance came from school board members and other elected officials
who gave us the run-around and wouldn't give us straight answers. The officials wouldn't answer our
exact question and would change the topic. It was also pretty hard to reach the school board members.
When tallying the poll results, we realized that the public community is uninformed and did not know
all the information about Zero Tolerance. When the resistance is highÑlike it wasÑand the straight answers
are fewÑlike they wereÑthen it makes it hard to complete research."
Joyce Compton, David Crockett
High School, Austin, Texas
They practiced interviewing techniques:
"In an interview with a co-sponsor
of a youth activity center in Hawthorne, Nevada, I learned some of the things that helped and hurt the
center and also some of the effects on the community. I interviewed Michael MacKenzie, Jr., formerly
of Hawthorne, Nevada, on Saturday, December 3, 1994. At this center, he had video games, pool tables,
and other activities for students to do to keep them out of trouble. The community effects he saw were
fewer crime-related problems involving teenagers and a sense of self-worth felt by the teens. When his
center in Hawthorne shut its doors, he noticed that half of those teens returned to their old lifestyle.
He did not volunteer the reason why it [the center] closed."
Tabitha Stanfast, Salem High School,
Salem, Missouri
"Before we could do the projects, we called different organizations to check
if everything would be legal. We called the Game, Fish and Parks Department. They told us to call Lewis
and Clark Park Department. We spoke to Jeff and he told us to call Nancy Klutz of Centerville. She told
us to talk to the city of Centerville because the parks are owned by them and it is not state property.
We then found out the legal status. A classmate talked to Michael Myers, a local lawyer. Pat Lee spoke
to the Mayor of Centerville, Ben Bjordal. D. J. Bryant spoke to the Garden Club, Boosters, and the Rotary
Club to see if they would be willing to help. They all promptly agreed to help organize and complete
the project."
Jeremy Smetana,, Centerville High School, Centerville, South Dakota
"Our interviews
with Mayor Tordiff of Ironton and Mayor Dean of Huntington went quite well. We discovered how the
government worked with the many different unions and the bureaucracy [in general]. The mayors told us
a lot of things about our towns that we never realized [before]."
Anthony Allen, Rock Hill High School,
Ironton, Ohio
No one can say the students from Rock Hill High didn't try:
"In beginning our search
on saving money and stretching resources, we held many interviews with city mayors, lobbyists, media
persons, and more importantly, we communicated with the public. There was, as expected, resistance to
our ideas of privatization and volunteerism. A main concern was unions with collective bargaining used
as their ammunition. Mayor Tordiff of Ironton made it clear that a volunteer would not, could not perform
a 'city' job because of protection from the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees.
Mayor Jean Dean of Huntington, West Virginia, [said] in opposition, that volunteer enthusiasm wears
out quickly and thus, eventually, its success would be minimal."
Amy M. Lynd, Rock Hill High School,
Ironton, Ohio
"Actually a collective bargaining agreement between the city and the Police Department
turned out to be the biggest problem. Ironically, our proposal was destined to failure because of the
very bureaucracy that we set out to alter."
Meredith Chapman, Rock Hill High School, Ironton, Ohio
"We
polled public officials about what measures could be taken to improve safety. Many answers were given
but the one who really helped us out was Mayor Jim Tordiff of Ironton. We thought more along the lines
of privatizationÑtaking publicly owned businesses and turning them into privately owned ones. Mayor
Tordiff told us that if this were to take place that many people would lose their jobs and that we would
run into an unemployment problem. Volunteerism was also discredited when Mayor Tordiff explained the
insurance problems we would face. If someone is volunteering for the city and he were to be injured,
the city could be sued. Downsizing was also on our minds; logically people who are being paid unnecessarily
could be cut off. Mayor Tordiff was displeased with this idea because so many employees would lose jobs.
Our preliminary ideas were basically shot down by the mayor."
Dusty D. Ross, Rock Hill High School,
Ironton, Ohio
Adult readers might get the impression that Mayor Tordiff was putting these students down. But like a lot of young people, Dusty saw it differently. He saw Mayor Tordiff as "one who really helped us out" by pointing out the flaws in the class proposal.
The students in Idaho had a different experience with the mayor of Wallace:
"The mayor of Wallace said that it was a good idea and that she
was behind us all the way."
Christina Houchin, Wallace High School, Wallace, Idaho
Students hosted public officials and absorbed an enormous amount of information:
"We decided [to] write about
something which we feel strongly [about and] É which interests the community as well. Therefore we invited
several panels of speakers to address the way the local tax dollars are spent and to give their views
on how the tax money could best be put to public use. These panels included our mayor, several county
commissioners, a city manager and other influential individuals of our area. These members spoke on
tax-supported services now existing in our community and ways they felt these could be better managed
in order to cut expenditures while still providing the same level of service."
Bryan Bennett, Kinsley
High School, Kinsley, Kansas
"Marsha Haxton, the Kinsley city manager, stated that out of all
the local taxes we pay, 73 percent goes to the city. Most of this money is used for bills, maintenance
and buildings. Once this amount is taken out, there's not much left to divide among the several community
services that are tax-supported. For example, the library asks for $12 million, but the city can only
afford to give it $6 million. Mary Fox, a member of economic development, reported that 90 percent of
the money that economic development receives comes from the Kansas lottery. This group helps the hospital,
the Emergency Medical System, Home Health and the Midway Clinic."
Beth Schaller, Kinsley High School,
Kinsley, Kansas
"A county commissioner, Richard Froetschner, and the county clerk, Pam Meadows,
explained how the tax dollar is valued as well as how it is used. Mrs. Meadows discussed the ways in
which the tax levy is figured to meet the necessary budget. Each subdivision is required to file its
budget in August to meet budgetary needs. Mr. Froetschner helped us to understand the need for taxes.
É The American Disabilities Act required advancements in our community [which] required tax dollars."
Micha Renee Habiger, Kinsley High School, Kinsley, Kansas
"Edwards County services 30 organizations
with its tax money. These areas include administration and buildings, roads and bridges, health care,
public safety, law enforcement, and other miscellaneous services. Ann Merrick, local health care volunteer,
stated that most departments would not exist if it were not for volunteers. The help of the auxiliary,
which is a money-making organization for women, writing grants and the Edwards County Health Care Foundation,
make our community strong and provide many services for the public. Bill Inman and Margaret Schnoebelon,
local PRIDE committee members, stressed how important it is to have volunteers in a community. All the
money made by the PRIDE committee goes directly back to the community. The 'Twice as Nice' shop, a
second-hand store that PRIDE operates, provides income for community needs. Streve Seibel and Judy McKinney
talked to the class on the importance of recycling and how we need to be involved on an individual basis.
Recycling also helps to reduce the taxes that all individuals pay."
Justin Huslig, Kinsley High School,
Kinsley, Kansas