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Letters
Mention of Lions Club flag salute senseless
Although the editorial in the Nov. 14 issue of the Saratoga News offered some valid points in my opinion, I was disappointed in your comments about Karin Dowdy and the Saratoga Lions Club.
Yes, Mrs. Dowdy is a proud member of the Lions Club. She is probably also a staunch member of the Republican Party, perhaps a member of a local church congregation, and a member of other groups trying to improve our community. So, what is the relevance of making the connection with the Lions Club?
This club never took a position regarding the Don Wolfe resolution to put flags in all classrooms at West Valley College. The Lions Club International is the largest service organization in the world; it does not search for or participate in political activities. So why did you connect the club with Mrs. Dowdy and the radio show?
Perhaps this editorial sentence reveals the reason, wherein you state that the Lions Club "starts every meeting with the pledge of allegiance, something that seemed almost quaint when it was done." Yes, all U.S. Lions Clubs do proudly recite the pledge [of allegiance] as part of the opening ceremonies in "tribute to the country that has nurtured and protected us."
Your calling that practice "quaint" seems to show your true feelings if you meant quaint to convey some of its synonyms: "curious, odd, queer, unusual, pleasingly odd and antique, or artificially elegant."
If I have misunderstood your intent in the editorial, then I apologize here and now; but if I have correctly discerned your attitudes, then I suggest you owe a public apology to the Lions Club and quite possibly to Karin Dowdy.
George B. Bunyard
President, Saratoga Lions Club
Young people should learn flag's meaning
The editorial in the Nov. 14 issue of the Saratoga News on the legislation of patriotism did have a few valid points but in general I must heartily disagree with you. There is no comparison between a dictatorship, despotic rule, repressive regimes and our pledge of allegiance to the flag of our country.
When you become a citizen of this country, you pledge your allegiance to this country. The pledge is a statement, not just a symbol that unifies us as a nation. This is not a one-time deal. It means what it says, and the repetition of this vow is proper and correct to repeat.
It is a reminder of where our head and heart should be. Recently there has been a lot of discussion on the need to be sensitive to our multicultural society.
In my opinion, if you are a citizen of this country, you should be more than willing, actually thrilled, to be able to repeat this pledge. If this is not the case, perhaps one should seek residence in a country more favorable to one's views.
More than anything else, I would like you to know that saying the pledge of allegiance is not "quaint." The American flag does not mean that if you object to its presence that "the system is working" (your statement). The American flag is a symbol of this country.
It stands in our halls of justice, our city, state and federal offices, our schools, our foreign embassies, and wherever it stands, it proudly says this is America.
Everyone in this country, with the exception of the native populations, came here from other lands to find a new life, a better life, which is represented worldwide by our flag.
One of the few positive things that resulted from the tragedy of 9-11 is that we have bonded together as a nation. The desire to have flags in classrooms is not necessarily political. It can be a desire to once again have the youth of our country, many of whom do not even know the pledge or the meaning of our flag, understand the importance of unity and commitment which our founders fought so bravely to ensure for us. How can this be bad?
As for the trustee who voted against the resolution, I don't agree with her that "there are more important issues to face as a college." If we cannot educate our youth to understand commitment and responsibility, all the rest is of little consequence.
Elaine Clabeaux
Saraglen Drive
Classroom flag display trivializes its meaning
As a former West Valley student and former board of trustees candidate, I am disturbed by the present controversy over classroom display of the American flag. I am an Army Air Corps veteran and am proud of that service. The flag has an important role in our country, but to display it in every classroom trivializes it.
There is little educational value. You can talk about Betsy Ross, the addition of a star for each new state, the flag's inspiration for the national anthem, the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima, but most of these topics have already been covered in elementary school and are hardly appropriate in most college-level courses.
The president has asked us to go on with our lives, which includes cooperating with others, supporting freedom of speech and helping where we can.
As school funds are being cut, if money is to be raised, I suggest that it be sought for projects that tie into school needs and have the support of faculty and students.
Dorothea Bamford
Monte Sereno
American flag is a part of many of our homes
I was surprised to read the words "American flag resurrected" in the editorial in the Nov. 14 issue of the Saratoga News. For many of us in Saratoga and our country, the American flag is a part of our home furnishings, to be flown on historic holidays. We truly honor this nation in which we live.
The Saratoga Lions Club proudly displays the American flag at all its meetings, and "quaint" as it may seem, we say the pledge of allegiance.
One of the most important activities Lions participate in at our local schools happens in early June, a patriotic program where American songs are sung and Lions hand out small American flags to each first-grader. We note the meaning of the flag--red for courage, white for bravery and blue for loyalty.
Maybe other school faculties could learn this about our flag and be more comfortable in discussing the principles that it represents.
Marlene Duffin
Canyon View Drive
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
