Letters (May 1, 2013)

Written by Nicole Suderman Tuesday, 30 April 2013 11:58

Thanks to 44 donors at recent blood drive

 

Thank-you to everyone who participated in the American Red Cross blood drive April 22 at First Mennonite Church in Hillsboro. Forty-four people came in to share their life-giving blood.

We can feel proud we did our civic duty and helped to ensure lifesaving blood is available for patients in hospitals in many areas. The need has been real the past two weeks as our nation had two disasters with many injuries.

We had two new donors. We would encourage others to come and be a first-time donor at the next drive, which will be June 17 at Trinity Mennonite Church. Let’s try to exceed the number of donors we had in our recent drive.

Thanks to all the donors and volunteers.

Gladys Funk...

Read more: Letters (May 1, 2013)

Letters (April 17, 2013)

Written by Nicole Suderman Tuesday, 16 April 2013 12:49

Blood need increases as donors decrease

 

Blood donation is something that comes close to my heart, and brings with it some concern. The Red Cross supplies 40 percent of the nation’s blood supply and many other services.

The need for blood donors increases each year, but it seems to be harder to make our quotas. Surgeries, disasters, accidents, shootings, wars—all play a part in this great need.

As older donors reach retirement age and beyond, they may be more likely to contrast illnesses or require medications that can prevent us from donating blood. Therefore, it is important that high school and college-age adults and others of all ages get in the habit of giving to ensure lifesaving blood is available for every patient...

Read more: Letters (April 17, 2013)

Letters (Mar. 10, 2013)

Written by Nicole Suderman Tuesday, 09 April 2013 12:46

Fracking won’t affect water level much

 

In most of the media, I’ve been seeing a lot about how much water it takes to frack a well. The figure I see most is 2 million gallons of water per well.

Let’s see if I can put this in perspective. When we were farming we had three irrigation wells pumping a total of 3,000 gallons of water per minute—every six hours a million gallons. So 12 hours for 2 million gallons, and in 24 hours enough water to frack two wells.

What about Marion Reservoir? One acre foot of water is enough water to cover one acre one foot deep. Three acre feet is 1 million gallons, and six acre feet is 2 million gallons, enough to frack one well.

At normal level, Marion Reservoir is 6,100 acres. Take six...

Read more: Letters (Mar. 10, 2013)

Letters (Mar. 27, 2013)

Written by Nicole Suderman Friday, 29 March 2013 15:19

Funding does not equate to ‘education’

 

I read with interest Bob Woelk’s column on government involvement in education (March 13). It seemed to me he was talking about both funding and regulation.

I taught school for several years and have been involved with schools for many years. I can assure you that the quality of the students’ education has very little correlation to the money spent per student.

For example, I’ve known chemistry classes that only used chemicals that could be bought in any grocery store or brought from home. Basic physics was taught with things like a bicycle, a stick and a fulcrum, a string and a weight. Talk to these students a few years later and most will tell you how much they are using of what...

Read more: Letters (Mar. 27, 2013)