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o TTifee f- PLAINDEALER-HER ALD. FRIDAY. JANUARY 23.11 Opinion/Politics Courteous service s return visit « FINAL ANALYSIS of Super Bowl 15 fades (and _ ufckly) into football never-never land, we come face-to-face other realities of January. would prefer might remain forever mm ugly memory of another time. Ac we write, the Deep Freeze is still euticuched in our com­ munity and the Diat. 156 teachers' strike remains in progress. Giving the matter more consideration, it occurs to us mat a irt of the anatomy might well convince weaker in- w to call a truce, regardless of the outcome. That thoug* only because we are among the weaklings of society where coM is concerned. The teadiCTsanipaigtiy are not. M u s i - • • anderin BY KAF ONE fcMGHT SPOT of the week on the national scene was the ivonsdignity of aWashington D.C. inauguration. A festive pomp rfrrminglc* w with a patriotic consciousness that never fails to evuke devotion to country, ft may always be present but seldom surfaces until something of this magnitude. Politics become less important than the act of giving allegiance again to one who promises to uphold those ideala we to Measure more with the peering of time. On the local level, we also found reason for feeling good this It was the oppoctwity to become acquainted with a that seems, at least on first meeting, to be determined to support- WOOING THE PUBLIC is a gesture that have become highly underrated as merchants strive to succeed. Yet without the ef- |nt that success usually falls short We refer to an eating establishment rather new to McHenry and one we had not previously visited. The recommendation of a us to give it a try, which we did with aome attractive are encouraging descriptions for my but we needed more. And we received it. waitress, admittedly taeiperienred, was adept at her Job, our first visit, there was a cup of coffee without refills were made without frantically waving down r eervice. * Off THE SECOND VISIT, we asked about a substitution and ibe cheerfully replied, "Of course, we're quite adjustable." the owner approached our table to be sure we were satisfied and on both viots brought sample desserts for which we found no on the check. viag, we were helping a friend over the snow when a face appeared at the door asking if we needed i whole point of the service we were offered was to establish a good fading in the mind of a customer and encourage our return, ft was not an appeal to greedy people to patronfase a restaurant became something was free. APPROACH WOULD seem to work successfully in any operation simply because it is human nature to ap- on of thi predate the attention of those we are supporting in a Students just want to get back to clashes Dear Editor: r m a senior at McHenry West Campus and I am sick and tired of hearing about the teachers' strike. I am tired of talking about it, reading about it, it, taking sides. importantly, I am raqgh# in the miHHk of E I went to the open board meetfag on Tuesday, Jan. 22. I walked into the East Campus Strike seriously affects students Dear Editor: ft must be realised that it is the students who are most af­ fected by the current situation. The strike could last for an unwarranted period of time and although the days missed can easily be made up the extra­ curricular events in which many participate cannot, in most cases, be rescheduled. It is because of this that we, the seniors, lose a great deal more than just a few days of school. While it was wrong for the teachers to strike on the first day of finals, the board was not justified in saying it was the teachers who put us in the middle. We would have been involved either way. I believe that the board is more at fault by leaving the teachers with no alternative than to refer to that remedial form of action. The prolonged strike is not necessary and it will have to end sooner or later, hopefully sooner. The board has the sole power to end it now. If they cared about the welfare of the students as much as they claim, it would seem only reasonable that they would have no qualms about settling this dispute through arbitration. Christine Bassi , to learn a tittle bit more of what's going on. Well, after the meeting I walked out more conftised than I was before. But what one student, out of two, had to say really grabbed my attention. I think he spoke for just about aD of the + M m --A _ » -. a ai students from bom He stated, "To me, this looks like a tug-of-war between the board and the teachers..! think they should settle half way, get an arbitrator, I really don't care how it's done. I just want to get back in school, get the qualms over with and get out of this stupid strike J After this student was, and still am, board and teachers look at the third party involved with the strike-us students. No one realises that they are kicking us around just like little kids would a tin can, not really caring where it ends up at Sure, they say they care, but how can they actually mean it after they _ for their own sides? teachers notice that when they are our walking with picket signs that we aren't getting too much of an education? Or hasn't the board realised yet that holding "negotiation meetings" with the teachers isn't putting us campuses, back in school? In my opinion, both sides are too stubborn to give in. Maybe they need an "adult" to come in and settle the differences. I am not taking sides any longer. I am taking my own side, our side, the students side. What are we going to have to do to make the school board and teachers open their eyes to see that we have a part in this strike too? We have our feelings, our beliefs and our futures. We may only be teenagers, but we have a freedom of speech also. We feel we have a big part in this strike, just like the board and teachers do. Our side is only it spoke, I hoping the will take a beginning. Jeanie Westman Teachers striving for contract, arbitration Dear Editor: In previous years, the Dist. 156 board of education and teachers' association have developed salary schedules for teachers. These schedules establish salaries that are based on years of experience in the district and a teacher's education beyond the bachelor's degree. "CeQs" are created for different com­ binations of years and education. This type of schedule is typical for most. Theoretically, for each extra year a teacher remains in the district, they would move from a cell for one year to the cell for the next. Tms is called moving up a step, or an "increment" For most of the past years, when a contract was negotiated, it was not done when school started. It was the board's policy to operate as if the old contract was still in effect. However, they have never given the increment to those who had This was especially frustrating because while they were accumulating a large ^surplus, we agreed to help pay sesin our help 50 percent of the increases health insurance costs to them out. Then this year, the end of a long and late night, our negotiators gave up reim­ bursement for college courses we take to upgrade our education and training. However, the association began to feel we gave up too much for what we got in trade. Based on what we learned from our computer analysis of the district funds, we made what we thought was a reasonable request as our final offer. We made a last request of 6.75 percent on the base (or increase in salary schedule for one year), and the same for the second < year if agreed to. In addition, we have asked for a reinstatement of fully-paid health insurance and reinstatement of reim- Just before the strike, it would be safe to say that both sides were frustrated and angry, and beginning to dig into their positions. As a way to prevent a strike, we offered to tab> our chances with binding arbitration and let a disinterested third party resolve the differences. The board refused to agree to binding arbitration and retained an out-of-town attorney for themselves. We still have no guarantee as to how binding arbitration might go for us, but if it were agreed to, the strike would end. We are hopeful that an arbitrator would find our request reasonable given the good financial con­ dition of the district. We suspect the board also believes and is afraid that the arbitrator will find that our request is reasonable. Raymond R. Mathis Back to basics is urged what do we actually memories include a restaurant which failed to serve i; "tine where holes in the parking lot would wreak havoc the 'car of anyone who inadvertantly allowed a wheel to become caught; and a fast-food place where long lines stood as some of the employees eqtoyed a talk break. The latter prompted one disgruntled customer to mumble as he left, "Never again." We echoed his feelings and we never returned. Our latest, pleasant experience with a local merchant was rewarding. There are many more in McHenry who offer a similar service and make us feel good for being their customer. These people deserve our support. it coming based on the previous bursement for college courses, year's salary schedule. The difference between the We are reasonable and rational people and always have After we plugged the - pdETRY CONTEST 'a»,AH Illinois residents are in- ^tited to submit original poetry in the Eighth Annual CSS ftdblications Poetry Contest. Cash prizes totaling $100 will be awarded for the best poems and the top 150 poems be published in a book to be in the fall. The deadline 15. Poets should their poems to CSS ations, P.O. Box 23-LL, falls, Iowa 50126. An entry iper poem is required; I other publication fees are nlsessed to poets. *s budgets lor the past few years into the Illinois Education Association com­ puter, we learned that while we were settling for low percentage increases in our salary schedule and falling behind in inflation, the board was accumulating a surplus of funds even though they were saying times were hani. We began to feel we'd been had. two sides is 2.55 percent and 2.75 percent on the base. This year, the district received well qyer 180,000 extra recently from the Tax Amnesty Plan. This amount would cover the entire dif­ ference for the first year and much of the difference for the second year if agreed upon. Where did this $80,000 go in­ stead? Dear Editor: Last evening, I attended the open school board meeting. I spoke my piece, listened to others, sat throught the sermon and left. I should say I left with two distinct impressions. First, I felt that the school board failed tp hear a thing that was said. But more importantly, I really feel that the board has gotten away from one major school of thought. That is, getting back to basics. In the board's summary, I heard such terms as "standard union ploy, standard management response, ac­ c e p t e d m a n a g e m e n t procedure." I honestly feel the board has brainwashed itself. So let's try the situation in terms of basics. Really, have; We have a group of teachers requesting or demanding concessions. And who are they approaching? A school board comprised of elected public officials. So basically we have teachers and school board. Now we need a product In this case, the product is students. Board members may still recognize them if they care to. Kids come in all sizes. Warning: they are So now we have basic teachers, basic school board, basic students. No more stan­ dard. No more management precepts. People vs. people for the good of people. Only when this is realized will anything be accomplished. Donald E. STEFFAN'S CHRISTMAS DIAMOND A WARDED TO WONDER LAKE RESIDENT.. is r Vj h R f i Plaindealer HERALD (USPS 335-200) • Established 1875 9812 Wett Elm Strnt rhone 815-385-0170 . Circulotion 385-0178 McHsnry, Illinois 60050 'Published Every Wednesday S " Friday otMcHenry, Illinois Second Class Postage PAID at • * McHenry, Illinois by SHAW FREE PRESS NEWSPAPER GROUP POSTMASTER Send address changes to McHfnry Plaindealer 3812 W. Elm St.. 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