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Page 6 NORTHWEST HERALD Section B Thursday/August 15,1985 Opinion No recess for education A study recommending some in­ centives, and tougher guidelines and requirements for teachers has been released by a Illinois educa­ tion task force. There are many reasons why the state's education system is failing to provide a proper education for our children. One can blame lack of funding, poor teachers, bad teaching methods, apathy on the part of students and parents, etc. The list goes on and on. No doubt a case can be made for any of these reasons. However, nothing will change until the prob­ lems are addressed. Where to begin? Pick a category and go from there. The problems in our education system are so important that they need to be dealt with now. The study recommends ways to improve the quality of students who enter undergraduate teacher training. It also recommends ways to reform the education system. It is time for actions to be taken. Standing by, waiting for more studies only endangers the health of our education system, and the future for ourselves and our children. Washington Window WASHINGTON (UPI) - No , matter how rosy a picture they try 1 to paint, congressional tax writers • have a problem with tax reform -- unless they want to deliberately turn it into a tax increase, the idea seems destined to lose money. And, with all sides decrying the more than $200 billion deficit and President Reagan insisting there be no tax increase, either option is a likely candidate to kill the noble concept of simplifying the nation's convoluted tax code. The problem is as much political as it is economic and the answer may come only if Reagan agrees to drop his opposition to a tax increase or accepts a substantially rewritten reform plan -- two op­ tions he has shown no willingness to pursue. As most congressional tax ex­ perts already knew, comprehen­ sive reform is a virtual Rubik's Cube. Every change that is made seems to prompt five others. With Reagan's plan moving to the drafting process in the House Ways and Means Committee, change seems inevitable. Among other complaints, there has been considerable talk that it is not fair to the middle class and that it would, over the next five years, lose money. The administration and tax re­ formers in Congress say the reve­ nue issue is no problem; that the president's plan wtyl be changed to make sure ft does not lose money by the time the committee begins its work. That may be the case, but the larger revenue problem will come once lawmakers start their tinker­ ing. And tinker they will. For every tax break they retain -- whether to help the middle class or some other special interest -- they will have to find a way to replace the money. And with the most crucial items, such as the deduction for state and local taxes, worth billions of dollars, replace­ ment money does not come easily. Certainly, lawmakers could try some major surgery, such as cre­ ating a fourth tax bracket that would be higher than the top rate of 35 percent the president has suggested. But if sweeping changes like that are made, Reagan's support will be severely tested. And with time running out on this congressional session and lawmakers facing re­ election next year, tax reform will almost certainly die unless the president is wholeheartedly behind it Joseph Mlanoway On the political side, many Sen­ ate Republicans are still steaming over what they view as a double- cross by the White House in the recent budget fight. After having stuck out their necks and voted to cut or eliminate many sensitive domestic pro­ grams, a considerable number of GOP senators are in no hurry to forget <about the deficit and vote for a tax reform plan they believe could add even a little red ink. The revenue problem is so sensi­ tive in the Senate, especially among Republicans, that some senators who oppose particular provisions of Reagan's plan pri­ vately admit they are banking on the issue as the one certain way to kill the entire bill. The president, meanwhile, in­ sists that tax reform and the defi­ cit must' be kept separate. But there is an undercurrent of feeling growing in Congress that the long­ er both issues remain unresolved, the more likely it is that they even­ tually will betied together. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., chair­ man of the Ways and Means Com­ mittee and the driving congressio­ nal force behind tax reform, said as much recently when he noted in a speech that the deficit could only be solved with a tax increase. When Congress is finally willing to do that, he said, "let's have ready a new tax code that gives us the revenue base to do it without hitting anyone or any business unfairly." "If the tax base is broad," he said, "a l or 2 percent hike in the rates can raise a lot of revenue w i t h o u t d i s t o r t i n g t h e marketplace." So when congressional drafters begin writing a tax reform bill this fall, not only they, but Reagan as well, will be faced with some tough choices. The president may have to de­ cide if the idea of tax reform is worth more than the specifics of the plan he submitted. More importantly, he may have to confront another painful option -- that his beloved concept of tax reform, the matter he called "a second American Revolution," may only survive if he drops his promise to veto any tax increase. (Joseph Mlanoway writes for Unit­ ed Press International) Sjtf fSSWilB Ti&fiRHS m Speaking of 'peace activists Are you a "peace activist"? Well (you say), that depends. How do you define a peace activist? Well, for instance, last week there were 29 peace activists in Nicaragua who were detained by the contras. W h a t m a d e t h e m p e a c e activists? Well, they said they were peace activists. They said they were op­ posed to violence in Nicaragua. Well, I'm opposed to violence in Nicaragua. , . No, they were very concrete about it. They said they didn't want Washington to send any mon­ ey to be used by the contras in Nicaragua to cause more violence in the area. Well, I'm against more violence in the area. But I'm against more violence even if it is violence com­ mitted by the Sandinistas. What do you call it when political dissent­ ers are put in jail? Or when they are executed? Or tortured? What do you call it when you buy tanks and airplanes and guns, isn't that the contemplation of violence? Evidently you do not under­ stand. If the contras were to leave Nicaragua, and if the United states were to ignore Nicaragua, then the situation there would settle down and there would be less violence. But isn't that like saying there would have been less violence in France after 1940 if the resistance hadn't opposed Hitler? You are obviously missing the point. We were at war with Hitler. , But wars are violent, aren't they? So how can you be in favor of a war against Hitler and still opposed to violence? (Getting exasperated) The 29 people who went down to Nicara­ gua are attempting to minimize violence by giving revolution a chance in Nicaragua -- But giving revolution a chance in Nicaragua means acquiescing in totalitarian rule there. Is a peace activist a pacifist? Certainly not. There is no record that the 29 who were detained in Nicaragua by the contras are paci­ fists. They are peace activists, and that is something very different. Well, why don't they call me a peace activist? Thirty percent of all the taxes I pay go to support the American military. The Amer­ ican military is the deterrent fac­ tor in the world today -- it is what William F. Buckley keeps the peace, i.e., what deters war. So why isn't it correct to say that the greatest peace activist in the world today is the Pentagon? And that everyone who contributes to its maintenance, which means all Americans who pay taxes, are peace activists? You are playing semantic games. You can hardly call an outfit that presides over the de­ ployment of 200 million times the explosive force of the Hiroshima bomb a "peace activist." I mean, that really is Orwellian, bending the language like that to make your little debater's point. But wait a minute. You are the one who called those Nicaraguan 29, with their accompanying bag­ gage of 18 journalists, "peace ac­ tivists." I'm saying that they are no more entitled to that term than others who stand and wait, but who are serving up peace by con­ tributing to the cost of deterring war. In fact, I think I'll go a little further and say that if I were writ­ ing a dictionary right now, I thirty I would define the term roughly as follows: PEACE ACTIVIST, n. (Derivep from Peace Conferences, dating back to the World Congress of Par­ tisans of Peace in 1950 in Stock­ holm. Successive peace councils have always been organized by Moscow.) 1. A term used to desig­ nate an opponent of counter-Soviet activity. 2. A person who asso­ ciates himself with any movement designed to diminish relatively the strength of the west vs. the Soviet bloc. 3. A citizen who regularly opposes military expenditures, and activity abroad designed tq weaken Communist or left-domi* nated movements. « That is sheer McCarthyism. I am no more a communist that M a h a t m a G a n d h i w a s a'communist. McCarthy got a lot of things wrong. But he distinguished be­ tween the communist and the fel­ low traveler. The former knows what he is doing, the latter doesn't. As for Gandhi, he was an acknowl- > edged pacifist. But he was also ail ! a c t i v i s t f o r t h e i n d e p e n d e n c e o f India. The contras are activists for: the independence of Nicaragua.-, Nicaragua is not now independents ; It relies totally on Cuba, and Cuba \ relies totally on the Soviet Union. : Are you telling me that when you •' read a reference to a peace activ- J ist from now on you are going to ; conclude you are reading about a ' fellow traveler? ' No. But I will assume I am read- ing about a fellow traveler until - convinced that the peace activist spends at least half his time argu­ ing for the demilitarization of places like Cuba, Nicaragua and/ the Soviet Union. I give up. ; You are a peace activist. (William Buckley is a columnist^ for Universal Press Syndicate) Reader Forum 9 V Airport a target? To the Editor: All McHenry County residents should be aware of a potential devastating impact of the proposed McHenry County airport. In the event of a national defense emergency, military aircraft would be relocated to outlying airports to prevent a preemptory strike from destroying concentrations of U.S. Aircraft on the ground, as happened at Pearl Harbor or Clark and IBA Airfields in the Phillipines in World War II. The military criterian for an "outlying airport" is its location and length and condition of its runway. Logistics and communications are mobile to support such remote operations. The level of construction Military Map. I urge you to consider the potential impact and to reject the proposed McHenry County airport. Dan Weise Union NORTHWEST HIRALD rmiHrpmpnts ^ >pei Sine like age; bringing on disease before its time and in the prime of youth they leave the character broken and exhausted." Junius ROBERTA. SHAW Editor and Publisher LEONARD M. INGRASSIA Executive Editor STEVEN H. HUNTER Marketing Director ** MICHAEL E. MORSCH News Editor/Regional DENNISM. McNAMARA Editorial Page Editor RONALD L. STANLEY Circulation Director requirements. The danger of McHenry County residents lies in the Soviet response to crisis relocation of aircraft; namely nuclear strike. Thus McHenry County, which currently offers no military target of strategic value, suddenly becomes a secondary or tertiary nuclear target. This airport will definitely put McHenry County on the map: a Soviet Furor over comments TO tbe Editor: In the Friday, August 9, edition of the Cardunal Free Press, County Board member George Lowe, in reference to the Algonquin bridge bypass, stated that he was going to "ram it down their throats", meaning the residents of Algonquin, and if the bypass is still not supported by Village Officials and residents, Mr. Lowe said "then we should go down there and break a few heads. I personally consider this verbage an insult to Algonquin and its residents. Mr. Lowe apparently didn't read the resolution passed by the Algonquin Village Board that stated corridors A, B and the intersection of 62 & 31 are not acceptable, but an alternate route that would not displace residents or businesses would be open for> discussion, along with input from the - surrounding communities in - southeastern McHenry County. ^ An elected public official should - represent all the people, all of the time, this type of behavior should not )t be tolerated from anyh - county, state or and cannot official, local, federal. Is Mr. Lowe going to "shove down our throats" the proposed county landfill, or the proposed county airport or whatever else he feels Algonquin should get saddled with? Should the Village Board consider h a v i n g a r m e d p o l i c e m e n f o r protection at all public meetings in c a s e M r . L o w e s h o u l d c o m e h e r e t o . "break a few heads"? M r . L o w e ' s c o m m e n t s a t ^ Thursday's District I meeting cannot -f be taken without questioning the integrity of his present, and more important, future actions and N decisions effecting all of McHenry County residents. I ask all residents of Algonquin and Distrtict I, to write £ Mr. Ed Buss, County Board * Chairman, 2200 N. Seminary Ave., \- Woodstock, IL 60098, demanding £ , George Lowe's resignation from the h County Board of unethical conduct 2 from a public official. * Fred J. Martin Algonquin