The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.


Letters to Editor

Dear Editor;

As many of you already know, there will be a vote on school convergence on March 21, 2006. There will be only one convergence question on the ballot. That question is, Shall the Carthage, Dallas, and La Harpe Unit Districts be dissolved and three separate elementary school districts and one new high school district be formed? 

The Board of Education election would be November 7, 2006.

The new high school board would consist of two members from each district with one member elected at large. Each new elementary district would have their own seven member board. The new district's effective date would be July 1, 2007.

The Committee of Ten is holding community meetings to inform the public about the convergence and to answer any questions the public may have. 

There will be meetings at the Carthage Baptist Church meeting room Thursday, January 26th at 7:00 p.m. and at La Harpe High School gym Tuesday, January 31st at 7:00 p.m. There will be more meetings scheduled in February and early March in each of the districts.

The Committee already held a meeting in Dallas on January 16th. I would like to encourage everyone to attend any of these meetings.

The Committee would also like to meet with individual groups. Contact any Committee of Ten member or your local district office to schedule a date for a committee member or members to meet with your group.

Sincerely,

Tracey Anders
Chairman, Committee of Ten
Carthage, Dallas, La Harpe


How Can We Better Unite Our World

Dear Editor;

It is apparent that our nation has been pulled in different directions by the Iraq situation and terrorism in general. Hopefully, 2006 will continue to see major improvements in bringing a lasting world peace and a continuation of the spread of Democracy in the world. This will only happen when terrorism is under reasonable control.

Whether it is a sport team, a family, a town, a nation or a world, when people are all working together for the benefit of the whole group, good things happen. For example, last years fighting Illini basketball team was very unified and there was not one visible speck of selfishness or jealousy among team members. It was evident that they genuinely liked each other and liked to see each other succeed. That is primarily why they went undefeated until the NCAA finals.

The other day when I was ringing bells at K-Mart, Mayor Wisslead reiterated this idea about Macomb. It is very evident that our economy is considerably improving primarily because town leaders are working effectively together.

It appears that team unity is essential for every aspect of life. For example, it is very evident that we live in a global economy and we must trade with others and seek to have each country contributing to the welfare of the whole world, rather than merely seeking a hand out. The United Nations has been unsuccessful because many countries have their own agendas and aren\'d5t concerned about others.

Another example is in a family, when each person is entitled to a vote and there is honest give and take, then resolutions are democratically decided so that all members are pulling together in the same direction and goals can be reached. 

Politics seem to be the place where people are pulling in opposite directions and thus, it sometimes seems like little is accomplished. In my opinion, one way we could help correct this is to elect a moderate Republican, such as John McCain and a moderate  Democrat, such as Joe Liebermann as running mates in 2008. Remember Joe. L. ran for V.P. with Gore and he and John M. have worked very well together in the Senate and they are close friends.

We need to do as John F. Kennedy said, \'d2Ask not what our country can do for us but what can we do for our country\'d3. People need to do all they can to help themselves and then the rest of us need to supplement the remaining needs. This has been done very well by Americans, such as with Katrina or the Salvation Army kettles. We then need to reach out and help those throughout the world who definitely need help.

The ultimate in team unity would be if we could learn to come into a proper relationship with God and all of our fellow men. 

Weyman George
Macomb