THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012 Letter to Editor President's Day Feb. 20 From: Terry Friedrichs, Patriotic Blue Star Molhers Chapter 5.Sauk Centre Monday, Feb. 20th is President's Day, the day to honor two of our greatest presidents that have helped to form our great country. Presidents Washington and Lincoln have both had an impact on the history that made our countr3; what it is today. We have to honor them as well as our men and women, past and present, that have and are sacrificing their lives to make our country what it is today. Prayers and thoughts go out to all of them. Photo IDs for voting not difficult to get From: Patricia Seifert, Grey Eagle Voter ID or Photo ID is not difficult to get! A photo ID is generally required to write a check, go to the doctor, pick up a prescription, obtain a college ID, just to name a few things. Students, if they are under drinking age, often have more than one photo ID; one legal and at least one illegal. A college student needs to have a photo ID to prove who they are and to get a student ID, also usually a photo ID. Elderly have photo IDs because most drive a car or drove at one time. You can easily get a non-driving picture ID. An 1D is needed to write checks or take care of medical needs from ap- pointments to prescriptions. Homeless are more difficult because they don't have an ad- dress. Well, doesn't that also make it impossible to know what precinct to go to for voting? As for the poor who have homes, isn't a photo ID required to sign-up for any of the many benefits of this state? They still have to show an ID to write a check or go to the doctor or pharmacy! For myself, I have always been PROUD to prove that 1 am a legal citizen of the State of Minnesota in the United States of America. And if you are not proud enough of living in this State and Country to get a photo ID, MOVE AWAY! Find a country that does not require photo ID for voting, doctor visits, pharmacy pick ups, or writing a check. Maybe even more people will come out to vote when there is a responsibility attached to the act. You might just be surprised! Efforts in stopping Invasive Aquatic Species The DNR has a difficult task ahead in trying to stop the spread of lnvasive Aquatic Species (IAS). Those in favor of looking at other states to see how they have handled the problem mention Colorado as an example. However, as 1 said to a group attending an AIS meeting in Detroit Lakes earlier this winter, Becker County by it- self probably has more lakes than the entire state of Colorado. Stop- ping the spread of zebra mussel in our state with its more than 10,000 lakes is a logistical nightmare. We heard testimony in the Enyironment Committee Feb. 9th from the DNR that a full-blown inspection plan, complete with red '" stickers on boats coming off zebra- mussel infected lakes and blue by PaulAnderson stickers for those watercraft stay- State Representative ing on waters not infected, could Notes from cost in the neighborhood of a stag- the Capitol gering $600 million. Obviously, that probably won't happen, but it gives one the idea of the enormity of the task in trying to regulate and/or inspect all boats and trailers used in Minnesota. Another aspect of legislation passed last year involves training and certification for those who install or remove wa- ter-related equipment or structures from waters of the state for hire. If one does that sort of work as a business, he or she must complete AIS training provided by the DNR and pass an exam. The fee for the three-year permit is $50. The certification will be necessary even for those who do not move docks or boat lifts to another lake. Anyone who does this type of work for hire is required to undergo training and apply for a permit. I questioned the DNR about local service organizations that may do this work in the spring or fall as a fundraiser, and was told that one person in the group must become certified and be on location during the work. For further questions about the new service provider re- quirements, call the DNR at 218-587-2980 or email the lead training individual at CarrieA@minnesotawaters.org. Senator Joe Gimse and I recently held two town hall meetings in the district. The subject of constitutional amend- ments was a major topic of discussion at Glenwood, in addi- tion to concerns about the future of long term care funding. At Sauk Centre, questions and comments about the DNR and their ability to stop and inspect boats and trailers for AIS were aired by those in attendance. Speaking of constitutional amendments, I did some re- search and found that since Minnesota became a state, a total of 212 amendments have been put on the ballot for residents to decide. Of that total, 120 have passed. In recent history, the last seven have all been approved, including one that abolished the office of state treasurer in 1998. The amend- ment providing for a dedicated motor vehicle sales tax was approved in '06, while the Legacy Amendment was passed in '08. Only one amendment, a 1994 provision that would have allowed for off-track betting in Minnesota, has been rejected in the last 30 years. It's interesting to note that, in order for a constitutional amendment to pass, a majority of those voting in the elec- tion must approve it. As a result, a non-vote on an amend- ment is the same as a no-vote. Research shows that it takes approximately a 60 percent affirmative vote on an amendment to make up that difference and reach a simple majority of all those voting in the election. SAUKCENTRE HERALD OPINION PAGE 7 Lottery winnings for techy textbooks Buying a lottery ticket in February is my way of fighting cabin fever. I take this annual walk on the wild side not because I think I could ever win; I do it so I can dream for a week or so about what I'd do with millions of billions of dollars. It can be super sub-zero in Frost Bite Heights, but with a lottery ticket in my pocket, I can dream of sailing on my 60-foot yacht from one sunny South Sea isle to another. While I'm chopping away at my pile of fire- wood, I can daydream of owning an all-mechanized, hydraulic, robotic log-splitting system. Once I have all the toys a boy could ever want and have traveled to all the tropical islands a man would ever want to go, I figure l'd have some fun giving the money away. After 42 years of watching our school district struggle for enough money to buy printer paper and post-World War textbooks, I'd direct half of my millions of billions of winnings to the Sauk Centre School District. And I would do all this with a bent toward vocational education. Young minds need stomachs full of good food to learn. So, I'd build a state-of-the-art cafeteria with the best of organic meats and vegetables. Once they cleaned their plates, I'd have the most delectable dessert menu, but they'd have to eat their vegetables first. Heck, I'd add a culinary shop class for the students to learn how to make all these great foods and score points to get into one of those exclusive culinary colleges. Once we got the students fed, I'd pour millions into class- room technology, giving every student an iPad and laptop com- 'puter. SQrry, no social media, email or Web access, All the equip- ment would be linked to online textbooks, college libraries, museums and Public Television. I'd not only have a 10-to-1 teacher-to-student ratio, but ev- by David Simpkins Publisher Uneven Ground I was one of those geeky kids in high school that helped out with the audio-visual department. I was so cool wheeling around that old reel-to-reel projector to show educational movies in the classrooms. It also meant I was entrusted with all those keys hanging from my belt, a true sign of importance. I even had an RCA pocket protector. Oh, would I build a super, fully digitized au- diovisual department. I'd bring in Steven Spielberg, George Lucus, and the best of Disney techs to build a film, video and radio production studio. Students could produce National Geographic quality films on the life span of the walleye in Birch Lake or create a dramatic presentation of the Da- kota Uprising. Maybe we'd produce a series on the moonshining heydays of Minnesota 13. Students could go right from high school to winning Academy Awards. Now what could we do with the sports depart- ment? I know what I'd do. I'd work an entire curric- ulum around the sports program. Our very own 3M attributes its success to Skunk Works which teams of experts from many fields pulled together to such new and wonderful products as Post-It Notes. l'd use the same theory with the athletic department. There is a great deal of science in the spin of a curve ball. Then there is the psychology of tennis and wrestling. Then there are the leadership skills of coaching, the physiol- ogy of proper training, and the grief management of losing a big game. English students can learn how to write sports copy for the Sauk Centre Herald. Many a good novelists got their start cover- ing Friday night football. Even Sinclair Lewis gave it a try. These are all ma/'ketable skills after high school. With such a Skunk Works Sports program and a dash of tal - ent, the Streeters couldn't help but be a winner. It looks like I've pretty much spent my million of billions of cry student would have his/her very own tutor. Heck, I'd provide dollars of lottery winnings. a tutor for the teachers as well. Now, where did I put that darn Powerball ticket? The subtle signs of getting old At the weekend I managed to get pulled over by the police; three times within a two hour window-all due to a faulty offside tail light. On the third occasion, I gave the officer the paperwork the previous two officers had given me, and he responded that I was about to get a third. Three warnings in one night seems a bit oppressive, but I admire their assiduity. I suspect I now qualify for one of those frequently pulled over customer loyalty cards, where I can get a reduced jail term, if and when required. I have never been stopped for the same of- fence in Britain; we have a document called an M.O.T. (Ministry Of Transport) test. We take our car to a garage every year and have a series of tests performed, to see if it is road worthy-faulty lights would then be found and fixed. This then leaves the police to concentrate on the pressing issues of crime prevention and the apprehension of recidivists. Unfortunately a faulty light was not my only concern this week; it was only a matter of time, but the cold exacting Minnesota weather finally took a toll on my car battery. 1 was determined to replace it myself though, after throwing in the towel during the impossible to reach spark plug removal episode several months previously (suf- by Adrian Lee Contributing Columnist An Englishman in Sauk: the experiences of an alien in Sauk Centre somewhere in the electrical system. As is always the case, the mechanic pointed out many other issues on the car that required attention; he asked me (for example) when I last changed the air filter-to which I replied, "there's an air filter?" This grocery list of car faults reminded me of the circum- stances surrounding how men (of a certain age) go to see the doctor. My dad only goes to see a medical practitioner when he has at least five complaints that need attention (otherwise he feels it is not worth his while). This is one of the key signs to look for in terms of a man's aging pro- cess; others to be aware of are: the purchase of a wall mounted barometer that is referred to on a twice daily basis (this can be easily interchanged with the weather channel); the discovery that your toenails may as well be in a different state when it comes to bending down to trim them; the sudden awareness that you look through the car steering wheel, rather than over it; the realization that you hear your favorite song now played in elevators, and asking yourself what happened to your sex- ual relations - with the response that you didn't even get a Christmas card from them this year. I guess the crucial sign is when you find yourself repeating the same things over again because you rice to say I could not get the marmoset monkey to climb behind have forgotten that you have already said them, and repeating the the engine housing with tools--despite the promise of a year's same things over again because you have forgotten that you have supply of nuts), already said them. The battery was duly replaced, but the following day I dis- Whoever said there is no such thing as the wrong weather: covered it to be flat again. This led to the notion that I had a short just the wrong clothing, has clearly never driven in Minnesota. H0000i00ild 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. -Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: (320) 352-6577 Fax: (320) 352-5647 Internet address: www.saukherald.com THE SAUK CENTRE HERALD (USPS 482-220) is published on Thursdays by Star Pub- lications, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sank Centre, Minn. 56378. Second-class postage paid at Sank Centre, Minn. 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