It is agreed that prevention is our only hope. The scary part is that no significant prevention actions (either underway or in the planning stages) are discussed.

The county says that prevention is a state task and we cannot afford to do anything but wait for the state to act. The state has stepped up inspection at several Southern California border inspection stations, which is good.

The state has assigned the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) as the lead agency and recently passed a resolution (AB1683) to give more power to agencies to fight against these invaders. A DFG employee at the meeting stated that while she is not aware of the current status on their effort, DFG is very understaffed and has had significant budget cuts recently. She did describe the effort where dogs are being trained and used to locate mussels (like drug sniffing) and Lake County will have two such dogs; that is also good.

When one analyzes the data presented at these meetings and then does some research to validate and expand this knowledge, the scare is amplified. All information indicates that if the mussels (quagga or zebra) were to reach Clear Lake (an ideally suited environment for them) the lake and the county would change forever.

Over a period of (5+ ?) years, the lake would be dominated by the mussels, the fishery as we know it today would be wiped out (bass included), many of the birds would be gone, the beaches and shores would be covered with sharp mussel shells and would stink from decaying mussel tissue.

The recreational lure of the lake would be gone as would much of the county revenue. However, costs would soar, water usage from the lake would become very costly as every water pump inlet would need to continually be cleaned or have expensive chlorine dispensers installed to keep the mussels from closing them off.

This would be another nail in the coffin of our struggling agriculture industry. All of this would cause property values to plummet and further hit the county revenue stream. And of course this is not isolated to our county; Cache Creek would spread the mussels into the delta and the state’s water distribution system.

Most would quickly say this doomsday scenario is at best exaggerated and probably not accurate, the lake has done well for hundreds of thousands of years etc., etc. Many are hoping that eradication of the mussels is not impossible as now assumed and scientists are trying to understand effective ways of doing so.

A “California Science Advisory Panel” (including experts on Clear Lake) was assembled to address this threat and their report “California’s Response to the Zebra/Quagga Mussel Invasion in the West” (May 2007) is available for reading on the Internet. This report confirms the serious threat to the west and concludes that it would be foolish to not do everything possible to prevent or eradicate these invaders even if significant short-term interruption to tourism, fishing or recreation would result. They admit that prevention/eradication costs would be high and may seem too over whelming but would be justified when compared to the long-term environmental and economic costs of an invasion.

So, why are we doing so little and not sensing a higher level of urgency on this topic?

We recently had a large bass tournament and several of the boats were from the Lake Mead area. Inspection was not enforced prior to going into our lake; any precautions taken with these boats were entirely up to the owners. Several Lake Mead contestants in the tournament admitted to taking no precautions prior to entering Clear Lake.

Many Southern California boats use our lake for many reasons. Even if a boat owner wanted to have a boat sanitized for mussels prior to launching, there is still no effective station for getting that done in Lake County.

One has to agree that ultimately control should be at the state level (ours is not the only lake at risk), but it is our lake and our local economy and we should not be willing to stand back and wait until the DFG gets its act together to protect us.

What can we do?

Controlling access to this lake is difficult at best. However this threat was first presented to the Board of Supervisors in 2005, and again early this year with a frightening update that the mussels were now in California and still no effective action or plan.

One possibility is to "shut down" our lake and publicize it widely; have the county declare that lake county waterways are off limits to out-of-county boats unless they are inspected and properly sanitized. Anyone proved to be violating this restriction will be fined $10,000. An action similar to this was proposed by one of our supervisors in February of 2007, but I guess ruled out as overkill?

At the very least something like this should be done until less intrusive (state?) controls are in place and effective.

Why is the Sierra Club not all over this? It is certainly a greater short-term risk to our lake than global warming. It is certainly more of an environmental threat than herbicides on our roadways.

Tell your supervisors you want them to escalate this issue as a county priority and assign a strategic task force to put a plan together. We should not panic over this but it does warrant our best effort.

Ed Calkins is chairman of the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee. He lives in Kelseyville.

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Three of my children were labeled as having "disabilities" – all graduated with minimal reading, writing and math skills. This, despite the fact I read to them, gave them books and presented an example by reading constantly in their presence.

Still, they never developed a “love” for reading. The girls didn't suffer too much, but for my son, public education was devastating. The system was always demanding that he curtail his natural energy, always waiting for him to "change," for him to get "serious." By the time he reached that point, at 23, all the negatives of his educational years had left his esteem in shreds.

He eventually did get his diploma, but has read only one book, cover to cover, his entire life. And although his lack of reading skills have not curtailed his ability to make a living (he makes more money than I do an hour), in his daily life all those essential and mundane details that require reading comprehension are beyond him.

In Native families, we expect our kids to grow up fast. In Native society, a 9-year-old girl is perfectly able to feed and take care of her brothers and sisters responsibly. If you don't believe me, you need to take a few trips into the Third World, where real life still exists.

Americans want to keep their young people “children” far past the age necessary. Just look at the films of the '40s and '50s and you see college-age kids being treated the way we treat our early high schoolers today.

Native teens resent being looked down on by adults who actually believe the myth that what happens in a student's late teen years has some large effect on their progress toward adulthood. Native people know that what is important occurs much earlier in life – from 3 to 13.

Native people also treat our boys differently than our girls. Our system of education recognizes that boys must be allowed to be freely active much longer than girls. Aunties and grandmas are able to teach our daughters to handle complicated crafts and family responsibilities many years before the boys can be expected to follow their uncles and grandfathers.

It is in the temperament of most boys to need constant activity until the age of 11 or 12. My older sons never attended any educational facility until sixth grade, age twelve. By ninth grade they were "caught up"! By giving them those extra years of freedom, they progressed at an astonishing rate.

Putting boys and girls together in school is one of the worst things we do in today's social environment. Both sexes suffer terribly from this misguided "mixing." Many of the boys' ability to progress is virtually destroyed by the fifth grade, and the girls' progress is impeded by the distraction, time and effort each teacher must take to discipline and control the boys.

Just poll your fifth grade teachers in-county and ask them to discuss this issue – those who are honest will report the truth. Many boys are left completely behind during this time, while the girls are ready to explode ahead.

We need to ask what the goal of education is. It can no longer be a simple acculturation or right of passage. Education must be more than a vehicle of academic achievement toward social or economic success.

We need to balance old-time survival skills with new-age information technology. We need students to learn where to search for and find needed information and how to process that information for their immediate benefit rather than focusing on retaining bundles of irrelevant facts.

Students need the tools to educate themselves, find tutors, and experience a real-time gathering and processing of information to function in today's society. We need honest assessments throughout their school years to identify their strengths and weakness, attitudes, interests and motivations. These assessments should drive their programs and this tracking should occur until they self-identify with a vocational or academic future. Some of our present facilities only focus their energies on those taking the academic track – the others are left guidance-less.

American Indians have based our ideals of educational technique on oral language skills, visual learning, social motivation and acceptance of all levels of skill. It mirrors the values of our Peoples and supports the traditional social structures of the family and Tribe.

For our children to be successful we need new environments, fresh perspectives and revamped concepts of curriculum and educational organization to carry our children and grandchildren into a safe and secure future.

To do this we should be creative and fearless, examining any educational alternative; no matter how far from the mainstream it may seem.

James BlueWolf is a artist and author. He lives in Nice.

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We have some really wonderful, on-the-ball deputies patroling Lucerne of late and they are always a welcome sight. We appreciate the higher visibility of the Sheriff's Department. But what in the world does this have to do with the park?

Last Sunday morning a patrol car pulled up towards the top of Ninth Avenue and the deputies got out to check something in the creek. Of course the neighborhood came out to see what was up – we love this place!

There were two bikes in the creek and suddenly a more-than-middle-aged man came up from the creek down by the highway end of it. He said the bikes were his and his "grandson's” Had this been true it would have been one of those "aww, how nice" moments.

It wasn't. One of the neighbors immediately recognized this person from the Megan's Law Website for the county. We shiver when we think of what could have happened. Of course he had all his paperwork in order and was interrupted before anything hideous happened. There was no choice but to let him ride away, sans child.

I see a correlation between latchkey kids/feral children and the high concentration of perverts in Lucerne. A neighbor towards the end of Eighth Avenue saw a man that, from her description, matched this fellow, who came crawling out of the willows down by the highway end of the park at another time.

Currently there are signs at both ends of the park that call it Victoria Creek Park and list hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. It has now been accepted that it actually is Lucerne Creek from documentation dating from the early 1900s.

This neighborhood is very concerned about the hours of operation of this unimproved park. It literally is in our front yards and the neighborhood has taken care for it for decades. We've kept it mowed to keep down fire danger, tried to stop erosion and kept trash picked up. We've called for assistance a myriad of times when vacationers decide to set up their RVs there to avoid patronizing a local park.

This is more than a residential area, it is a great neighborhood with a variety of folks from seniors to young children. We (I collected 28 signatures on a neighborhood petition) simply are not comfortable at all with the proposed park hours and feel that sunrise to sunset are reasonable time frames for activities in the park area. If this guy is this brazen in the daylight, can you imagine his attitude if he has the right to lay in wait in the dark while complying with hours of park operation?

Kim Clymire from the Parks Department, which does an amazing job in Lucerne considering vandalism, has let us know that in order to have the park hours be sunrise to sunset it will require authorization from the Board of Supervisors.

Please help us protect our children, our neighborhood and the last wildlife corridor that provides access to the lake in this area of Lucerne. Please let your supervisor know that sunrise to sunset is a reasonable request for a park that is in such close proximity to homes.

Trust me, the last thing anyone wants to see is two-teeth Scary Sherry, drunk as a skunk, hanging out in front of your house at 10:45 p.m. cussing a blue streak. Or, for that matter, Chester the Molester climbing up out of the creek bed. It can give you nightmares.

The Lake County Board of Supervisors can be reached at 263-2368.

Donna Christopher lives in Lucerne.

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But today should be about more than what veterans have done for us. It should also be a day to consider what we are doing for our veterans. Are we providing them with the support and benefits they deserve?

As your congressman and a combat veteran of the Vietnam war, I frequently ask myself that question. Whether at Walter Reed Army hospital speaking with a soldier wounded in Iraq or at a town hall meeting talking with World War II and Vietnam veterans, I question whether our government is providing each of our veterans with quality care and support.

Regardless of your opinion on the war in Iraq, there is no denying that our troops are doing a great job. There’s also no denying that our ongoing involvement in this war has placed an enormous strain on our veteran services system. Thousands of service members have returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious physical injuries and psychological trauma. More will follow them. Some of them need extensive treatment and care for their injuries, possibly for the rest of their lives. Others need significant help transitioning back into civilian life.

Unfortunately, too many of our veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan are not getting the quality health care and support they deserve. Some aren’t getting the appropriate treatment they need to recover from their injuries. Some are struggling to transition back into the workplace. Some are facing mountains of paperwork and red tape before they can get care. And many who cannot return to work are struggling to pay their bills.

This strain is not only impacting our new veterans and their families; it’s affecting our older veterans as well. I hear from many veterans of previous wars who wait months before they can get an appointment with a physician. Sometimes they have to travel long distances to find a veterans health care facility that can give them the treatment they need.

There is clearly much more Congress can do to fulfill our civic and moral obligation to our veterans. And this Veterans Day, we can say we are making progress. Over the past year, Congress has worked to significantly improve how our country provides all our veterans with services and benefits.

Most important, Congress is in the process of creating historic increases in resources available for our veterans. This year, Congress voted for the single largest increase in veterans’ funding in the 77-year history of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Veterans of Foreign Wars said “the record funding level acknowledges the deep debt this nation owes to its defenders.” The American Legion called these improvements “an impressive commitment to this nation’s service members, veterans and their families.” This funding will help improve health care benefits and facilities and add 1,100 more case workers to the VA’s staff.

But funding alone is not enough. We are making strides to address the inadequacies of the veterans health care system brought to light in part by the Walter Reed scandal. We’re also working to provide better health care programs for combat veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. And last week, the House passed a bill that would help thousands of California veterans achieve the goal of homeownership.

We are taking the necessary steps toward providing each of our veterans, including the more than 50,000 veterans in the 1st Congressional District, with the quality care and support they deserve. Veterans kept their promise to serve our nation and we must keep our promise to them. Today, help keep this promise by showing your appreciation to those who answered the call of duty.

Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) represents District 1, which includes Lake County, in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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and cocky posturing.

Would an employer hire someone solely on the basis of what that person says about his or her past, abilities and future ambitions? Shouldn't we do away with these painful charades, these staged town hall meetings and completely superficial presidential debates that are an insult to the intelligence of Americans, and hire politicians uniquely on the strength of their resumes?

These resumes, of course, would have to be compiled by totally objective, independent parties examining their entire careers and reporting all their actions, along with all the corresponding promises, failures and betrayals. One would think such should be the role of the national media, if its actual intent was to give relevant information rather than entertain and distract us into mental numbness.

Would it be time consuming and complex? It would be a lot quicker, simpler and cheaper than campaigning, but it might be difficult then to find anyone who qualifies. Still, it seems to me the hiring of a president should not be based on whether he or she has good hair, good religion, good marital status, good teeth and a great smile, a twinkle in the eye and a pleasant personality on camera. Obviously, Washington is not Hollywood, we all know there is more truth in Hollywood's fiction than in all of the Capitol's reality.

We need to stop looking at the package and carefully examine the contents ... perhaps politicians should be labeled like a can of soup, wearing their resumes on their backs. They already hire professional PR firms to be packaged, promoted and sold like toothpaste, so let's treat them like soap, but let's keep them wrapped to prevent their becoming slippery!

Seriously, we need to stop looking for "leaders" and worshiping power, authority and wealth as was done during the dark ages, and start demanding that these employees of the nation do their job honestly, like janitors and bank clerks.

The pomp and decorum that still plague every presidential swearing in ceremony are left over from a transition from monarchy to representational government, before the economic advances of a middle class erased a Victorian-type gap between the refined and perfumed elite and an unwashed, uncouth, illiterate, brutal, Charles Dickens-type starving and abused populace (granted, the rich keeps getting richer, but the public no longer smells).

I think that, in this 21st century, we can do away with these attempts to cause government to appear to be embodied by one person made bigger than life by these irrelevant ceremonies and this deference, and ask of these so called leaders that they act not in accordance with the demands of the corporate-banking world exclusively, or of the elite minority, but of the American public that is far more intelligent, creative and imaginative, ambitious, innovative and courageous, and in spite of it all better informed and educated than the majority of these politicians, whose oratory performances are nauseating to witness and yet the least offensive of the overall effects of their presence.

Raphael Montoliu lives in Lakeport.

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I am about to complete my first degree and will continue with a masters in Communications. I have a lot of catching up to do. If I stop at the BA, I'll still be far behind most people my age in preparing for retirement. Feeling responsible for my undergraduate loans, I pay attention to the current balance and try to figure out when I can actually start paying it back. In the meantime, the interest accrues and my debt grows vast; it is far more than I actually borrowed at this point.

Believe me, I tried to afford to begin paying, but what can a person do on a disability check, or on a minimum wage job? Survive. That's all. And the loan debt grows, for all students. When we graduate, we will have debt burdens far greater than our parents who went to college. We will also have far more competition in the workforce than our parents did. And, the cost of living is far greater now; inflation has outpaced income.

So what does a student in debt do? Fortunately for me, hard work and perseverance has paid off and I will begin a new job which pays more and I can begin to pay off the interest. That feels pretty good until I look at the fact that my undergraduate loan is maxed out. I'll be paying off the interest for a very long time. If I do well in my new job, I can look forward to new employment opportunities that will more than double my income. That will be four to five years down the road. In the meantime, I keep receiving letters from loan companies inviting me to consolidate my loans. I did that once and it increased my debt burden. Those offers go in the round file and I wonder if I will ever know how they got my address. I thought that was supposed to be confidential information between myself and the originating loan company.

The first time I chose to consolidate, I thought it seemed like a good idea. I was wrong and I see the error of my choice now. I would have been better off without the consolidation. When I seek information online, since I can't believe the letters that flood my mailbox, I begin to feel numb.

I don't trust most of the Web sites, because they want me to consolidate my loans with them. There must be at least a couple hundred websites offering students a way to better manage their student loans. But, where is the government oversight? How can I trust that any of these companies are legitimate when most have somehow already breached confidence by getting my postal address and sent me consolidation offers? Legislators have become aware of consolidation issues and unfair lending practices. I read this past year that Congress was looking into unscrupulous practices that leave students with unbelievable debt burdens. Will it really make a difference?

Will the federal government enact more laws to protect students, when laws already exist regarding lending practices? We already know that loan companies are breaking the law by culling confidential information. Will they really change their ways? Will the federal government find a way to provide relief for students whose $12,000 loans ballooned to $30,000 loans due to consolidation and interest accrual?

The future may not be so difficult for me, as an older student with well-developed skills and workplace experience, but what will happen to those students whose skills are not well-developed and who don't have much workplace experience upon graduation? What sort of debt burden is going to plague the future of our youth?

It is not uncommon to see news stories about students at the age of 19 looking at a debt of $150,000 for an education that hopefully will land them a job which will provide great financial rewards. Many students will graduate with their first degree carrying a debt load of $40,000. Interest rates are no longer fixed at 5 percent and students are prey to loan companies which care not one iota about that student's future. Bankruptcy is not an option. Federal grants have not kept up with inflation. Housing costs soar. Fuel costs are soaring, and probably won't come back down. What can we do, besides cringe every time we view our loan statements?

We can write our legislators and hope that some relief will come of the investigations into unfair lending practices. We need effective help from our representatives if we hope to make a better life for ourselves after graduation. Students have a tough financial time while in college; their reward upon graduation should be the ability to afford life. I am thankful that our government has instituted employment opportunities which allow students options to pay back their loans through work with the government. Perhaps that concept can be used in the private sector as well, by offering companies tax relief by hiring students with debt burdens due to student loans.

Otherwise, how can we possibly hope to crawl out from these outrageous debts? Write your Congressional representative today: www.house.gov/writerep/.

Pia Jensen grew up in Santa Rosa and is former vice-mayor of Cotati. She visits Lake County on occasion to see family. She lives in Florida.

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