NEWS
4 SIGNAL trIBuNE
OCtOBEr 28, 2011
Illegal tobacco sales to minors in Long Beach reach new low PuBLISHEr/EDItOr-IN-CHIEF
NEENA R. STRICHART ASSOCIAtE PuBLISHEr
STEPHEN M. STRICHART MANAGING EDItOr
CORY BILICKO DESIGN EDItOr/WEBSItE MANAGEr
LEIGHANNA NIERLE ADvErtISING CONSuLtANtS
BARBIE ELLISEN JANE FALLON MARK MCCORMICK StAFF WrItErS
CJ DABLO VIVIAN MALAUULU ATHENA MEKIS STEPHANIE RAYGOZA RACHAEL RIFKIN
Illegal tobacco sales to minors in Long Beach have decreased by 79 percent since 2004, according to new data from the City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department). In 2004, the illegal sales rate to minors in Long Beach was 36.1 percent, compared to the statewide rate of 14 percent. In 2011, youths who attempted to purchase tobacco illegally were successful only 7.7 percent of the time. “The importance of keeping tobacco products away from the youth in our community cannot be overstated, especially since tobacco use so often leads to dis-
ease and death,” Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal said. The reduction in the illegal tobacco sales rates in Long Beach can be attributed to several factors. In 2008, the Health Department implemented the Tobacco Retail Program (TRP), requiring all retailers who sell tobacco products to obtain a permit and follow specific requirements. Inspections are conducted by environmental health inspectors to educate the retailers on the state law and the health risks of tobacco exposure to youth. As a component of the program, the Health Department works with the Long Beach Police
CuLturE WrItErS
DANIEL ADAMS VICKI PARIS GOODMAN ADMINIStrAtIvE ASSIStANt
TANYA PAZ
Thoughts from the
Publisher by Neena Strichart
CONtrIButING PHOtOGrAPHEr
MATT SUN –––––––––––––
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Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. When I was little, going trick-or-treating was so exciting that I rarely slept the night or two before. Planning the costume was the best part– well, maybe second best to all the free candy. Having little money to spend on such things as a “store-bought” costume each year, Mom, Dad and I would creatively rummage through closets, drawers, garage cabinets and trinket boxes for items to put together to make just the perfect Halloween outfit for me to wear out on my candybegging venture. This year Steve and I were invited to a Halloween party hosted by longtime family friends. The invitation proclaimed costumes to
be optional, so I figured I’d just wear some bat earrings and call it close enough. While at Disneyland a few days before the party, I couldn’t help but be inspired by all the park’s characters and little kids dressed up as princesses and pirates. Finding and then buying the perfect Minnie Mouse pirate princess hat gave me my inspiration to really dress up for that upcoming party. Putting together the rest of the costume brought me back to those trick-or-treat days. I went to Dollar Tree and bought temporary pirate tattoos and a little pirate kit that included a small plastic sword and an eye patch along with a big plastic earring. My next stop was Goodwill in search of a blouse or jacket that would be pirate-princess-like. No luck there, so I headed off to another Goodwill location. After a quick walkthrough, I decided to try Out of the Closet, a thrift store over on Pacific Coast Highway at Redondo Avenue. BINGO. I found a fabulous Victoria’s Secret sheer black kneelength robe with black flocking in all the right places. The satin-type cuffs were the perfect glamorous touch for a pirate princess. At home I dug out an old hot-pink off-shoulder T-shirt, a pair of nice-fitting
black pants, a pair of black flats with big buckles and a blonde hairpiece to wear under my Minnie Mouse ears. I dug out some old Halloween jewelry that I had been collecting for years, threw on the whole kit and kaboodle, applied way too much makeup, and I was ready for the party. What a ball we had. Steve dressed as a cowboy– all items he already owned– so we got away with two costumes for under $25. My point is to have fun this Halloween. You don’t have to spend a fortune to really dress it up. Hit the thrift stores or local shops that specialize in vintage or vintage-like clothing. Try About U at 4342 Atlantic Ave. or Bixby Exchange just a few doors north of them. They have lots of cute clothing that would be great to use for costume-type wear. This Saturday evening from 5pm to 8pm, a couple of our staff members, Steve and I will be helping out at the Signal Hill Halloween Harvest Festival located at 1780 Hill St. at the basketball courts. Cost for the event is $3 per child (13 years and under only). Admission for parents or guardians is free. Festivities include a petting zoo, games, contests, candy, music and lots of FUN. See you there! I just might don my pirate outfit for the occasion.
C O M M E N T A R Y
Losing the music: the ACLU and Long Beach schools By Kerri Hikida • Director of Operations at Jammin’ Music & Arts
The Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) has long been lauded for its excellent school music programs. Starting in third grade, students were able to study the violin or cello, and in the fourth and fifth grades, they could also choose a woodwind instrument. Many of these budding musicians went on to play in Long Beach’s award-winning middle- and high-school bands and orchestras. Many studies have been done showing the positive effects studying a musical instrument has on the mind, including improved memory, concentration, and abstract reasoning skills. Which is why, as a Long Beach parent, I was dismayed to hear that this year, LBUSD would be cutting back on its music programs for elementary-school students.
The reason? A class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2010 against the State of California over “public school academic fees,” for things like field trips, transportation, classroom supplies, art materials, and music instrument rentals. One Long Beach school, the California Academy of Math and Science, was specifically named by the ACLU in its report “Pay to Learn: An Investigation of Mandatory Fees for Educational Activities in California Public Schools” for its offense of “charging students fees for physical education uniforms that they are required to wear.” The ACLU states that these fees violate the California Constitution guaranteeing children a free education and discriminate against the poor.
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Signal Tribune 939 E. 27th Street Signal Hill, CA 90755
Smoking remains the numberone preventable cause of death and disease, killing more than 400,000 Americans each year. Since 1989, California’s tobacco control efforts have saved an estimated 1 million lives and more than $86 billion in healthcare costs. For more information about the City's Tobacco Retail Program call (562) 570-7905 or visit www.longbeach.gov/health/eh/tpermits.asp. Additional information on tobacco education and prevention programs is available by calling (562) 570-7950, visiting www.longbeach.gov/health and hovering over “Health Promotion,” or visiting TobaccoFreeCA.com.
OPINION
COLuMNIStS
JENNIFER E. BEAVER CAROL BERG SLOAN, RD
Department to conduct an annual Youth Purchase Survey, which can lead to sting operations on retailers suspected of selling tobacco products to minors in Long Beach. Recent data from the state indicates that tobacco use continues to decline in adult populations as well. According to the California Department of Public Health, tobacco use among adults has decreased statewide over the years to a rate of 11.9 percent. California now has the second lowest rate of adult smokers in the nation and is one of only two states to reach the federal Healthy People 2020 target of reducing the adult smoking rate to 12 percent.
Call 562-595-7900
Because of this climate, and a corresponding California Assembly Bill 165 aiming to codify the principles of the lawsuit, the LBUSD restructured its music programs for 2011: instrumental music education for all third graders has been suspended, fourth graders are limited to violin only, and fifth graders can choose between strings and “advanced woodwinds.” Participants at each school are chosen by lottery. Twenty violins will be supplied at each school for children to share, but they will not be able to take the instruments home, according to LBUSD Music Curriculum Leader James Petri. In this era of severe budget cutbacks to public schools, is this the right time for such a lawsuit? According to an article on LBUSD’s website, nearly 1,000 violins are needed for fourth and fifth graders at a cost of about $265,000; 275 trumpets are needed in fourth and fifth grades at a cost of about $126,000, and “the school district also needs cellos, flutes, clarinets, saxophones and trombones.” A student’s right to having free textbooks and teachers is definitely worth a fight. But playing an instrument, playing on the football team, being a cheerleader, going on a field trip– can we really expect public schools to shoulder the entire costs of these programs when they can
barely afford to retain the instructors? Is it really unreasonable to require parents to pay for team uniforms their child will be wearing, or to rent an instrument their child will be blowing into? It would appear that Governor Brown agrees. He vetoed AB 165 on Oct. 8, stating that the bill “goes too far” and “takes the wrong approach” in addressing student fee issues. The ACLU lawsuit, which was stalled pending the outcome of AB 165, will now move forward. In the meantime, the cuts to the local elementary music programs have already taken place. No one wants a child to be left out of an activity because they can’t afford to pay the fees. However, scholarships or booster funds can be made available for those who truly can’t afford them. While the intentions of the ACLU are to ensure that no one is left out, if the schools can’t ask parents to pitch in somewhere, it becomes more likely that everyone will be left out. The Long Beach Unified School District is accepting instrument donations. Call (562) 997-8175 to donate instruments, or bring instruments to a collection day scheduled for 9am to noon Saturday, Nov. 5 at the Teacher Resource Center, Room C, 1299 E. 32nd St., in Signal Hill.
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