VIEWPOINTS
A8 • TRI-COUNTY PRESS • MARCH 14, 2012
Editor: Dick Maloney, rmaloney@communitypress.com, 248-7134
EDITORIALS | LETTERS | COLUMNS | CH@TROOM
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Music program strikes a winning note Music changed my life. I am not talking about the hip-hop or pop music that is blasted from the screen on MTV or VH1. I am talking about classical music: an art form that is not nearly as appreciated as it should be, but is nonetheless still changing the lives of so many youth around the world. Yes, I am proud to say that I am a violinist. However, I did not learn how to play by going to a music consortium. I learned how to play the violin during my time as a student in the Princeton City School district. Since I was in the kindergarten, I begged my mother to sign me up for violin lessons. However, the school that I was at-
tending did not offer classes. Violin lessons finally became possible when my parents moved me to the Robert E. Michael Lucas IntermeHuggins diate School COMMUNITY PRESS (RELIS) in the fifth-grade. I GUEST COLUMNIST was so excited that the Princeton Schools offered violin classes. I immediately signed up. However, I had a difficult time being confident in my playing. I had always been a very shy child. As an orchestra student, I was forced to challenge those insecurities. I
Colorectal cancer is preventable In effort to raise awareness to colorectal cancer the physicians of Gastroenterology Consultants of Greater Cincinnati want to educate the community on the importance of colon cancer screenings. In observation of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month celebrated throughout March, Gastroenterology Consultants of Greater Cincinnati want to spread the message that colon cancer is preventable, treatable, and beatable. Colorectal cancer is the No. 2 cancer killer in the United States, yet it is one of the most preventable types of cancer. Charles Schultz, creator of “Peanuts,” Audrey Hepburn, Milton Berle, Vince Lombardi and Jackie Gleason all died of colon cancer. However when detected early it is often curable. Colorectal cancer is most common after age 50, but it can strike at younger ages. Lifetime risk of colon cancer is equal in men and women. Many colorectal cancers produce no symptoms. That is why screening is so important. Some symptoms, such as abdominal pain, blood in the stool, or a change in bowel habits, should prompt a visit to your doctor. Most colon cancers develop from polyps, which are abnormal growths in the colon. If polyps grow unnoticed and are not removed, they may become cancerous. Screening tests, such as colonoscopy, find pre-cancerous polyps so they can be removed before they turn into cancer. It is estimated that 75-90 percent of colorectal cancer can be avoided through early detection and removal of pre-cancerous polyps. “It is so important to be screened”, says Dr. Nav Grandhi of Gastroenterology Consultants. A person’s lifetime risk of developing colon cancer is about 5 percent. With screening we can reduce dying from colon cancer by about 53 percent. Colonoscopy is the preferred test for colorectal cancer prevention. During this test you will be asked to drink a laxative the night
before the procedure to clean out your large intestine. During the exam patients are sedated and do not feel any discomfort. A flexible lighted tube is inserted into the anus and with the use of a video image the physician can identify any abnormalities. Polyps are then removed during the Dr. Allan Peck procedure. ColonoscoCOMMUNITY PRESS GUEST py screening COLUMNIST should be started at age 50 in most people or 45 for African –Americans (since they are at higher risk). If you have a family member with colon cancer diagnosed at an age less than 60 then screening should begin at age 40. If you family member was less than 50 screening begins 10 years before the age they were diagnosed. There are several things patients can do to prevent colon cancer. These include high physical activity, high fiber diet, high fruit and vegetable intake, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking. With 12 physicians and one nurse practitioner Gastroenterology Consultants of Greater Cincinnati provide a full spectrum of gastroenterology and hepatology services to Cincinnati and Southwest Indiana. Our gastroenterologists provide high-quality and cost effective care, maintain superior physician-patient relationships, and offer advanced technologies, not only in treatment but in disease prevention and screening. For further information regarding Gastroenterology Consultants of Greater Cincinnati please contact us at 513-794-5600 or visit our website at www.giconsults.com. Dr. Allan Peck is certified by the American Board of Gastroenterology, American Board of Internal Medicine, National Board of Medical Examiners and is chair of Bethesda Hospital’s Nutritional Committee.
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gained confidence by practicing every day in front of my friends and family. As I became more devoted to the violin, my parents saw my academic grades going higher and higher. The real journey arrived when I entered the ninth-grade and joined the high school’s symphonic and chamber orchestras. By this time, I was driven in all parts of my life. My time as a violinist fueled my desire to be both academically and musically strong. All of my hard work as a student and violinist paid off when I was accepted to Stanford University. In my final concert at Princeton, I was a soloist in the orchestra’s performance of Vivaldi’s Spring. Dur-
ing my performance, I reflected on my transformation from a shy kid to a more confident member of society. I knew I was ready to take on the world. Since graduating from Princeton High and Stanford University, I have taken my violin to every country I have visited. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Azerbaijan, I constantly use my violin and the power of music to make connections with others. People always ask me, “In which university did you study the violin?” I tell them, “I didn’t study music in college. I learned from the Princeton City Schools District.” I cannot begin to imagine my life without the music program
at Princeton. Without music, I probably would not have graduated in the top 10 of my class at Princeton, been accepted to Stanford or even developed the confidence to be making a difference in the lives of many as a Peace Corps volunteer. As the economy forces us to make difficult decisions, I would encourage all of you to invest in the future of our children by keeping our school music programs as an integral part of our children’s education. Michael Huggins is a Princeton High School and Stanford University alumnus serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Azerbaijan. He is from Woodlawn.
CH@TROOM March 7 question Would allowing school officials and staff to carry guns prevent incidents such as the shootings in Chardon?
“In our current culture of hyper violence at younger and younger ages, it is necessary to give school officials and their staff the option of carrying a hand gun via the current concealed and carry provisions now in affect in Ohio. “This summer, when Gov. Kasich signed into law Ohio's new law of allowing concealed and carry guns in bars, shopping malls and sports venues, it showed a strong commitment by Republican legislators, allowing the citizens of Ohio to protect themselves in an ever widening arc of their daily lives. “The next logical extension would be to amend this law to include school administrators and staff in our public schools. “Further, consideration by the Ohio legislature could even consider extending this option to certain students in our schools. This could be accomplished in a similar fashion to how current driver's ed classes are structured. Students would be required to take the NRA gun safety class, then spend a recommended and required number of hours on a supervised and licensed gun range with a certified NRA approved instructor. “As more citizens take advantage of Ohio's expanded conceal and carry, the odds will increase that responsible citizens will be able to respond safely and aggressively to hostile shooter situations.” I.P.
NEXT QUESTION Do you plan on buying the new iPad, or do you wish you could buy the new iPad? Why or why not? Every week Tri-County Press asks readers a question they can reply to via email. Send your answers to tricountypress@communitypress.com with Chatroom in the subject line.
schools, churches and college campuses. These are the places where docile, passive, defenseless, unarmed victims are often targeted. The possibility of someone shooting back may cause the perpetrator to think twice before launching an attack. In addition, an armed response to a shooter could save the lives of additional victims. “Tragedies such as the Chardon shooting can never be fully prevented, but by providing citizens the possibility of fighting back, perhaps a few additional innocent lives could be spared.” R.W.J. “No. My son is a schoolteacher. I cannot remotely conceive of him needing to carry a gun as part of his teaching duties. “What kind of a world have we created when American children go to school with the intention of shooting as many fellow students to death as possible? These horrible deadly incidents did not occur when there was no such thing as guncontrol so that is not the answer. “The solution to this spreading problem, if there is one for our society, lies elsewhere.” R.V.
“No one really knows whether arming school officials and staff would prevent shootings like this. A determined, disturbed student who is intent on shooting people in school would most likely be able to carry out at least some of his plans. An armed teacher or staff member might be able to minimize the impact of such an attack, but probably not prevent it completely, since the school representative would still require time to get to his weapon. More diligence in monitoring strange behavior on the part of students would probably be more effective than arming the staff.” Bill B.
“During the incident at Chardon, many students were in danger from one student, and if you allow teachers, custodians, and other staff embers to intervene with a weapon in this type of situation, it would just escalate. “School staff are not trained in hostage situations, and will not know when to shoot the offender. You have to consider the circumstances and just pointing a gun and firing will most likely kill innocent hostages and you may or or may not hit your intended target. Secure the area, call 911, and let the pros handle it!” O.H.R.
“All CCW permit holders, not just school officials, should be allowed to carry firearms in
“There are very few situations where carrying a weapon will prevent anything unless you
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carry it in the open where the potential assailant can see that you are armed and decide to attack someone else. Having a weapon available allows you to respond to the situation and possibly limit the damage by confronting the assailant and causing them to stop their assault. In this situation, even that would have been limited. It is vey unlikely that an armed educator could have shot the suspect in a crowded room without endangering those being defended. The situation developed so quickly that the only response would have been to shoot the assailant after he had already shot others. At present, this is all a moot point because a school is one of those places like a courthouse or police station where even someone with a concealed carry permit is not allowed to carry a gun. I know because I am a gun owner and an OH concealed carry permit holder. Arming educators is not the answer.” F.S.D. “Can you imagine firing on a 9-year-old? No. Nothing wrong with passing through a metal detector, though. Like hitting a baseball, if you haven't grown up shooting guns, you can't be trained about the nuances.” K.P. “No. Of course not. Anyone who pays attention knows that guns solicit violence. That is what happened here, of course. “Kids with all the emotional issues of being a teenager see guns laying around, and they compound their angst with liferuining spur-of-the-moment decisions. Sort of like most of the rest of gun violence. If the shooter's idiot grandfather hadn't left the gun laying in the barn the three victims would have been alive today. And anyone who disputes this simple logic is complicit in the murder. Because that is how gun violence happens. All the garbage about protection is based on a paranoid view of the prevalence of violence, and has little to do with real life. If our children go to school and see guns, they are going to spend an enormous amount of time thinking about guns. I wish we could sacrifice a few lives by running an experiment. Maybe the Texans are dumb enough to try it. If they do we ought to make sure we track the data.” N.F.
Tri-County Press Editor Dick Maloney rmaloney@communitypress.com, 248-7134 Office hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday See page A2 for additional contact information.