FORUM
Open letter to our new President-Elect
Dear President-Elect,
Today you are elected to lead this great nation. The campaign season is over. As you
prepare to lead us, please consider carrying with you these four questions as guidelines
of the things you think, say and do for your Presidency and for your administration.
?First, is it the truth? Seek the truth at every opportunity
and then tell us. We can handle the truth.
?Second, is it fair to all concerned? We like to be treat
ed fairly and that one effort could lead to your re-election.
?Third, will it build goodwill and better friendships
throughout our country and the world? We Americans feel
friendly toward others and want others to consider us
_ friends. A smile, a conversation, listening to the aspirations
of others is a step in this direction.
?Fourth, will it be beneficial to all concerned? Truth, fairness, goodwill are impor
tant but please take the extra step to try to benefit all stakeholders both within this coun
try and all over the planet.
You have earned the right to lead us and we are here to help as we also seek to live
by these principles. We wish you well.
Al Jubitz is a retired businessman and founder of the War Prevention Initiative and
the Rotation Action Group for Peace. These principles are paraphrased from Rotary's
world renowned 4-Way Test.
A1
Jubltz
I Guest
?Columnist
Clinton
Trump
' ~j,: . >' 'ar.- . ? ? .
Whose election is it anyway?
When
talking to a
group of
Black and
Latino
teenagers, it's
become clear
that the 2016
CK^UUIl IOI11
paign seems more than a little strange to
most of them. Just a year or so shy of being
able to vote themselves, almost all of them
admit being influenced and encouraged by
Black Lives Matter and other movements
for progressive social change. But they
seem largely unmoved by the rivalry
which is being termed by pundits "the
most important election of our lifetime."
As a historian and teacher, I tried to
look back at past electoral battles - includ
ing some very strange ones - to gain
insights on the gaps we face today.
Almost one hundred years ago, an out
sider who would make Bernie Sanders
look like a typical Washington bureaucrat
Matt
Meyer
'Guest
Columnist
received
almost 1
million
votes -
even
though he
ran his
campaign
from a
prison cell,
with but
tons which
read "For
President: Convict No. 9653,"
Socialist Party candidate Eugene V.
Debs was doing time because he was a
staunch anti-militarist - much more than
merely being in favor of gun control - and
advocated resistance to the draft during
World War I. Though hardly a threat to the
mainstream parties, Debs' 1920 campaign
influenced many people (including
women, whose nonviolent suffrage strug
gle prevailed and they voted across the
entire country for the first time in US his
tory).
Fifty years
ago, a former con
vict - Black
Panther Eldridge
Cleaver - ran for
President on a
platform including
immediate with
drawal from
Vietnam and
"Black liberation:
Rlar.k Powpr tn
Black People!" Though Cleaver himself
did an about-face, becoming a Reagan
supporting Republican by 1980, in 1968
he was as militant as they come - beating
oui civil rights icon comedian Dick
Gregory as the nominee of the Peace and
Freedom Party (PFP).
The PFP ran many candidates in that
turbulent year, including war resisting
socialist David McReynolds, in an attempt
to energize potential youthful voters con
cerned about racism and militarism. But
they had hardly more influence than 1972
candidate Shirley Chisolm of Brooklyn,
New York - the nation's first African
American congresswoman, first African
American to run for President, and first
woman at run for the Democratic Party's
presidential nomination. No doubt both
President Obama and Hillary Clinton owe
Chisolm a great debt of gratitude.
There should be little surprise that, at a
time of concern about policing and incar
ceration of Blacks and Latinos there is still
disenfranchisement and distrust among
many "people of color."
In the end, I believe much of the fear
and anger we see amongst the electorate
on all sides is based on a frustrated desire
for fairness, for justice. Let us remember
that - whoever wins - there is much work
to be done to heal past wounds and re
unite these United States.
Matt Meyer is an educator and author,
affiliated with University oj
Massachusetts Amherst's Resistance
Studies Initiative.
'For President:
Convict No.
9653.'
Well water and your
health: what you need
to know and do
Sarah
Frantz
Guest
Columnist
Ever
wonder
what's
in your
well
water?
The
Forsyth
. County
Department of Public Health,
Environmental Health division offers
services to test your well water from
properly constructed wells in order to
protect your health.
As a private well owner, it is up to
you to test your water to ensure it is
safe to use. Protect yourself and your
family by testing your water regularly.
When should your well be test
ed?
All newly constructed private
wells in Forsyth County must be test
ed prior to establishing the well as a
source of drinking water. This means
the well must be tested before it is
used. These tests check for bacterial
and chemical contaminants, and
should be conducted within 30 days
of well construction completion.
After tHe initial testing to ensure
the well is providing safe drinking
water, you will need to keep up with
testing your well. Well owners should
check the wellhead once a year to
make sure it is working properly and
ensure that there are no cracks or
openings where contaminants can get
into the well water.
Well water should also be tested
after any repairs, replacement of well
parts, and after flooding events.
Contaminants may enter your well
through cracks in improperly con
structed wells, if the wellhead is
removed, or if the wellhead is under
water. Contamin&tion of wells can
also be caused by surface runoff, agri
cultural and construction activities,
toxic spills and leaking fuel tanks.
The State Laboratory of Public
Health recommends you test your
well every year for total and fecal col
iform bacteria. Every two years, test
for heavy metals, nitrates, lead, cop
per, and volatile organic compounds
(VOC). Every five years, well owners
should test for pesticides. If you know
that pesticides are being applied in
your area, test the well yearly for pes
ticides.
There are special situations that
may require additional, or more fre
quent, testing. If you are pregnant or
have an infant at home, you should
test your water for nitrates.
Look for nitrates
If your well contains nitrates, do
not drink the water or use it to prepare
baby formula. Boiling does not
remove nitrates, so use an alternate
source of water instead. Additional
and more frequent testing is also
needed when there are known prob
lems with well water in your area,
flooding, land disturbances, or waste
disposal has been found in the area. If
you replace or repair any part of your
well system or if you notice changes
in water taste, color, or smell, test
your well.
Well water testing services can be
provided through Forsyth County
Health Department by completing a
water sampling request form and pro
viding payment for the tests chosen.
This form is available at
www.forsyth.cc/publichealth/envi
ronmentalhealth/wells_water_sam
pling.aspx
For additional information about
private drinking water wells see the
EPA website at
www?pa .gov/privatewells
Sarah Frantz, MPH, CHES, is
public health educator. Community
Health Services, Forsyth County
Department of Public Health. ?
- ' ' ?
? *