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Featuring the Morning Sun's community editorial board . . .

Thursday, November 18, 2010

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION HAS NEW HOME


On November 12 the Mount Pleasant Area Community Foundation dedicated its new home. The Hersee House, 306 South University, was opened to the public. The home was generously donated to the foundation by Idonea “Dony” Hersee and her husband William E. Hersee in 2007.

The house was built in the 1930’s and additions were added to accommodate Dr. Hersee’s medical practice. In 2010 the Hersee House was renovated, becoming a meeting center for the foundation’s many activities.

Idonea “Dony” Hersee, 99, passed away on September 14, 2009. Mrs. Hersee was born in Owosso, Michigan. She attended Central State Teachers College in Mt. Pleasant and received her teaching certificate in 1931. She married William E. Hersee, M. D. in 1934. Dr. Hersee began a medical practice in Mt. Pleasant soon thereafter. The Hersees spent most of their adult lives in Mt. Pleasant, where they have been a strong presence in the community. Dony was an active supporter of Veterans Memorial Library, the Red Cross, Art Reach of Mid Michigan, and the Community Foundation.

Since 1990, the Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation (MPACF) has helped thousands put their financial resources to work to help others. “Philanthropy has been and continues to be a priority for both families and businesses in our community,” notes Executive Director Amanda Schafer. Through the foresight and generosity of community members, the Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation has been able to award more than 1,200 grants totaling more than $2.5 million over the last twenty years.

The photo shows Steve Martineau, president of the foundation and Sandy Hersee Olson cutting the ribbon as friends, family and members of the foundation look on. (Photo: courtesy Betsy Macleod.)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

TIPS FOR DEALING WITH CYBERBULLYING

From today's Micro-Trend newsletter:

Cyberbullying—sending threatening messages or humiliating images to mobile phones, spreading secrets or misinformation in chat rooms, sending hurtful content in emails, posting false or harassing information on social network sites like Facebook—can turn cool technology tools into a nightmare for victims.

Many schools and states are taking serious action to prevent cyberbullying, such as a Massachusetts law passed earlier this year in response to recent cases ending in suicides, such as that of Phoebe Prince. But parents should take the first steps in helping their children navigate this dark side of communications technology by starting anti-bullying education when they are young. Here are some easy-to-remember safety tips for parents to share with children:

1. Think twice before you post. Be cautious about sharing anything personal online, even with people you know or in a private email or text conversation-the information could be made public by anyone you share it with.

2. Be respectful to others online. It sounds simple, but if you say disrespectful things online you're much more likely to be a victim of cyberbullying than if you treat people the way you want to be treated.

3. Don't participate. Even if you are not the bully, don't stand by and watch a bully harass someone else. Stand up for the victim and report it to your parents, teachers or other adult who may be able to report the bad behavior.

For more information, including a list of contact information for some of the more popular social networking and instant messaging sites that you can use to report cyberbullying, download Trend Micro's Safety Tips on Cyberbullying.

Trend Micro collaborates with online safety experts around the world to provide the best advice, information, and tools to families, teachers and schools. For the latest information, visit our new Internet Safety for Kids and Families site.

Friday, November 12, 2010

INTO THE WOODS A GREAT TREAT


There is still time to go to a great production of Stephen Sondheim's INTO THE WOODS musical at CMU's Bush Theatre. There is a performance on November 13 at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 2:00 pm,

Director Annette Thornton has put together a fantastic cast, great music, ingenious scenery and a wonderful musical. We saw the show yesterday and were entertained throughout the evening.

If you saw the PBS version of the show starring Bernadette Peters, you will appreciate the talent of Jillian Herinstall as Cinderella, Adam Zank as Jack, R. Christopher Caldwell as Baker, Taylor Stevens as his wife, Kelsey Braman as Little Red Riding Hood, and Chelsea Wietfeldt as a marvelous Witch. The large cast did outstanding work with the complex music and dialog of this difficult work.

The timing is perfect and the audience laughed throughout. You will truly enjoy this professional entertainment.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

2010 ART REACH CALENDAR EXHIBITION



On November 6, there was a reception for 5th grade artists whose works appear in the new Art Reach Calendar for 2011. It was held at the Art Reach Center, 111 E. Broadway. Eleven of the thirteen artists were present, accompanied by friends and family. Everyone had a good time.
Stone Crest Apartments in Mt. Pleasant sponsored the project and presented $25 gift certificates to the participating art educators for art supplies.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

U-TURN ELECTION

The election is over and no one truly won. It was lost because only 43% or so of the potential voters showed up at the polls. It was however the most elaborate election that money could buy.

The Democrats didn’t win, though they kept a thin margin in the Senate. Some of the projects begun in the last two years may be thwarted, but the voters do want additional progress in creating an atmosphere for small business to hire more workers. Today’s movement to print more money by the Federal Reserve is a step in the right direction, I guess.

The Republicans didn’t win because their every step in the next two years will be watched very carefully. They will not be able to follow the agenda of the far right. The voters focused on the economy and will take no excuses should it falter. We should, however, start calling the Republicans the GOtP, because the tea partiers will continue to believe that they have the magic to change this country back to what it was in the 18th century. The mischief will be in the redistricting of voter precincts that will influence elections for the coming decade.

The only way for the United States to win this election is by insisting that the way in which Congress passes laws must be over-hauled. The line-item veto would be a major improvement. Though the Supreme Court determined that international corporations may spend enormous amounts to influence the outcomes of even local elections, Congress should insist on transparency: who gave how much to which candidate or point of view?

Some TV commentators have said that the 2010 election efforts have already begun. Let us hope that both parties have the grace to inform the public of their contributions to improving our future rather than just saying “no.”

Monday, November 1, 2010

Where are Michigan's Cheer Leaders?

A while back, I listened to a talk radio interview with a couple people representing the state chamber of commerce. The discussion basically gave a laundry list Michigan problems they perceived. Then one of the participants said that she was one of Michigan’s biggest cheer leaders. Knowing what a cheer leader does, I carefully listened for something positive. I never heard a single positive statement – only criticism. I thought to myself, if she’s a cheer leader that would be one depressing game!

Today, politicians believe that they can only get elected by disparaging their district or their home town, county, state and even their own country. I’m suspicious of anyone who tries to get elected by ignoring the positives and focuses on the negatives, trashing everything.

The political races in Michigan right now are so mind-numbing that it’s impossible to avoid nasty commercials or bill boards that are so dishonest I wonder how this could be legal and even worse, “who is buying this crap”? To sort through the facts from fiction I recently subscribed to I subscribed to the “Michigan Truth Squad” at http://michigantruthsquad.com. I find on this site that Michigan is doing much better than politicians have shared. As a matter of fact, this site referred to the Pew Center for the States to rebut claims of one of the Michigan politicians that Michigan is last or almost last in most categories. I was very happy to read that we are doing pretty good. We rate 6th in the country with a B+ grade. The Pew web site says it all. http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/PEW_WebGuides_MI.pdf

I also believe that most, maybe all of our financial problems are due to these negative attitudes about everything in a lame effort to get elected. How many times have you heard the stock market rose or fell because of a speech made by one of our leaders or potential damage from an approaching hurricane or unrest in the middle-east.

Governor Granholm tried to reverse the negative atmosphere in Michigan in the January of 2006 state of the state address by making the statement “in five years you will be blown away”. It was a brave attempt to try to help the people of Michigan to start feeling better about the future. She was selling hope and if we were in an honest atmosphere, things would be better today. However, because politicians are far from honest, she’s taken a lot of criticism for that speech when she was only trying to be a good cheer leader.

It’s been reported that companies are sitting on more money than in the entire history of our country solely because of uncertainty which is ironic because if they all started spending it and hiring, our economy would be in great shape within 6 months.

Think positive!