 Thank you to Cheryl Smith and Pam Talbert for the fantastic senior prom decorations! Thanks also to the parents who helped out also. We (Sterling seniors) certainly appreciate the hard work that the junior class and all of our sponsors did to make our prom super! Sterling junior and senior classes Teachers Need Effective Tools A recent syphilis outbreak in central Oklahoma exposed the increasing number of sexually transmitted diseases among teens in the state. Parents who address these issues in the home are on the right track, and Professional Oklahoma Educators supports their efforts. But many parents are silent on the issue, leaving it up to schools and churches to pick up the slack. Professional Oklahoma Educators is concerned that Oklahoma’s current sex education programs aren’t getting through to our kids. If our schools are bearing this responsibility, teachers must be provided with effective tools for communicating with teens. There are several programs to choose from when it comes to sex education, but there is one resource that rises above the others as far as truth and relevance are concerned. Mothers Against Sexual Exploitation recently created an innovative DVD called The Rules Have Changed, where real teens ask real doctors their questions about STDs. This medical perspective gives teens the facts they need from an authority they can trust. I would encourage the use of this educational DVD in conjunction with the teaching of morality and abstinence in order to give teens all the facts and further discourage them from premarital sex. Students need a better understanding of the life threatening nature of these diseases. It is important that this DVD make its way into Oklahoma schools so that teachers can have an effective sex education tool that presents facts in a truthful and direct way. The Rules Have Changed is also an appropriate resource for use in the home or in church youth settings. This is not a problem that will be solved on its own. Parents, educators and church leaders must step up to the plate to address the devastating effects of sexually transmitted diseases. --Ginger Tinney is the Executive Director of Professional Oklahoma Educators. POE is a non-profit, non-union, independent teachers association serving over 4,000 Oklahoma Educators. POE provides its members with professional liability protection, professional development services, and other benefits and resources. State Auto Association Questions Dealer Cuts The recent announcement by General Motors President Fritz Henderson to reduce the dealers count from 6246 dealers to 3605 dealers by 2010 will do NOTHING to cut costs for the manufacturer or make it viable in the future. Chrysler is looking at doing the same. Dealers are not a cost center for their respective manufacturers but generate more than 90% of manufacturer¹s revenue. A study by the Casesa Shapiro Group found that auto dealers provide a vast distribution channel ³at virtually no cost² to their manufacturers. Dealers: 1. pay all their own real estate costs (ie; land, buildings, insurance, taxes, etc.); 2. pay for vehicles for customers and inventory before the vehicles ever leave the factory; 3. pay for parts before ever receiving them; 4. pay all their employees¹ costs (ie; wages, benefits, payroll taxes, training costs, etc.); 5. pay all their own IT and computer costs; 6. pay all their equipment costs (ie; service department lifts, tools, diagnostic equipment) Keep in mind dealers equal revenue to manufacturers, not costs. A rapid reduction in dealer numbers would further CUT manufacturer revenue and market share and do NOTHING to improve the manufacturer¹s viability in the short term. Even according to GM executives, it takes 18 months to regain market share when a dealership closes. And that¹s a best case scenario. Trying to eliminate dealerships beyond the already systematic consolidations that have taken place for the past 60 years will only serve to hurt the hard-working employees of those dealerships and their families, the numerous communities that rely on the taxes generated by those dealerships, the related businesses that sell to those dealerships and the consumers that are served by the competition and convenience of the dealerships and the numerous charitable organizations that benefit from dealers¹ support. When a dealership closes, the loss to the community is real and immediate. It is unnecessary to artificially designate a ³right number² of dealers as though that number is a ³magic cure². To do so is only an effort to deflect criticism from the manufacturers¹ own poor performance and failure to control costs which is a result of their own decisions. Closing dealerships won¹t affect the bottom line for any manufacturer positively, but will negatively affect thousands of independent businesses, their employees, their customers who rely on them for sales and service and the communities that rely on those dealerships. --Steve Rankin, President, Oklahoma Automobile Dealers Association |