Clovis parents and COVID mandates: Letters to the editor of The Bee, Nov. 14, 2021

Embarassed to see Clovis parents

I am writing in regards to Clovis Unified School District parents fighting the vaccine mandate. First it was the masks and now the vaccine. I live in Clovis and quite frankly, it is embarrassing.

Since the start of the pandemic I have felt as though I live in an upside down reality here. Daily, I have to bite my tongue when speaking to family, neighbors and even complete strangers. It seems as if people have lost all common sense and decency.

I would like to also call out Dr. Fogg, the ophthalmologist, for making the job of doctors who actually treat COVID patients so much harder. I cringed when I saw him on the news with scrubs on attending the meeting. Germs? Anyone, MRSA? I just want to bang my head against a wall. Parents are going to take advice from a medical professional wearing his scrubs outside?

I have a child and she doesn’t attend CUSD — we transferred out years ago. Clovis is no longer my “way of life” ... not by a long shot.

Calls Bee’s editorial into question

Does the Fresno Bee ever get tired of lying to its readers? It would seem not. Recently, The Bee’s Editorial Board submitted a piece chastising Clovis parents for daring to have a difference of opinion with the People’s Republic of California. In the middle of this partisan hit piece, I read the following sentence: “California has the nation’s lowest COVID case rate, lowest death rate and the most vaccinations administered, despite having the largest population of all the states.”

It took me all of 30 minutes searching sites like the University of Oxford’s “Our World Data Page,” and John Hopkin’s COVID data pages to determine that this was false.

In point of fact, according to these sites, there are 11 states that have lower case rates, 13 states that have lower death rates, and 14 states that have lower vaccination rates.

How did they get this wrong, you may ask? Because instead of researching these numbers for themselves, the Fresno Bee Editorial Board directly quoted a paper posted by “Get California Vaccinated” on the state’s website. In other words, they didn’t fact check, they just spewed out propaganda published by Democrats. This is why we ignore you, Fresno Bee!

Move to Texas, be ready for humidity

Dan Walters compared living in Texas with living in California. I don’t know if he has actually lived there or not, but I lived there for five years.

The weather is terrible. To a Californian, it has torturous humidity, and the winters are often windy and cold beyond any level of outdoor comfort. The weather would be the biggest reason for not going back there.

But the people I met were “golden” and I made a lot of friends. They envy Californians for our weather.

Atlas shrugs over GOP lying

Conservatives often tout the late author Ayn Rand, who pushed her individualistic philosophy of objectivism in novels such as “Atlas Shrugged.” In her pure capitalistic fantasy, she placed industrialists on a pedestal as the true heroes of society, and the federal government as being unnecessary.

She invented the highly individualistic character of John Galt, as the antithesis of what she believed as the evils of a society doing things collectively. Yet, in her fantasies, she still had a reverence for the scientific method.

Conservatives today who put forward her bromides for society, and her main mantra, “In the name of the best within us,” are truly hypocrites. That right-wing, vitriolic, anti-science, anti-mask, anti-vaccine minority, which also screams false claims about “the big lie” — fraud in the 2020 presidential election — has been allowed to seize the megaphone, as they attempt to impose their tyrannical will on the rest of us.

The question we should be asking is not “Who is John Galt?” It should be: “Who is John Delta?”

Americans, do your research, and figure out the answer to this riddle. Atlas is shrugging, all right, but it’s due to the big lies Republicans are screaming into their megaphones.

School rightly renamed for Tartarian

The Fresno Unified School District board did the right thing. By renaming Forkner Elementary School to H. Roger Tatarian Elementary, the board has rightfully honored a Fresno journalism icon and an even greater man.

I should know. I knew Roger from working with his son, Alan Tatarian, in Fresno radio news. I even had Thanksgiving dinner with Roger with his wife and Alan at his home one year.

Even though he was a legend in our community, Roger was humble and always respectful to me. RIP Roger.

Teachers, students and COVID vaccines

It happened after I retired from teaching: I did not get my annual sinus infection. After 22 years, I did not get a cold, the flu, or a sinus infection. What is this? What is going on? Then I realized. After 22 years, I was not around sick students. Go figure!

(Note: There has been some misuse of the phrase “Occams’s Razor.” This is a correct application of it.)

If I were still in the classroom today, I would insist on vaccinations for all my students as a condition for my teaching them. I know, I know… parents have rights. I get that. But, parents, you do not know what it is like with your children. Teachers have rights, too.

I used to get complaints from parents all the time about their kids. How difficult they were; how hard it was to raise children these days. I know that, and I empathize. But, parents, imagine having 30 or more of your kids in a class. It’s great, it’s rewarding, but it also can be a challenge. I don’t think it is too much to ask that your child does not make me sick.

So, in conclusion, if you as parents do not want your children to be vaccinated against COVID-19, that is your choice – go for it. But please do not foist their potentially infectious bodies on some poor teacher.

FYI: In 2018, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma; I am currently in remission. The chemotherapy damaged my heart, so I am now dealing with congestive heart failure. (So yeah, I know about side effects.) I have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and recently received the booster shot. I also got my annual flu shot. I am doing fine. Life is good.

On Madera County water situation

Rob Poythress’s recent opinion piece (10-17-21) implies that Madera County is avidly working to avoid a bleak waterless future. But the Board of Supervisors has only acted when required to by state mandate and these actions are inadequate.

Mr. Poythress mentioned that the GSA adopted allocation is just over 28 inches per year/acre. Recent studies in Ventura County indicate that almond orchards require a minimum of 52 inches per annum. If indeed our county was limiting water allocation to 28 inches, we would see dying almond trees in the white areas. We do not.

Likewise, he mentioned satellite measurement of water usage. That same study reports that the only reliable measurement is by meter. If the Madera County Board of Supervisors wishes to help, they could:

1. Declare a moratorium on new agricultural wells. 2. Meter all agricultural wells. 3. Charge a fee to pump agricultural water. 4. Use that fee to partner with farmers. Farmers donate land and the county builds recharge ponds.

Upset over Saroyan Theater parking fee

I am appalled at the news of the $20 parking fee (with no senior discount ) at the Saroyan.

The city of Fresno surely received Federal funds (our taxpayers’ money) during the height of the pandemic.

I am also disturbed by the fact that COVID guidelines were not properly enforced during Broadway's “CATS” production admittance and inside the theater.

Saroyan Theater was once the jewel of Fresno; sad days for Fresno.

This story was originally published November 14, 2021 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Clovis parents and COVID mandates: Letters to the editor of The Bee, Nov. 14, 2021."