William Algar

American Dream Hinges Upon Fulfillment Of Promises For Education

Sunday, January 19, 2003 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3B 





As a daily reader of your newspaper, I noticed that the local organization
called Leadership Wilkes-Barre conducts a lot of luncheons. I also know they
have a kind of boot camp training for the careermobile or government agency
employees. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 They even conducted a ``one day'' fast track program to help new corporate
residents learn the ``lay of the land'' here. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mrs. Sue Kluger runs this operation from a modest office on Public Square.
I have copied her on many of the issues I present to the public. Early on,
about four years ago, she seemed impressed with my efforts. Then her interest
began to wane when I challenged local officials to ``speak out'' on various
social issues. It seemed to me that nobody in ``office'' ever did anything but
fry and bring home the bacon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When I wrote about things like police misconduct, which continues to be a
sore spot in these parts, everyone shuddered. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So I was wondering, do any graduates from Leadership Wilkes-Barre do
anything but ``lunch''? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After several years of attending all kinds of public meetings and events in
our area, I have yet to hear anyone introduce themselves or associate
themselves with Leadership Wilkes-Barre. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 I think their graduates have learned how to be ``assimilated'' into NEPA,
which may mean that no one does anything without the approval of their
corporations or political party. What I do think that graduates may do
afterwards is at least become ``participants.'' Meaning they may dive into the
many corporate-sponsored walkathons for different causes. And many Fleet
employees are usually featured in some kind of one-day public service project.
The group of ``volunteers'' always has on T-shirts with FLEET in big letters
across the back. And I'm sure that a lot of the Leadership graduates are
generous contributors to the United Way too. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 These programs may at least initiate people into community service. But I
think a lot of them may do it for ``window dressing'' their resumes too. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Like someone I know who said they volunteer at the St. Vincent DePaul
Kitchen, I said to them that I frequently visit the kitchen and that I have
volunteered there too, but never saw them. It turned out that they just
donated cookies they baked. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It takes courage to volunteer and it takes courage to speak out about real
issues in our area, too. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Last year I began attending meetings of the Drug Policy Forum. It received
a lot of fanfare from the press and even a local TV news spot. After getting
up to speed and doing a lot of research on the Internet~ I submitted a letter
to the Times Leader. It was printed under the title ``Methadone clinic,
injecting facility vital to address area's drug problem'' in the Mailbag
section on Sunday, Nov. 24. Now you would think that the members of the Drug
Policy Forum would be delighted. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Instead the chairman of the forum said to everyone at the next meeting that
there were ``no mobile methadone clinics in Pennsylvania, and there aren't any
public needle exchange programs or injecting facilities either, and no one
wants them here.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 I was almost shocked. But I knew that this response was not his alone. The
``talk'' was that none of the leaders in the different county agencies wanted
these projects either! And time is running out for them to use a $300,000
grant or lose it if they don't secure a property for a clinic. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So, it seems to me that everyone knows that you should not raise ~any issue
unless it is an ``approved opinion'' of the people in power. This may be why I
have hardly seen anyone step forward to help carry the burden of breaking new
issues to the public. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 I may not be as popular, well-connected or as well-off as many of the
graduates of Leadership Wilkes-Barre, but I can say that I am not afraid to
challenge our leaders to lead. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In fact, I plan on presenting a case for our area to establish a civilian
review board to help explore the actions, or inactions, of our police
personnel. I'll be basing this proposal on the back-to-back convictions of two
of our area's ``finest'' police officers, and the recent death, due to a
bullet in the back, of a 12-year-old car theft-suspect in western
Pennsylvania. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 I don't expect a lot of fanfare for this proposal, but I will do the
research needed for it to be considered. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mario Fiorucci &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sugar Notch &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Will Continue The Struggle To Raise Issues And Demand Social Justice