Letters to the editor: Generosity to developers in Ames is more than ample
Generosity to developers is more than ample
The Ames City Council members think they can recover some costs for us taxpayers by establishing a connection fee for utilities for the new Prairie View Industrial Center. Well, bless their hearts.
I fear this connection fee is mostly symbolic. How much it actually might raise over the years is problematic. Even city manager Steve Schainker has noted that this fee can be waived.
And it probably will be waived for any major industrial or business user to locate in the area. Why wouldn't it, since any firm that is reasonably on the ball will just point to the subsidy for the planned small lot industrial development on North Dayton and say, "We won't come unless you give us the same deal. We won't pay this connection fee."?
If you have been paying reasonable attention, you know that this economic development game is played by threats to go elsewhere unless we get the deal we want.
Extending the sanitary sewer and water mains in the area along Lincoln Way east of Interstate Highway 35 to Verbio will cost roughly $10 million; $4.3 million is coming from general obligation bonds and more than $3 million from federal pandemic funds. This project is why Lincoln Way east of I-35 has been closed the last year.
On North Dayton, across from the National Animal Disease Center, the city council is giving the developer (North Dayton Development LLC) a $3 million subsidy for infrastructure. This 73-acre area eventually may have a dozen or so smaller lot industrial development sites.
Hunziker is the developer of this North Dayton area.
Hunziker is also being offered a $42 million tax subsidy for Chuck Winkleblack's plan for a mammoth development along Lincoln Way downtown between Clark and Kellogg Avenues.
Aren't you just so pleased with Ames' generosity?
Merlin Pfannkuch, Ames
Set an example against hatred
Walter Suza tells it like it is in his guest columns. Hate is taught. Parents, educators, law enforcement, government officials, and every individual: We teach our children by how we behave towards others. If you were taught hate as a child, grow up and reject hate as an adult. Don’t merely spout the Golden Rule; live by it. Silence is complicity. Stand up and speak out against hate. Practice and teach tolerance, acceptance, friendship, and love. Ames, we are a small blue island in a sea of red and must set an example for others, and do better for all of our children.
Dévon Lewis, Ames
More:Walter Suza guest column: This MLK Day, a reflection on a more perfect union
Big changes needed in gifted education
The gifted program in elementary schools is taking talented students and extinguishing their passion for learning, replacing it with immense pressure and expectation. This has been a problem since the birth of the program, where teachers and parents place a label of “gifted” on a child at 5 years old, only for that child to grow up constantly worried they cannot live up to it.
Studies have shown that there is a disproportionately high rate of mental illness found in former gifted students compared to their unlabeled peers. So, then, how can we rectify this? How do we continue to challenge academically gifted children without accidentally causing identity and self esteem issues later in life?
The main thing that teachers need to realize is this: Gifted children have special needs that need to be handled with care. Teach these children that being exceptional is not the only thing that defines them, advise them on how to maintain a healthy work-play balance to prevent burnout, and allow them to explore more creative interests such as art or other activities. This extra support, without the overwhelming expectation of perfection, is necessary to ensure that the child understands that being gifted is not the only thing that defines them.
Unfortunately, although these suggestions would certainly help, there’s no question that bigger changes need to be made in the program. However, this topic is severely under-researched. The correlation between gifted programs and mental health issues, as well as academic burnout, is indisputable. However, in order to confidently come to a concrete conclusion, we need more data and research.
Ava Reynolds, Huxley
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Letters: Ames' generosity to developers is more than ample
