MONTEBELLO E-NEWS
                         December 13, 2006


                     “Education is the best provision for old age.”
                                                                           -Aristotle

                                                                                

Is It Legal to Print Money?  Yes.

Student-authored and teacher-edited

       What if we could keep the money being spent in Montebello in Montebello?  While not very easy, it is feasible. The method by which we could do this is by creating a local currency.  Over seventy communities in America have done so.

        A local currency would operate much like any other currency, only in small geographical regions, like  Montebello. Local businesses would sign up to accept the local currency, which would not be backed by gold, silver, or rice like normal currencies; rather it would be backed by trust. By having a localized currency we would be  able to keep money in Montebello and, importantly, we would be able to pay people to do socially-useful activities, like tutoring middle schoolers, reducing graffiti, and helping senior citizens fill forms.

            Local currency is just as “real” as our federal money, because each of them is backed by trust. Each is declared to be money by an authority, which
could be either the local government or a board of directors made up of respected community leaders. Local currency differs in that it must not look like federal money.

            If you answer these multiple-choice questions and e-mail to
lessonanswers@mymontebello.com, with “E-News answers” in the subject field, you will be credited toward a “certificate of recognition in community affairs” to be awarded in 2007 by a local nonprofit organization.

            1. What is one way to pay for tutors, graffiti reduction, and senior
                 services, with no imposition?

       (a)    a tax,

       (b)    a local currency,

       (c)    a user fee.

   2. What makes a local currency work?

      (a)    trust,

      (b)    a gold reserve,

      (c)    copying the pictures on federal money.

   3. Your help would be valuable in setting up and using a local currency. 
       What would you be most willing to do?

     (a)    enlist businesses to use the local currency,

     (b)    sit on a board of directors,

     (c)    sit on an advisory committee. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

                               You Are Invited to Visit Us

     mymontebello.com is designed by students at Montebello High School to 
be of service to those who labor, live or learn in Montebello.  

   Learn about:

       -useful events

       -online community lessons and topics

       -issues of the community

       -legislation

       -solutions

     There will be a suggestion box about ways the quality of life in the 
community could be improved.  This site will also contain thought-provoking 
articles and essays by young adults and the newsletter teacher. We will also
 provide hyperlinks to other useful websites for the public.

--By team 10, which maintains the “My Montebello” Web site.

                               Crime Alert for Everyone

      Fake lottery letters are coming to our area from Canada and Spain. Even 
fake checks are enclosed to dupe us into sending real checks to con artists. 
Alert family, friends, and neighbors.  Never, never reply to these letters; 
rather, get them to your police department.

                              Have an Announcement?  Let Us Know!

       We would like to introduce ourselves to all the readers of this newsletter in Montebello. We are Gabriela Ortiz and Vitalina Gonzalez. We are on team 1, the announcement team for this newsletter.  It has been rewarding these past months gathering, researching, and committing to a beneficial service to the community.

     The announcements are one of the most important parts to our newsletter. They are meant for everyone in Montebello. Every announcement informs a different person in Montebello;  that is why we invite you to send
announcements this community newsletter, which is published by students at Montebello High School. This newsletter is sent out to adults and youth
throughout Montebello.

 

If you wish to send us one or two announcements per week, about a past, present or future event, please send us the following by e-mail as soon as possible, as these are available:

    1. Up to fifty words per announcement, including a title, description, location, date, time, contact information, and a hyperlink to details at a Web site, if these are available. Each announcement is listed under one or two of these categories:  school teachers, youth, families, retirees, businesspeople, nonprofit organizations, elected officials, civil servants, community leaders, “do gooders”, motorists, everyone. Personal announcements, unless pertinent to the community (like fourth graders winning an academic competition), and advertisements are not included.
   2. Name of your organization leader.
   3. E-mail address.
   4. Fax number.
   5. Web address.

The above information is to be sent to each of us, with “Announcement for
E-NEWS” in the subject field:

Gabriela Ortiz
 
Vitalina Gonzalez
 


 

HOW WE CAN HELP OURSELVES AND THE COMMUNITY:

                                                       
                            I Don’t Want to Grow Up,  Part 2

“The solution to adult problems tomorrow depends on large
measure upon how our children grow up today.”

                             - Margaret Mead, American cultural anthropologist, 1901-1978

       In part 1 we looked at how the use of the word “kid” could affect our expectation and treatment of youth, because of the belief that youth had
potential to help adults meet the great challenges of our times, but because we treated youth as “kids”, we failed to tap that potential. We left off in part 1 with the suggestion that we drop “kid” from our vocabulary and outlook, with the hope that they, in turn, change their vocabulary and outlook because of our change.

Is this a practical suggestion? 

      Changing vocabulary smacks of political correctness, which is disliked, if not disdained, in our culture.  It is true that when we change language, we lose a bit of its flavor.  But to the extent that language affects thought—you can google to find this to be true—we should change language in order to change our outlook about youth—if we agree that youth have potential which we are not tapping for their sake and ours.

      Perhaps the secret lies not in agreeing upon the need for the change, but, rather, in the method used.  If we demand a change in vocabulary with all seriousness and somberness which comes through law and regulation, perhaps even penalizing noncompliance, protests will arise and people will mock a
worthy cause.  But if we turned the change into a serious, yet entertaining,
game, the change would come and be embraced, not just tolerated.  So the key,
it seems, would be to create a serious, yet entertaining, game. 

      We can change our language and, thereby, our expectation of youth, but what can we do to motivate youth to strive to display their potential?  Knowing that in Latin culture we have the quinceañera and the “sweet sixteen” party in English culture, I wonder whether we could have a somewhat formal, somewhat enjoyable program to indicate maturity, regardless of the age of the youth?  I would favor supporting service clubs like Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, Optimist, and Soroptimist, as well as others, if they offered a program and evaluation leading to recognition of maturity, not too different from the process used by Boy Scouts of America to evaluate a candidate for the rank of Eagle.  The difference would be that, while Scouts offered an outstanding hands-on program, the maturity program would ask more of youth with regard to self-reliance, selflessness, and sustainable solutions, in accordance with their potential.  (In other words, more “required merit badges” which would turn the youth into a knowledgeable leader who could work alongside adults for the community.) And it would be appropriate that, having been recognized for maturity, a youth would receive appropriate privileges in his or her community.

   Of course, this leads to questions.  Which youth have the time away from studies and school activities to pursue a program of maturity?  Which adults have the time to mentor the youth in such a program, more so if we wish to give the opportunity to a very large number of youth?  And what privileges could be accorded which would be meaningful, without creating costs and without being vulnerable to crippling abuse?

(For the complete opinion piece, go to www.mymontebello.com .)

Van Ajemian, December 14, 2006, Montebello, California 90640

About E-News

 Greetings to all! We are Montebello E-News, a newsletter made by
students eager to help make a difference in Montebello. This newsletter
is designed to:

·   Inform those who "labor, learn, and live" in Montebello.

·   Assist the community in decision-making that benefits the community
as a  whole.

·   To encourage the improvement of the quality of life in the community.

·   To create community communication and cooperation.

·   Teach “self-reliance, selflessness, and sustainable solutions.”

 

 Our greatest hope is that this newsletter reaches as many people in
Montebello. Montebello E-News is a nonpartisan newsletter that not only
offers solutions but also welcomes the recipients to give us suggestions on
how to make the newsletter more useful to them.

     Each newsletter will include:

·          Announcements

·         Fun facts and games

·         Important fact/solution activity

·         Resident advisory note

·         Online community lesson

·         How residents can help themselves and their community

·         Open suggestion box