Letters to the Editor 12-4-14

Holiday Safety
Editor: In the days following Thanksgiving, many families will begin the festive tradition of lighting their homes and businesses for the holiday season. To ensure that lights bring joy rather than fire, injury or electric shocks, PG&E recommends that customers follow a few simple safety tips:
-Avoid electric hazards. Before climbing ladders to string outdoor lights, check for overhead power lines nearby, especially in trees. Contact can be fatal.
-Prevent fire hazards. Avoid overloading extension cords and wall sockets by limiting the number of light strings you connect. Inspect holiday lights for frayed wires, broken sockets or other signs of wear. Don’t place cords under rugs or furniture where they can overheat. Turn off decorative lights, indoors and outdoors, when leaving home or going to bed.
-Go LED. Light-emitting diodes are shatterproof and produce almost no heat, making them safe to touch and greatly reducing the risk of fire. As an added bonus, they consume 75 percent less energy and last up to 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs, helping you save money this holiday season. Have a happy—and safe—holiday season!
John Ghigliazza
Sonoma Division
Manager at PG&E
All good things must come to an end…
Editor: SBI Materials, Inc. is proud to support our local community and the Windsor Educational Foundation. Over the past seven years, SBI has donated over $53,000 to WE.
Our employees have volunteered over hundreds of hours and given countless smiles to those buying the perfect Christmas tree.
This year, due to circumstances outside of our control, the WE Foundation made a decision to not have the Christmas Tree Lot Fundraiser. We support our schools and will continue to find other ways to give back to the community. Have a safe and happy holiday season.
SBI Materials, Inc.
Windsor
Everyone needs a
flu shot
Editor: Empire College’s Medical Department, in partnership with Sutter Health and the Sonoma County Department of Health Services, will host a free flu shot clinic on Saturday, December 6, 2014, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Empire College campus (3035 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa).  
Vaccinationss will be provided for all individuals, including children four years or older, and pregnant women. Children under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
For additional information on the flu shot clinic or Empire College, call 546-4000.
Sherie L. Hurd
Empire College
Homeless
Editor: Growing up in the bay area, I witnessed the plethora of homeless people on a daily basis and knew there was some disconnect in our economic system. I did not know how severe the lapse was until my Ecological Economics class at the University of Vermont. The growing income inequality and social discord in our country is worsened by our devotion to GDP; we need a switch to a more holistic measurement of societal accomplishments. Through my class, I learned about the useless, counterproductive components of GDP compared to the more beneficial indicators like the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) and Happiness Index. In 1968, Robert F. Kennedy proclaimed that the GDP “measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile” which is exactly why society needs an indicator that can measure the things that matter. We need this shift to occur so we can stop ignorantly accepti! ng what is contributing to our GDP.  According to GDP, the BP oil spill that wrecked havoc upon the Gulf of Mexico was actually beneficial and positively enhanced overall GDP. This is a blind contribution since GDP does not take into account the severe environmental and social degradation that pillaged the area, increasing the divide in society.
Though the midterm election is now a thing of the past, we need to urge our policy makers to push legislation through our local, state and national governments to encourage a change in our value on economic indicators. We need to pull the disadvantaged members of society up to a livable situation and increase the overall heath, wellbeing and happiness of our communities. The only way that this could feasibly happen is if we put more focus on GPI and Happiness Indices, so I ask you to think about how we should measure what really matters.
Brit Kelleher    
Windsor