court respects its jurors

Every week in the Federal Way Municipal Court, cases that cannot be resolved by an agreement between the parties are scheduled for jury trial.

Court staff must prepare the files. Attorneys must prepare their defense or prosecution of the issues and facts of the case and schedule witnesses. And the judges of Federal Way Municipal Court — Judge Michael Morgan and Judge David Larson — must review the issues of law involved in each case.

All of the preparation, however, would be for naught if one piece of this scenario is missing: The jurors. The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.” This right is also guaranteed by the Constitution of the State of Washington.

Without jurors, the court would not be able to go forward with a trial. Jurors are an integral part of the American justice system. Government of the people, by the people and for the people requires that we be judged by our peers. The only way for that to occur is with citizens willing to act as jurors.

May is traditionally the month set aside to express appreciation of jurors, although we at the court appreciate jurors every month of the year. The receipt of a jury summons is not always a welcome event, and service on a jury panel often involves personal sacrifice. The compensation is miniscule, the waiting periods are often long, and the trials are often tedious and demanding. But it is your willingness to serve as jurors that assure the continued existence of the fundamental right to a trial by jury that we are privileged to enjoy in this country.

The court is able to rely on the consistently excellent performance of the staff, attorneys and judges, and we take this opportunity to express our appreciation of their dedicated work. We also extend our gratitude to all of the jurors who have served in the Federal Way Municipal Court this past year and extend the same to all future jurors.

Rae Iwamoto,

Court Administrator,

Federal Way Municipal Court

Teachers stoop Lower

I am appalled by an article in The Mirror on May 17.

English teacher Andrew Miller of Federal Way High School brags about how he is reaching the kids by lowering himself to their level by using the text-messaging lingo to communicate with kids.

Shorthand like LOL (laugh out loud) and BFF (best friend forever) is all the rage among kids. In case you don’t know, there are many abbreviations in text-messaging to minimize key strokes. This teacher has apparently decided to learn these acronyms and communicate with the kids this way.

Although admirable, it misses the point entirely. In teaching, the entire point is to raise children up to the adult level and entirely not for the teacher to lower himself or herself down to their level.

By lowering himself down to the student level, the teacher is reinforcing the belief of the students that their level is the correct level. Actually, we should be teaching the kids that this Internet stuff is OK, but that is not the adult world, the world where they will spend the rest of their lives whether on not they like it. It’s as if everything is backward — teachers aspiring to be kids rather than kids aspiring to be adults. One of my recommendations to the school board, after many months of trying to get this on the agenda, was to require teachers to dress as professionals so as to set an example for the kids.

Finally, the school board took this up. The resolution: To let the teacher’s union set the dress code for teachers. What a copout this was for a gutless school board. Well that is the end of that and a happy ending indeed.

School board members can claim that they resolved it and the teacher’s union can claim they are working on it. Meanwhile the teachers dress little more formally than the kids.

So now we have it. The teachers dress like the kids, while complaining about standardized tests that reveal grade inflation and trying to reach the kids by using their lingo. Most in education today would call this progress. So once again I am appalled disagreeing, as I do, with all of this.

Bill Pirkle,

Federal Way

Brokeback television

Recently I became aware of the same-sex commitment ceremony at the heart of the series finale of “Brothers and Sisters,” and the portrayal of those who uphold traditional marriage as bigoted and hateful.

You should know that this is a skewed view of public opinion on this issue. In almost every state where voters have had the opportunity to affirm the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, they have done so.

While I do not oppose the right of anyone to enter a committed relationship with the person of his or her choosing, marriage between a man and a woman is, and always has been, reflective of God’s will for the family.

I hope that in its third season this fall, “Brothers and Sisters” and other programming reflects the reality of marriage, and refrains from staging propaganda for a radical view of family. Thank you for considering my opinion.

Ray Koenig,

Federal Way

Check out radio station

Nestled in the ground floor of a Harbor Ridge home in the Browns Point area is a small radio station.

Broadcasting on 1700 AM, this station brings to the neighborhood commercial-free musical programs, community notices and news of the day. Hosted by Ken Moultrie, a longtime radio executive, this mini-station is much more than a hobby. Although its power is limited to 700 watts, and it can be heard live only within a radius of about 2 miles, its footprint is far wider.

Streamed over the Internet, it is listened to by a worldwide audience. It can be accessed on BrownsPointRadio.com.

Of particular interest to local listeners is a weekly commentary hosted by Frank Jenkins, a longtime political observer from the Federal Way area. He was the former host of the “Senior to Senior” series broadcast over KLAY-AM. His current program addresses issues of the day supplemented with live interviews. It is broadcast at 8:30 a.m. Saturday mornings and can be found on the station Web site under “Conversations with Frank.” Recorded versions of past programs are available.

On May 17, the commentary focused on the North Shore Golf Course development controversy. Several members of the SaveNETacoma coalition were on hand to discuss the issues from the community’s viewpoint. All interested parties are urged to pull up the Web site and give a listen.

Gene Foster,

Northeast Tacoma