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© St. Petersburg Times, published April 1, 2002
Editor: All Pasco residents who use Perrine Ranch Road need to let the Pasco County commissioners, county staff and administrator understand that more traffic on this road from the new development planned is not in our best interests.
Perrine Ranch Road already has too much traffic. I understand that there are no plans in the next 25 years to widen the bridge on this road. (What happened to the weight limit sign on the bridge?)
What has happened in the past three years that the staff would support an increase in the density of well over 200 percent. Staff review of a development around November 1998 for the same parcel, with an additional 50 acres, found the request for R-2 to not be compatible with the established pattern of land use and zoning in the area.
Furthermore staff recommended R-1 zoning with a cap of 162 homes. Now, staff has approved the same piece of land (less 50 acres) for 280 homes.
Seems the only thing different is that the land changed ownership. Go to the commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday to voice your disapproval.
-- Pauline Micklos, New Port Richey
Editor: This is in response to the recent letter from a PHCC student, working toward becoming a registered nurse, but has to wait until 2003 due to lack of space in the nursing program. There is a way for this student to fulfill her career dream and become a nurse within a year.
PHCC offers a wonderful start to a nursing career through their practical nursing programs. There are three programs, two begin August 2002, a north campus day program and a west campus evening program. A west campus day program also begins January 2003. These excellent, one-year programs, lead to licensure as a practical nurse. Our PN graduates, ready for careers as nurses, are aggressively recruited and gainfully employed by area hospitals, nursing homes and other agencies.
Once licensed, the graduate can gain experience as a nurse, while completing prerequisites necessary for entry into the licensed practical nurse to registered nurse bridge. Furthermore, many health care agencies sponsor LPNs through PHCC's two, highly successful, three-semester bridge programs which lead to licensure as a registered nurse.
While I am aware that not all prospective students desire this route, it is a viable option for students whose entry into the two-year program would otherwise be postponed until 2003 or later. The caveat of this route is that a student entering the PN program in August 2002 can work as an LPN in 2003, can enter the LPN to RN Bridge June 2004 or January 2005 and graduate, ready for licensure as a registered nurse in 2005.
How do I know these programs work? Four of our nursing faculty (myself included) are PHCC's bridge alumni. Two are also graduates of the PN program. Truly, this speaks for how much we value these programs. I urge this student and others, including LPNs who want to become RNs, to meet with a PHCC adviser and begin to realize their career dreams today.
-- Kristen Cameron, associate professor, nursing PHCC North Campus
Editor: In a recent section of the Tampa Tribune there was an article stating that animal abusers will now have to attend anger management courses. That'll help, but it's still not enough.
There should be a law requiring owners to keep cats indoors and pets must be spayed or neutered. If not adhered to, a heavy fine should follow.
We, as decent human beings, need to help unwanted and neglected animals. Whether it be by taking them in and keeping them as our own or taking them to a facility that will fix them and find them homes with people who truly want them.
It's not that hard. I do it all the time. It's truly rewarding to know that you're at least trying to make a difference.
-- Doris A. Brown, Holiday