D.A.R.E. PROGRAM

EDITOR: I was just informed that the DARE program, given by the Rohnert
Park Police Department, has been cancelled due to budget cuts. Having a
daughter in fifth grade, who just graduated from this program, I can say
how much this has meant to her, her classmates and to me. Some parents,
like myself, who were unsure how to approach such subjects as drugs,
alcohol and gang violence with their own children, were blessed to have
these officers, who are well aware of this problem, teach our kids not to
just say no to drugs but also what it could do to their lives.

I cannot say enough about the DARE program and how many children's lives at
Waldo Elementary it has touched. I beg you, chief of police, mayor and city
of Rohnert Park, please reconsider your choice of budget cuts. Our children
are the future for us. We need this program and officers like Jeff Nicks
who care enough about our kids to do this. Just sign me: A proud parent of
a DARE graduate.

JOANNA IVSICH

Rohnert Park