Send it as "reader's editorial." They have them once a week in the Fresno Bee (called "Valley Voices"), and I submitted one to the Porterville Recorder when I lived there, making fun of people who have mega-bass stereos and mega-empty heads. (The Reporter printed everything I submitted; if you ever read some of the stuff people submit, you'd know why.)

Try to make it about 750 words in essay form - introduction with thesis statement, body, and conclusion. Send it to:

Dianne Hardisty, editorial page editor, opinion@bakersfield.com

I haven't read yours yet, I have some updating to do before I can read it.

Let me know if you need any help; emailing me at ca_skunk@netzero.com is the best way.

I just checked to see which ways you could submit your paper, and I believe there are only two ways you can submit it. The way JBS suggested submitting your paper is by sending it to the editorial board as a letter to the editor. The editorials are more for opinions than information, and I imagine that since your paper is a research paper, it's probably more information than opinion. I haven't read your whole paper yet because I'm too tired right now. It's easier to resist the temptation of correcting it if I'm not reading it anyway. By the way, the editorial people would freak out because your paper is 2,300 words, and they only allow about 250 words, so they'd make you shorten it. I can't remember for sure, because I don't get the paper anymore, but there may be a side column where they allow community voices to say more than just the 250 words, but even it they still did that, you'd definitely be forced to shorten it.

Now, the other way you may submit your paper is via Your Words. Everyone is allowed to submit stories, pictures, etc., to Your Words and share it with the world. The thing here is, if you submit it, everyone online can read it, and you won't have to cut down on your paper at all (or I don't think so, anyway). But only some stories are chosen to be printed in the paper, so it's possible that it may get printed in the paper, and it's also possible that it may only make it on the Internet. I think you probably have a better shot with submitting it Your Words, but it's up to you.

If you have any questions about that, you can always ask Jennifer Baldwin, the editor for Your Words. She's always had answers for me whenever I have questions.

You know, now that I think about you, you could also try submitting it to The Northwest and Southwest Voices, as well. There's always a possibility of it being printed in there, too.

Robin has given you good advice.

Thanks Robin! As the Your Words editor, I definitely encourage you to submit your article at

. I choose articles from there to print in The Bakersfield Californian. Thanks!!!

bakobornnraised:  I wish you all kinds of luck at getting that story out there.  Even though many people have some knowledge of the disease, it's just a framework, rather than the "guts" of the story. 

We've become a nation where, it used to be said, "One cannot be too rich or too thin."  Okay, I'll go along with the "too rich" part because I haven't gotten there yet, but I absolutely know one can be too thin.  As I'm sure you know, one doesn't have to suffer from anorexia to become painfully thin, with one result:  it is painful.  It is painful in more ways than one.  And it does affect the people in your life as well as the people you might meet on the street. 

Knowlege is power.  The pen is mightier than the sword.  And all that stuff.  Write on, and "break a leg!"  If that's not enough, then good luck will have to do.

Most of my life was spent in the "too thin" category as was my daughter.  And you're so right,  being too thin is as bad as too heavy, at least psychologically.   I wore long sleeve blouses, I never, ever wore shorts because of my knobby knees which earned me the kickname of "bird legs" from my nephew.  Because of my small ankles I was called duck foot. 

When I was a kid I had an older over weight cousin who used to tell me "GAWD you're so skinny!"  I never had the nerve to yell at her "GAWD you're so FAT!"  But I should have.  In my 20's I had a "friend" say "Hey, loan me your elbow, I need a toothpick."

My ex thought is was funny when he would shift gears in our VW Bug and grab my knee for the shifting knob.  At one point I worked so many hours and didn't eat right that I got down to 89 pounds.  I was, and looked emaciated.  I was in my forties and had finally put on some weight before I would wear shorts or a bathing suit on a regular basis. 

In this day of drugs and the "tweeker" look, one runs the risk of being accused of being a druggie.  Again, years ago, my daughter was at a gas station when her cousin spotted her.  He yelled out all the way across for her to "get him some of her good drugs."

People are cruel and when a thin person brings it up they're told they should be grateful because at least they don't have to diet and can get in their clothes.  Wrong.  I used to eat peanut butter and drink half and half to try to gain weight.  To get clothes to fit around, they would be too long and petites were too short.  People constantly brought it up and it wasn't usually in a kind way.

Now I have the "past middle age spread" around the middle and can't get rid of it.  At least not without exercise and that's not likely to happen.  Oh..my legs filled out now but I have enough broken veins on my legs that their often mistaken for a Los Angeles road map.  I don't wear shorts in public now either.    There just ain't no justice.

>>You know, now that I think about you, you could also try submitting it to The Northwest and Southwest Voices, as well. There's always a possibility of it being printed in there, too.

I'm not an editor, but I think you can submit to those papers online as well, you just have to create a profile, which is very similar to creating a profile on bakersfield.com.  In fact, the profiles are just about the same on the nw and sw voice websites as they are on bakersfield.com.  You do have to complete the online registration form, though.  I don't know if the SW Voice website allows users to create profiles but I know the NW Voice site does (I have one on there).  I think you can submit stories and photos on there and have a higher likelihood of getting them printed in those papers.  Those papers rely on stories from community contributors.  Last March, I saw that a fellow reader who has cystic fibrosis posted a story on the effects of the disease and was also trying to get the word out about the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Great Strides walk, held on April 12 at The Park at Riverwalk.  Or maybe you might try and email one or more of the editors and try and set up an interview.  You can probably do this with the TV news stations here, too.  They (at least channel 17) have segments where they air stories from the viewers (KGET 17 calls theirs "Your Story").  There's also numerous local magazines (Bakotopia, Bakersfield, Bakersfield Life-published by The Californian, etc.) that you might want to try.  But your best bet is probably sticking with the regular print and TV media.

I think both Voice papers are edited by Dana Martin (dmartin@bakersfield.com).