Letters To The Editor

ON PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

Couple undeserving of benefits

I am a supporter of many programs designed to help the less fortunate meet their basic needs with dignity. However, your Jan. 19 profile of Kelley Skotland offended me.

It appears that Ms. Skotland and her boyfriend are guilty of, at the very least, incredibly bad judgment and, at the most, of deliberately taking advantage of society’s compassion for their children.

I will grant that teenagers (the age of Ms. Skotland when her first child was born) often make poor decisions. But for society to reward this woman and her boyfriend for continuing to make bad decisions and for you to publicize her as deserving is an affront to every man and woman who goes to work, scrimps and saves to buy a house and makes responsible decisions.

Why has Ms. Skotland continued to create children she is incapable of caring for without charity? Ms. Skotland quickly reached her 500 hours of service for her home because she doesn’t have to go to work to support her children. She gets medical care and other benefits and her boyfriend/child care helper can continue to work at a $5 per hour job because society provides for his family.

Nobody wants children to go without. But the charity and compassion intended for these children is being enjoyed by these two irresponsible adults.

Showcasing these irresponsible people gives House Speaker Newt Gingrich and others of his ilk the ammunition they need to gut programs that are needed by responsible but unfortunate members of our community. Jody M. Cramsie Spokane

Rules hurt traditional families

The Jan. 19 Spokesman-Review carried an article about Kelley Skotland and Habitat for Humanity. The woman worked hard to fulfill her responsibility to get into the house and will pay the mortgage.

The fact that she and her children’s father are not married because taxpayers are paying her medical bills may make some question Habitat for Humanity.

As a Christian, I do not approve of her arrangement but I would like to open others’ eyes to a new insight: Why does the state penalize people who are legally married?

I urge everyone to write to their state governors and senators to have this changed so that all low-income children will be entitled to medical coverage if they meet the same requirements as those for the children of single mothers. May Messenger Spokane

Couple exemplifies reform need

While one must sympathize with Kelley Skotland and her efforts to provide an adequate environment for herself and her children, her situation, as described in your Jan. 19 article, is a very persuasive argument for the need for substantive change in our present state welfare system.

It appears from your article that Ms. Skotland has been on the state welfare roll ever since she and her son moved to the state seven years ago. During this time she had three more children, all fathered by the same man. She is apparently capable of meaningful work, as demonstrated by her 500 hours of assisting in building the Habitat for Humanity home, and the father of her children is employed. But they choose not to marry because she fears for her welfare finances and medical benefits if they marry.

No wonder voters wanted a change in direction of our government policies. James W. Lehr Spokane

I will justify your help, investment

Dear taxpayers: I would like to thank you for helping me to get through college. You see, I am a parent and I am also single. Public assistance has been a lifesaver for myself and my 4-year-old son. I want all of you out there to know that I appreciate all that is being done to help me in this most difficult time in my life.

I still have two years left to finish my degree at a major private university here in Spokane. I work very hard and maintain a great grade-point average. I have been very distressed lately at the animosity the public has been feeling for the welfare system, and feeling guilty at the same time.

I agree that changes should be made. Whatever those changes are, I will always be grateful that taxpayers have helped me get this far.

I grew up in Spokane in a two-parent family. My mom was home for us, so I have been on both sides of the fence. If I could do this alone, without the public’s help, I would do so. I can promise all of you that I will make you proud and that I will give back to society and the community the kind of helping hand that you have made possible for my son and myself.

I know that you have all felt unappreciated, felt that your taxes are not going to anything worthwhile. Let me assure you that I, for one, am thankful. K.D. Irish Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Gender issues crusade a loser

So, 1994 was a bad year for women? Kim Kirsch (” A look back on the women’s year that wasn’t,” Jan. 1) seems to think that violence, cancer, underpay, overwork and sexual harassment are “women’s issues.” She needs to realize that the vast majority of the ills women suffer are part of the human condition, visited more or less equally on males and females alike. Women are as guilty as men of meanness, bad faith and abuse. Women also “dehumanize” men, manipulate them for selfish gain and sometimes don’t look past their physical attributes.

Equal pay for equal work is fine, but why the fuss about a “pay gap?” We all know women can and do compete for the most prestigious, powerful and lucrative positions in the workplace. But women continue to be uniquely equipped for the bearing and nurturing of children, and as a group they tend to eschew the more time- and energy-demanding jobs to fill this unique role. Even some feminists are now realizing that different biologic makeups may account for different niches in the social puzzle.

Today’s women don’t need a heightened sense of victimization. The unhealthy gender self-consciousness displayed in Hirsch’s article only hinders women from getting on with life and adds to some of the most unfortunate female stereotypes. There’s nothing so debilitating as feeling perpetually aggrieved.

Why not stop the silly gender issues crusade and put our energies into being the best, most honorable, productive and loving people we can be, regardless of gender? The rewards of such living are ample. Jenny Edminster Colbert

Ezzo method barbarous

I read with astonishment your coverage of the Ezzo method of child rearing. It should have been an expose, not a report.

Any normal adult can see the obvious abuse. An infant feels hunger pains, a “natural” reaction to an empty stomach. But instead of feeding and nurturing this hungry child ,these torturers use its hunger pains to manipulate its behavior. Soon the child learns to sleep long hours to avoid the painful and terrifying feelings of starvation, which is what any depressed human being learns to do.

Sadly, these infants grow into depressed adults who don’t understand why they feel lost and unloved, why the whole world seems a crazy and terrifying place. Alone, frightened and not understanding the childhood source of their terrified feelings, these adults flee to sanctuaries that are as full of insanity and abuse as their homes were. They find fundamentalist churches where they feel “right at home,” where the patterns of abuse continue, i.e. where Ezzo methods are accepted.

To begin to understand and break the cycle of abuse they would first have to realize their own parents loved them so little they would rather starve them into acceptable behavior than be awakened in the middle of the night by infantile sobs of hunger. Such moments of self-awareness are too painful for most of them to reexperience.

These fundamentalists need better training. We should put them into concentration camps and starve them into decent behavior. George Thomas Spokane

Parenting plan flawed

Mothers and fathers following the parenting methods described in the Jan. 22 article about “Preparation for parenting,” I hope you will consider these questions:

When you are hungry, do you force yourself to wait until dinner time to eat or do you fix yourself a snack? How many times larger are you than an infant? Don’t you both deserve the right to eat when hungry?

When you awaken at night from a bad dream or in pain, do you tough it out alone or do you sometimes reach for your partner? Just knowing someone is there makes you feel better, right? Why do you expect a baby to be stronger than you?

When my children were young I fed them when they were hungry and I was up with them at night. Yes, I was tired, but I do not regret a minute of it. Those years pass quickly, and I’m glad my son and daughter learned early on that they have parents who respect and respond to their needs. I believe it is with that kind of care that children grow up to respect and care for others. Betsy Eldenburg Spokane

IN THE PAPER

Pictures reveal unfairness

Your photojournalistic bias, as evidenced in the Jan. 23 front page report of pro-life and pro-abortion gatherings, was clumsily obvious.

The warm, colorful photo of the abortion-on-demand group portrayed 7 percent of the reported crowd of 275 in 61.75 square inches. The colorless, dehumanized shadows of the pro-life gathering pictured .4 percent of your reported crowd estimate in a 14.3-square-inch photo. The attention-getting photos shamelessly belie the content of the accompanying article.

On the upside, you provided a “teachable moment” with my junior higher as I pointed out the ease with which popular opinion is manipulated in an image-driven culture. Richard Porter Spokane

‘Tectonic plates don’t discriminate’

(Staff cartoonist) Milt Priggee’s editorial cartoon of Jan. 22 implying that the Kobe earthquake was some sort of divine retribution for Japan’s trade restrictions on Washington state apples was sickening and barbaric.

Putting a jab about apple imports into a cartoon that also depicts great human suffering is incongruous and inappropriate. Tectonic plates don’t discriminate when it comes to economic policy and agricultural commodities.

Besides embarrassing Spokane, Priggee’s work reveals his tenuous grasp on the objectives of editorial cartoons. It fails to provide wit, insight or social astuteness. Rather, it is an illustration of astoundingly bad taste and vitriol.

I haven’t checked yet but am fairly confident other editorial cartoonists in the U.S., if they comment on the Kobe disaster, will portray it with compassion and sorrow.

I fervently hope Japanese citizens living in Spokane, students at Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute and the people of our sister city, Nishinomiya, do not believe this cartoon represents the beliefs of Spokane. Many of us feel immense sadness about the death and destruction in Kobe. Liz Wavada Veradale

Cartoon promotes polarization

(Staff cartoonist) Milt Priggee’s personal bias certainly was evident when he painted pro-life people as radical extremists who believe in murder (cartoon, Jan. 21). I thought journalists and the news media were governed by a code of ethics. Apparently, Mr. Priggee is not familiar with the word “ethics” or what it means. Mr. Priggee is in a position to do a lot of good. Instead, he chose - freely, I might add -to add gasoline to the fire and to further polarize our community.

I thank Rebecca Nappi for her unbiased and levelheaded coverage of abortion issues. Apparently, some editors are good stewards of the gifts and talents they possess. Don Kaufmann Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Trauma center plan a good one

Spokane must retain both trauma centers. If I understand correctly, there are state-of-the-art trauma centers at Spokane’s two major hospitals. Maintenance of both on a full-time, 24-hour schedule is costly and a duplication of services. A plan to have them in service on alternating weeks has been presented. Why is there any question as to this being the best possible arrangement?

Spokane has known, as has Japan, vulnerability to disaster. The hauling of flammables and other hazardous materials through the heart of the city is a never-ceasing threat. Tornadoes frequently travel in other states, but the renegades can strike this area. A few years ago a small one dropped down between Troy and Libby, Mont., 125 miles from Spokane. One woman was killed in her home. Had the tornado hit either of those towns, particularly had it struck a school, it would have been a major disaster.

With the two trauma centers functioning as offered, they could both begin near-full operation on an hour’s notice. All small town volunteer ambulance personnel have frequent training exercises.

So what is the question? Stella Reese Troy, Mont.

Act to prevent proposed change

Idaho parents, educators and friends who are interested in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or ADA need to become educated, involved and united. Two issues need your immediate attention.

As stated by the Idaho Council on Developmental Disabilities, “If IDEA becomes classified as an unfunded mandate, children with disabilities will possibly receive only the educational services the state decides to provide.”

Contact Sen. Dirk Kempthorne, co-sponsor of the unfunded mandate bill, to ask that IDEA reauthorizations be specifically removed from the bill.

The Idaho State Plan 1995-96, IDEA, is open for public comment Feb. 6 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Moscow School District Board Room, 410 E. Third St. You may provide written comment to the Idaho State Department of Education prior to Feb. 24.

We must ensure a state plan that continues providing a free and appropriate education for children with disabilities.

Contact the Idaho State Department of Education to receive a copy of the state plan and the preschool application. Call your local school district special education section for names and phone numbers of local and state support groups.

Plan now to carpool to Moscow. Attend the meeting nearest you the end of January to prepare for the public hearing. Prepare your comments for Feb. 6, responding to specific sections in the plan.

Don’t be complacent. Students with disabilities could again be in the back rooms and basements of the recent past. Doris Matz Sagle, Idaho

Dog’s story cause for outrage

I would like to say a few words on behalf of Charlie, the German shepherd that had been starved.

I was absolutely horrified and outraged at the fact that the woman who allegedly neglected and starved such a beautiful dog could still be considered his owner and had the right to make the decision to have him killed. How could anyone that was involved in that particular case still consider that woman had any rights? Where was Charlie’s right to live? Did anyone bother to ask him what he wanted?

And she was going to be issued a citation, which is nothing more than the equivalent of a parking ticket. Boy, that oughta teach her a lesson she’ll never forget!

I am totally appalled at how little value is placed on the lives of those who show us nothing but unconditional love and complete loyalty. I’m sure that Charlie still wagged his tail and licked the hand that neglected and starved him, as she ordered his life to end.

At least, wherever Charlie is now it has to be a much better place than where he was before, and he’ll never have to suffer pain and abuse again. Judy Picard Twisp, Wash.

Better to just skip B-29 exhibit

I find it totally shocking that The Smithsonian Institution is going to display the Enola Gay as an exhibit. In the way it’s going to do this, it is giving the impression the United States was some bad guy, that we just picked Japan out of the blue and bombed it just for the hell of it.

World opinion tends to ignore the reasons for these bombings.

For one thing, we saved a million American lives, plus more lives of our allies, by dropping those bombs.

Secondly, Japan started the war. Not only did the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, which was a treacherous act, they invaded Manchuria, China, Indochina, Korea and the Philippines. And all the Japanese people were yelling banzai and everything was fine and dandy until they started getting bombs dropped on their heads.

Having started the war, they got what they asked for.

Why don’t all the idiots running around here yelling about it and saying what we did was wrong stop and think for one minute. If we hadn’t dropped the bomb, one of their grandfathers might have gotten killed in a Japanese invasion and they might not be around today to preach the idiocy they are currently preaching. William Hall Spokane