Letters To The Editor
IDAHO VIEWPOINT
Captives’ story filled a gap
I was very pleased to see the recent article (“Separated POW brothers slow learn of surrender,” SR, Sept. 3) about civilian workers on Wake Island who were captured by the Japanese after the beginning of World War II. There seems to have been little written about these men during the recent retrospectives, and I’m glad to see them receiving some recognition.
My father-in-law, Fred Rumpel, was one of those men. He was 41 when he volunteered for construction on Wake Island and left behind his wife and four children. Money was hard to come by, just coming out of the Depression, and this was a way to support his family. I suspect many of these workers were of the same age group.
Dad survived the labor camps and returned home to quietly take up his life again. He never talked about his experiences and it wasn’t until he was in his 70s that he put to paper his account of the years spent as a prisoner. Dad was a man small in stature and seemed an unlikely hero, but he certainly was to his family.
Thank you for the article and for reminding people that there were other men of courage, along with the ones in uniform. Karen Rumpel Kellogg
SPOKANE MATTERS
Science center could raise sights
Amid all the hatred and violence emerging in our city, I would like to see a positive place for our families. The science center would be such a place.
Science stimulates the mind and expands our world in numerous ways. The science center will not only educate, but will also show our children there’s a wonderful place of hopes and dreams, a place that stretches the imagination. Science develops a whole new way of thinking, more logical and precise, that can be utilized throughout our lives, not just in a classroom.
Not all our children will become scientists. That’s not what the science center is about. It’s about challenging us to become our best by showing us our greatest accomplishments. It’s about giving our children and ourselves a chance to make a difference.
Please, don’t deny us such a wonderful opportunity to enrich our lives. Vote yes for the science center on Sept. 19. Deborah Knutson Spokane
Benefits for future generations
With fireworks and great fanfare, Expo ‘74, an environmental world’s fair, opened 21 years ago at Riverfront Park. When the Spokane Science Center opens in the former site of the U.S. Pavilion, the event will certainly be no less significant.
Expo ‘74 educated Spokane children and adults for half a year. If Spokane voters exercise wisdom and vote to approve the science center on Sept. 19, quality scientific exhibits and hands-on activities will excite and educate Spokanites for generations to come.
Anyone who has visited the Pacific Science Center knows what an asset it is to Seattle-area children. Now, those wondrous opportunities can be made available to our own children as well - without costing taxpayers money. All that is needed is the approval of Spokane voters.
For the children, for a better Spokane, vote yes on Sept. 19 for the science center. Jeff Halstead Spokane
For the kids, support libraries
As a longtime member of a local school board, I continue to struggle with ways to improve our educational system within the budgetary constraints and social climate that exists.
The proposed bond issue being sought by the Spokane County Library District is very necessary to improve that system. The library district will, at no cost to the schools, provide services that are greatly needed by our kids. In addition, the computer upgrades planned will bring that facility to a state-of-the-art level that all of us can enjoy.
I personally endorse a yes vote next Tuesday and urge all persons concerned with education to do likewise. The request is modest, practical and well thought out.
Seek answers to any questions you have at your local library and support this effort. Jim Williams Spokane
Convert illegally placed signs
Your Sept. 5 edition devoted space to what is apparently illegal use of the public domain for electioneering purposes - putting campaign signs on public property and the laxity in and costs of enforcement. Here’s a simple, inexpensive solution.
The area is inundated with yard and garage sales, especially on weekends. Why shouldn’t these prospective sellers uproot illegally placed signs, reverse the cardboard so the printing is to the back, print their own advertisements and arrows on them and then put them up in appropriate locations (legally and/or with permission, of course)? This won’t eliminate the problem but will probably give the offending candidates heartburn. Lee Rivin Spokane
IN THE PUBLIC EYE
Hold the hankie; Pass the barf bag
In 1972, then-Sen. Edmund Muskie, D-Me., was forced out of the Democratic presidential primary because his eyes moistened at a new conference in New Hampshire when he was asked about a vicious political attack on his wife. Those were the good old days.
It is right and proper for men to cry over genuine emotional tragedies, e.g., Randy Weaver recalling the death of his wife and son.
But the spectacle on Thursday of senators weeping over the resignation of Sen. Bob Packwood is almost as repulsive as what Packwood did.
Sens. Larry Craig and Mark Hatfield are reported to have embraced Packwood and cried - a couple of weteyed, whimpering wimps.
With full knowledge of Packwood’s record, they should have thrown up. Scott W. Reed Coeur d’Alene
Senator tramples First Amendment
On Labor Day 1995, Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kans., addressed a convention of the American Legion. In a clear attempt to pander to big-money conservatives, he called for an end to the teaching of objective history, to be replaced by a program of sanitized, jingoistic indoctrination.
This was largely overlooked because he also demanded that life for those not yet fluent in English be made a great deal harder by the government’s declaring that English alone is the official language of the United States.
Who does Bob Dole think he is? If I choose to speak my mind in Gaelic, the language of my Irish ancestors, what business is it of his? This is a clear attempt to infringe upon the free-speech guarantee of the First Amendment.
I trust that all those Roundtable writers who have been so vocal in their defense of the Second Amendment will now join me in this protest. That whirling sound you hear must be James Madison!
The majority of those who cheered Dole’s proposal couldn’t have even been in that room if their ancestors had had to live with such a law. It’s also safe to bet that most of those who cheered the loudest couldn’t pass the test they give to college freshman who want to avoid having to take Bonehead English.
Will the next move be language police, so nobody can have savoir- faire or chutzpah?
Et tu, Bobby? Edward B. Keeley Spokane
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Push for campaign reform bill
Chris Farnam (“Rotten system can, must be fixed,” Letters, Sept. 2) suggests that the survival of freedom and democracy requires passing legitimate campaign finance reforms. A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 19, 1995, by Rep. Linda Smith, R-Wash., will blast special interest government into oblivion.
Provisions of this act, HR2072, the Clean Congress Act of 1995, include:
Requires all contributions from individuals be raised from within a candidate’s state.
Bans contributions from political action committees.
Cuts off franking - taxpayer paid mailings - for the 90 days just prior to all elections.
Bans gifts to members of Congress, members of their staff and members of their families.
This bill has been referred to four House committees and will languish therein until we, the people who really want our vote to count, force it out onto the floor of the House. This won’t happen just because a few of us want it to. It will take the concentrated effort of us all telling our representatives that we’re aware of the Clean Congress Act of 1995 and expect consideration of that bill and a vote on HR2072 during this session of the 104th Congress.
On several occasions during his campaign, Rep. George Nethercutt stated he favored term limits. That amendment, which would have required the approval of 38 states, failed to pass in this session. If HR2072 becomes law, we won’t need term limits.
Take big money out of the equation. Each vote really does count. Jon J. Tuning Spokane
Gingrich et al - bad to verse
When I look out and see how House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his goons are raping our beloved country, a verse from Oliver Goldsmith keeps running through my mind:
“Ill fares the land, to hast’ning ills aprey, where wealth accumulates and men decay.” William “Bill” Bondurant Pinehurst, Idaho
LAW AND JUSTICE
Another raw deal for taxpayers
I would be interested in knowing just where the money will come from to settle the Gypsy $40 million lawsuit.
As a taxpaying citizen of this county and state, I feel that it’s grossly unfair to all taxpayers to have our tax dollars pay for a lawsuit in which we had no fault.
Mr. Marks is correct in saying that we should hold all persons’ civil and human rights in the highest regard. However, this also includes the civil rights of the taxpayers of this city and state, when people are awarded such high dollar amounts in compensation that it then takes money away from other programs that could benefit all people.
While I realize some sort of compensation should be offered, I feel such a multimillion-dollar penalty is an extraordinary amount. Most people could work a lifetime and not accumulate that amount of money.
Our judicial system should look closely at the high dollar amounts being awarded to people, most of which will eventually be paid by taxpayers. I am tired of my money being wasted in needless and unnecessary ways.
It’s also worth mentioning that although our police department didn’t go about the raid in an appropriate manner, it had reason to believe there was illegal activity. This was confirmed by the raid in which police recovered a large amount of cash along with other articles that were determined to have been stolen. Cheryl Ann Acker Spokane
Justice not blind to resources
The law, in its sublime justice, forbids the rich as well as the poor from sleeping under bridges. When the Spokane police made a raid under the city’s bridges, there didn’t happen to be rich people living there at the time, so sublime justice couldn’t be applied.
However, there’s still an opportunity to show fairness. When the grandson of a 72-year-old woman allegedly grew some marijuana plants in her basement, the authorities triumphantly seized her home, which she had slowly paid off in small monthly amounts over many years (“Grandmother, 72, may lose home in war on drugs,” SR, Sept. 1). The authorities thus took everything she had.
The heir to the Paulsen fortune was found to be involved with really hard drugs. It will be interesting to see if the authorities will have enough courage to impound his inheritance.
It takes more courage to kick the rich than the poor, when they’re down. Don’t hold your breath. Clyde F. Jarvis Spokane
OTHER TOPICS
Female Elks? Hey, yes, over here
I read in this morning’s paper that the Elks lodges in Lewiston and Grangeville have voted to restrict their membership to men only. I hope my lodge in Deer Lodge, Mont., comes up for a vote on it. I’ve been a member of the Elks for 26 years.
For 26 years I’ve attended meetings of a bunch of men who thought that it was their obligation to be there. They are a nice enough group of guys but I’d rather sit around and eyeball a bunch of ladies.
After the meeting the bar opens and you sit around making conversation with someone who brags about his hunting and fishing exploits when he can’t even remember what he had for breakfast.
The older motherly and grandmotherly types would be a great benefit for the potlucks, and we could even maybe luck out with a bunch of younger gals in miniskirts. I can, even now, see some of the old drooping heads come alive and their eyes pop open.
Let the ladies join the Elks? Your damn tootin’! I’d vote yes twice if I got the chance. Waldo Larson Laclede
Paper fails to direct hate at sin
Regarding “Opinions are part of newspaper’s job” on Sept. 3.
First, I applaud the gentlemen who canceled his subscription. The Spokesman-Review isn’t the only source of information. It only thinks and act like it is.
Second, I would like to recommend Editor Chris Peck for the Hot Seat for his arrogant “like-it-or-lump-it” attitude - one that permeates the liberal media.
The vast majority of us who are insulted by the SR’s perpetual leftist hedonism are trying to change the world. It’s painfully obvious we can’t expect media cooperation. We do expect unbiased reporting of the facts - information that is relevant, timely and accurately reported; not the promotion of ungodly agendas or fueling the flames of controversy for profit’s sake.
Case in point: Are Dexter Amend’s callous idiocies front page newsworthy day after day? I think not. Why repeatedly brandish Amend and others, who are intolerant of evil, as bigoted hatemongers? The answer is obvious: SR editors feel theirs is the superior conscience; they must serve as protectors of the downtrodden, wrongly oppressed homosexuals, abortionists, transvestites, prostitutes and every other form of deranged self-and-Satan servers who belong in mental hospitals or prisons.
Blatant endorsements being passed off as news is what’s objectionable. Tolerance - not intolerance - is what is killing us and our children. Hate is great when directed toward sin.
All too often your paper is not thought-provoking - it’s just provoking. If you want to change the world, change your newspaper. Steve Daley Spokane
NC-17 and we’re out of there
Regarding your Sept. 8 article on the NC-17-rated movie, “Showgirls,” being shown in local mall multiplexes. Is it just me or does it seem like a bad idea to draw the kind of unsavory characters this movie is going to attract to the same theater we take our children to to see G- and PG-rated family movies?
I, for one, don’t intend to ever attend a theater that has an NC-17-rated movie playing. There’s no movie I want to see that bad. I’ll stay home with my VCR. Whitney Hooper Spokane
Correction
A word in Ron McArthur’s Sept. 10 letter, “Again, city council muffs it,” received by phone, was misinterpreted. The third paragraph should read:
For a fleeting moment, the members seemed to come to a compromise that would have satisfied the ostensive need for accessory unit dwellings (granny flats) in singlefamily neighborhoods, while allaying the fears of residents in those neighborhoods.