Letters To The Editor

GOVERNMENT/POLITICS

Pre-election coverage lacking

Regarding the concern about a low voter turnout, I think many people simply did not know to vote or who to vote for. Radio and television are lax in pre-election coverage, but the newspaper did a good job of supplying information. I read it carefully and chose the candidates who had a realistic, common-sense approach to the issues.

Anyone who has an opinion about what goes on around them should vote. It doesn’t take very long and it makes you feel good to do your part.

At the rate things are going, in the near future there will be another bridge across the river downtown and the city’s name will be changed to Spokane Falls. Not very sensible! Joy T. Meek Spokane

Get women, gays out of Army

Re: The Sept. 12 article about sexual harassment in the Army.

I was shocked to learn about the problems facing men in the military since women and homosexuals have been quartered by the U.S. Army.

If your article is accurate, approximately six times as many men as women had to deal with offensive behavior, five times as many men as women had to deal with sexist behavior, four times as many men as women had to deal with unwanted sexual attention, and almost twice as many men as women had to deal with sexual coercion.

Sounds like it’s time to get women and homosexuals out of the Army. George G. Carpenter Odessa, Wash.

Study Initiative 676 carefully

What appears to be a good initiative is cloaked in misrepresentation of the truth. As a father of five children, I believe safety is top priority for my children.

Initiative 676 labels itself as “keeping our children safe.” It has nothing to do with our children’s safety but everything to do with expanding our already too-big government by imposing new laws that are ineffective but cost millions to enforce.

Initiative 676 should be relabeled “gun control for the law-abiding citizens of Washington state.” This initiative will not make one child any safer. As a parent, it is my job to teach my children gun safety, not the government’s. Look at what has happened when we turned sex education and safe sex over to the government. Are we better off now than 25 years ago?

Cars and tobacco kill more children in one year than all handguns have since the beginning of time. It makes more sense to ban all automobiles and tobacco products if we really want to really help our children’s safety. Will we try this?

Please read this initiative carefully when you go to the polls and vote no to more government. Bill J. Sahlberg Spokane

So many questions, so few answers

Questions that need answers:

How much money has Congress borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund to balance the budgets?

American workers since the 1930s have faithfully paid their Social Security taxes, believing that when they retired, their pensions would be available. Why are there speculations now that money will not be available?

When does Congress plan to repay the Social Security Trust Fund?

One option: Cancel all tax cuts in the new budget and transfer that money to the Social Security Trust Fund.

Why do the president, vice president and Congress members have better retirement and health plans than we have? Maurice B. Cauchon Spokane

Vote yes for Conservation Futures

My parents are working with a group to promote the Conservation Futures program because they have concerns for quality of life issues - enjoying, protecting and preserving it. The Conservation Futures program provides funding for the purchase of natural land to be preserved within Spokane County, and it costs only 6 cents per $1,000 assessed value.

I am 16 years old, and I am concerned about some issues, too. I am concerned about my future in Spokane and what Spokane will be like in the years to come. Will it be a place with open space and beautiful green spaces next to homes? Will Spokane be committed to the next generation and to stewardship for the land and wildlife? Will I have the promise that Spokane will preserve natural land, trees, wildlife, green spaces, hiking and riding trails for all to enjoy? Will that be here? Will I want to live here when I’m finished with college? Will it have and be all the things that I treasure so much now?

There will be such places if you vote yes for me and all my friends who are also concerned and cannot vote yet. On Nov. 4, vote yes for the Conservation Futures tax and for all of us to have something we all get enjoyment out of.

By the way, thanks. Alison M. Biggs Spokane

SCHOOL MATTERS

Test results criminal

My child will be ready for school in three years and I am terrified.

The results of the tests in District 81 are criminal. My child doesn’t have the time for a “long-term plan to reform education.” Does yours? How long will we be chasing after that carrot they are holding before us?

Previously, I asked for school vouchers, but now I am demanding them. When four out of five children cannot meet mathematics standards and fewer than 50 percent meet reading and writing standards, this indicates a crisis. Unquestionably.

If two-thirds of our children have listening skills, the tests prove that they are not hearing anything worth noting. We cannot blame the children but must assign blame on the system itself. All I am asking is the power to direct my child to a school that has demonstrated a solid track record. My years of paying taxes could provide a voucher that would more than meet the costs.

In a free society, choice must be an option. My alternative is to home school because there is no possibility that I will condemn my son to a system that is in meltdown. He is too important to me. How important is your child to you? Michael Michels Spokane

Clue us in to questions

Would you please publish some of the questions that were asked on the new fourth-grade tests, as well as details on grading? The Yakima School District is publishing some of the test questions in the Yakima Herald to acquaint the public with the contents and format.

It is my understanding that the presentation of the problems and the essay format that is required in the answers are not familiar to current fourth-graders, thus the poor results.

Parents would be wise to take the tests themselves - I’ll bet the results would be quite embarrassing! Liz I. Mostad Spokane

Less busing, more teachers could help

I am trying not to be cynical, but am I the only one who is mildly astonished that School District 81 could not manage to accommodate an increase of 71 elementary school students without resorting to busing students to non-neighborhood schools and disrupting the lives of 38 families? Only 71 more? Above 1996’s total of 17,380 elementary students? Really? That number represents an increase of less than one-half of 1 percent - a change that most responsible businesses would plan for, with relative ease on a routine basis.

And were these 71 so hard to count that they couldn’t be tallied and arranged for before school began? Astonishing.

As for maximum class size of 29, it seems that “maximum” should refer to an outside limit, not an average for evening out or leveling purposes.

Perhaps a few less bus runs would help pay for a few more teachers and preserve neighborhood schools. Our family moved to Spokane in June, tried to enroll then, were told to wait until August, then were penalized for “enrolling among the last.” We were never told about these rules, but my 10-year-old was booted out of his school with only hours notice in school district 361. He was not permitted to return for even one more day, despite my request. No time to say goodbye to anyone. His school supplies were still in his desk with his name tag on them.

What a nice welcome to the ways of Spokane schools! Janice L. Keith Spokane

Maybe test isn’t to blame

I recently watched on KREM-TV news a live interview with District 81 Superintendent Dr. Livingston. He tried to explain away our fourth-graders’ 80-percent failure rate in the newest assessment tests.

Dr. Livingston gave the impression that there was no real concern because this test was real hard. Even Associate Superintendent Cynthia Lambarth was quoted in the Sept. 12 Spokesman-Review as saying these kids “were being asked to perform tasks more difficult than they’ve been taught before.”

What were these difficult tasks? According to Livingston, the students were asked to simply explain how they arrived at their answer. He even picked a difficult example: Determine which is the better deal, six items at $1.99 each or a package deal of six for $13.99.

Why wouldn’t any student with the logical answer be able to explain their thought processes? Rather than blame the “difficult” test, let’s look at our teaching methods.

I’ll bet any money, Dr. Livingston, that our present fourth-graders measure up to any other class of like kind. Please, sir, allow our teachers to share their wisdom without worry of being reprimanded for their creativity. Any more procrastination by your administration will result in more and more support for a voucher system of education. Michael Wiman Spokane

IN THE PAPER

Tip provided a scenic drive

Thanks, Doug Clark, for the travel tip. I’ve discovered a new route downtown via Garfield and Rockwood. It’s a scenic drive through a whiny (winding) neighborhood! Janet E. Baden Spokane

Where’s the diversity?

Great pictures of the new hires at The Spokesman-Review. Great diversity. It’s absolutely wonderful! White men and white women. R.N. Nichols Spokane

Reviewer misunderstands ‘old days’

Re: the review of the Loverboy-ZZ Top concert that your new so-called entertainment columnist, Winda Benedetti, wrote.

Not only has Benedetti given us her completely biased opinion, she has managed to insult an entire generation that grew up listening to music such as ZZ Top and Loverboy.

She, along with a whole new generation of kids, should realize that back in the old days, we didn’t need to be angry all the time, and music, no matter the format, was a whole lot of fun back then. Whether it be tongue-incheek or not, the fact remains that the good old days are coming back.

And, of course, ZZ Top sounds like, well, ZZ Top. I’m sure glad they don’t sound like Marilyn Manson! John M. Conne Spokane

Other topics

Menopause cause for celebration

It’s nice we as a society are now able to talk about menopause without shame. Ronna Synder’s Sept. 14 report on menopause offered a wealth of medical/alternative information highly beneficial in many ways. I thank the contributors for their helpful and encouraging advice.

However, I was offended by the line, “Menopause causes dramatic physical and emotional changes.” This sounded more like a fear-based tabloid header than an article on a transitional phase in life. Even the word “cope” (as it was used) sounded like menopausal women have a terminal disease.

How about saying “may cause” and listing some positive ways women can meet this sometimes challenging transition?

The sidebar implied that all menopausal women have the symptoms listed, but failed to bring up the benefits of menopause. Many women do suffer from menopause, but what about the women who have few or no symptoms and find menopause nothing more than the end of their menstruation?

All women enter menopause, but they don’t need to believe it’s going to be a journey of depression and ungodly symptoms. This can cause fear, and fear causes disease with the body and mind. Being well-informed and exchanging information with other women is one forgotten suggestion, and with all of Synder’s research, she left out the most important part of menopause: Whether or not women suffer the side effects of menopause, it might be nice for them to know that when it is behind them, they have moved into a celebration of wisdom, extraordinary power and rejuvenation. Michele I. Mokrey Spokane

Language keeps heritage alive

Teaching children in public schools in English only vs. bilingually was the subject of a recent PBS Jim Lehrer news report. The speaker against the former viewpoint told of a 5-year-old girl of Italian extraction who was sent home from kindergarten with a note requesting she be forbidden to speak her mother tongue at home, expediting learning English more easily that way. This automatically cut the child off of any communication with her grandmother, who lived in the home and spoke only Italian.

What a heart-rending situation. For the rest of her remaining seven years, the grandmother no longer had any verbal contact with her granddaughter, whom she loved dearly. How could she be expected to pass on any spiritual values derived from that very same ethnic background?

In my view, this contributes to the breakup of family ties which are so important in the bringing up of children, placing the saving of monetary costs incurred in teaching them bilingually in the public schools over inherent family teachings. Dividing families is not the way to go. It merely causes misunderstandings between individuals that lead to the ultimate in misunderstanding between nations: war. Severing relationships between members of families can be devastating, not only for them but for the country of their choice.

If true freedom is to prevail in America, the land of the brave and free, then immigrants should be allowed to speak their own mother tongue, at least in their own homes, so that rich heritage brought over with them should not be lost. Florence Alexandrowski Spokane