Letters To The Editor

HIGHER EDUCATION

Research: Too much of a good thing

I agree with Dr. Yves Nievergelt’s Feb. 20 letter on the merits and necessity of research in a college program.

A person would be hard pressed to question his reasoning, except for one major point. The pendulum on research has swung too far to one side. When most classes are being taught by less-qualified instructors while full professors are doing research, a hard look should be taken at the institution’s educational philosophy.

When four-year degrees are extended to five years and beyond because a student can’t complete a major due to lack of classes and instructors - people off doing research - it’s time to come up with a better solution. Either hire more instructors while others are on sabbatical or limit research. Most of all, make sure research benefits all concerned, not just a professor trying to better his own situation.

The bottom line need for students is getting the best education at a reasonable cost in a reasonable time frame. In many cases, this need is not being met. James A. Nelson Spokane

Prosecuting satire a foolish waste

When did our college campuses become so serious? Doug Clark’s Feb. 22 column regarding the letter circulating on Eastern Washington University’s campus and authored by someone other than the alleged writer, Dr. Mark Drummond, brought back memories of The Rag.

This journalistic endeavor was published at least once every quarter at EWU by unknown individuals and contained classic college satire. The one consistent thing was, “When is Dr. Patterson going to let his wife out of the attic?” Dr. Patterson was our highly respected president, who chose wisely to let this material go unchallenged and made no attempt to remove said material from campus locations.

Since some of the authors are now prominent members of the Spokane business community or decorated and valued officers of our armed forces, names will not be mentioned here, but they were not criminals. They were college students taking a break from finals, etc.

It’s criminal to think of attempting to prosecute the writer of the letter in question and to spend tax money for an investigation. Clyda C. Carver Spokane

WASHINGTON STATE

Passing I-200 will escalate unfairness

Citizens of Washington, you may soon be asked to vote on Initiative 200. A vote for I-200 would abolish affirmative action in our state.

Before you vote yes, take a drive on our highways and look at the racial makeup of the companies working on them. The next time you visit a college campus, look at the racial makeup. The next time you renew your driver’s license or see a state trooper, look at the racial makeup of those serving you.

Minority people are not taking your jobs, scholarships or your contracts. Minority- and women-owned businesses are only asking for a fair chance to do business in this great state.

Backers of I-200 tell us that if passed, fair practices in education, employment and contracting would be open to all. I disagree.

In January, here in Spokane County, the director, staff and board of directors at Spokane International Airport passed over a qualified minority business that had the lowest price and awarded a three-year janitorial contract to a company in Tukwila, Wash., paying it $84,000 more per year. If public entities would rather pay a quarter of a million dollars more over three years to a non-minority business, how can we as minority people expect fairness in the private sector? Mel Carter Spokane

Vehicle tax basis excessive, uncalled for

Ignorance is bliss, but it is also terribly expensive for the state’s passenger car owners.

Until recently, I had assumed that the basis of the excise tax collected on my car was the fair market value of the car, as had been the case for many years. I discovered such was the case from 1937 until Sept. 1, 1990.

In 1990, the Legislature amended the law to read the “manufacturer’s suggested retail price” (MSRP) as the vehicle’s value and basis for the excise tax to be collected. The Legislature, at the same time, set up a formula whereby for the first and second years of “service” of the vehicle, the excise tax rate (currently 2.2 percent) would be applied to 100 percent of the MSRP. The third year the vehicle is licensed, the MSRP is reduced by 9 percent and the 2.2 percent rate is applied to that figure. For the next 10 years, the MSRP is reduced alternately by 8 and 9 percent per year until it reaches 10 percent of the MSRP, where it remains for as long as the vehicle is licensed.

I purchased a 1995 vehicle with 30,000 miles on it in January 1996. The MSRP was $10,496 higher than the fair market value. As a result, I paid $1,545 in excise taxes, rather than the $915 I would have paid under the fair market method.

No wonder the state has so much excess tax money. Better not complain, though, or they might find a MSRP for our homes. Russ Goodman Davenport, Wash.

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Hypocrisy in education bill

Rep. Peggy Johnson, R-Shelton, introduced HB2019 this session (Republican Reps. Brad Benson, Mark Sterk, and Bob Sump are also sponsors). The intent of the bill is to improve reading scores by mandating the use of systematic decoding instruction (phonics) in K-12 for schools with low reading scores.

There was a public outcry against the bill because it takes curriculum control from local school boards, mandates exclusive use of phonics instruction and prohibits teaching other strategies to identify a word.

The number of the bill has been changed to HB3124 and the wording of the bill has been changed to match SB65O9. Both bills are now $12 million grants that school districts can apply for. Opposition remains because districts can’t access the money unless they use a phonics program. The Legislature is controlling the curricula of local districts or denying them tax dollars.

The paradox is that U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton held a news conference with the Republican leadership in Olympia last week promoting his idea of block grants of federal money to local school districts with few restrictions. State Republican leaders said they support Gorton’s plan as part of their goal to “decentralize” education decisions in Washington.

When questioned, the Republicans rejected criticism that HB3124-SB65O9 is a state-mandated curriculum and denied acting as a giant state school board - something they’ve accused the federal government of doing. Hmmmm?

Please call to support local control at 1-800-562-6000 and also have your message sent to Gov. Gary Locke. Mary Anne Stuckart Spokane

Dutch schools prove phonics work

I live in The Netherlands, but Spokane is my home of record and that is why I follow the news in your online edition. Regarding the article “Fox still pushing phonics instruction,” (Feb. 24), phonics instruction in elementary schools is the norm in Europe and is very successful.

All three of my American children were sent to Dutch schools because I believed they would receive an educational advantage not available in the U.S. This turned out to be the case.

For example, my oldest son started Dutch school in the first grade - speaking no Dutch. By second grade, he not only was fluent in Dutch but, via phonics, could read English very well. My mother sent a used U.S. fourth-grade reader and he read all the stories, out loud, to his younger siblings. So a fourth-grade reader, guaranteed to be a challenge to an American fourth-grade sight reader, posed no problems for a second-grader in a Dutch school.

All my children benefited from their Dutch education and they all have university degrees. Each speaks three languages. Teaching sight reading is criminal and should immediately be replaced by phonics. Constance J. Keylard The Hague, Netherlands

Phonics just aren’t enough

Enough already! How can legislators in Olympia mandate teaching phonics when they don’t have a clue?

After more than 30 years of teaching kids to read, I found phonics a tool, and a good one, but not the only one. Many methods and combinations of methods are needed to reach each child. One method will not get it.

Think of all the things teachers are being required to teach: about AIDS, sex education, abstinence - and then be sure and test the children often on the basics!

I’m retired now, but when I think of the time our many good teachers spend trying to get all this done in one day, it hurts my head. The people in Olympia need to come to the real world. Joyce Behrens Grand Coulee

Spare us poorly rounded graduates

I used to live in Spokane, and my mother-in-law still lives in Hayden Lake, so I read with interest “History may be history,” (Feb. 13). We don’t need more and more individuals who know less and less of the past and the world. Why not just have MTV award diplomas? Wm. J. “Bim” Lindsey Ocean Park, Wash.

Help stop untested program

As Andy James pointed out in his Feb. 22 Street Level column, there is increasing frustration about the current state of our public schools from parents and teachers alike.

Many people are unaware that before members of the Legislature took on the issue of charter schools, they passed an education reform law currently called State Assessments. Reforms will be implemented this spring when a state assessment exam will be given to all fourth-graders in public schools; seventh- and 10th-grade exams will be added.

Though the reform program has been in the works for five years, it is now being implemented at the kindergarten level, which would give schools time to prepare students and teachers for the fourth-grade exam. Also, there are valid questions concerning the outcome of implementing a program not fully tested.

In response, a petition has been created to delay implementation of state assessment exams until these questions have concrete answers. It is important to note that the authors of the petition fully support responsible public school education reform. Implementing a state-mandated program without having it fully tested is unacceptable.

Please contact me at 326-8035, Joanne England at 325-1586 or David Bray at 328-7007 for more information, if you would help gather signatures or to show support by signing the petition. Colleen M. Lippert Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Second chances partly what society’s for

Regarding Spokane’s Second Chance program and that drug rehab center. I believe in second chances. When I was a child, I thought we ought to ship offenders off to some remote island where they couldn’t hurt anyone except themselves. God, having a terrific sense of humor, decided I needed to learn something.

Someone very close to me got in trouble with the law. Given my childish notion, the prospect of seeing that loved one shipped off to that remote island looked pathetically inadequate. That was my introduction to the idea of second chances.

With crime rates as they are, a second chance may be the last thing on anyone’s mind. Some people make terrible choices, breaking the law and hurting others as well as themselves. Don’t we have a responsibility to teach members of our communities how to make the right choices? Someone once said it takes more grace to save a good man than to save a bad one.

I can’t find any reference (Biblical or otherwise) to this attitude of “Not in my neighborhood. Just move your effort to reform sinners down the road.”

Certain individuals simply do not possess the social skills to exist within social boundaries. Human evil seems almost as fathomless as human goodness. However, if we don’t allow reform of our “offenders” within the community, what’s the lesson to be learned from society? We don’t stone or dismember people any longer for the crimes they commit. We’re far too civilized for that. Now, we simply ostracize them and those who attempt to reform them.

After they’ve paid their debt to society and try to move in positive directions, shouldn’t we just put down our self-righteous stones and show them we believe in second chances? Karen L. VanDyke Coeur d’Alene

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Clark overplayed one bad experience

After reading Doug Clark’s column pillorying the Social Security Administration in general, and the Coeur d’Alene office in particular, I think some balance should be brought to the picture.

My wife died unexpectedly in May 1997. I applied for Social Security survivor’s benefits for our teenage daughter after my wife’s death. Within two weeks, we received the first benefit check. I changed accounts for the automatic deposit of my daughter’s benefits. The switch was done expeditiously and without any problem. The death benefit due me, as spouse, was also received within the time period that I was told to expect.

However, it took seven and a half months, several letters and a number of phone calls to get my wife’s employer, a very large national corporation, to send a check for her unused sick leave. Trying to find out why an insurance company delayed paying benefits for five months after application was impossible.

I found the employees at the Coeur d’Alene Social Security office courteous and efficient. I have the highest respect for their professionalism.

Please don’t use one person’s problems to make out that all “government bureaucrats” could hardly care less about the public they serve. I might take the inference that all newsmen care less about objectivity than about sensationalism. W.L. Weseman Hayden Lake, Idaho

Defense of Clinton won’t wash

Say what, Andy Kelly (Letters, Feb. 15)? President Clinton has eliminated President Reagan’s gigantic national debt? President Reagan alone hardly gave us a national debt of nearly $5 trillion. This has gone up to over $6 trillion since Clinton took office.

The deficit is way down thanks to the first Republican Congress in over 40 years. Presidents Reagan and Bush spent a lot of our tax dollars rebuilding our military, which Clinton has cut by 40 percent.

Kelly stated the nation is in the best shape in over half a century. If that’s true, why did Congress practically have to hog-tie Clinton to get welfare reform passed? Eileen R. Deaton Spokane

U.S. AND THE WORLD

There’s irony in Clinton position

I wonder if President Clinton watched CNN’s town meeting on Iraq. If so, it must have brought back memories to him of the days he demonstrated against another war this country was involved in. One also wonders how he feels to be in the reverse position. This more than likely would not be a popular war, either, Mr. President. J.E. Carpenter Coeur d’Alene

Bid for ‘blind patriotism’ undemocratic

According to Opinion editor John Webster’s Feb. 19 editorial, all who would voice disagreement with a presidential decision to bomb Iraq would somehow be abrogating their responsibilities as Americans to show appropriate loyalty and patriotism, and would fail to properly support our troops. I vehemently disagree.

If we follow Webster’s school of blind patriotism, we can forget any aspirations to, or claims of, being a democratic people. “Supporting our troops” has nothing to do with expressing disagreement with what those troops have been ordered to do. It’s systems and policies that I disagree with (and protest when necessary). Individuals, including the president, function only as cogs in those systems.

The blind patriotism Webster advocates works against the democratic ideals the patriotism supposedly protects. During the Persian Gulf War, it was this blindness and the war rage that frequently accompanies it, that contributed to an increase in hate crimes against Arab Americans.

We must consistently maintain our rights to free thought and free speech with regard to any policy, proposed or implemented. Democracy always has room for dissent. Elizabeth A. Moore director, Spokane Progressive Alliance