Letters To The Editor
‘TIS THE SEASON
I saw true spirit of Christmas
Dec. 16, while eating lunch at Fitzbillie’s Deli, I noticed an attractive, well-dressed woman come into the restaurant, with two boys following. The difference in the woman and boys’ dress aroused my curiosity.
The boys, approximately 11 or 12 years old, had large rings in their noses, swastikas on their clothes and tattoos on their knuckles - a complete contrast to the woman’s immaculate attire.
I watched as they talked while waiting to be served. The youngest boy talked the most. He had a beautiful smile and seemed genuinely happy to be with the woman. Eventually, the waitress brought meals, but only for the boys. After making sure the boys had what they needed, the woman stood, gave the smiling boy a reassuring pat on the shoulder and left.
I realized then that these boys were homeless and the woman had treated them to a meal. I’ve never been so touched by a person’s actions. She had done what many of us say we would do given the same situation, but I’m not so sure I could be so courageous. When a stranger asks for money for food, it’s so easy to assume they really want drugs or a drink, not make eye contact or to merely say no.
I hope if I’m ever approached by someone in need, I can follow this beautiful woman’s example and give someone my time while giving them a meal. I would like to thank her for her generosity, humbleness, and for making my Christmas especially meaningful. Betsy Ressa Spokane
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
As to DARE, I have a theory
In response to the recent DARE program cut debate:
I went through Catholic schools for my entire 12 years of primary education, and I think that it would be an interesting comparison to check the level of hard core drug involvement between graduates of Catholic schools and those who have graduated DARE programs. I have a feeling this would show that what really keeps people out of drugs is parental involvement in their education and development.
I’ve watched my sister go through grade school and high school in the last few years, and I have seen her resist these things. She has not had a DARE program.
It’s not a program that gives people the common sense and ability to resist bad things, it is the development of values. Catholic schools do work. Christopher Miller Spokane
Better schools up to all of us
Spokane Public Schools serve the city’s children with enthusiasm and caring. What we have realized is that we must change our methods and curriculum to better meet the needs of the students we serve.
As the schools change to become more effective, all of us must become involved in the process and offer support to the schools and the students. Only with full community participation will we be able to meet our children’s needs.
Our public schools have been critical to maintaining a democratic society. That’s the continuing challenge that must be met. The danger, if we fail or grow ineffective, is great.
Our schools must be strong. It’s each citizen’s responsibility to evaluate what’s being done in schools and to work with them to attain the standard of excellence we all desire. This is a continuous process. Our schools will be as effective as we make them. JoAnn Brady Spokane
IN THE PAPER
Test story earns an A-plus
My compliments to staff writer Susan Drumheller on her Dec 16 story, “True or False: Parents believe test scores.” In all my years of dealing with journalists on the subject of test scores, you are light-years ahead of the pack.
I was research director for the West Hartford, Conn., public schools for 10 years and also worked as a consultant on testing in New York, Massachusetts and Maine. I’ve had lots of experience dealing with the press. Your approach is refreshing in that you deal with the issues involved from a variety of perspectives. It is a very complicated subject, despite the general feeling to the opposite.
The article in the Coeur d’Alene Press is a perfect example of how not to present test data. There are so many inaccuracies and misrepresentations that the subject is beyond redemption.
Thank you for an excellent and responsible article. It provides a nice doorway into the possibility of correcting some of the damage described above. Charles J. Clock, Jr. Post Falls
Rerun Calvin and Hobbes
When Bill Watterson stops writing Calvin and Hobbes, could you please not replace him. I would like you to just do reruns.
Calvin and Hobbes is the only comic strip you have that is actually funny. Calvin faces grownup problems in a childlike manner. He shows people surprisingly simple solutions to complicated problems in a funny way.
Watterson must remember his childhood very vividly to be able to write the way he does. He takes a grownup’s problem, looks at it from a child’s point of view and solves it from there.
In other words, I will stop reading the comics if you remove Calvin. Phillip Carscallen, age 12 Sandpoint
Watterson continues strip - or else
I propose that Congress stop its fruitless posturing about balanced budgets, flag burning amendments and troops in Bosnia, and instead pass some truly important legislation: a bill ordering Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) to continue the strip and threatening hearings by Sen. Al D’Amato if Watterson refuses to do so. R. K. Barcus Spokane
OTHER TOPICS
Learn to see the good - it’s there
Re:”Government got you down? Join the crowd,” in the Dec. 19 paper.
The high degree of cynicism with reference to our government is understandable if one focuses on the outward appearance. However, I suggest a better way of looking at this, one that will seem nonsense to many, but one I believe is based in substantial truth.
This better way suggests that, down deep in the hearts of all people, no matter how deeply buried, there’s that spark of good that eventually overpowers whatever’s making an appearance of evil. If we focus on the underlying good within all, continue to believe and cease attacking one another and so-called evil, good will prevail in our individual lives and in society as well.
However simplistic this way of looking at it may be, I sincerely believe it works unfailingly, and brings joy and peace in place of fear and suffering. Tom Durst Spokane
People could learn from bear and cat
On Dec. 15, The Spokesman-Review printed a touching picture of a bear and a cat with a short story in the caption about the bear sharing its meal with the cat.
The people who took this picture were surprised the bear didn’t kill the cat. Two completely unrelated species found no mutual threat and shared a meal.
The dictionary describes reasoning as the use of reason to form conclusions, make inferences or form judgments. The bear and cat each concluded the other posed no danger and were able to divide the food between them. After seeing that picture, I wonder if the human species is the only one that’s able to reason. It appears we can learn something about tolerance and cooperation from animals. Wallace Baucom Colville
Uh, where’s my embroidery hoop?
Recent events “seam” to follow a pattern. International speaker Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship told a large Spokane audience “crime is tearing away at the fabric of society.”
“the ragged edge” weaves the story of some individuals troubled by the government’s usurpation of the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Some of those buttonholed might have felt The Spokesman-Review exhibited a bias in its reporting, zig-zagging from one frayed edge to another.
Is it in vogue to avoid the simplicity of objective reporting? This can cause tension in the warp and woof of one’s life.
While needling the falsely accused in Wenatchee and casting on yarns that hold no water, there seams to be a thread of incompetence in various state and local agencies designed for the protection of the innocent. Certainly, the wrinkles in the fabrications must be ironed out.
How sad the tightly knit Roberson family had their innocent pre-school daughter, Rebekah, torn from then, and all their lives unraveled. Although Rebekah is being joined to the family fold, she remains a dependent of Washington state for six months, as required by state law.
Meanwhile, known child molesters are released in Spokane County. Where is justice?
Congratulations to attorney Bill Parker and news reporter Tom Grant who stayed on the cutting edge and didn’t try to alter and cut corners to “selvage” the truth. May it always be “sew.” Donna Kuhn Spokane
No sweet sorrow in this departing
Your story “Wrong man in casket” should have read, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust; Who can we trust?” What kind of Christmas cheer were they drinking? Embalming fluid?
We’ve read where burned-out doctors cut off the wrong body parts but there’s no excuse for this. To top it off, they cremated him. What next, wrong cemetery? Betty Von Heydrich Spokane