Letters To The Editor

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Local employers are beyond stingy

Congratulations to Coeur d’Alene city employees for standing up for receiving decent wages and benefits. Anyone in their right mind would want to work for the city.

Idaho businesses are definitely behind the times in providing benefits for employees. It used to be every employer supplied at least sick time, but most Panhandle employers don’t even provide that basic benefit.

How often is your employer out sick? Of course, he or she will get paid, but heaven forbid that you should call in sick. All they care about is will the work get done. Employees are pushed to the limit and stressed because of poor wages and no benefits, and they stay with jobs they detest because the job market is awful.

After working 11 years for a small business, corporation or city, I think it’s fair compensation to reward dedicated employees with vacation time. Nine weeks is not a lot of time. Your basic employer in the Panhandle offers only one week of vacation after one year (whoopee), two weeks after five years and maybe three weeks after 10 years.

Panhandle employers do not value dedicated employees. A dedicated employee is one who is on the job, sick or well. They work more hours than asked and work damn hard. For their dedication they receive $5, $6 or possibly $7 per hour - hardly a livable wage these days. As far as medical insurance is concerned, that’s another letter. Suzann O’Sullivan Embury Hayden

Grass burning singled out unfairly

I read the newspaper daily and find many inconsistencies regarding burning.

One article stated the Washington state Department of Energy will test burn an oil spill off the Washington coast to see if it will be the best cleanup method. The next day the same department is saying that grass field burning is a health hazard and it will impose a burning reduction of one third of the bluegrass fields.

Another article reported that a wildfire is causing the smoke in the air, but there are no complaints about health effects then.

It appears to me that Kentucky bluegrass field burning is a political issue more than a health issue.

Cars cause the worst pollution, but everyone has one. I guess that’s why nobody tries to ban them.

Cystic Fibrosis is an awful disease, but to do away with an important industry because some people suffer is wrong. Tami Harpole St. Maries

Others’ pain too easily discounted

Re: Living with pain (IN Life, Aug. 5) Thank you, Cris Salisbury for sharing your experience in suffering with chronic pain.

I, too, suffer, with chronic pain from fibromyalgia and with chronic fatigue. If I were in a wheelchair, had no arms or legs and my neck was in a brace, people could see my affliction. As it is, I look like a normal, healthy female.

I, too, feel like I’m begging when I tell my physician how much I hurt and how debilitating my pain is. You would think they were passing out the crown jewels when they give you a prescription for a controlled pain medication. All I can say is, they need an attitude adjustment and walk a mile in my shoes. Thelma Box Coeur d’Alene

Good behavior is a cultural asset

Re: Renee Smith’s July 31 letter telling people they should stay at home if they don’t like children “enjoying themselves” at public events.

I agree that children can and should experience culture in a live setting, and one of their first cultural lessons should be: Don’t let your actions keep others from enjoying the event. Many parents don’t realize that by allowing their children to “enjoy” a public event, the kids’ disruptive behavior prevents others from doing so. What is really irritating is that, in most cases, it is the parents who are totally unaware of what is going on! Ray Fronk Rathdrum

SPOKANE MATTERS

Firefighters, you’re the greatest

I would like to thank all the firefighters and other emergency personnel who worked on our recent West Plains firestorm.

When my daughter and I left our home Sunday afternoon, we did not know if we would ever see it again. When we returned Monday morning, I was elated to see that not only was our house standing, but all of our outbuildings were intact as well. This was only accomplished by the efforts of all the firefighters who fought to save those buildings. The scorched land surrounding the structures gives evidence to that.

These people performed miracles. They risked their lives to save people, animals and homes in places that were often barely accessible. As one of my neighbors pointed out, the news always emphasizes the number of homes lost but does not mention the hundreds that are saved. It is a privilege to live in a state that has such well-trained and courageous emergency personnel. Cindy Graham Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Convention plays to PACked house

Is it ethical to suspend the rules of ethics governing politicians for the duration of a political convention? The Republicans just did it. All so they could partake of the extravagant, celebratory goodies provided by lobbyists, particularly cigarette manufacturers.

The New York Times reported last September that tobacco companies had provided five times as much money to the Republicans as to the Democrats during the first half of 1995. And Republicans have an ethics issue with the Democrats? Ilene Bell Sandpoint

Campaign money could be better used

When I watched the Republican convention, I heard that they were going to spend $62 million on the campaign for Bob Dole.

They also talked about cutting welfare to save money, yet they’re going to spend $62 million on their campaign. How many poor people could that feed?

If this man is honest, why does he even have to spend a nickel? Charles Haymond Spokane

Liberal fears come to the fore

The Our View, “Listen to what the candidate is saying,” by Elana Ashanti Jefferson, begs for clarification.

Bob Dole’s views, words and actions are well documented. He has a track record of consistency that we can study.

The abortion debate within the GOP is what is called democracy in action. It happens every four years - far different than the totalitarian coalition of the Democratic Party.

“The flap” seems mostly generated by fear the liberals feel of losing power. If President Clinton is really 25 percent ahead, as the media claim, why worry or contemplate any of the GOP convention?

I wish Jefferson would have the balance to urge us to listen and study the words of President Clinton. Or does she realize that when listening to echoes the real person is hard to find. James C. Allen Spokane

A harebrained way to treat the poor

Arthur Hoppe writes in his Aug. 9 column that the GOP and the Democrats came up with the most harebrained scheme in the history of muddle-headed politics. I agree.

There are 5.4 million more job seekers than there are jobs, not including those on welfare who are not looking for jobs. Do we fire a taxpaying jobholder to make room for each poor person whom we require to go to work?

What disturbs me the most is that we are cutting the food stamps and the Head Start program and expect the children who are the victims to carry the burden of the cost savings.

It’s interesting, to say the least, to try to contemplate the final results of having a generation or so of children who have been ill-fed and clothed and mistreated. It’s a given that children who go to school hungry cannot concentrate and learn, so what have we created? Will we have a larger percentage of our population ill-equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century?

Would we go back to the poor houses for the elderly, and orphan asylums for unwanted and poor children?

Hoppe states that Jonathan Swift proposed in 1727 an answer; let the rich eat the babies of the poor. Such a solution appalled Professor Delgado, who said the poor should stand on their own two feet and eat each other. The way the GOP are treating the poor, and with the help of some Democrats, would that be an improvement? Richard B. “Dick” Hopp Spokane

Cut ties that bind; Elect Kaun

Money - how do you get it? Who do you get it from? How do you spend it? All political campaign committees have to answer these questions to fulfill their election needs.

Perhaps we need to ask our freshman congressman, George Nethercutt, those questions. Nethercutt has accumulated to date an early war chest of nearly $500,000. A substantial portion of these funds came from political action committees (PACs) and lobbyists that camp in Washington, D.C., paying for votes.

At the present time, he has declared money available in an amount equal to 10 times that of any of his opponents. He has voted 96 percent of the time in lockstep with his mentor and close ally, House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Do you believe these votes were simply gratis? Not likely. Not to a PAC of lobbyists.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to have an intelligent, fresh, unblemished person to represent you in Congress? A person without extremist views who would represent you, not the PACs and lobbyists. That person is Susan Kaun, a no-nonsense lady who will make your interests and concerns a priority. George Britton Spokane

We should mind our own business

What justifies our government threatening European countries with punishment for dealing with Iran?

What gives us the right to tell South American companies what they are to pay people and what conditions their people are to work in? If conditions in South America are so bad, why do people line up for the jobs in the garment factories?

If the United States were truly concerned with human rights, we would not trade with China.

This country would do well to take care of its own problems and stay out of other people’s business. Dan Grothe Spokane

THE ENVIRONMENT

Don’t be misled about forest health

Opinion editor John Webster’s Aug. 7 editorial regarding litigation logjams contains misleading statements.

Arthur Partridge, professor of Forest Plant Pathology at the University of Idaho School of Forestry, says, “This whole ‘forest health’ scheme is nothing but a hoax so timber companies can continue to get subsidized logs without the inconvenience of laws and public oversight.”

The Selkirk-Priest Basin Association (SPBA) is a local grass-roots conservation organization formed to protect the Priest River Basin. SPBA views its mission as balancing the long-term welfare of the natural environment with human needs. We maintain that the best way to ensure future jobs in a timber-based economy is to insist on management which is compatible with fully functioning, sustaining forests.

However, corporate timber interests continue to interpret challenges of timber sales as situations where “environmentalists” are taking jobs away. These words only breed divisiveness, hostility and fears of economic insecurity.

Environmentalist are people who are concerned with the long-term well-being of their communities and natural resources. Unfortunately, litigation is sometimes the public’s only tool in preventing a legacy of “enlightened forest management methods” - or stumps.

I urge you to learn the facts and determine who is benefiting politically and financially from this phony, socalled forest health crisis. Kevin Watson, director, Selkirk-Priest Basin Association Priest River, Idaho

Editorial just makes things worse

Opinion editor John Webster’s Aug. 4 editorial, “Saving salmon is now an industry,” throws more fuel on a fire he believes is out of control. At the head of his list of villains are the Endangered Species Act, biologists and others he claims are “feasting” at a “banquet table” of “loosely monitored dollars.”

Webster doesn’t seem to understand the Endangered Species Act is invoked only when other alternatives have been exhausted. It’s a safety net for species facing imminent threat of extinction. We Northwesterners had plenty of opportunities to work out solutions to the obvious decline of salmon before anyone seriously considered using the ESA. Instead, we squandered the opportunities, just as we squandered our precious salmon. We like really cheap electricity.

Dollars continue to be wasted because decision makers are unwilling to make tough political choices to save salmon. To some, delaying recovery means the problem might go away.

Accountability? Absolutely necessary. Independent scientific review? You bet. In fact, let’s make sure all studies are reviewed by a team which is as independent and objective as possible.

Ethical fishery professionals don’t create failures to keep funding sources alive. Claiming that salmon saving is an industry is analogous to claiming that finding a cure for cancer is an industry.

The decision to save salmon is society’s to make. Scientists give society the tools to make the choice. But until those tools are used appropriately in an atmosphere of cooperation and are no longer twisted by political donations and next quarter’s bottom line, our fish and our dollars will continue to disappear. Charles E. Corsi, American Fisheries Society Idaho chapter Rathdrum, Idaho

OTHER TOPICS

Beware of all these freedoms

And God said to Adam, “You have eaten the apple; you have chosen your free will over God’s will. Therefore, you shall have your freedom until you vomit it out, and in that day you shall surely die.”

Now, today, under the auspice of the United States Constitution, Adam has finally achieved his freedom. There’s free speech, free press, free information systems - free everything ad infinitum. Even the snail darter and the spotted owl are free.

Yes, the Constitution has granted Adam many freedoms; he is up to his neck in freedom. But beware; the Constitution, like a chicken bone, could become lodged in Adam’s throat, causing him to vomit it out. “And in that day he shall surely die.” Pablo DeRuiz Spokane

Pez-ter them to your heart’s content

Re: Doug Clark’s column on Robin Dare (“Artist dares to butt heads with Pez maker,” Aug. 15): Bravo, Robin!

As if Pez actually has some incredible standing as a pillar of Americana, a tradition that is firmly rooted in the annals of this patriotic heritage. Come on. It’s Pez, for goodness sake.

God bless Dare for his sardonic wit and tongue-in-cheek glimpse through an otherwise slightly bent lens. The Pez imbroglio underscores the need for more “daring” artists to, if nothing else, thumb their noses at the commercial thrust.

And so, from an old associate, congratulations! Wish I could have stuck my finger in Pez’ eye with you! Scott Riane Hampton Spokane

Clarification

Lynne M. Stuter of Nine Mile Falls contends our editing altered the meaning of a statement in her Aug. 9 letter to the editor concerning the controversy over Madison Elementary Principal Shari Kirihara. The original text of her letter concluded as follows:

Site-based councils are the epitome of a democratic society, shifting power from elected school boards to an unaccountable body of appointed individuals. Welcome to Amerika!