Letters To The Editor

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Grocers not cheating customers

I am responding to “Sellers face the scales of justice” (News, Feb. 25). The Washington State Food Dealers Association represents more than 1,000 grocery stores in Washington.

The grocery industry is very competitive. An unhappy customer need travel only a few blocks to find another grocer. Keeping customers is what motivates store employees. It’s ludicrous for Spokane weights and measures inspectors Alex Schmall and Ralph Jones to imply that grocery stores intentionally “rip off” our customers.

Our industry works hard to maintain 100 percent accuracy in pricing, making sure that customers get what they pay for. We work cooperatively with many government officials to this end. However, Kristina Johnson’s article intimates otherwise, suggesting that customers are “paying by the pound” for meat wrappings and that our employees would drop a thumb on the scale to boost the price. Schmall says the average consumer is “getting ripped off $200 to $300 a year.” However, the article fails to substantiate these sensational claims.

During just the past six months association members have initiated several meetings with weights and measures officials statewide to help our retailers determine how they can ensure 100 percent pricing accuracy. To date, we’ve received no response from Spokane inspectors.

We believe that by working with weights and measures inspectors we can achieve the best possible results, which ultimately benefits the consumer. The article and comments from weights and measures officials serve only to facilitate an adversarial relationship with the businesses they serve by implying that we cheat our customers intentionally. Doug Henken, president Washington State Food Dealers Association, Olympia

LAW AND JUSTICE

Time to rationalize drug policy

It is time for a public debate on the most basic element of drug policy. We can nip at the edges, talking about illegal searches, sniffing dogs, the right to privacy, preemployment tests, etc., but the big question is whether drugs can best be dealt with in the criminal justice system or by legalization, education and treatment.

Is the current war on drugs succeeding? Hardly. Are there any signs of future success? No way. Does finding 60 pounds of cocaine in a commercial airliner mean we have won a round? Get real.

The war on drugs has been no more successful than Prohibition was. It has crowded legitimate disputes out of court. It has crowded violent criminals out of jails. It has created criminal millionaires.

The war on drugs has increased the incidence of murder, robbery, burglary and other crimes committed in the quest for money to buy drugs that are priced sky-high because they are illegal.

Every objective study that has ever been done has shown that better results can be achieved through education and treatment than through criminal prosecution, and at a fraction of the cost. Yet no candidate for, or occupant of, high office has the courage to speak out for decriminalization.

Legalization does not mean societal approval, but it could give society a fighting chance to bring the problem under control. Paul J. Allison Spokane

What comes after parking lots?

I’m relieved to know I’m not the only person to feel very uncomfortable about the recent drug raid at Coeur d’Alene High School campuses. Fred Glienna’s Street level column on Sunday articulated quite well the apprehension and dismay I felt about the raid.

When did we become so complacent and accepting about this kind of outrageous police conduct? If it’s all right for the police to search every car at a high school, then don’t be surprised when one day soon they decide to check every employee’s car at the courthouse or federal building. After all, it’s all in the name of a drug-free workplace, right? Sandy Mongelli Wallace, Idaho

How could so much go so wrong?

I just read Doug Clark’s “Bonehead blunder” column concerning the alleged rape of an 18-year-old Eastern Washington University student.

When I read the original article about this case I was outraged. Along with the outrage there was also sadness.

It saddens me to think this young woman had the guts to pursue a case against her alleged attacker only to be let down by a system that exists to protect her. Facing Tony Ledenko in court may be the only way for her to find closure and put the incident behind her.

It saddens me to think that, evidently, the prosecutor’s office didn’t deem the case important enough to follow up on. Most important, it saddens me that there were people who witnessed the victim allegedly being dragged down a dorm hallway, yet apparently no one made any attempt to intervene.

I realize blame lies only with the attacker, but couldn’t security have been called, just to check it out? Or how about getting the designated dorm manager? Have we become so desensitized that a young woman being dragged 80 feet down a hallway doesn’t seem unusual? How sad. Ellen Bray Spokane

BELIEFS

Anthem protester should try politics

It is obvious from reading his March 25 letter (“I don’t stand for anthem, either”) that Tom Lande has never read Francis Scott Key’s poem.

The first stanza of that poem reflects Key’s wondering if the American flag, which was visible by the light of the British evening bombardment of Fort McHenry during the war of 1812, would still be flying over the fort in the morning.

The second stanza expresses his joy to find the star spangled banner fluttering in the morning breeze.

In the third stanza, he reflects on the price of maintaining liberty, the nation’s principle of only fighting for just cause and the people’s need to praise the supreme power which made and preserves our country.

If Lande has a problem with our country, he should become involved in the political process. Sitting during the national anthem demonstrates a lack of manners, like being noisy in the library. However, many good people have died to preserve his right to be impolite. David Cooper Spokane

Player shows courage of convictions

I believe that Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf has a right to sit during the National Anthem.

First, the flag and national anthem are symbols, not laws. His sitting is a form of protest that does not break any laws. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do not believe there is any amendment to the Constitution that says you have to stand or be loyal when the national anthem is played.

Secondly, his not standing for the national anthem should be a lesson to us all. Abdul-Rauf teaches us to stand up for what we believe in and voice our opinion. He shows attributes most men in this country do not possess.

It is nice to see a man stand up for what he believes in. Most impressive is the fact that he is a highly successful man in the public eye. Jason R. Betz Spokane

ETHICS

Kevorkian’s way ‘immature’

Dr. Jack Kevorkian and his supporters reflect an immature method of dealing with problems. Yes, it is probably the biggest problem a patient and his or her family has ever faced. But it is also the biggest opportunity for life-changing revelations and miraculous solutions.

Death is an immediate solution that robs the patient and those close to the patient of time, natural consequences, closure and healing. It also prevents spiritual growth that often comes when we seek to deal with problems requiring divine intervention.

According to a new study quoted in the American Journal of Psychiatry, most terminally ill patients who express a strong desire for death are suffering from treatable depression. Out of 199 patients in the study, only 9 percent exhibited an apparent sincere and sustained wish to die. When interviewed two weeks later only two of the patients still desired death.

The American Medical Association has called Kevorkian a reckless instrument of death.

Ultimately, accepted euthanasia can take us where the Netherlands is today. The Royal Dutch Medical Association has estimated that approximately 10 disabled babies are killed each year. Parental consent or request is considered basically a window dressing. Doctors have the ultimate say in deciding if babies should be killed or not; the biggest factor is the “interest of the child.”

The sanctity of life must be preserved. Cindy Driehorst Spokane

Euthanasia should be available

On March 5, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals finally stepped into the 20th century when it said that Washington state law violates the rights of terminally ill adults who want to hasten their deaths with drugs prescribed by doctors. Undoubtedly, this new ruling will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where a panel of unelected judges will decide the fate of euthanasia.

I hope Supreme Court justices will rule that this is an individual right protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

Americans need to understand that euthanasia is a voluntary choice, made after much consideration regarding quality of life vs. quantity of life. Despite one’s personal beliefs, the right to die with dignity should be available to terminally ill patients who seek relief of pain and suffering.

Most people seeking euthanasia are not asking for a doctor to perform the act of euthanasia itself. They simply want a prescription they can use to fulfill their desire to die with what dignity they have left.

Doctors currently are providing passive euthanasia when a living will is honored. If doctors can be compassionate enough to respect a living will, why can’t they be just as respectful and honor a patient’s request to die with dignity?

A Roman philosopher summarized euthanasia best when he said, “Just as I shall select my ship when I am about to go on a voyage … so I shall choose my death when I am about to depart from life.” Lynn M. Sweeney Medical Lake

IN THE PAPER

Coe death story in poor taste

On March 26, the newspaper displayed the most remarkably poor taste that I have ever seen. What purpose did digging at the scab of a dirty old scandal serve, other than sensationalism?

Ruth Coe moved to Nevada to get away from the National Enquirer mentality of Spokane. I hope staff writer Bonnie Harris and your editor are proud of their dirty little front page headline, “South Hill rapist’s mother dies at age 75.”

Mrs. Coe was a mother, trying her best to defend her son. She may have been misguided, but in death she deserves the same dignity we all do. An obituary was in order, not a front page headline.

Shame on The Spokesman-Review. Carol Bordeaux Medical Lake

Columnist guilty of overkill

In his March 17 column, Doug Clark takes issue with the failure of the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office to adequately handle a rape case. His description of the prosecutor’s handling of that case was by far the most unprofessional and immature response I’ve ever read.

It appears Clark is attempting to hold other people accountable at a level of competency he himself would probably not be able to always adhere to.

It’s unfortunate that a mistake happened in which justice never had the chance to be served. But it’s also disheartening that a person in Clark’s position cannot see that mistakes and miscommunications happen, that people should as readily be given credit for what they do correctly as for their mistakes.

Nowhere in his column does Clark state that Prosecutor Carol Davis may or may not have been doing exceptionally well in taking accused felons to trial in the past. Instead, he attacks the judicial system because of this one mistake or miscommunication.

I believe there is accountability in society and that, unfortunately, we tend to judge people or systems by their last mistake. I’m sure Davis is a very fine prosecutor. I’m also sure that the prosecutor’s office is just as upset over what happened with this rape case as society is.

People aren’t perfect and mistakes do happen. As soon as he becomes perfect, Clark can attack other people for their imperfections. Joseph P. Hancock Spokane

Outdoors section always a keeper

Many thanks for the excellent Outdoors & Travel section in each Sunday’s Spokesman-Review. Those pages are especially appropriate for this Inland Northwest area that offers so much outdoor recreation. The diversity of subjects covered keeps it interesting.

I hope you will always retain the strong emphasis on affordable Eastern Washington and North Idaho outdoor recreation.

That’s the one section of the paper that I save. The feature Classic Trips in the Inland Northwest, with its understandable maps and descriptions, is great. There is rarely a week that I don’t discover accessible, inexpensive trip possibilities that I hadn’t known about.

Rich Landers does an excellent job on this feature, as he does on every subject he covers. In all his articles, Landers comes across as a very good writer who clearly knows his subject and his readers. Bob McClure Post Falls

Reference to cathedral out of line

Re: “Cathedral perfect setting for old movie,” by Paul Turner, March 26: Okay, it’s a small thing. But to describe a cathedral as a “hell of a building” seems both irreverent and bad writing. Bruce Rodda Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Organically grown food worth cost

I encourage people to buy organic foods, although they are more expensive than the products of agribusiness.

Health benefits of eating organic foods may not show until years later, in a reduced cancer rate. Yet the effects on the environment are going to be immediately evident. Organic farming practices help maintain topsoil and clean water by reducing pesticide and herbicide use.

Americans are tired of government rules, but if we want the free market to solve our environmental problems, we have to use our pocketbook - buying organic food and recycled products even if they cost more.

Another reason to buy organic food is the NAFTA agreement. Agricultural chemical use in Mexico isn’t as regulated as in the United States. For example, the toxic DDT is banned here but in Mexico is allowed on products intended for U.S. consumers.

Ask your grocers if they have any organic products. If you were to purchase just one item a week it would help create more demand, eventually lowering prices. Instead of thinking of organic food as expensive, think of the hidden environmental and health costs of food grown with cancer-causing chemicals. Sara Holahan Spokane

Problem may be something else

The term Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) seems a sometimes too-easy explanation for the person who doesn’t toe the line of orderly routine some educators prescribe as proper learning procedure. While this definition of student activity fits many, I wonder if the personality of the test giver intercedes with the result for some who just have a different and maybe better style of learning and producing.

Why don’t we hear of those who have Multiple Attention Capability? Some people like to have many pots on the fire at one time; they even arrange for this to be their agenda, as it is fun for them. How many of us would be taking pills if our being a little different was noted by a testing official with a rigid style who could think of only one thing at a time and who never started a new project until the first was fully completed?

When we read about many famous inventors and see pictures of the workrooms of well-accredited creative people, are their workrooms tidy and is there only one project going at a time? Not usually.

Surely there is a middle ground. It would be comforting to hear from some who have taken this path of really considering why their student has a more active approach to learning.

I’d like to see Multiple Attention Capability given as a testing result for those who can handle more than one concept at a time and could be hampered in their learning process by a too orderly teaching atmosphere. Margaret Hansen Spokane