Letters To The Editor

HEALTH AND SAFETY

For many in need, here’s a clue

Mike B. Harmon’s letter (“Good reasons for stigma,” Nov. 5) is an oxymoron. Stigma is never good, only cruel.

In Harmon’s world of “money rules,” he would only ridicule those with brain disorders. Medications are available to people with mental illness. Treatment works.

People with neurobiological diseases are, for the most part, able to lead productive lives, just like people with cancer or heart disease.

Abraham Lincoln, Mary Todd Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Vincent Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Michelangelo, Michael Faraday and Patty Duke have had or have a serious mental illness. They enrich our lives. Mike Harmon does not.

Mental illnesses are really physical illnesses of an organ called the brain and should be covered by insurance the same as other physical illnesses.

Stigma translates into blame, fear and, finally, discrimination in health insurance, treatments, services, housing and employment. The most shocking thing about mental illness is how little people understand it.

Harmon, you are ignorant about mental illness, but you are not alone. Please do not be afraid of a little knowledge. For instance, schizophrenia is a thought disorder that has nothing to do with a split personality. Also, mental illness is not caused by abusive parents or drugs. It is primarily genetic. It is to be found in all families, one generation or another.

And yes, Mike, you can find it in your family, too. Don Crippen, NAMI anti-discrimination campaign Washington Alliance for the Mentally Ill

SCAPCA, do your work well

Please, Spokane County Air Pollution Authority, use the power given you to serve human health in Spokane County as well as the wildlife.

A thank you to Jeff Corkhill at Eastern Washington University for his research on a serious threat to human health in grass burning. I was told by a grass burner that the chemicals were released in the first five minutes of the burn. Since then, I could only wonder how all members of the grass burning families feel so secure to never be affected? Does burning just ensure the smoke will only reach others?

Bob Dellwo’s letter comparing his youth in Montana failed to state that chemicals were not spread on cattle grazing land of bunch grass that were burned to clear weeds when those of us who are now around age 80 were young.

Grass burning is just one contribution to problems too often said to be burning posing little health risks now piling into major health threats.

Smoke from burning contaminated soils is a threat being added to pollution from the waste plant incinerator that monitors less than a dozen of hundreds of chemical pollutants, as well as new chemical combinations created by burning, by wildfires and wood stoves. Also, there’s accidental fires.

SCAPCA, use all the power you can muster to serve the health of humans. Remember car and plane emissions. Ora Mae Orton Spokane

Magazine uncovered Gulf War disease

The illnesses of Gulf War Veterans is no big mystery! One of the causes was uncovered by investigative reporter Bill Mesler of THE NATION. Yet the Pentagon and the White House plead ignorance. The press had been conspicuous by its silence.

To find out the truth all one needs to do is read Mesler’s article in the Oct. 21 issue of The Nation, pages 11-14. It is titled “The Pentagon’s Radioactive Bullet.” Our boys were exposed to high doses of radioactivity as a result of our secret use of “depleted uranium” (D.U.) ammunition (U-238). They were not informed and did not have proper radiation protection.

I urge you to read the full article for many more documented case studies. When you have read the report please inform everyone you can and demand a worldwide ban on this deadly radioactive warfare. H. Krauss Spokane

Sniper’s ID could be P185/75R-14

The rash of reports of sniper fire at automobiles coincides with the installation of snow tires with studs.

I suspect that studs are being thrown off tires due to increased freeway speeds and perhaps due to faulty installation.

If some of these studs are littering the freeway and other roads, passing cars could be picking them up, so that they become airborne hazards that could damage the windshield of other vehicles.

Even parked cars, such as that of the state trooper who had his rear window blown out, could be damaged by a stud thrown by a car traveling in the opposite lane or even in the adjacent lane.

I have seen no news reports that actually can be attributed to a bullet, since none appears to have penetrated the damaged windows or windshields. A bullet most likely would not only shatter the glass but be found inside the vehicles.

Regular Spokane-Coeur d’ Alene freeway drivers who use studded tires should be asked to have the tires inspected for missing studs. If some are missing, they were most likely lost traveling at high speeds on roads with no snow.

If I am correct about this, the increase in speed by drivers trying to avoid being the victim of a sniper may be contributing to the loss of studs or kicking-up of studs from the roadway.

No one, according to the media, has yet to report hearing any shots. The reason may be that there have been no shots. Vincent L. Hoffart, Sr. Spokane

We need the words to deal with rape

It seems that every day the media report a local rape or sexual assault (attempted rape, acquaintance rape, child sexual abuse). Whether we admit it or not, rape affects us all.

Rape is a hideous crime, but no one wants to discuss it. If we do talk about it, we say the words as quickly as possible to avoid unpleasant thoughts or images the word “rape” conjures up for us. Still, rape is a violent act where sex is used to degrade and humiliate the victim.

A rape victim is often left without any visible scars, which makes it easier for a victim to mask what has happened to her/him. Hiding in the secrecy of rape is not healthy for the victim, victim’s family or the community. We need to remove the stereotypes that may be associated with rape. We need to talk about it.

Since healthy sex seems to be difficult to talk about, it doesn’t surprise me that we are not comfortable discussing forced or unwanted sex. When we don’t talk about such a sensitive matter as rape and don’t name it, we perpetuate myths.

Many victims falsely believe the abuse is their fault. Unfortunately, many people they encounter after an assault may believe this too. This perception makes it even more difficult for a victim to come forward to report the crime or talk about their assault.

As a community, we must deal with the realities of sexual violence - no matter how uncomfortable it is to discuss. Victims of this horrific crime need support, medical attention, legal advocacy and counseling for true healing to take place. They need our help. No one asks or deserves to be raped. Susan Fabrikant Spokane

HUMAN RIGHTS

Help fight atrocities in Burma

I applaud The Spokesman-Review for Tuesday’s front page photograph of child labor in Burma (Myanmar). However, Burma’s current repression of all human rights is even more alarming.

According to a State Department report, fully 3 percent of Burma’s GNP is from slave labor. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party may have won 80 percent of the 1990 parliamentary vote because of her stand for human rights, but the military dictatorship (State Law and Order Restoration Council - SLORC) continues to repress those voices.

Documented reports of forced labor on tourist sites, military portering, rape, torture and unjust imprisonment are commonplace in Burma. Over 80,000 refugees currently live in camps along the Thailand border. Treatment of these individuals by the SLORC has been nothing short of genocide.

Continued political repression has caused Suu Kyi to call for economic sanctions against Burma. These sanctions would impact the SLORC’s lifeline - foreign investment.

Many U.S. corporations, such as Eddie Bauer, Amoco, and Levi Stauss, have reacted to the human rights crisis in Burma and have divested.

Currently, a handful remain in Burma, including UNOCAL, Texaco and Pepsi Co. These companies currently are the target of international boycotts.

Municipalities and state governments, including Massachusetts, San Francisco, and Madison, Wisc., have passed selective purchasing contracts, prohibiting city contracts with companies conducting business in Burma.

People concerned should write their legislators and President Clinton to urge economic sanctions against the SLORC. Through international condemnation, we can help the children of Burma. Tim Landon Spokane

SPOKANE MATTERS

Lest we forget

Finding their way from door to door in the dark on Halloween night was made easier for my children by the eerie glow cast by hundreds of jack-o’-lanterns scattered throughout the neighborhood. And now I suspect it will be only a few more nights until Christmas lights begin to appear in yards all over Spokane. Such festive adornments make our fair city glow with the magic of the holidays.

And yet, on Monday, at least on my side of town, there was an almost complete absence of flags flying to honor our Veterans.

Let’s not forget that the peace, prosperity, and freedom that makes the celebration of holidays possible came with a heavy price. Jason Harward Spokane

Don’t cop-out on making choices

I was unhappy with the outcome of the presidential and Washington state governor’s races. We still have our right to vote, and I look forward to the next time.

I’m most disappointed with the way 82 percent of Spokane County voters were willing to give up their right to vote for the coroner.

We have the right and responsibility of being able to vote for who and what we want. When we give up that right we lose what has made this country the greatest since the beginning of time. It’s the people with the freedom to express their issues, their differences and the ability to vote on those differences which has made the United States what it has been.

Are we too lazy to form a recall vote when we disagree with the views of an elected official, or are we afraid a recall vote may fail? Many countries have a majority of their citizens who are that lazy. They have dictators who run those countries. We gave up the vote to a not-so-important office Nov. 5, 1996. It’s not the importance of the office, it’s the fact that we would give up the vote to any office which should concern every citizen.

Are Spokane County people giving in to complacency? We must always be on guard so we don’t allow ourselves to become complacent about our right to vote. Dan E. Meckel Veradale

My, what a coincidence

Spokane County Commissioner John Roskelley’s estate at Newman Lake, from whence he commutes to vote and preach the environmental industry’s dogma at the county courthouse, just happens to be the same size as the proposed limit on rural lots under the Growth Management Act (“Angry crowd blasts rural land plan,” Nov. 15).

Rural landowners should be glad Roskelley’s parcel isn’t 80 acres, because that might have been the proposed minimum size. Maybe he can be persuaded to sell half his parcel, or to plat part of it, and vote for 20 acres as the minimum size, or for no limit. Edwin G. Davis Spokane