Letters To The Editor

Tue., April 8, 1997

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Lack of compassion deplorable

Recently, at my grade school, we replaced our usual hot lunch with a “poor man’s meal.” Every year we replace one lunch with this traditional meal. The cost is as usual, $1.70, but the proceeds go to charity.

Instead of a hot dog, chips, fruit and dessert, we had bread with butter, one half of an orange and a string cheese.

As an eighth-grade student, I was appalled by the reactions of my classmates. They were more concerned about the price, size and taste than about the significance of this small sacrifice. Several people spent all of lunch complaining. One girl said that she wasn’t going to eat the meal and just have a larger snack when she got home.

One classmate said he wouldn’t eat the bread. I told him to think about the people who have to eat it every day - if they’re lucky. He said it was their own fault.

It’s not their fault. They didn’t wake up and decide to be poor. I told him that they couldn’t change their life but he said they could just get job.

You can’t get a job when you’re 5 years old! Even if they were 30, they might not be able to afford clothes for an interview. And it would be hard to get a job without an education, address or references.

These attitudes were some of the most ignorant and disrespectful things I’ve ever heard. Few people shared my views and made a sacrifice. I expected my friends to have a better attitude. Amanda L. House Spokane

Teach teens through example

From what I understand, the prevailing opinion is that teenagers should abstain from sex and that adults should tell them so: Be honest with our young people. Let’s begin by telling them that sex outside of marriage shouldn’t be.

I think this approach is wrong.

First, telling has no big impact. We adults have only one chance to teach the young generation and that is by our life. If we can be role models of responsibility, caring and efficiency, our kids will absorb those features without our having to become preachers of morality.

Sex can be dangerous, no question about it: pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, psychological consequences. Nevertheless, the slogan, “No sex outside of marriage,” solves nothing. Our goal should not be to create anxiety when it comes to sex but to incorporate decisions about sex into overall responsible behavior: You are not dead just because you drove 90 mph but you could easily die if you crash. Was your speeding worth the danger? By the same token, you are not an outcast just because you had sex outside of marriage. But it could be very costly, so take that into account. Peter C. Dolina Veradale

Woman’s promotion good move

In reading the March 25 article, “Army close to having first female 3-star general,” I, as an eight-grader, saw our country making a huge step in allowing females the same opportunities as males.

Our country has recently adopted two new professional women’s basketball leagues and this just adds to how far along our country is coming. I think it’s great that we have some women leaders in the Army. I congratulate the Army, our country and Maj. Gen. Claudia J. Kennedy on their fine work. Ryan Simpson Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Drug abuse not victimless crime

In response to Helen Julian’s “We go overboard with punishment” (Letters, April 2):

I find it upsetting that Julian groups drug users in the category of “victimless crime.” As a police officer, I see on a daily basis the victims of drug users’ crimes. Allow me to name the most important.

The first victim is the public. Where do you think these drug users get the money to support a $1,000-a-day cocaine or heroin habit? They rob and burglarize you and me, selling what isn’t theirs so they can afford more drugs. Surely, you don’t believe robbery, murder and burglary are victimless crimes?

The second victim is the taxpayer. Who takes care of the addicts who refuse to take care of themselves? Millions of dollars are spent on medical response and hospital bills for these people who’ve made the choice to pollute their bodies.

I can’t count the number of times I have been on scene with an addict who has overdosed - many times, for the second or third time. The number of fire, EMT, police and hospital personnel involved in such incidents is staggering. Such calls take away from those who truly need our services.

I recommend that anyone who believes as Julian does should contact their local police or sheriff’s office and schedule a ride-along. When they see what every officer sees about such supposedly victimless crime, it will open their eyes to the truth. I hope it will also show them how dangerous ignorance can be. Brad Hallock Spokane

Defense takes the low road

I read with interest the April 1 article about Tom DiBartolo’s attorney’s attempts to lower his bail from $250,000 to a $125,000 property bond because, according to his defense lawyer, Maryann Mareno, her client is “a good father, even though he has carried on several extramarital affairs over the past 19 years.”

Is this Mareno’s idea of a bad April Fool’s joke?

What does it take, these days, to be a bad father? Obviously, being accused of fatally shooting your children’s mom in the head doesn’t qualify. Cheating on your children’s mom for 19 years ( and thus, cheating on your family) doesn’t qualify. Nor does abusing the public trust in enforcing the laws of the state as a deputy sheriff and then further belittling that trust before your children’s and co-workers eyes fit the criteria, either.

Destroying the credibility of DiBartolo’s children was low enough, but that’s how some attorneys work when they need to grasp for straws. Let’s see who can slamdunk personalities and testimony the deepest into the mud! I suppose Mareno led a mistake-free life when she was growing up, right?

“People are making a big jump between unfaithfulness and the crime,” DiBartolo’s sister stated. If DiBartolo did what he’s accused of, then it would appear that the very concept of “unfaithfulness” was a foundation for that crime. And if that’s the case, his defense should be hard at work trying to find real evidence, instead of trying to change DiBartolo’s public image and manipulate the public’s sympathy in attempts to portray DiBartolo as someone he may not truly be. Rob Wilkinson Spokane

THE MEDIA

Students’ memorial gesture overlooked

On Mach 31, just as school was getting over for the day at Shadle Park High School, news was spreading of the death of the junior class counselor, Doug McCray. The loss of a man who gave so much to each of the kids he interacted with has left this class devastated.

On April 1, in an effort to honor this man, over 100 members of the junior class gathered on the Monroe Street Bridge to paint “the wall.” Anyone who crosses the bridge will see their message, their tribute to him in the only way they could find to pay it.

These kids got together on their own time to create a positive message, and to attempt to deal with their grief. They didn’t gather to cause problems. Perhaps if they had, their actions would have been deemed newsworthy. It is so easy to focus on the negative, it’s too bad this very positive action went unnoticed and unreported.

I think that if a reporter had spent a few minutes talking with these kids, listening to their reason for being there, it would have given a whole different picture of today’s youths.

McCray inspired his kids; he challenged them, respected them, loved them and wasn’t embarrassed to show it. He truly will be missed, by not only the kids who had daily contact with him but by the parents who knew they could always count on McCray to do the right things for their kids.

As the wall says, “Mr. McCray - we will miss U.” Cheryl Underhill Spokane

Theaters should offer youth permits

Have you ever driven your kids to a movie only to find that the theater won’t admit them unless you sit beside them? My parents have.

The movie rating system is designed so that children of all ages aren’t exposed to “adult situations, offensive language or extreme violence.” Ratings specify age: 18 for R, 13 for PG-13, and general audiences for PG and G. This and the television rating system are good ways to alert parents to the content of movies and programs their children watch.

Theaters have become more strict on letting children into R and PG-13 movies. This presents a problem for parents who trust their child’s ability to handle adult scenes but who can’t or don’t want to see the movie. Theaters insist that parent supervise their child and pull them out if the movie becomes offensive. Also, there’s little enforcement for parents who just walk out after their child is safely inside.

To avoid compromising the rating system, parents should be able to sign a release form at the theater allowing their child to see a movie to which they have agreed. That way, the theater and rating system may satisfy parents who approve of their child watching restricted movies, as well as those who don’t. Currently, at rental places, parents may mark on their application whether or not their child may rent R-rated movies.

This proposal favors both theaters and families: theaters would get more business and youths could experience situations they may encounter later in life and evaluate them while still close to their parents. Mari Waterman Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

FCC gives away the store

Appropriately, on April Fools Day, the Federal Communications Commission tacitly agreed to turn over new frequencies on the television broadcast spectrum valued at more than $50 billion to existing TV station owners for free.

These airwaves belong to the public. But Washington politicians, under the influence of the powerful telecommunications lobby, will soon direct the FCC to give away this precious national resource at no charge. Only companies that currently hold a TV license, like Disney, General Electric, Westinghouse and Murdoch are eligible to receive the additional frequencies. This is corporate welfare at its most blatant.

Although there is wide agreement among Americans that today’s TV broadcasters pollute the airwaves with violence, sensationalism and sleaze, the FCC is about to bestow still more broadcasting power on these same corporations. The new spectrum makes it possible for each current license holder to broadcast four or more channels in addition to the current one.

Media conglomerates already have too much communications power. The airwaves should be much more diversified, and could be, simply by diversifying control over the new frequencies.

Part of the new spectrum should be put to noncommercial use, and part of the new broadcasting power allocated to nonprofit organizations, educational institutions and groups representing the public.

Public interest standards should determine who gains access to new broadcast channels, not political bribes and corporate greed. The American people are being fooled once again. Russ Moritz Sandpoint

Environmentalism exposed

“Spokane County tries to find Easy money” (Spokesman-Review, March 30) suggests that the well-heeled and well-connected environmental groups not only include some incompetents and thieves, but that they are essentially self-serving hypocrites. In the name of saving the planet and helping the public, they are simply making life pleasant for themselves at the expense of others by using the public’s money to develop parks near their expensive homes.

One of the people in a photo with the story was identified as Lynn Wells and described as part of the group that got the missing money. She lives in a $200,000 home on the Spokane River and close to the park, or “natural area” that was being developed with the money that disappeared. Kevin Canwell, president of the environmental group that got the money, was in the photo, too. He lives out in the Valley, a long way from the park at the mouth of the Little Spokane River but very close to a similar park, the Dishman Hills area. A case of one hand washing the other, no doubt.

Big-spending Democrats are nearly always responsible for funding such projects, but despite their Democratic voting record, 3rd District never seems to get any. I wonder if the voters in the district will ever catch on. Brendon Hill Spokane

Flat tax should include a catch

Daniel Mitchell’s editorial, “Flat tax would be our salvation” (April 6), is right on the mark in almost every respect. Initially, a flat tax would be highly beneficial to most Americans, would save tremendous amounts of money (in tax preparation) and would be welcomed by almost all taxpaying Americans.

However, because the complicated tax code, with its myriad rules, regulations, deductions and shelters is the taxpayer’s only defense against unjust taxation, simplification of the code would leave the taxpayer defenseless unless one critical stipulation was included in the legislation. That stipulation must be that the flat tax rate could only be increased with supermajority approval by the voters. Without such a proviso, a flat tax would simplify irresponsible legislators’ ability to further their own ends at tax payers’ expense.

Contact your congressman and senators. Tell them to include in any flat tax legislation a requirement that tax rate increases should only be possible if a supermajority of voters approve. Gene K. Ealy Coeur d’Alene