Letters To The Editor

WASHINGTON STATE

‘Playpen’ another GOP payback

The Seahawk stadium proposal is a typical example of how the Republican Party thinks. I guess they never saw a wealthy corporation that they couldn’t subsidize in one form or another.

What’s $400 million or $500 million to a multimillionaire, especially if he’s not paying it?

Who, in their right minds, wouldn’t cut back on health care for the poor and elderly, education benefits for needy students, repairing our highways, etc., rather than denying Paul Allen his big playpen?

After all, that stadium will provide several hundred minimum-wage jobs for 25 to 30 days a year. Why waste that money on education, law enforcement, roads, health care, etc., when you can generate part-time, minimum-wage jobs for almost a whole month each year?

Isn’t it strange how the vast majority of our Republican legislators, who voted in favor of the project - the ones who decimated the state health program for the citizens - tend to be more cooperative whenever big business demands a payback on its PAC investments via deregulation, allowing lobbyists to write their own legislation (a la former Rep. Todd Mielke) or financing stadiums?

Isn’t it also strange that the more Big Timber benefits by forest legislation that the flooding in the Northwest becomes a yearly problem, rather than a rare phenomenon?

How much longer can we afford all of this benevolence from the GOP? They are giving our money to those who need it the least and the only ones hurting are the taxpayers. Andy P. Kelly Spokane

Refuse Seahawks and we all lose

I’m appalled at the number of people who are misinformed and inclined to vote “no” on Referendum 48. Here are some facts to consider.

If we don’t build the stadium, someone else will. It happened in Baltimore, Cleveland and other cities. In each case, the owner moved a team because of inadequate stadium facilities and the new city built them a new stadium. The state of Washington will look bad, but those who vote “no” won’t care.

Remember in the late ‘60s or early ‘70s when someone came up with the wild vision of having a world’s fair in Spokane? It was defeated at the polls. The critics said it would cost too much and there would be no long term benefits. Expo ‘74 was a great success and those critics are still using Riverfront Park. But those who voted “no” don’t remember.

Only those who would use the stadium would pay. In some ways, it’s similar to the Mariners’ stadium revenue proposals. We are being fed a line by the anti-stadium forces, but those who would vote “no” don’t want to listen to the truth.

If the Seahawks leave, who will be responsible for the $120 million Kingdome debt, the cost of lost jobs, businesses and a lower quality of life? The taxpayers will. Those who would vote “no” don’t want you to know.

We need to show some pride and vision. I urge you to vote “yes” on Referendum 48. Rick L. Findley Spokane

Allen can build his own stadium

I make about $90 for a day’s work. One day this spring, Paul Allen made over $900 million.

My disposable income per day is about $10. That would be the equivalent of $100 million for Allen - the amount he’s willing to spend for a new stadium.

Let him buy his land, build his stadium with his team in it and leave our Kingdome alone. Boeing doesn’t ask us to build its manufacturing facilities. Don R. Holschen Spokane

Study the issue and vote

The hole has been punched, the envelope sealed, the stamp licked and the ballot sent.

I read my voters pamphlet. I weighed the positives and the negatives. I made my decision based on all the available information.

I encourage all registered voters to do exactly what they have registered to do: simply vote.

But, there is more to it than that. I also hope you will honestly look at the information you have received. Please don’t vote on emotion. Please look at the issues. Take time and look at the issues and make an educated vote. J.L. Minnerly Spokane

Drug warrior Owen doubly wrong

I see Lt. Gov. Brad Owen is at it again. It wasn’t enough for him to be printed statewide ranting against Dr. Rob Killian’s medical marijuana initiative. Now, he is crying about the proposed cuts in using the National Guard against American citizens.

Unlike our prohibitionist lieutenant governor, I am glad that cuts are being made in the use of our National Guard in the drug war. National Guard resources are meant for protecting the people, not fighting them. History shows that when the Guard is turned against Americans, a horrible tragedy often takes place.

When will Owen realize that attacking people in the name of the war on drugs is wrong? Enough! The people are tired of war lust. Tom G. Hawkins Grand Coulee

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Depravity spans orientations

Susan Van Engelen’s May 22 letter (“Goal is legitimizing depravity”) is an impassioned comment on human sexuality. In it, she lists behavioral patterns that she obviously considers undesirable, distasteful or immoral. She concludes that tolerating any of them “is to abandon our children to disease and despair in a lifestyle” without “any real satisfaction or security, physically or emotionally.” She concludes with the statement, “The emperor has no clothes.”

Her comments are revealing. Each and every behavioral and moral flaw she ascribes to homosexuality is exactly the same as those most criticized as depraved and immoral in heterosexuality.

There’s a message here for all of us: It isn’t the orientation, it is what we do with it.

I strongly suspect the proportion of what she calls “depravity” in the two groups is much the same. With heterosexuals in the majority by something like 10 to one, where does that leave us?

It looks to me as though Van Engelen is wearing the same outfit as the emperor. Dr. Paul L. Weis Spokane

Selflessness appreciated

I want to commend The Spokesman-Review for the May 24 article on Dwight Lawrence for his service to the people of Sunvale Acres. If it were not for him and his boat, many people would not have had a way off this island to get to town for mail or groceries, or just to get out to stay with friends or relatives until this flood is over.

Lawrence never asked for anything for his morning-until-night service. There should be more recognition for the Dwight Lawrences of this world. I am proud to call him a friend and neighbor. Don A. Brown Ione, Wash.

BUSINESS AND LABOR

VNA justified in striking

In response to the pending Visiting Nurses Association strike, as a registered nurse myself, I very much support their efforts. I also am disappointed that it takes this much for nurses to obtain what they are worth.

The business end of health care is trying to save money by decreasing registered nurses’ salaries or by replacing registered nurses with nonlicensed personnel. This, despite the fact that there have been many published patient outcome studies supporting the benefits of care administered by a registered nurse. Some of these benefits include: reduced readmissions, decreased post-surgical complications and smoother transitions after discharge. All these benefits save money in the long run.

While it is true that many nonlicensed people can be trained to do the tasks of nursing, it does take the education of a registered nurse to truly put together all the aspects of a client. Only a registered nurse has developed the critical thinking skills needed to monitor and treat human experiences and responses. These include birth, health, illness and death.

It is a shame that the VNA nurses have to go so far to be valued. Kimberly L. Woodring, R.N., M.S.N.c. Spokane

HEALTH AND SAFETY

‘Crash’ story could prevent tragedy

Thanks to The Spokesman-Review for sharing Elana Marshall’s May 25 story, “After the crash” (IN Life).

I had an accident with a drunken driver in Idaho. If there’s any chance that someone won’t get into their car as a result of reading this article, then it’s certainly worth her pain and suffering.

I urge everyone to pray for her speedy recovery and also for the lives that were lost. Deborah Y. Bisenius Spokane

Theaters set volume too high

Hearing loss is an increasing problem. At least 1 million school-age children have a hearing impairment, according to the Better Hearing Institute. This is probably due to our increasingly noisy urban environment and the proliferation of boom boxes, Jet Skis, etc.

I have noticed that the sound level in movie theaters is now often set to levels that are almost painful. I don’t know if this is deliberate or due to the automation of projection rooms, but it can only exacerbate the problem.

Perhaps if more people with undamaged ears would complain to theater management when this occurs, there would be more consistent monitoring in this area. Dave K. Johnson Elk

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

We face threat worse than Joe Camel

Amid all the furor surrounding Joe Camel, I fear we are losing sight of something just a bit more important than whether a cartoon character is pushing cigarettes at kids.

Freedom of speech.

Isn’t it just a little frightening that so many well-intentioned people are demanding censorship? That so many want to give a non-elected agency of the federal government the power to dictate what we may see?

Where are the fulminating newspaper editorials? Where is the American Civil Liberties Union? Where are the outraged fulminations of politicians? Have we so lost respect for our hard-won freedoms that we don’t even recognize a threat?

The moment any government agency is given the power to ban any form of expression by anyone, the entire edifice of government of the people, by the people and for the people loses its foundation.

Amendment 1: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Any further infringement of our rights, no matter how small, must be guarded against if we wish to remain a relatively free people. We have already lost too much of our birthright. Curt Messex Cheney

U.S. Patent Office under attack

Should the United States amend its patent laws so that wealthy corporations and foreign countries can steal the ideas of American inventors? The authors of House Resolution 400 seem to think so.

This bill, recently passed in the House in a weakened form, would still transform the U.S. Patent Office into a private corporation that could accept gifts and in other ways be swayed by political pressure. In other words, the office could accept bribes for influencing the issuing of patents. Big corporations could then protect their markets from people with a better idea or product.

If this bill (now in the Senate as S507) were enacted, our patent system, which is the envy of inventors and entrepreneurs all over the world, would be hopelessly altered. The change would take personal gain, and hence incentive, away from invention. Consequently, without new technologies, America’s economy would suffer.

More significant inventions have been produced in America than in all other nations combined, even though Americans make up only about 5 percent of the world’s population. S507 is an encroachment on the constitutional right of inventors to have, for limited time, “the exclusive right to their discoveries.”

Let’s not “harmonize” America with other nations. Let’s keep America in the lead. Marty R. Becktell Coeur d’Alene

‘Legal political ploys’ wear thin

Justice has cleared a way for Paula Jones’ sex suit and the Whitewater investigation continues. In some sense, we have not strayed very far from the mother countries when it comes to sensational headlines.

If I’m a typical American citizen, then the rest of the country must also get sick and tired of these legal political ploys to oust or make life miserable for Bill Clinton. It’s saddening, when you stop and realize the time and millions of dollars that have been spent on these efforts so far. James A. Nelson Spokane

IN THE PAPER

Vampire story the last straw

I was absolutely astounded by the “Going Gothic” article in the May 30 IN Life section. It made me sick to my stomach to believe you would even print an article of this nature.

There are young children you have no doubt influenced into accepting this sort of behavior simply by printing this article.

I have subscribed to The Spokesman-Review off and on for 30 years, but your portrayal of the vampire culture as presented in the article was the last straw. I have grown ever tired of your biased reporting and stories that draw on the National Enquirer style of sensationalism.

I guess you can get away with it in a one-horse (newspaper) town like Spokane. I have been all over the world on business travel and have read many different newspapers from all corners of the globe. The Spokesman-Review is one of the most expensive, least newsworthy of any I have ever seen. It just isn’t worth the expense anymore to look at nothing but trash articles. Ronald D. Sand Reardan, Wash.

‘Outside’ piece deplorable

The Spokesman-Review appears to lust after racial issues. I found the special to Perspective, “On the Outside” (June 1), rancorous with this sentence: “The majority of Spokane credo in my view seemed abundantly to be, ‘Let’s keep it white.”’ I take exception with the entire article.

What came through as I read it was a victim relishing victimization. Cowardice in the mail or on the phone is nothing new to individuals, nor is slinging arrows from afar.

I have been a member of the African American Forum since 1987 and I have never heard of nor have I met Ralph Neely. The thrust of his commentary was to incite, using trite content. We need to understand our fellow humans, judging them individually on merit, and get on with life. Edward Thomas Jr. Spokane

Lilac parade deserves more coverage

Your almost half-page, four-days-after-it-happened review of the Tina Turner concert in the May 28 Spokesman-Review was news to print, while our Lilac parade coverage rated a small report on May 19 of entry winners only?

Did it occur to you that it takes hours, days and even months of devoted work by volunteers to produce the beautiful entries enjoyed by thousands of adults and children?

The marching units take long, grueling practice time to produce the perfection obtained by school bands and others, plus uniform and transportation costs.

Please don’t overlook the personal attention to planning and coordination donated by parade officials.

Our own Inland Northwest events involving so much time and effort by so many certainly deserve your recognition in more detail.

I don’t believe so many months of preparation, producing such excellent and pleasing results, should be dismissed the day after. People don’t forget that quickly. They might like to savor the pleasure of reviewing all the sights and sounds of a spectacular event produced by our people. Frances A. McCathern Spokane