Letters To The Editor

(From Letters, February 14, 1998): Sandra Rendall’s last name was misspelled in her Thursday letter supporting the nurses at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

HIGHER EDUCATION

EWU quality edge of real value

I must say I am confused after reading about the decision to basically place Washington State University in charge of higher education in Spokane.

I am a recent graduate of the EWU computer science program. I have interned at Microsoft Corp. and have done consulting work for the University of Washington Medical Center. I have a decision to make as to whether I wish to pursue a graduate degree in computer science or take a job offer from Microsoft.

I would like to be able to continue my education. However, if WSU is to be the only choice in the Spokane area, I would choose employment at Microsoft.

There is a specific reason I would make such a choice. EWU is certified by the Computer Science Accreditation Board (CSAB). Eastern has suffered no bans on its computer science graduates from the state’s largest employer, Boeing. In contrast, WSU has suffered such a ban. I feel that in the eyes of a large employer such as Boeing or Microsoft, a degree in computer science from WSU is not as marketable as a CSAB-certified EWU degree.

Quality of education is crucial if the goal is to improve higher education in Spokane, instead of merely increasing the available alumni to attend a Rose Bowl game. Kristofer H. Cruz Spokane

EWU instructors carry on, excellently

One of the most awe-inspiring displays of the strength of human character is perseverance despite adversity.

As a student at the Cheney campus of Eastern Washington University, I express my appreciation and admiration to the faculty members as they continue to uphold standards of excellence and adhere to their commitment to serve their students. They set a fine example for all of us. Erin C. Cannon Spokane

Balanced, affordable approach vital

Opinion editor John Webster’s Feb. 8 editorial envisions Eastern Washington University as an idyllic liberal arts college, reduced in professional programs and tucked away in Cheney.

That won’t work because it is not what most students want or need. It is not what Spokane needs.

Most students choose a college based on cost, proximity and availability of a major; i.e., they want highlevel professional training at the most reasonable possible cost. Of course, they also need a good liberal arts background in order to be knowledgable of their culture, adaptable in their professions and active in their communities.

The mission of EWU must include the integration and linkage between professional programs and the liberal arts. The leaders of our businesses and community need both, and the students of EWU need both.

If professional programs are taken away from EWU (as proposed by Sens. Jim West and Eugene Prince), fewer students would come to EWU because there wouldn’t be as many good majors leading to good jobs. Enrollments would spiral downward and budget shortfalls would lead to the decay of facilities.

Spokane should support more professional programs for EWU, rather than fewer, because that is the way to create a better-educated citizenry and higher-paying jobs. Grant W. Smith coordinator of humanities, Eastern Washington University, Cheney

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Philosophical math a real-life bust

Terry Bergeson, this state’s school superintendent, now admits that she is not capable of designing a curriculum that teaches math to elementary students in a classroom environment.

Having proven, by her own tests, that less than 22 percent of students are able to grasp mathematics taught as a philosophical concept, she now insists that all adults in the community pitch in as unpaid tutors to teach that which cannot be grasped by such young minds. She seems to have forgotten whose job it is to provide the instruction.

When the school districts found out that our children were not able to pass the elitist tests Bergeson designed, they started teaching the test instead of the subject matter. Now even that is not enough.

“It’s almost like we’re going to give homework assignments where you learn it with your kid,” she bragged to a group of parents in Spokane. It seemed like she was mocking us. She was saying that our children were so ignorant that she couldn’t teach them so she would teach us instead.

Well, Bergeson, you are the one who failed the test, not the children. Come the next election, we will reassign you to the dustbin and teach math to children the normal way, so they can make change, do fractions, multiply and divide. They will learn math as a useful tool of everyday life, not as the pseudoscience you prefer. Edward F. Sawatzki Veradale

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Now, about what we don’t see

We all have seen, over and over again, the footage of President Clinton hugging Monica Lewinsky as he worked the crowds. Since we all believe in the integrity of the presidency and want to believe him when he says he never had sex with “that woman” and wonder if it really is a right-wing conspiracy, why don’t we see film clips showing other female interns gazing into his eyes as as longingly as Lewinsky did? Pete A. Brittain Sandpoint

View going forward is scary

If the Clintons and their supporters in the village really believe that adultery, dishonesty, cover-ups and lying to the American people don’t matter, may God help us as we lead our children into the 21st century! Sharry Munro Spokane

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Why you should support nurses

I’ve been a registered nurse at Sacred Heart Medical Center for five years. I have always been treated as a professional by the administration and management. In turn, I’ve delivered nursing care with compassion, intelligence and professionalism.

I am proud of Sacred Heart’s nurses for standing up for themselves, this community and SHMC patients.

Washington State Nurses Association nurses propose that they have the contractual right to negotiate staffing issues such as nurse-patient ratios with the hospital. It’s easy to see that the number of nurses scheduled to care for patients directly affects the quality and outcome of patient care. Mandatory on-call status, rest between shifts and wages are also being negotiated.

This is a time of ever-increasing changes in the health care industry. While we make spectacular advances in technology to save lives, less and less of that technology is actually available to us. Insurance companies increasingly dictate how physicians will deliver care.

Nurses foresee a period when they, too, will be expected to do more with less. With fewer nurses at the bedside, nurses will be hard-pressed to deliver the standard of care every patient deserves. This situation reminds me of an old cliche: “If you don’t stand up for something, you’ll fall for anything.” I now realize it’s not a cliche, it’s true.

Stand up for your nurses, Spokane, they’re standing up for you. Sandra L. Kendall R.N., B.S.N. Spokane

Business standard doesn’t apply

Jim Prokop (Letters, Feb. 3) does not understand the current plight of Sacred Heart nurses.

I have worked in a nonunion environment for 25 years and always viewed strikes and contracts as instruments and tactics for greedy people to extort more than they would otherwise earn. I have acquired a new empathy and perspective in this instance, however, due to a careful study of the facts surrounding this issue.

I work in a retail customer service industry, but on my worst day I never come close to the stress and pressure that the average registered nurse deals with every single day. They’re worth 10 times what they’re paid, no doubt about it, but this is about much more than money.

Nurse-to-patient ratios are dwindling as the administration endeavors to cut costs. When qualified staffing levels plunge in the name of business, it isn’t a matter of waiting in line an extra minute for a hamburger, it is about people’s very lives. I am sure, in all fairness, that the administration has its own concerns, but it must recognize that numbers and budgets don’t comfort and care for ailing patients - nurses do.

A good chief executive officer leads by example. The first sacrifice should be his. Good faith between managers and nurses would make strikes and contracts unnecessary. John R. Cross Spokane

Craig assumption overly optimistic

Re: “Idaho contingent approves Clinton’s propriety, criticizes politics,” (Jan. 28).

“Almost all people who want to work these days are working at above minimum wage.” I’m not sure where Sen. Larry Craig gets his statistics but I’m sure everyone making $5.15 an hour (minus withholding), paying for day care and praying they don’t get sick, would like to be included - or maybe they really don’t “want” to work. Robert T. Glaza Veradale

Workers’ group a great idea

Re: “Unemployed man forms local workers’ organization,” (Jan. 29). Ed Boltik, count me in! Let’s get a Spokane chapter going.

I would join your Feb. 16 meeting, however, I am too poor to afford a car as I work for a temporary agency that underemploys me and fights my right to unemployment insurance benefits. (My claim is going through the appeals process while I lose weight and gain ulcers for which I have no medical benefits).

Unemployed workers of the world, unite! David W. Bilsland Spokane

Mining profits? Tell me more

Re: “Atlas Mining shows 1997 profit,” (Jan. 31). Lots of mines make profits. It would be informative to know where and how profits were made. On the property at Mullan? By foreign investment? Something in Idaho, perhaps? John H. Wiegman Osburn, Idaho