Letters To The Editor

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Mead district has managed well

As senior citizens, we want to express our appreciation to the Citizens Planning Committee, the school board and the Mead School District for their foresight in establishing a $9 million reserve which will be used to help defer expenses in remodeling Mead High School and other schools within the district. Of the 17 schools built in Washington in the 1990s, Mead’s costs were the third-lowest, per square foot.

In addition, the Mount Spokane High School was finished under budget - again, a savings for taxpayers. It is refreshing to see good fiscal management.

Our children received, and our grandchildren are receiving, a high-quality education in Mead and this is due primarily to the district’s attention not only to the curriculum but to the facilities in which that occurs. In an ever-changing world, it is our responsibility and challenge to provide not only a good education to our children but for the generations to come.

Tracy and Leta Walters Mead

Vote for Mead bond and levy

Our children attended grades K-12 in the Mead School District. The youngest graduated in 1997. During these years, we have attended many school functions and have visited all of the schools in the district for band, sports and other events. The need for continuing maintenance and modernization has been apparent, as has the ongoing support of district taxpayers. This is demonstrated well by the new schools built in recent years. These new facilities do, however, emphasize the need to upgrade the older schools.

Mead High School is in serious need of modernization. While the district has done well to keep this facility operating, the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and other mechanical systems are woefully inadequate. Cold rooms, stale air and leaking roofs do not create a good atmosphere for education. The teachers and staff have worked around outdated classrooms and other physical problems but cannot be expected, under these conditions, to maintain the quality of education we have come to expect. The students deserve complete modernization of Mead High.

I urge all Mead School District patrons to go to the polls March 10 to vote in favor of the bond issue and maintenance levy. A. Stefan Fechter Spokane

Chamber urges yes votes on Tuesday

All too seldom during the work day does the business community meet and appreciate the many outstanding young people in our community. One opportunity to do just that became a major reason that the board of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce held its February meeting at Mount Spokane High School.

The students who greeted us and conducted tours were impressive, and rightfully proud of their school. That new facility is attractive and adaptable.

The chamber’s Public Policy Council had previously studied the Mead School District’s levy and bond issue - measures the trustees enthusiastically endorsed. The bond addresses future needs of the entire district. The Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce urges all Mead voters to vote yes on Tuesday. Like other districts in Spokane County, Mead continues to plan for the future. Dave Broom, chairman of the board Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce

‘93 bond did not cover modernization

As chairwoman of the Citizens Planning Committee during the study that determined the need for Mount Spokane High School, I can confidently say that the bond issue voted on in May of 1993 by Mead School District patrons was exclusively for the purpose of constructing Mount Spokane High School.

At that time, however, we also made it clear that once the new high school was open, the modernization of Mead High School would be the next priority.

This building has had significant problems for many years. These problems are having an impact on our students’ education and need to be addressed as soon as possible. However, the bond issue of May, 1993 did not include funds for this modernization.

The Mead School Board is being fiscally responsible with this bond issue. The deficiencies in Mead High School will not go away, and time will only increase the cost of fixing them. It is imperative that voters support the efforts to maintain our educational facilities. Please join me in voting yes for both the replacement levy and the bond issue. Linda S. Becker Spokane

Vote to meet school needs

On Tuesday, Mead School District voters will have the opportunity to support the education of the district’s children.

The maintenance and operations levy will replace the previous levy and pay for much-needed equipment, programs and services that are essential for the learning and development of each child. The bond issue will support upgrading and improvements that are necessary to maintain all of our schools as safe and modern facilities.

Please vote yes on both issues and be part of the tradition of excellence that is the foundation of the Mead School District. Larry B. Knutson, D.D.S. Colbert

Mead measures a good investment

I am a Mead Senior High School teacher, asking for support on the Mead School District levy and bond proposals.

A yes vote on the levy will assure continued funding of extracurricular programs. As activities coordinator at Mead High, I see the benefit of your support every day. Your dollars are hard at work.

The maintenance and operations levy will run 6 cents (per $100,000 of assessed value) less than the last two-year levy and will provide money for programs not covered by state funding.

Having taught at Mead High for 14 years, I daily see the need for improvements. In addition to Mead High, many other buildings will be upgraded and modernized to maintain high standards for all our students. Your support on this bond is greatly needed.

As a Mead resident, I have benefited from good schools and a strong community. This strong community and these quality educational programs have helped to maintain high property values. Your support will help keep Mead an exemplary school district.

Please remember to vote yes twice on Tuesday. Randy M. Mickelsen Spokane

Phonics method works - use it

The controversy about teaching reading using the phonics method is a no-brainer.

When people of my generation were taught to read in the late 1940s and early 1950s, phonics was the accepted method. It was easy and very effective. Because of the phonics method, only the students who had real learning disabilities had any trouble with reading skills. Because of phonics I learned not only to read, but to love reading.

Phonics passed the test of time. Then somebody decided to fix something that wasn’t broken. As a result, many younger Americans cannot read or comprehend, and cannot communicate in a format that can be universally understood. Get back to basics. Get back to phonics. Edward B. Hanson Airway Heights

OTHER TOPICS

Give Aryans a solid turnout

The best way to face the Aryan March is very simple. Line the march route with non-Caucasian people, standing arm-in-arm, silently. No jeers, no boos, no smiles, no noise. Just standing quietly, blocking any access to Caucasian people.

I urge you to contact Indians, Orientals, Hispanics and African-Americans. Fill up the streets and leave no room for those who would cheer those hate-filled terrorists. Dorothy S. Willis Sprague, Wash.

Be thankful some fight pornography

Regarding recent letter writers’ criticisms of “morality activists” and argument that a correlation between viewing pornography and rape does not imply causal relationship. This is the same specious argument used to try to prove marijuana is harmless because it doesn’t necessarily lead to harder drugs. For those with emotional-psychological impairment who cope with life through mind-altering drugs, marijuana is indeed the main gateway drug that, down the road, sometimes leads to use of harder drugs and death.

While viewing pornography will not cause someone not predisposed to violence to become a rapist, for those who are predisposed it’s certainly an impetus to, and rationalization for, victimization of women, even to the point of rape and killing.

Serial killer Ted Bundy gave a final deathwatch interview in which he accepted blame for what he did but wanted to let the world know of the dangers of the pornography that shaped his ideas. Pornography is commonly used in child molestation to both arouse the predator and desensitize the child victim.

In an interview with Yale University male students a few years ago, all concluded that exposure to even Playboy and Penthouse had definitely hurt their ability to form a caring, committed and emotionally satisfying relationship with one woman.

I say, thank God for people like Penny Lancaster, who can clearly see something harmful in society and try to do something to help. R. Paul Unger Spokane