Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Crime blights my neighborhood

On April, 11 a 53-year-old woman was found stabbed to death in her home on Ninth and Walnut, which had been burglarized. The very next day, just blocks away on Sixth Avenue, a body was found.

I live in this neighborhood. These murders are a shocking sign of how bad things have gotten these days. I live next door to crack dealers and little kids. Kids walk down the street smoking blunts, getting high as the trees. At night, nothing is safe; houses and cars get broken into all the time.

Down the street from where I live there is a park where families and children can go to have fun and enjoy life. They shouldn’t have to worry about violence, drugs and crime, but it’s all around them so that’s what they grow up with.

People need to be aware of the problems that are out there, right in front of their faces, that they don’t feel or see. Joel P. Worden Spokane

Transit outfit making name for itself

Dianne Chilgren’s letter of May 2 concerning the STA no longer providing bus service to Rockwood Manor as of September 1998 again points out, as she wrote, how STA will do what they want no matter how socially irresponsible it may be. By forcing bus route changes and cancellations of other routes on riders who never would have allowed them if the riders were allowed to vote, STA once again demonstrates that those initials not only stand for Stop Thinking Altogether, as another letter writer observed, but also serve as an acronym for Supreme and Total Arrogance. Robert G. Kirlin Spokane

Bloomsday cuts through bigotry

Bloomsday was a beautiful sight. Heaven-sent weather, perfect conditions and crowds of diverse people brought together for one cause.

Much of the news coverage focused on the national impact this race has on health and fitness throughout our country. But I watched a different kind of health and fitness unfold.

This was my first Bloomsday as a resident of Washington. I am a newcomer to the Spokane area. Anxious to make this my home, I admit my prejudice to see a resident of the greater Spokane area win the race. But a greater sense of home pride came out of the ordained results.

Before moving here, I was warned of the prevailing sense of dreaded racial separation. White supremacist groups would raise their ugly heads, I was advised. And that they have.

How appropriate that the closely trained group of men from Kenya victoriously and joyfully strode across the gala finish line - not just first place, but second, third, fourth and then fifth. And Jane Omoro, also of Kenya, easily took first place in the women’s division.

Yes, Spokane and the rest of this region, let’s show the nation how to be healthy and fit, in athletics and in unity, and in the spirit of one people and one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Cindy Scinto Greenacres

WASHINGTON STATE

Hatchery closure one of many blunders

The proposed closing of the Colville fish hatchery is the last straw in the mismanagement of the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife. With the current budget deficit at $17.6 million and growing, it’s no wonder the public has lost faith in the government bureaucracies that are so important to our way of life.

The Colville fish hatchery produces a total of 968,135 trout in four different species with an annual operating budget of between $65,000 and $70,000, stocking 60-70 lakes in Stevens, Ferry, Pend Oreille and northern Spokane counties.

This latest fiasco has come on the heels of other wildlife management blunders: the decimation of the Elk herd in the Blue Mountains; overpopulation of the white-tail deer (particularly in Northeast Washington), causing severe losses to agricultural crops; the transplanting of caribou in northeast Washington in a high-count predator area of grizzly and cougar, which is nothing more than another toy to see, if it works, while spending tens of thousands of dollars on a project that’s already a total failure.

The political disarray of the State Fish and Game Commission and mismanagement within the department will take a heavy toll on our outdoor recreation for many years. But what can we expect when people like ex-congresswoman Jolene Unsoeld, who knew nothing about fish and wildlife, and received political contributions from the Sierra Club of California, have been appointed to the Fish and Wildlife Commission?

Contact your legislators and Gov. Locke immediately to protest the closing of the Colville fish hatchery. Tony Delgado Loon Lake

HEALTH CARE

Rotary funds essential in polio fight

A recent article in The Spokesman-Review reported on the efforts and success of the World Health Organization’s drive to eliminate polio from the face of the Earth by the year 2000. While the article appeared basically correct, there was a very glaring omission.

In the mid-1980s, Rotary International committed to accomplish that task and set an initial goal of $120 million to fund that effort. Not only did Rotarians meet the $120 million, they donated $240 million. That dollar amount has tripled since then and Rotary has extended its goal to include eradication of other childhood diseases by the year 2005, the 100th birthday anniversary of Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary International.

While WHO is providing the lion’s share of the physical work, without the financial support of Rotary International I am sure this outstanding effort would be nowhere near where it is now. In addition to the financial support, Rotary has volunteers helping in the physical requirements as well. Wm. J. “Bill” Hiatt past district governor, Rotary International, Spokane

Insurers suddenly get religion

If you had a column for ignorance, I can name two winners real quick: Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

They want to sue the tobacco companies to recover some of the costs to them for smoking-related illnesses.

How dare they when for years, I, a heavy smoker, have asked - even begged - for help paying for smoking cessation programs and they wouldn’t do it. But now, have they awakened to the smell of smoke? Frances Wright Jarvis Spokane

I really had a wallet-ectomy

I am a senior citizen in my 90s. Recently, my doctor asked me to go to Deaconess Medical Center for some minor surgery. I went across the street to the admitting office and made arrangements to enter the next day.

First, I was taken to an office where I was asked about payment to the hospital. I replied that I had Medicare and Medical Service. When asked about any extra, I said yes.

Next day, I entered the hospital to have my surgery. The help there swarmed over me like honey bees, although they must have been money bees. My daughter waited in the waiting room to take me home after the surgery, which was almost 30 minutes. From the time I entered the hospital until the time I left was almost one hour.

Soon, I got an evaluation sheet from the hospital. I gave them a top rating. I did not realize I was their sacrificial lamb. They billed both of my insurance companies, then they billed me. Needless to say, I was shocked.

Then, this came to mind: “Once a man, twice a child.” Now, I feel lucky. This child only lost his money, not his life.

My daughter is lucky she has not yet been billed for waiting in the waiting room for that one hour. J.C. Riddle Spokane

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Postal workers given extra duty

Please take a moment of your time and thank the postal carriers for the enormous amount of effort put forth to accomplish such a task as the Postal Food Drive.

Please do not call the Post Office or food bank reporting theft of food, because someone is helping ease the load of these hard-working, worn out carriers.

The general public should be aware of the necessity for volunteers. Being a postal carrier tends to create numerous worn-out body parts, because of the constant repetition of this demanding job. They sort 13-20 feet of mail and service 400-600 customers daily. The union put these carriers into this situation without a vote. If you think they are happy campers toting bags full of groceries along with a tote bag full of mail, I suggest a kindly gesture: offer to carry the bags of groceries. After all, giving of our time is the most precious gift.

I have never worked with so many hard-working individuals who rarely receive the respect they deserve. Anna L. Simsich Greenacres

Predictions of leisure - ha!

Re: “Family friendliness fails” (May 1).

Suddenly, you’ve made Rip Van Winkle real to me, and believable! You know, he slept for 20 years and awakened to a somewhat changed world. Now, pick any 20-year period from the past 50 for your nap and you can imagine, on awakening, what a shock Van Winkle must have had.

The trigger, for me, was the average work week statistic quoted: 47.1 hours. I must assume that the numbers are correct, and that they represent a wide sample from the work force; blue collar, white collar, scientists, other professionals, all.

When I went to sleep, I was a scientist and expected to work long hours when the experiment (job) required it. And I can remember that, in the 1950s, the futurists and other social planners were painting glowing pictures of a future in which the work week would be reduced to 35 hours or less. And the planners worried about what people would do to occupy all those extra leisure hours! Where are those planners when we need them now? And can today’s planners be trusted to be any more accurate? Donald W. George Pullman

IN THE PAPER

Heathen critic should’ve stayed home

“It’s a questionable proposition, sending the Heathen Rock Critic to review a Christian rock concert” is one of the few statements in Winda Benedetti’s concert review (April 15) of the Amy Grant concert with which I totally agree. Does The Spokesman-Review have so few concert critics that it cannot find someone less paranoid about Christianity to give a music review?

Whether I attend a concert or not, I read a review to get a professional opinion of the entertainment value of the concert, not to read the writer ramble on about their own biases. Over half the review was about Benedetti, not Grant. Six times, she proudly refers to herself as a heathen. Anyone who paid to see the concert knows that Amy Grant’s popularity crossed over the religious station line more than 10 years ago. And with 20 years of music behind her, how could she have fit in a two-hour sermon? Maybe Benedetti could use this experience as a lesson that there is a lot about Christianity she doesn’t know.

I was disappointed that Grant made no obvious reference to God in her monologues. But if all her non-believing fans are as disgusted by religious sentiments as Benedetti, I suppose the minority rules in the music business. But I didn’t go to the concert to critique her evangelism skills. I went to enjoy her music.

For me, a good concert is one that I leave with an even higher regard for the talents of the performer and a renewed zeal for their music. Amy Grant gave me both. Yvonne F. Hanson Spokane

Woo was producer, not director

Logan Graf’s review of the Mark Wahlberg action movie, “The Big Hit,” contained a big miss (May 4). Graf twice incorrectly identifies John Woo as the director of this film. While Graf correctly credits John Woo as the talented director of “Face/Off” and “Broken Arrow,” he failed to notice that Woo served as executive producer of this film, not as director, a role he also served as producer of the Chow Yun Fat vehicle, “The Replacement Killers.”

Woo no more directed this film than Wesley Snipes, another producer of “The Big Hit.” This film was directed by Che-Kirk Wong. While “The Big Hit” is Wong’s first American film, the director is hardly inexperienced, having been part of the vanguard of Hong Kong police/triad pot-boilers of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s (Jackie Chan’s “Crime Story,” 1993).

As a film reviewer on the TV show, “Tadashi Station,” I have to agree with Patrice Williamson’s grading of the film (B), but thought they both missed the extremely tongue-in-cheek nature of the storyline. This is one ultra-violent “cartoon” of a movie and should be taken as seriously. Relax and enjoy. Tadashi Osborne, executive producer “Tadashi Station,” Spokane

DAUGHTERS DAY

Luncheon fed my spirit

When I went to the Girl Scouts’ Take Our Daughters to Work luncheon, it was amazing how much I learned. I learned that if you work hard at your dream, you will succeed.

The speaker, Lt. Col. Kim Olson, was brought up by an encouraging family. One day she had an argument with Mr. Doubt. “You can’t fly, Kim,” said Mr. Doubt. “You’re a woman!”

“I have wings and those wings are saying, ‘Fly! Fly! Follow your dream!” said Kim, hopefully. “What if you fail?” Mr. Doubt asked. “I can still try.” Kim replied. “OK,” said Mr. Doubt, “but don’t be disappointed if you don’t make it.” So Kim tried and became a pilot.

When she was young she wanted to swim. She asked her dad if she could compete. Her dad replied, “But you don’t know how to swim well.”

“I think I could learn,” Kim protested earnestly. “OK, the next meet is in four days,” says her dad, “but don’t be disappointed if you don’t come in first place.” She tried. She came in last - not last by a little, but last by the whole length of the pool.

The moral: let children try things. If it’s their talent, encourage them. If not, let them learn their lesson. Now, Kim is one of the top women in the Air Force. We girls are lucky to live in America because of all the places we can work when we’re older. We shouldn’t take it for granted. Anna K. Gibson, age 8 Spokane

Cast wide net in seeking a career

In Erin-Rose Rundquist’s May 3 letter, she states that she has ruled out two professions based on her Take Our Daughters to Work day experience. I suggest she rule out a third - public relations. After very limited exposure to two professions, she proceeds to publicly label them mind-meltingly boring.

As a student, I worked in a pharmacy for three years before making the decision to become a pharmacist. I made this choice because of a desire to help people and the strong role the pharmacist has in patient care.

As for the second profession she slams, the house she lives in wouldn’t be possible if not for architects.

I am a strong believer in a good job fit and encourage Erin-Rose to experience as many career choices as possible for compatibility. I am glad she feels her exposure allowed her to rule out two future careers. Now, she needs to learn to understand that what may be boring to her is a great source of pride to others - especially her parents. Jennifer A. Leake Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Kids who want tobacco will get it

Re: “Regulate tobacco for kids, not adults” (April 17).

I think that the writer is absolutely right. If people want to kill themselves by smoking, then by all means let them. But I think no matter how hard the government tries to keep children from purchasing tobacco products, it will be a never-ending battle. If you stop and think about how underage children get their hands on tobacco products, the answer is very simple. It can start with having friends who are 18 and older purchase it for them, to having their own siblings purchase tobacco for them. The list goes on and on. Nick Witter Spokane

Give ‘beautiful worship song’ a try

Re: “Cum ba ya.”

As I don’t know what church Adell Cook attends, I can only remark that until someone has held hands, closed their eyes and sung “cum by ya, my Lord, cum by ya,” that someone has missed so much. The young people and old (I’m 73) can truly worship this way.

Did this person not stay for the sermon? This is a beautiful worship song, and especially around a camp fire at retreat or camp. I suggest that Cook try this song and say those words in her language. “Come by here, my Lord …” Joyce Cox Chattaroy