Letters To The Editor

Tue., May 19, 1998

SPOKANE MATTERS

Shrubbery theft something more

Someone recently uprooted and stole 17 shrubs and one tree from the front lawn area of the Country Homes Building Supply on West Francis. Compared to other far more serious and deplorable situations that, unfortunately, seem to occur daily, this theft does not appear to be a big deal.

Although expensive, the actual monetary loss of these stolen items is not important. However, the ceremonial planning and planned future preservation of these plants had very significant sentimental meaning to myself and many others, including my immediate family, grandchildren, company employees, customers and friends.

Each specific item of vegetative cover was donated and planted in memory of my recently deceased father-in-law, Everett Selden. He was a dear friend to many and also a local businessman and community leader for more than 50 years.

Had the people who chose to steal these seemingly insignificant plants let it be known that they actually needed them, I know Everett’s many friends would have gladly given the thieves substitute shrubbery. Patty Selden Spokane

Bloomsday people take the high road

I wish to share with Spokane a positive Bloomsday experience. I have the highest admiration for an organization that not only deals with race dynamics I can only imagine, but an organization that treats a walker of 2.5 hours with the same respect and consideration as a top-seeded runner.

After the race, I found my coveted T-shirt had three long black arrows, printed in ink, across the back. On the way home to Colville, I stopped by a very hectic post-race Bloomsday office. I was warmly greeted and given the assurance that a new T-shirt would be sent to me in the mail. Four days later, it arrived.

The attention given to just one of 48,000-plus participants makes this an organization of which Spokane can be proud. Thank you, Lilac Bloomsday organization, I look forward to next year’s race. Donna R. Fleiger Colville, Wash.

Thanks for help with a great parade

The Spokane Junior Chamber of Commerce would like to thank the community of Spokane for its participation and help to put on the 47th Annual Junior Lilac Parade.

Special thanks to the Spokane Police Department and Sgt. Robert Alderson for all his help with rerouting the parade and with getting police officers to help park the many school buses that flooded our downtown streets. Without the SPD, Senior Volunteers, Explorer Scouts and many others, we could not have had a successful parade day.

We also thank the teachers, band instructors, drill team leaders, parents and especially the children who make this parade a memorable event. This is the largest children’s parade in the nation and the fact that this parade has touched every Spokanite, from age 10 to 99, is truly wonderful. Gerry Manfred, vice president Spokane Junior Chamber of Commerce

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Don’t forsake literary education

I have been genuinely honored and blessed to have studied great literary works during my high school career. I strongly disagree with the ‘high tech” English transformation in the article, “High schools become ‘real world’ prep” (May 3). I feel sorry for students who are learning how to use a fork and write cursive in their English classes.

District 81’s new path to success trains students to operate, not to think. Seniors are missing out on valuable books that show lessons and morals which can apply to their lives today. Reading various works such as Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Hesse’s “Siddhartha,” Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” and Homer’s “Odyssey” opens up many doors for moral and intellectual thought. Students need to know how to sort through complex ideas in literature and apply it to their own society. I admire Wakabayashi’s stand against the English reformation. What will be next? Teaching biology students about the human body on the Internet by looking up pornographic sites?

Business skills are important for our rapidly moving society and should be taught in business classes, not English classes. If high school students lose the opportunity to work through and decipher complex issues in books, they will have trouble dealing with future real-life issues.

I encourage the community to keep thought-provoking English classes in school for every student to take. We students are the future. If we don’t know how to think, who will? Elizabeth A. Kowal Spokane

‘Real-world prep’ part of a plot

Two wise teachers wrote to express their dismay over the May 3 “High schools become ‘real world’ prep” article. They share my concern that the mission of the public schools has changed from teaching children knowledge and understanding in order to train them to serve in jobs (selected by government work-force boards).

In 1992, Mark Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy revealed the intent of the current education restructuring and school-to-work plan. Our entire public school system will be modeled on the German system “to remold the entire American (public school) system” into “a seamless web that literally extends from cradle to grave and is the same system for everyone.” This program will be coordinated by “a system of labor market boards at the local, state and federal level,” where curriculum and “job matching” will be handled by counselors “accessing the integrated computer-based program.”

Dr. Shirley McCune, the federal educational liaison for Washington state’s office of superintendent of public instruction, sums up the educational mission change, “The school is moving out of the business of ‘schooling,’ into the business of human resource development.”

In my opinion, our dear, precious children will be trained to become mere human capital, compliant, complacent workers for a state-managed economy. The public schools are tossing a literature-rich education in favor of merely training children to serve as cogs in the machinery of the state. This will ultimately result in an even greater loss of respect for our higher human purposes and basic human rights. Gloria A. Clark Spokane

Gender inequity persists

Hal Dixon (Letters, May 3) took issue with the Community Colleges’ need for a gender equity manager. I offer another perspective.

I had a friend in college who wasn’t allowed to declare a premed major. She was told by the department head she’d just take up space in the program and then get married and never practice, while a man would need to earn a living with his medical degree. In more than one of my math classes, girls were seated in the back and not expected to do well because they “wouldn’t need math anyway.” Another friend wanted to be a cabinet maker but “women don’t do that kind of work.” It took her a lot of struggle to finally realize her dream.

The old days? That never happens now? Issues of gender equity may not be as blatant, but they’re still there. It’s not always deliberate, but it’s no less damaging.

It is now national policy that women belong in the workplace first and at home with children second. Congress declared that with the new welfare reforms. If it’s the rule for poor women then it’s the rule for all women because it reflects an expectation that leaves us with complicated issues about making a living wage and balancing work and family.

You think making efforts to help classroom teachers integrate women into nontraditional programs have nothing to do with learning? If my daughter wants a degree in diesel mechanics, I want instructors and employers to understand and try to eliminate the biases left over from our only-men-need-apply culture. Bernadette Powers, MSW Spokane

TOLERANCE

Religious extremism U.S. problem, too

As a high school student who reads the news every day, a deep concern of mine is the spread of religious extremist philosophy around the globe.

The Middle East peace accord between the Israelis and Palestinians seems to be bogged down. The Israelis could care less if the Palestinians get drinking water and impede drilling of wells. Hamas terrorists have bombed marketplaces and buses.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban Rebels hold the capital under an oppressive theocracy. Women are stoned to death for not dressing “properly.” In Pakistan, a devout Muslim woman was shopping for her husband when a copy of the Koran accidentally fell from her bag. She was immediately imprisoned and sentenced to death under the country’s blasphemy law, for “desecrating” the Koran. Fanatics can be found everywhere.

Although we are reluctant to admit it, in the United States we also have religious zealots. The militia in the United States, known mostly for their political views, claim to be Christian patriots. To make their statements, they bomb civilian targets such as abortion clinics and federal buildings!

I try to respect others and strive for religious tolerance. When others choose to take violent actions against those they disagree with, it hurts everyone. I only hope that someday I can live in a world where all religions are embraced - a world where all religions can be valued for their individual beauty. Daniel Singer Spokane

Israeli intransigence justified

The two opinions on “Israel and intransigence,” (Opinion, May 13) came from fascinating sources: one a Muslim and the other a Jew. In both cases, objectivity is difficult, if not impossible.

I am a Christian who has lived and worked in the South Lebanese border strip adjacent Israel. I saw Jews helping Arabs though their “good fence” policy. Israelis provided medical care, jobs and food. Meanwhile, Yasser Arafat and his PLO compatriots sent Russian-made rockets and mortars raining down on unsympathetic Lebanese villagers and Israeli border settlements. Now the world is supposed to believe that Arafat has transformed into a man of peace?

This altruistic vision must be tempered by historical, geographical, political and religious reality. Although Jews are outnumbered by hostile enemies by more than 100 to one, they are viewed as intransigent because they refuse to trust their neighbors. The security issue is not simply an excuse, as Daoud Kuttab alleged. It is an everyday reality for Jews who walk the streets of Tel Aviv or Jerusalem wondering when and where the next terrorist bomb will explode.

Arafat cannot stop the terror. The Palestinians are so fractured that peace with one group is tantamount to declaring war with another. There is no central authority capable of enforcing long-term peace. And this is precisely the reason neither Israel nor the United States should succumb to pseudomoralistic diatribes of Arab demagogues. Don S. Otis Sandpoint

LAW AND JUSTICE

Try juvenile offenders in adult court

Juvenile crime has risen greatly in recent years. Juveniles account for one-fifth of violent crimes. To stop this situation, juveniles who commit serious crimes should be transferred to adult criminal court and be tried there as an adult. This should be regardless of their age.

The laws aren’t cracking down on juveniles nearly enough. They say that in order to be transferred to adult criminal court a juvenile must commit a violent offense or a violent offense with a criminal background. A juvenile who commits a crime such as a third-degree robbery or assault will not serve an adult sentence. What good will this do? They are simply given the opportunity to start their lives over again when they reach adulthood.

Juveniles are just as capable of thinking and reasoning as adults, so why shouldn’t they be punished as adults for the same crimes? By the year 2001, the youth population is expected to increase by 31 percent. Therefore, this situation should be stopped soon.

It should be recognized that the adult criminal court is the most fair and appropriate place for a juvenile who has committed a serious offense to be tried. Amanda Hauge Spokane

Ultimately, no plea bargain for killers

Re: “Stucky’s killers deserved no deal” (Letters, May 9, by Liz Burton).

It is tragic and unfortunate that the couple charged with the murder of Pete Stucky accepted a plea bargain. Some might believe they killed a person for a truck.

A crime was committed by people who have absolutely no respect for human life. Stucky became a martyr in order to save his wife and family, and others, from suffering the same blow that was dealt to him. Because as long as there are people in this world who do not value human life, anyone could have been their target. Stucky, unfortunately, just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

It is very sad and painful that this tragedy happened to a lovely family like the Stuckys. But take comfort in knowing this: God promises he will be the husband, father and son for this family. Rest assured that God is going to hand down the final sentence, and God neither makes nor accepts any plea bargains. Doris Mae Aaron Spokane

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