Letters To The Editor

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Land swap secrecy figures

Re: “Idaho land broker withdraws proposal,” (March 31). No one should be surprised if Clearwater Land Exchange has decided to pursue the project in secret. As has been repeatedly demonstrated by our congressional delegation and during the latest legislative session, Idaho, where corruption is the rule rather than the exception, is firmly in the control of special interests - many from out of state.

Our leaders feel much more comfortable behind closed doors than in the light of day, and why shouldn’t they? There’s a lot of money to be made, and Idaho voters have consistently demonstrated the inability to tell propaganda from fact.

From the local level on up, public discourse consists of obfuscation and character assassination and the voters are partisan sheep. So, whether it’s a massive “emergency” clearcutting campaign championed by Rep. Helen Chenoweth, the transformation of Lake Pend Oreille into another ASARCO-Larry Craig Superfund site or a huge giveaway of public assets all over the state, it’s only natural that another fleecing is in the works. Robert Maurice Sandpoint

Too bad cat was let out of the bag

As an observer of the so-called huge Idaho land swap, I am dismayed that a reporter could derail the idea before all the facts are available. The concept could have helped Idaho schools, sportsmen and industry and preserved some of Idaho’s most pristine areas.

What are the intentions of people who wish to derail an idea that could accomplish these goals? Clearwater Land Exchange was looking into accomplishing these goals through a land exchange. In America, people are supposed to have ideas. Should Clearwater Land Exchange actually make a proposal, people should voice their opinions. Reality might prove that the exchange would not be feasible. Until then, Clearwater Land Exchange should be given the benefit of the doubt.

From the name of the organization that Janine Blaeloch seems to be aligned with, one would think that she would like to see a proposal to save Idaho’s pristine areas. Without action by some group such as Clearwater Land Exchange, many of those areas are open to development.

The developments of the past few days have made me aware that the country might benefit by having BLM land in North Idaho placed under Forest Service management. As chairman of the Clearwater County Republicans, I will look into this idea. As a private citizen, I have a right to. Pat Richardson Orofino

Spare us your Aryans updates

Seems one cannot pick up The Spokesman-Review Handle without a slap in the face, with pictures and articles perpetuating the Aryan Nations propaganda. If you feel such articles to be newsworthy, is it asking too much to ask for shorter articles and smaller pictures buried deep in the Handle? Most of us could care less about the Aryan’s publicity grabbing stunts and the press you insist on cramming down our throats regarding these hatemongers. We’d appreciate a break. June Peterson Santa

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Pro-sports bias unfair, wrong

I liked D.F. Oliveria’s “Sweet Potatoes” to Washington State University for believing in equal pay for equal work, and I think this should be the case in every place of employment. Unfortunately, this is not so.

My only beef is this great salary for coaches. The new football coach hired at the University of Washington has a salary of $1.5 million per season. I wonder what is wrong with the educational institutions. I would like to know how many professors, full, associate or assistant, at WSU get a salary of $125,000 per year as do the two coaches mentioned.

I have been in the educational field for several years and for the past 18 years at North Idaho College. Unless I am mistaken, it would take about three years for one of the highest paid NIC instructors to make the $125,000 a WSU coach can make in one year. I would take 30 years or more for such an instructor to make as much as the UW football coach’s yearly salary!

My guess is that the work of teachers in disciplines other than sports is not equal to the work coaches do. Math, science, English, foreign language and social science teachers are much lower on the totem pole than those involved in sports.

An April 4 article mentions that the Goal 2000 set by the U.S. Department of Education falls short in every area. No wonder. It seems sports are more important than anything else in our educational institutions. If one of the areas would be sports, I am sure that the Goal 2000 for sports would not fall short! G. Gin LeRoy Post Falls

WASHINGTON STATE

Teachers deserve combat pay

In response to the article about teachers’ salaries, considering they almost need hazardous duty pay in the classroom, put up with kids who do not want to learn and stupid parents who haven’t got a clue, it’s no wonder they are wanting more pay. Even doubling the salary would not be enough in most cases. Judy J. Arneson Endicott, Wash.

How about raise for parole officers?

Why do teachers seem to demand raises every two years or threaten to walk out? The Seattle P.I. says the average teacher’s salary is $38,788. The maximum is $48,141.

The Legislative Update 1999 says they’re demanding a 15 percent raise but House Republicans propose a 2 percent raise for all state employees and teachers get up to a 8.7 percent raise.

Nothing against teachers, but it would be nice to make the wages they do and have the time off for their school breaks and holidays.

I work for the Department of Corrections as a state probation-parole officer, or CCO. It’s a very dangerous job. Recently, one of our officers got blown up with a bomb by an offender on his caseload. We get threatened and shot at, have physical altercations, wear guns and bulletproof vests, and constantly confront dangerous offenders in possession of drugs, weapons and trained attack dogs. We have more power than a police officer when dealing with offenders, yet our average pay is $39,672 (maximum $41,652).

A recent independent study revealed CCOs are underpaid by 23 percent compared to city, county and federal probation officers. Our union proposed a small raise of 9.8 percent but the Legislature removed it. If the teachers deserve a raise and wages higher than a CCO, we deserve to be compensated for being 23 percent underpaid! We risk our lives every day. Crystal Fitzpatrick Cheney

It pays to pay teachers more

The greatest hope for the United States is that we lead in worldwide efforts to bring about the dissemination of the information age all over the world. To do this, we must train and educate our children to become well adjusted and psychologically equipped to deal with the information age. All our young people need to be taught in this manner, not just the ones who can afford private schools.

The necessary instruction and education will not be provided if we continue to refuse to pay our academic instructors wages that will compete with other fields of employment. I suggest that the entire pay structure of junior college instructors be incrementally raised from $40,518 per year to something nearer $50,000 per year. Likewise, the beginning wages of teachers at secondary levels should be incrementally raised from $39,440 to $48,000. From there, these salaries should be increased to keep pace with inflation.

Our teachers are apt to go elsewhere if we don’t pay them in a proper fashion. It is imperative that we keep accomplished teachers by paying them fair wages.

The quality of education will increase in our country along with an increase of salary for our teachers. We need to wake up as a society and realize that the highest-paying professions need to be the ones that pave the way for our future and set the course for our next generation. Betty J. Kramer Spokane

HEALTH CARE

All children deserve access to good care

The March 28 Opinion page column by E.J. Montini of the Arizona Republic (“Here is a cost of our health care”) took me, in one breathless minute, back to the fall of 1995, when my daughter spent nearly three weeks in Sacred Heart Medical Center due to a ruptured appendix. Reading about Gricelda Zamora, the 13-year-old Mesa, Ariz., cheerleader who died of this same malady because she was misdiagnosed and turned away from medical treatment, hit me like a fist in the stomach.

Those weeks in 1995 were my most trying as a parent; yet, compared to the Zamoras’ experience, we were extremely fortunate. Because, you see: we were not poor, we were not Latino, we spoke English and we had medical coverage.

We were surrounded by caring medical professionals who persevered until they figured it out. My daughter is now nearly 16, with a couple of small scars and a bright future. Gricelda wasn’t so lucky.

The Washington state House of Representatives is holding hostage a bill that would expand health coverage to more children in Washington state.

Even as we grieve for Gricelda and her parents, let’s allow her story to highlight what really matters: This child didn’t have to die. We need to ensure that no more children die because they didn’t have access to medical coverage and medical care. Linda Stone The Children’s Alliance, Spokane

Threat looms for special needs people

This letter is about the Y2K problem and my survival.

I have been a kidney dialysis patient for the past year. I live and work at the Curlew Job Corps Center. Electricity is very important for my dialysis treatment. By dialyzing at home, I save the medical system money and it provides me with a measure of freedom. There are other dialysis patients in Washington. We need help and planning by the government for our well-being to preserve our way of life.

Curlew is about three and a half hours from the closest health care center capable of providing the medical services I need. I sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Administration asking for help. I have not seen or heard of one program to provide for me and other patients with our problems. Art Hicks Curlew, Wash.

Don’t bring contaminated refugees here

I am opposed to airlifting Yugoslav refugees to the United States. It’s already reported that serious diseases are spreading in the camps. Now you are going to put them on crowded planes, infecting more people and then distributing these people throughout the United States, including Spokane. The Y2K bug has arrived. Daniel Miller Spokane GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Enough of harping on promise issue

To all those sniveling about Rep. George Nethercutt’s possible broken promise, my answer is the same one I’ve heard over and over about Clinton: Every politician does it, so get over it. Vote him out if you, the majority, don’t like what he is doing. That’s the way our system works. Spend your energy and money on something important. Sheila R. Naccarato Spokane

The issue is hypocrisy

I’d like to respond to the rash of people who have suddenly found that they are against term limits and are supporting Rep. George Nethercutt in another run for office. Most have apparently reconsidered their position now that their candidate is in the position of having to violate the campaign platform which got him elected in the first place.

I have news for all of you. I agree with you. The voters should be the only “term limit” we need. The sad part is that there are so many out there who are hypocritical enough to support bad legislation like term limits when it applies to a candidate they don’t like, but then become “born again” when they find that the same legislation is about to effect their own candidate. Looks like Nethercutt is beginning to see the light now too.

So the real quandary is not the issue of term limits. It is the issue of hypocrisy. Nethercutt was wrong to support limits in the first place. Many of us who voted for him the first time did so because we felt a better man, Tom Foley, had simply been in office too long. Now, the tables have turned. If Nethercutt runs again, then he’s a hypocrite. If you vote for him, you’re one too. Richard H. Bruce Spokane

U.S. AND THE WORLD

Uncle Sam in bully mode again

What we are seeing today in Serbia is, as Gore Vidal never tires of telling us, more arrogant overseas meddling of an American empire, an America that has ceased to be a Republic.

The unprecedented flattening of a sovereign state by the United States (call it NATO or United Nations but 90 percent of the effort is always American, funded by the U.S. taxpayer) is a flagrant violation of international law. This is the fourth nation to receive American foreign aid in the form of a rain of bombs in the past year (Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Serbia). So much for George Washington’s admonition to “avoid foreign entanglements.” America is the bully of the world. Russia has every reason to be paranoid of NATO now!

Doesn’t charity begin at home? How about a peacekeeping force for south Los Angeles? How about securing our own porous borders before adventurism in Kosovo? How many American lives and taxpayers’ dollars will Clinton’s Serbian tarbaby end up costing us? Robert G. Cardwell Post Falls

Administration made a mess of things

This nation, as young as it is, is without a doubt the most pro-life of all warring nations. We have managed to fight just about every people group, at one time or another, that inhabit this planet. And this is fine and will obviously be our continued legacy.

Taking this into consideration, I question why we hesitate to occupy Kosovo and, if necessary, all of Yugoslavia? Certainly, we have a spineless administration that exhibits all qualities found in a common bully. But none of the attributes of the single most important factor in any war - a legion of fighting men. We have a minuscule fighting force that occupy mere remnants of the military bases we used to have. This downsizing of fighting forces was a mistake from the outset and is absolutely proving right so far.

Stability in Europe was definitely within our grasp and control during World War II, and we allowed that control to slip away, regrettably to the military leaders of that period. Now we have an administration of liberal morons who find comfort in tying ribbons around objects and calling it patriotism, and refer to courage as the ability to manipulate cigars while standing still.

The American fighting man cannot be defeated except from within the administration that governs it. Obviously, the present administration has no concept of the realities of war or battle, unless computers are the sole combatants.

We need to invade Kosovo and begin to stop the genocide that is occurring. We waited for too long in Nazi Germany. I can’t believe we didn’t learn anything from the Holocaust. Ken Brown Post Falls