Letters To The Editor

Thu., Aug. 5, 1999

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Equal is something less at Kaiser

I read with interest “Another employment suit filed against Kaiser” (July 24). The article described how Kelly Flynn and other women seeking employment at Trentwood were recently denied jobs after failing physical capabilities tests.

When I was hired by Kaiser in 1972, no test was required. Within a short time, however, as women applicants increased, Trentwood imposed height and strength tests. When supervision began to make these tests retroactive on women employees, the Union became involved. It was found that since Kaiser employed men of small stature, the physical requirements for women were unfair.

Time went by. By 1998, at least another 4,000 people had been hired at Trentwood, about one in 10 a woman or minority - the minimum number required for Kaiser to call itself an “equal opportunity employer” in the Spokane job market.

By the 1998 strike-lockout, about 1,200 of these workers were still employed at Trentwood, 150 of them women or minorities, most with 15 to 25 years seniority - at long last in a position to move into the highest paying jobs in significant numbers.

So it came as no surprise that in the current contract negotiations, Kaiser’s top priority is eliminating seniority as the No. 1 qualification for promotion. Kaiser seeks to replace seniority with tests management can craft to exclude its “unqualified” employees. After decades of struggle to achieve real workplace equality, I know who they mean.

So it seems that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Good luck with your suit, Kelly. Margaret Larive Steelworker, Trentwood, Spokane

Follow industrialist’s example

Henry Kaiser didn’t know how to build dams and ships or make aluminum but he saw the future and learned. He didn’t know about labor relations but he saw the future and he learned.

Ray Milchovich says Henry Kaiser would think he is doing the right thing today. Wrong! Kaiser would see the future and treat his employees with the dignity and respect they deserve. He would not try and take labor relations back to the 1920s. He would take it into the next century, as he brought it into this century.

The lesson is in front of you, Milchovich. It’s not always an easy lesson or easy to do the right thing. I’m sure it wasn’t for Kaiser, either. But he did it anyway.

Rest easy, Henry Kaiser, the Steelworkers still believe in you and your principles. Michael J. Hart Post Falls

SPOKANE MATTERS

Ordinance is about equality, rights

Re: “Petition seeks repeal of gay protections” (July 27).

As a gay man born and raised in the Spokane area, I was proud of our community when the Spokane City Council approved its human rights ordinance last January. It seems only appropriate that gay and lesbian people should be allowed to enjoy the same rights as everyone else.

Unfortunately, some people are not happy with this advancement of civil protections. As one studying for the Christian ministry, I find it even more disappointing to see people of faith lining up to support this initiative to repeal those protections. I am saddened to see religious faith being used to promote a political agenda that is intolerant of people who are different.

In many places in the United States today homosexual employees live in fear that if their sexuality is discovered they will lose their jobs. In most places, there is no legal recourse for them. This civil rights ordinance seeks to rectify that situation.

The issue at hand is not the acceptance of an alternative lifestyle, it is about civil rights for all people.

I realize it is unrealistic to ask for universal acceptance of gays and lesbians but I do expect to enjoy the same civil liberties every other person does. At the same time, everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

I do not wish to demean those who object to homosexuality on religious grounds; I merely ask society as a whole to let us live our lives without fear. This ordinance promotes equal rights, not special rights. Christopher Hayward Spokane

Light rail just a boondoggle

Is it light rail or light in the loafers for the folks advocating this boondoggle?

For anyone living 12 blocks from the proposed line, forget it. I know that I would just ride out to Liberty Lake at least a dozen times a day. In a pig’s eye.

We already have a solution that is now a tax-guzzling hierarchy. It is called the bus system. They run their operation like a fiefdom. Take tax dollars, never offer any for road repair and run the system like a 4-year-old. Service is not their most important product.

I assume the selected route is alongside the new beltway that is proposed for the Valley - the one that will then turn Sprague Avenue into a one-way street going west. But gee, it is only 40 years until we have a north-south freeway. Hooray for demagoguery! Charles E. McCollim Spokane

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Standards suspiciously convenient

Re: Matt Kelly’s article of July 30, “Utah’s uranium waste a time bomb.”

In one paragraph, he reports that federal regulators say 10.5 million tons of radioactive and toxic waste “don’t pose a significant threat to 25 million people who drink from this source.” A couple paragraphs later, he reports about contaminated underground water and the NRC approval to cover the pile!

I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but wouldn’t this contamination go down into the ground and not up?

Later in the article, the feds said they did not detect unsafe levels of any toxin. I think any level of that stuff is bad to consume, directly or indirectly (i.e., agriculture, livestock, etc). Then, the EPA says Lake Mead is big enough to dilute waste!

Do you know that a federal judge said the EPA’s standards are arbitrary and capricious?

I don’t know about you but I choose no waste.

With the imminent leak in four years of the radiation from Hanford into the Columbia River, Idaho accepting barge shipments up the Columbia River of toxic waste from Taiwan and more, it doesn’t look real good.

I will be curious to see how honest the water districts around the country are on the federally ordered full disclosure to report the presence of bacteria, virus and toxins (don’t forget the lead in our water) this October. I am just sure they will all be within tolerable or diluted ranges. Tim Carson owner, Natural Air, Spokane

Won’t people ever learn?

When are people going to get it? How many more victims are going to drown before boaters and swimmers are going to prepare themselves and their children with life jackets? Tami N. Sorensen Spokane

Pilots, use some common sense

If you as a pilot have the care and control of another person, you cannot take extraordinary chances. If you are not licensed to fly by instruments, do not try to, especially when others’ lives of others are in your care.

Passengers, be selective in flying with weekend warriors. Ninety-nine percent of all airplane-related deaths are from private planes. Jack A. Birkland Coeur d’Alene

THE ENVIRONMENT

Dam breaching last thing we should do

Before we allow the breaching of our power dams, we should stop and think. Are the salmon more important than people? The dams are our main source of pollution-free power, and we also know that the demand for electricity is increasing greatly every day, as thousands of new homes are going up all over the Northwest.

It is also past time when more electric automobiles should be in use, especially in the cities. I live about 25 miles north of Spokane and it is not unusual to see the smog beginning as much as 10 to 15 miles north of town. If it is a still day, I often suffer for days after a trip to Spokane, for I do have a respiratory problem. I can stand grass or stubble smoke much better than the deadly exhaust fumes from diesel or gasoline engines. Many people in the area complain of terrible headaches upon returning from a trip to town.

There are many other solutions to the salmon problem besides breaching the dams: stopping the dragnetting, opening season on some of the predators that devour tons of salmon every year. Instead of giving the Corp of Engineers millions of dollars to study, put it to some useful project to help save the salmon, such as a freeway canal that would allow the salmon to flow freely, with no obstructions, upstream or downstream. Herbert D. Sams Elk

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Teach your children well

Listen up, parents! Children are the most important asset you have. Forget the material things you have and concentrate on your children. Above all, teach them respect for themselves as well as others. Be there for them. Don’t tell me you don’t remember how tough it was for you. So many questions! Where to get answers?

Until the last few years, school shootings were unheard of. Solving social problems with the barrel of a gun seems absurd. Trampling the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution underfoot is even more absurd. Children killing children says we are all doing something wrong.

Responsibility for each other, because you get what you give.

Responsibility for actions; you screw up, you fess up. No human has never made a mistake. A long time back one was prefect and they took two pieces of wood and tacked his butt to them!

Reassurance, that children know they are loved and wanted - by their parents, not the law.

These are broad overviews but I think you get the message.

Gun control is a feeble attempt to put a quick fix on the problem nobody wants to slow down and address: the children. They are the future and, like it or not, they will someday inherit this planet. Whether we see them get the dreams they hope for, or stare at a psychopath’s unregistered knife, tire iron, baseball bat, gas can or front fender all depends on what happens now. James L. Youngman Spokane

Adults, mind your manners

It is important that adults demonstrate respect for children, especially since we expect them to be respectful to others.

At the recent 7:30 a.m. breakfast for presidential candidate Gov. George W. Bush, two musical groups entertained about 700 people. The first group of teenagers and younger children performed before Bush spoke. While the majority of the audience listened attentively, many others carried on conversations during the performance. The second group, comprised of teens and adults, performed at the end of the program, immediately after Bush’s speech. I wish someone had asked the audience to remain to enjoy at least one song before leaving, because people started talking and walking out the door before the choir even began singing.

This conduct is not an isolated occurrence. In May, at an educators’ conference, many people also continued talking during the performances of some students.

Sometimes we don’t stop to think about what we’re doing but we need to realize such behavior is disrespectful. All adults should be models of appreciation, kindness and respect, especially when we are around young people. We expect that behavior of them. These talented individuals, who had practiced, dressed up and interrupted their day to proudly entertain, were involved in a wholesome activity and making a positive contribution to our community. This is the type of activity we want to encourage.

Only occasional comments by the audience occurred as Bush was speaking. The singers and other musicians deserved at least the same attention and respect. Gretchen H. McDevitt Spokane

Ever hear of premarital chastity?

Whatever happened to married and stable, then kids?

Society feels sorry for women who have children with no father in the home, so we put them on welfare and cushion them: more children, more money. These women make the spontaneous decision to have children out of wedlock and expect the state taxpayers to fund their ride. Children born into this situation will inevitably make it generational.

Children should be born into married families with stability, that will allow a mother or father to stay at home and raise the children. How about abstinence until marriage? Sounds like a responsible contraceptive that should be bred into raising children.

Why have children only to give them to a stranger to raise for 50 or more hours per week so you can work? They are learning morals and values from someone you might not agree with. Susan E. Clay Newman Lake

IN THE PAPER

Powwow coverage welcome

I applaud the Spokesman-Review for excellent coverage of the Coeur d’Alene powwow. The photographs were superior in quality, highlighting the vibrant colors of the regalia worn by the dancers and the drummers. The reporters did an outstanding and extensive job covering the three-day event.

The staff and the reporters also did a terrific job gathering the names of all the finalists in all categories and listing them and the prize money. Denise St. Peter Spokane

Great story to start the day

On Saturday, July 31, I brewed a fresh cup of coffee and sat down at my kitchen table to read the morning paper. I must admit, I usually skim over the front page news as it tends to be so fiendishly depressing. It can literally do you in before the day’s even begun!

However, your “Lady of the Lake” article caught my attention. Or maybe it was the lovely photo of a woman with a genuine, not-just-for-the-camera, smile.

I proceeded to read about Betty Stockwell and her 15-year fight to clean up Lake Cocolalla. What an incredible lady! Her amusing remarks throughout the article were so eloquent and insightful, I felt immediately drawn into her story. No boring political rhetoric here!

I found her words to be so utterly refreshing that I actually felt pure delight in reading the entire article. I felt her frustration in the decline of so much of the beauty of this planet that we constantly take for granted. I envied her determination and staying power when it came to butting heads with bureaucracy. And finally, I felt so proud of her accomplishments, which effect so many lives - and not only human.

I thank R. Jay Cohn, free lance writer from Sandpoint, for such an outstanding, uplifting article that was beautifully written. And I thank the person who chose to put this positive article that encourages hope, on the front page. My morning coffee never tasted so good. Sue Schenk Greenacres

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