Letters To The Editor

Unpublished correction: The name of Sheri Barnard is misspelled in this story.

HEALTH CARE

Remember this travesty at voting time

Kate McCaslin and John Roskelley are the two Spokane County commissioners who approved the decisions to radically change our community mental health system. For over 30 years, Spokane Mental Health has served superbly as the county’s mental health coordinating agency. So why this decision? McCaslin complains that the Evergreen Club is too expensive. Compared to what? Ten days at the state hospital costs as much as a whole year for a client at the Evergreen Club. McCaslin also failed to mention that club members earned $500,000 in each of the last two years through the club’s job programs.

McCaslin and Roskelley also eliminated four or more whole programs and 88 positions at SMH. What are they offering instead? “More choice,” they say.

To me, eliminating programs and treatment for people means fewer choices.

“To save money,” they add.

How do they explain why, for the first time ever, they approved the current mental health budget deficit of $1 million? They had the same amount of money as last biennium, so they can’t claim cuts.

The decisions by these commissioners have badly hurt our community, hurt individuals with mental illness and their families, hurt SMH staff and their families, and hurt taxpayers.

Remember, Roskelley and McCaslin have to run for re-election next year. The way to make elected officials accountable is at the ballot box. Don’t forget! Mary Higgins, retired CEO Spokane Mental Health

Evergreen Club well worth keeping

The Evergreen Club on East Sprague has served a valuable community service for more than 10 years.

It came as a shock to me and others I have spoken with when the county commissioners voted to suspend funding as of the end of July.

The citizens who access The Evergreen Club obtain services that are necessary when there is no other place to turn and learns skill for everyday living. It is a home away from home when there would be no other place to go.

The club is easily accessible by bus, is in an excellent location and has a devoted staff people who have served its clientele for many years.

Thanks to County Commissioner Phil Harris for his vote to continue funding. I urge the other commissioners to reconsider their decision immediately. Shari S. Barnard Spokane

Savings plan could easily backfire

The county commissioners, in their ultimate wisdom, along with the urging of Kasey Kramer, social services czar, have decided to beak up Mental Health Services and extend contracts to more than 30 agencies throughout the county. Obviously, these individuals have not worked directly with the mentally ill or they would know that chronic mentally ill people do best with routine and a regular schedule.

Commissioner Kate McCaslin was troubled about “how expensive” the Evergreen Club was at $1 million per year. So now, many of those individuals who have relied on this service have a greater chance of returning to hospitalization. Hospital stays at Eastern State Hospital can reach $10,000 per month per patient. Ten patients admitted to ESH for a year and we’ve surpassed the budget for the Evergreen Club.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and as in education, if we think education is expensive, try ignorance.

Our county is operating on ignorance in this case, on the backs and minds of our mentally ill population. Louise Chadez Spokane

Of all the things to cut, why this?

When I first started using the services of the Evergreen Club, I was unable to find a job or housing. I was dependent solely on the state for support and needed medication to help stabilize my mental condition. But I was unable to afford it.

The Evergreen Club and the professionals there helped me get housing and the medical attention I needed to live with my medical condition.

I now have a job, am able to pay my rent and my dependence on the state is dramatically reduced. I am proud to be able to say that.

Prior to the announced closing of the Evergreen Club, my Group Health insurance announced that is was cutting its prescription drug program that I have been paying for for the last 10 years or so. I have now also been informed that Medicaid, which I will be eligible for in three years, will be dropped by Group Health .

I find it very unfortunate that a clinic that’s able to help many mentally disabled people to become productive citizens is going to be cut but a presidential candidate can fetch millions almost effortlessly. Even healthy, capable people who receive food stamps and unemployment - people able but unwilling to work - are continually allowed to leach money out of our government so that programs like the Evergreen Club are killed off. Mary Alice McGovern Spokane

HEALTH AND SAFETY

It’s the owners, not the dogs

I read the July 10 letter, “Dogs don’t belong at public events,” dealing with the dogs at the Fourth of July fireworks display, and was a little disturbed. The gentleman brought up a very good point that the lady should have had better control of the dogs but I don’t think he was very fair in his opinion.

My wife and I have chosen not to have kids and have two very well-behaved dogs that we do take to public events. Numerous times we have sat to watch the event and have had to deal with noisy, obnoxious, inconsiderate parents with a bunch of children running rampant, while our dogs sat obediently by our side. Thus, the events were not very pleasurable. Yet we do not say kids should not be at the fireworks.

Granted, we did not have very nice things to say about those people but it was them and not everyone with children. In a society where it is the norm to have kids, we have had our share of run-ins when the children get out of hand. But always, the situation was with the individual.

I commend parents who make it a point to teach their kids manners in public places. My dogs are my kids, so I try to ensure they behave as I expect others to do.

I suggest the operative thought ought to be: People who don’t control their dogs don’t belong at public events. Indiana S. Tuxford Spokane

Call for end to all work site smoking

The news that the tobacco industry lost again in Washington state last week is surely encouraging. The ban on smoking in offices imposed five years ago by the Department of Labor and Industries had been contested by the tobacco industry, but the Washington state Supreme Court ruled that the government is within its rights to use the best available evidence to protect the health of workers.

Washington law requires that each employer shall furnish to each of his employees a place of employment free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause serious injury or death. For this reason, the Department of Labor and Industries should develop and enforce rules that would eliminate tobacco smoke from all remaining indoor work sites. Now is the time for all those who work inside to be protected from this known serious hazard.

All Washington citizens are encouraged to write or call the director of the Department of Labor and Industries in Olympia, and request that smoking be banned from all indoor work sites. This is particularly important for those workers who are directly affected. One should remember that if you can smell tobacco smoke, it may be killing you. Dennis W. Biggs Jr., M.D. board member, American Cancer Society, Spokane

Study missed key considerations

The scope of the thyroid study was much too narrow. We’re told only what they want us to know. They admitted that radioactive iodine was released and that it would cause thyroid problems and cancer. This is a half-truth because:

“Where sizable doses of radioactive iodine 131 are delivered to the thyroid, there are also sizable doses of whole-body radiation via the blood. The greater the uptake of the thyroid, the greater the whole-body dose and the greater the risk of cancer.” (“Radiation and Human Health,” John W. Gofman, M.D., Ph.D.)

Thyroid problems can usually be treated with medication and thyroid cancer can be eliminated with surgery about 95 percent of the time. So even one death from thyroid cancer, among persons exposed to radioactive iodine 131 releases, should be of grave concern.

A zero amount of thyroid problems or thyroid cancer in an area as highly contaminated as ours is absurd. Dose accuracy is impossible to determine. The number of people who have died or are suffering from cancer in our area leaves little doubt that we have been severely contaminated with radiation. Not just radioactive iodine 131 but various kinds that have caused all types of cancer.

Had their study taken into account all aspects of contamination with radioactive iodine 131, the damage would have been much higher. Laverne Kautz Ritzville

WASHINGTON STATE

East Siders shortchanged all the time

I could not agree more with interactive editor Ken Sands and his stand on the vehicle license fees (Opinion, July 9). Yes, we are the “shirttail relatives” over on this side of the state.

I drive a nine-year-old car. Just paid $333 for the license. What do I get for that? The state highway department did not protest the building of a new Fred Meyer store at Third and Thor. Why? Because their own statement is that it will be 30 to 40 years before they get that far with the north-south freeway!

The construction unions are complaining that the loss of income will cut into the construction of highways. They really need to get real. The money already collected has been languishing in Olympia for years. It is only because of some of our folks raising Cain that we are even getting the few dollars to improve our dangerous roads at this time. I guess by the condition of the city streets, they don’t get any of the money.

Just think, some of our friends and neighbors could buy Washington plates, rather than the Idaho and Oregon plates they now have! One of these days, the state may have even enough money to turn on the video cameras they have placed on our freeway. Seattle has so many cameras on its streets that they are taking pictures of each other! Just check www.wsdot.wa.gov. Charles E. McCollim Spokane

Initiative effort worth a try

As of the end of June, we failed to garner enough signatures to get Initiative 704 on the ballot. That is a disappointment but could have been expected with the late start we had. I still believe the initiative process is a very good way to achieve laws by the people.

This effort has been very educational. To succeed, we would have to have gotten an earlier start, support from one or more strong statewide organizations, a statewide committee organized in advance and the cooperation of the state news media. I am indebted to the newspapers that have supported this effort by publishing my letters to the editor and for any other support different editors have contributed.

As of June 24, 5,709 signatures were sent to me in more than 100 envelopes - a mere drop in the bucket compared to the 200,000 necessary to get a qualifying number to put our measure on the ballot. I wish I could convince those people who do not have private wells that this initiative is about our private rights as well as our wells, and therefore it does concern them.

I only hope our representatives will take note of our wish to have government out of our private lives. They will be made aware of the results of our attempt. Any suggestions or wishes for a new attempt will be appreciated. H. Riley Stephenson Colville, Wash.

OTHER TOPICS

Nazis weren’t into gun confiscation

The Nazi link frequently employed by the National Rifle Association was correctly debunked by J.R. Hart’s July 6 letter. It is true that the strictest gun control legislation in prewar Germany was enacted by the democratic Weimar regime, in 1928. The Nazi gun law of 1938, in fact, actually relaxed several of the 1928 restrictions.

Hart, however, errs seriously. She calls the SA a “private” militia, inviting unfair and unreasonable comparisons between Nazis and American gun owners. She further writes that Hitler was elected by popular majority because of the Nazi Party’s racial agenda.

First, Hitler was never elected by popular majority. He was appointed by a right-wing cabal of anti-democratic ministers eager to impose an authoritarian regime. Moreover, the Nazis never won more than 38 percent of the popular vote prior to the 1933 seizure of power.

Second, it is unclear whether Hitler’s racist agenda resonated significantly with a majority of the Germans who voted Nazi. Many pro-Nazi Germans were swayed more by Hitler’s powerful nationalism and promises to restore German economy, rebuild the armed forces and eliminate the alleged corruption in the Weimar Republic.

Hart’s contention that private gun ownership allowed Hitler to dwarf previous dictatorships is hyperbolic nonsense. Hitler’s ideology was based far more on racial control, rather then gun control. Nazis had few problems with “good” Germans owning weapons.

But - and this may be more useful to the NRA - they did object to Jews possessing firearms, as the 1943 death camp and Warsaw uprisings illustrate. Tom M. Wootton, Jr. Pullman

Lower prices? Good for Schweitzer

Re: Schweitzer season passes.

Look who’s calling the kettle black. I guess it’s OK for Silver Mountain and Mount Spokane to offer the inexpensive ski passes but not Schweitzer. I applaud Schweitzer, Mount Spokane, Silver Mountain and all the other resorts that are making skiing affordable again.

Nationwide, skiing and snowboarding numbers have been declining. This decrease in price for season passes is happening throughout the ski resort industry for one good reason - to stimulate new interest and rekindle the spark from skiers and boarders who have put away their equipment for other hobbies. Not only will the resorts benefit but so will the local economy, hotels, restaurants, ski and gift shops, gas stations. Everyone wins.

Schweitzer has not done nothing different than Mount Spokane and Silver Mountain have done for years. Have a sensational ski season wherever you may ski. Bob Legasa Jr. Coeur d’Alene

Girls State deserved equal coverage

Re: “Playing politics” (Our Generation, July 5).

As a 1999 Girls State delegate from Lewis and Clark High School, I feel that a Girls State delegate’s perspective should have been represented in addition to Chris Rodkey’s experience.< Although Rodkey adequately portrayed what this program is about, he forgot to mention the patriotism they instill in young Americans at this camp.

Another discrepancy I noticed was the formal dress requirements. As opposed to the young men at Boys State, who were recommended to wear suits all day, at Girls State we were required to wear skirts or dresses only to dinner, but it was not strictly enforced.

Obviously, there are some differences in Girls State and Boys State, and both should have been equally covered. Girls State delegates work just as hard as the Boys State delegates and I feel deserve the same recognition.

The purpose of Girls State is to educate young women on our political system, but by having Spokane’s major newspaper cover only Boys State makes me wonder when the day will come that a woman’s potential for great leadership will finally be realized and taken seriously. Leila Summers Spokane