Letters To The Editor
WAR ON DRUGS
Money trail leads to corporations
There is a conspiracy afoot. A group of overfunded organizations are doing all the wrong things for what appears to be the right reasons, using American citizens’ Fourth Amendment right to privacy as their prime target. They are the Partnership for a Drug Free America.
Who’s in this partnership? Fifty percent of the funding comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (as in Johnson and Johnson Drug Co.), 40 percent from other drug and insurance companies and their tax-free foundations.
This partnership has discovered a vast untapped growth market in the American worker. The average drug test costs $25. Mandating that 10 percent of the nation’s workers be coerced into taking a drug test monthly would be a giant windfall for the partnership.
The sticking point in this plan is that pesky Fourth Amendment right to privacy that states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” The partnership feels this only applies to your governmental rights, not to your work rights. If that was so, the amendment against slavery could also be bypassed.
It’s time for us all to “just say no” to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. We need to see those in it for what they really are: a giant, tax-free propaganda machine of the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. The state of Idaho is in their sights. Just saying no may cost you your job. But saying nothing will cost you your hard-earned right to privacy. Mike Wolther Spokane
Employers’ testing seems reasonable
Having spent the last 19 years employed by the U.S. military, I read Fred Glienna’s March 7 Roundtable column with some interest. Having seen the effects of urinalysis as a means of detection and deterrence, I clearly recall the events leading up to its use in the military.
I was working in the shipyard dispensary in Norfolk, Va., when a horrible accident occurred on board the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. We received the body parts for identification of remains and investigation of cause. A large number of young men lost their lives in a horrific fashion.
The investigation revealed that a portion of the crew was suffering from the effects of drug abuse. Substances ranged from methamphetamine to marijuana. Drug use in the military has always been forbidden, albeit sometimes difficult to enforce. As a result, mandatory urinalysis of military personnel was effected. The result, I believe, is a much safer, healthier and effective working environment for military personnel.
I’m not implying that everyone experiences the same degree of hazard that some military personnel do, or the same degree of responsibility. After all, we depend on each other for our lives as well as our livelihood. But it seems to be common sense that a little personal liberty is worth the potential cost in equipment, dollars and especially lives. Any employer who values those ideals would be foolish not to institute some form of detection as a means of deterrence. Anyone desiring employment there could either submit to testing or would have the liberty to seek employment elsewhere. Rodney Gile chief petty officer, U.S. Navy, Spokane
HEALTH CARE
Group about more than abortions
Years ago, when medical insurance offered by my employer was unaffordable, Planned Parenthood in the Valley offered me a gynecological exam, which I accepted gratefully. The doctor who performed the exam was excellent and I appreciated her obvious concern for my overall health. She referred me for a mammogram and when my Pap smear came back abnormal, scheduled me for a follow-up Pap (which was normal). All of these services were at no cost to me.
According to an article in the March 7 Spokesman-Review, Teresa VanCamp has taken it upon herself to photograph women who avail themselves of Planned Parenthood’s services and to send their pictures to a terrorist Web site. These photographs will include women who are having their medical needs attended to, women who are seeking birth control so they can avoid relying upon abortion and, I assume, anyone who just happens to stop in asking for directions.
A few years ago, anti-abortion activists forced United Way to drop automatic funding of Planned Parenthood. Since then, my husband and I have designated the majority of our donations to United Way to be earmarked for Planned Parenthood.
We believe in a woman’s right to choose. I have a 13-year-old daughter and I hope she never has an unwanted pregnancy, but I want to ensure that the option of legal and safe abortion is available to her, should she need it.
It is vital that we fight against radicals who believe that the “right to life” means the right to target living, breathing adults who are providing or seeking medical care. Deborah Lawrence Hale Greenacres
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Dangerous dogs let owners know
How interesting, that Alvin Tesdal doesn’t “think his dogs should die.” Tesdal called the unprovoked attack on an innocent passing girl “an accident.”
Had the child been provoking the dogs who then may have reacted with a warning bite to defend themselves before retreating, then perhaps one could sympathize with the owner. However, he also stated that “they didn’t kill anyone.” Correct, thanks to the quick action of three neighbors. What might have happened had they not been available? Just because a tragedy is averted does not mean the threat never existed.
I’m tired of people refusing to accept responsibility for their animals. Many times I have heard owners exclaim, after their dog bites someone, “He’s always been such a good dog. He never shows any signs of aggression.” This is a prime example of irresponsible ownership. Animals do exhibit these tendencies over and over in guarding their food, barking and retreating from strangers, and other behavior that people refer to as normal.
I’m the proud and lucky owner of a 110-pound German Shepherd-Malamute mix. I’ve had my dog, now 7-1/2, since he was 5 months old. He has never growled at anyone nor does he guard his food. Even though I have 100 percent confidence in this wonderful animal, I would never dream of allowing him out without a leash. Nor would I leave him alone with my children.
Yes, Tesdal’s daughter left the gate open, but if a pet charging and mauling a young girl without provocation doesn’t define a dangerous animal, what does? Aimee Martin Spokane
Dogs that attacked should die
I was very upset that the owner of the four Saint Bernards who injured an 11-year-old girl now wants the dogs to live. He should accept responsibility, and the dogs should die.
Since this incident was due in large part to the dogs being in a “pack,” I think the law should be changed to prevent any city or county resident from having more than two large dogs of any breed. Those who want to keep three or more should be licensed as a kennel and be inspected to show that the animals are penned properly. Remember the pack of Rottweilers that killed the ponies recently? Nancy Mertz Coeur d’Alene
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Republicans have a nasty habit
John Soennichsen (Letters, March 5) could do something besides take potshots at Democrats. He could’ve looked at the U.S. Constitution and this whole mess with something other than a GOP political bias.
President Andrew Johnson broke the law but that law was authored by a GOP majority that was “out to get his man.” When he broke the law, the GOP immediately decided the offense was impeachable and tried to drive the man, a Democrat, out of office. It was ultimately decided, by one vote, that GOP-authored laws that targeted who Democrat presidents selected for members of their cabinet, was not impeachable.
When not even a majority of the Senate votes to convict, it’s time for the GOP base to quit whining and get on with life. It was a poor case authored by Kenneth Starr through illegal acts. It was handed to Congress, where Democrats and Republicans immediately declared the president guilty of something. Nobody, not even Starr, decided a court might have a better answer. That way, even a president would have to face the same standard of law that even other people who have lied under oath would have to face. Instead, Clinton faced a special standard of the law that the GOP and Starr would not have to face. The American public decided this was not impeachable. Thank God, the Senate did likewise. Joan E. Harman Coeur d’Alene
Chairmanships could stand reform
Congress’ failure to extend the third-term restriction won’t solve the basic problem. Congress, by it’s own rules, which are reconsidered every year upon the convening of a new Congress, can provide a solution. How? It can establish the eligibility for appointment of all committee chairmen. Under the present rules, the basic mandate is years of seniority.
The public has been educated by seeing/hearing the powerful control a committee chairman can exercise . It is one man’s decision whether a legislative bill can ever be given a hearing. A chairman’s power to decide the number of witnesses and time for discussion is also formidable.
Congress could provide an exception to the “hallowed” rule of seniority by limiting the number of years a chairperson can serve. It could also provide a number of years of seniority for eligibility for appointment. This would be a healthy way to limit the length of chairpersons’ appointment terms but still provide a source of experienced legislators and infusion of new ideas. A. LaMont Smith Spokane
This tab made for heavy lifting
The March 3 Focus column indicated the national debt is now $5.6 trillion. That sum boggles my mind. How much is that? How high would a stack of $1 bills reach? To the moon? To Jupiter? I don’t know.
I am familiar with seconds, though. They pass very quickly (particularly when I’m late): 60 seconds each minute, 3,600 per hour. I put my stubby pencil to the back of an old envelope and boggled my own mind again!
One million seconds equals a little over 11-1/2 days.
One billion seconds equals approximately 31 years, eight months and one week.
One trillion seconds equals about 31,687 years, 10 years and two weeks (including 7,921 leap years/presidential elections).
And 5.6 trillion second stretches out to the neighborhood of 177,452 years and one month.
My hand shakes nervously as I write.
Does this modest illustration of the quantity (of time) that a trillion (seconds) represents offer any perspective on the magnitude of our $5.6 trillion national debt?
Should we be doing something about it? Roger V. Havercroft Spokane
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
`Mediocrity’ be part of the solution
I loved the little ditty regarding President Clinton’s lies and polling results from Bill L. Scott (Letters, Feb. 18): “These polling results speak to the mediocrity of public education.”
As a middle school teacher of a very diverse student body (many are not at grade level), I not only teach three different grades and four different subjects, I get to serve as referee for squabbles, baby sitter for problem children, motivate those who don’t want to be in school and discipline those whose parents say, “You punish him at school. If I do it at home, he’ll be mad at me.” And yet I still must find time to make my classes as exciting, interesting, educational, entertaining and wonderful as possible.
It’s too bad Scott couldn’t have participated in the many discussions our classes have had over the Clinton escapade. Most students were disgusted with what he has done. I’m sorry Scott feels he has to zing our schools but maybe he could volunteer at his local pathetic public school and be the desperately needed proper role model.
My teaching day is much longer than the 6-1/2 hours the children spend in school. I’m doing the best I can. Where are these children and who is their role model for the other 17-1/2 hours of the day? Rosanne Anderson Cheney