Letters To The Editor
SPOKANE MATTERS
Lifesaving efforts were heroic
On Feb. 15, while at Liberty Lake Golf Course, three friends would find themselves at the threshold of life and death. Unfortunately for all of us in this community, one of the three, David C. Peffer, suffered a massive heart attack and subsequently passed away.
In the tragedy that unfolded was an act of unbridled heroism by David’s two friends, Bobby Faggoli and Greg Kroetch. After teeing off and walking to find their respective golf balls, neither Faggoli nor Kroetch realized Peffer had fallen and was in cardiac arrest. Within seconds of the discovery, both immediately undertook CPR, trying to save his life. Both fought to save Peffer’s life for a protracted period, continuing until emergency response personnel arrived.
Despite their valiant effort, Peffer passed away Feb. 16. I spoke with Bitsy Peffer at the hospital where David was being attended to. While waiting for word on her husband’s condition, Bitsy said the efforts of Faggoli and Kroetch were “the greatest gift that could have been given to our family,” and that “without them, we would have never had the chance to say goodbye.”
David Peffer’s passing is a tremendous loss to all those who knew and loved him.
Out of this tragedy there was validation of the adage, “Humans are at their very best when things are at their very worst.” In crisis, all too many times, people fail or choose not to response for whatever reason. On that Monday, these two men did not fail, but excelled and were unquestionably heroes. Albert L. Wilson Spokane
Police saved our Sunday
I thank an organization in this city that sometimes gets bad press and no thanks at all: the Spokane Police Department.
I recently had a calm Sunday interrupted by a bunch of obnoxious teenagers who live nearby. They decided that not only were they going to listen to their music, but the whole block was going to listen to it also.
I tried to reason with these rebellious adolescents, as did my wife and our own teenage daughter. It was to no avail. So I did what I thought was needed - I called the police.
Not only were they there within 10 minutes, but they also made the rest of Sunday in my neighborhood the way it was meant to be: calm and peaceful.
Thank you, Spokane police. Charles T. Bowman Spokane
The honey flows uphill at City Hall
Do you know where the city got the money to give managers raises, and for fire and police? By not having a contract with the employees.
The city employees have not been under a contract since the first of the year and nobody cares, not even the news media. How come the working people get nothing and management gets it all? City Manager Bill Pupo did it again to his worker bees. Virginia Carter Chattaroy
LAW AND JUSTICE
Despite kinks, system is sound
Public comment concerning the recent dismissal of a rape case in Spokane County causes me some concern as a lawyer.
First, I’m sure that all of our prayers go out to the victims in such cases. It’s unfortunate that they often feel victimized a second time by the system. Certainly, aspects of our legal system are hard to understand for non-lawyers when a part of one case is put into the public spotlight. Some cases appear to result in unjust outcomes.
Hundreds of cases go forward successfully every day. Citizens are fortunate to have dedicated judges who are fair and efficient in dispensing justice. The strength of character to make tough but correct legal decisions is the mark of a top judge. Yet they are bound by professional ethics rules which effectively prohibit them from commenting on pending cases.
Thus, it is understandable but frustrating to hear people say they are upset that someone “got off on a technicality.” Constitutional rights such as those to a speedy trial, to effective assistance of counsel or the presumption of innocence are not trivial, they are fundamental.
So before we sensationalize a case or comment about it off the cuff, we should realize that none of us know the whole story beyond what’s reported in the news. Instead, we can hope that the underlying problems of our justice system are changed by the isolated cases whose outcomes trouble us. If we right the wrongs, we may be able to avoid putting the next victim in the same dilemma. Jeff Bunch Spokane
Benson pointed up grave injustice
Re: Steve Benson’s March 15 Opinion cartoon, “The Marines Hymn (updated), about the ski resort gondola riders in Italy being killed.
Hallelujah and right on, as the media and writers have ignored this event and more or less swept it under the rug. Since we have chastised other countries for denying human rights to citizens, what have we allowed here? The ones in the gondola were not animals or mannequins, they were people. These victims were denied their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Had the basic rules of flight been adhered to, there would’ve been no accident. Would the result of the trial been different if Chelsea Clinton had been on board the gondola? Don Kerley Grand Coulee
PEOPLE IN SOCIETY
We’re irrational about female breasts
Throughout childhood we are taught that it is deviant behavior for a woman to display her breasts. Innately attractive, harboring the most spectacular glands of our species, a woman’s chest is far from indecent.
To prohibit the exposure of human mammary glands does not protect them but the egos of men who are incapable of perceiving breasts as anything but sexual. In cultures where women are regularly seen topless in public, men are not overwhelmed and incapacitated by such a glorious sight.
The political sanctioning of breasts as sexually provocative reduces them to the station of the R- and X-rated. This subjugates them to commercialism. If the way in which a woman’s breasts are formed genetically or have been reshaped through diet, hormones or childbearing is not fashionable, she is encouraged to lift, separate, pad or squeeze them appropriately. And if a woman is intent on becoming a model, she is often advised to have her chest surgically enhanced. Very few pinup girls are naturally endowed.
But even an unendowed female chest is innately more stunning than that of her male counterpart. Why is a hairy, flabby, grossly out-of-shape male chest not considered vulgar or indecent enough to be outlawed from public exposure? In fact, during televised football games, the grotesque and bloated naked upper torsos of male fans are frequently highlighted, while the beautiful, athletic abdomens of female cheerleaders are considered too distracting or provocative and are rarely shown.
Just who and what is protected when discrimination is enforced? Frances Crabtree Spokane
OTHER TOPICS
Teachers seeking more for less
Re: short school days.
I had to laugh at the statement that students are distracted by early release and teachers are tired by the time students leave at 1 p.m. If this is true, how do they teach every day from 1 to 3 p.m.?
I know children who have said they would rather go to school a half day than to have a whole day off.
What I see is teachers wanting a 15 percent pay raise and one less day to teach. With low test scores and children being passed on who can’t read, write or spell, I guess one less day won’t make a difference. Maybe next year we can try for two. Victoria Carlile Spokane
Why immunize kids for hepatitis A?
Re: “Immunization registry bill clears,” (Feb. 18).
How do we justify vaccinating hundreds of thousands of children in Washington state when 75 percent of the hepatitis A cases in both 1997 and 1998 were in adults over the age of 19? Hepatitis A is generally followed by complete recovery and immunity to the disease. It has less than a 1 percent fatality rate (.6 percent), and is most serious in older people.
It might interest some to know that this vaccine is produced by using human diploid cells that originate from aborted fetal tissue. It is also not covered under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, so who will take responsibility for any damage or death caused by the vaccine? Why should parents and children have to pay the consequences for a decision they are not allowed to make? Not everyone knows about exemptions.
It is truly a sad day for democracy when not one of us was allowed to take part in this most ridiculous decision. Dawn Winkler, vice president Concerned Parents for Vaccine Safety, Cheney