Letters To The Editor
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Do highway work at night
I am very sorry for the unfortunate man who was hit by the driver while working on the freeway construction by the Argonne exit. What will it take for these workers’ employers to wake up? A death? You cannot put a price on a single life; it is priceless.
By having road workers labor next to traffic the way they do invites danger. It’s just a matter of time until there will be deaths.
I worry about a chain-reaction wreck with stopped bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway. If one person hits a stopped car at high speed while others are stopped for highway construction, miles of cars and people would be injured in that domino effect.
There is a simple solution to protect the workers and stop putting thousands of drivers in Spokane at an inconvenience because of road work. Have road construction done between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., like most cities do. The risk factor to workers is reduced by having fewer cars on the road and drivers aren’t inconvenienced by having to go through the mazes of cones, bumper-to-bumper, stop-and-go and Simon says stop, Simon says slow game. Tim A. Carson Spokane
Kids-life jackets law makes sense
In the closing minutes of the regular legislative session, the Washington state House of Representatives took an important step toward protecting the lives of young children from drowning. After four years of consideration, a child life jacket bill was finally passed by a strong majority in both the House and the Senate.
This common sense preventative measure protects kids 12 and younger in small boats from drowning by requiring them to wear life jackets. The need for this law is clear. Since 1990, Washington state parks reported 15 boat-ingrelated deaths among children aged 12 and younger. Drowning continues to be the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children. As the warm weather season approaches, the child life jacket law is a timely and needed law to help save children’s lives.
A diverse group of drowning prevention coalitions, hospitals, boating and aquatics programs, parents, doctors, boaters, marine patrols and health departments worked persistently to advocate these protections.
As this law is implemented and children and families statewide are made more aware of the danger of drowning, we’ll all be able to enjoy our state’s waters a little more safely. Elizabeth Bennett Children’s Hospital and Regional Medial Center, Seattle
Thyroid cancer conclusions faulty
There are so many flaming distortions in Dr. John Sonneland’s collection of “cold facts” about thyroid cancer and Hanford downwinders that it is hard to know where to aim the fire hose (guest column, May 10).
As a physician who should know better, it is irritating that Sonneland would propose that a small survey of thyroid cancers reported in Spokane and Yakima has anything meaningful to tell us about whether radiation releases from Hanford have caused such injuries. Environmental epidemiology is a notoriously difficult science.
The basic problem with Sonneland’s approach and his ardent conclusion that Hanford caused no cancer is that it is tantamount to looking at Jupiter with football binoculars and then declaring the great planet has no moons.
As for the draft results of the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study, it is important that the study receive a thorough scientific review and be placed in context with other studies on radioactive iodine that have shown a link to cancer and other thyroid diseases. Much of what is puzzling about HTDS is that there is a unusually high percentage of Hanford downwinders in the study population with thyroid disease. Yet, HTDS investigators could not discern a clear pattern of “dose-response”to explain the illnesses. There is also a 20 percent excess in mortality that requires more scrutiny as to its cause(s).
A National Academy of Sciences review committee will be in Spokane at the Ridpath on June 19th as part of its continuing examination of the HTDS. The public is invited. Tim Connor, editorial director Northwest Environmental Education Foundation, Spokane
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Sterk out to make things worse
Sheriff Mark Sterk’s public statement that Steelworkers were going to cause the wreck of a Kaiser hot metal truck was irresponsible and bordered on giving the scab drivers of these trucks the nod and the wink to stage such a wreck. A professional law enforcement officer knows that a professional truck driver is always in control of his rig, regardless of road conditions or equipment failures. In “Kaiser driver nearly loses load of aluminum” (May 12) I see that one such driver apparently took Sterk’s hint, barely strapped his load down and slammed his brakes on in a congested Steelworker picket area. I suggest Sterk get the sheriff’s department off Kaiser’s payroll, or he’ll be the one responsible for murder. Margaret Larive Spokane
VIOLENCE
Some good parents dealt a bad hand
With regard to the two young men who acted out their violence in Littleton, Colo., Connie J. Silk said, “I promise you they have been abused or neglected emotionally and physically” (Letters, May 9). Does she know this for a fact? Did she actually meet their parents? Had she met the boys? Just how did she come to this analysis?
As a teacher and parent (both for 15 years), I have also learned a few things about children and family structures. There are many fragmented families with at-risk children and strong, supportive families with at-risk children.
Children from the latter group often have all the right ingredients to ensure a successful future right in their own home but they choose to go astray. They choose to experiment with drugs, fail in school, watch violent programs, run away, steal, etc. Their parents take their responsibility very seriously and are living a nightmare. No matter how much they love, discipline and forbid certain activities, their child still makes the wrong choices.
I speak from experience. I have learned that we live in a society that demands parents be responsible, yet enforces laws that often give too many rights to children.
I challenge Silk to consider the possibility that these two boys might have come from a solid family structure and, it’s sad to say, still chose to reject their families’ moral standards. I promise you, there is more to this story than two sets of bad parents. Jane M. Bouge Veradale
Constant teasing can be toxic
Chantel Partridge (Letters, May 11) reminded me of something I’ve been afraid to say when she said, “I’m asking you to close your eyes and open your mind and your heart. There was a boy under that trench coat but no one could see him until he had a gun in his hand.”
It’s easy for us to place blame. We blame the NRA, the parents, the media. We don’t blame the victims. Maybe we should.
Recently you reported, “A 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl was suspended for telling a teacher … that she could understand how someone who is teased endlessly could snap.” I, too, have shared these sentiments with my classmates (thankfully, I haven’t been suspended for it). I don’t see how we can stop it. It’s a vicious cycle that we all recognize and discuss. But when we leave the room, we always seem to abandon our resolve.
It’s a very clear issue to me. Either you understand or you don’t. The frustration involved with being taunted endlessly is insurmountable for some. I’ve had it done to me and I do it to others. The teasing is so ingrained that you don’t recognize it until it’s too late.
The difference between the shooters and the millions of other children who are relentlessly taunted is that the shooters can’t cope with their misfortune and the millions of others can. So who can we blame for their inability to cope? Chris W. Grantham Pullman
PEOPLE IN SOCIETY
`Abuse’ began with poor choices
Re: “A hidden form of welfare abuse” (Opinion, May 9).
In typical liberal fashion, Jamie Tobias Neely suggests a “close the barn door after the horse has escaped” fixall for the welfare problem. Throw money at the issue and it will go away.
No, I do not condone dumping two children into day care beginning at the age of 3 months so their 19-year-old mother can go to work (for minimum wage, most likely) at the Carrousel in Riverfront Park. Where is their father?
We must go back just a little farther to find the root of this problem. Children need to be taught responsibility and morality. Then, perhaps, fewer unmarried, underage, uneducated women will choose to bring hungry mouths into the world. Having children is no cake walk. It is a demanding, challenging and sometimes emotionally draining job that can even be difficult for a mature couple, let alone a single, 19-year-old.
At 19, instead of playing house, Kelly Doty should be attending college (there is plenty of public money for that!) learning about herself, learning about life’s meaning and perhaps searching for the soulmate who will be her partner in this very important, very difficult job of child rearing.
After all, don’t we as parents - not the government - have a responsibility to our children, not only for both love and affection but also for providing their basic needs? Audrey J. Danals Spokane
Coaches have a plan: Always Kids
The National Association of Basketball Coaches has launched a campaign to encourage adults, and especially parents, to spend meaningful time with children. Our campaign is called Always Kids.
As coaches, we have a pretty good feel for the value of time. The time spent in practice is the best opportunity for us to develop the skills of our players, their game intelligence, sportsmanship and team unity. With time, we teach our kids how to win.
During games, we rely on time-outs and half times to come together, cool emotions, make adjustments, build confidence and reiterate principles. Time-outs are especially important when we’re off balance as a team and executing poorly. The bigger the jam we find ourselves in, the more critical the time-out.
The first word that ought to come to mind when parents and adults think of children in their lives is “time.” It’s more than a word. It is a gift - it’s everything.
A team without a coach isn’t a team. Players can’t coach themselves. Neither can children raise each other. And to coach a winning team, to successfully raise a child, requires a time commitment. Time spent in preparation for life’s bigger moments and time spent during those moments.
Let’s all make this commitment. Let’s help make it through the challenges and confusion in their lives on a daily basis and not rely on tragic wake-up calls like Columbine to focus our attention on those we cherish most. Steve K. Aggers, head basketball coach Eastern Washington University, Cheney
Thanks should travel both ways
When was the last time you thanked your kids for something as simple as being your kids? Every day, we expect them to thank us for washing their clothes, keeping them fed, fixing their wounds, bringing them into this world. You name it, we expect a please or a thank you. But when was the last time you took a moment to think about what your kids have done for you, then offered up a heartfelt thanks?
Thanks for making me take a closer look at everything that I say, for unwittingly teaching me about patience and humility. For making me consider my actions, where in the past I would have just done what I wanted. For helping me to fully realize what the word “love” really means. For helping me to remember that through all this maturity stuff, there’s still a kid just like you inside me.
Take the time today and think about what your kids do for you. I think you’ll be surprised how much we owe them and how rarely we parents say thanks.
Thanks. I love you, Katie. Kevin M. Hannan Cheney
Young white males doing well
There are times when censorship seems to be a fabulous idea, i.e. John C. Bunyan’s bigoted May 9 letter, “Young white males, you’re toast.” We could have saved him face by deeming it unprintable. White males are anything but victims in our society.
Bunyan says white males should forget college, yet the majority of college students are Caucasians. I know enough white males going to the most prestigious colleges in the nation to give me confidence in the system. Colleges attempt to recruit minorities so heavily because America has historically been lax in giving them the opportunities to educate themselves. White man has forced people of color into working dead-end jobs. Yes, we are certainly getting better (thank God), but discrimination still rears its ugly head on too many occasions and no, it’s not against white men.
The majority of Fortune 500 companies are headed by white males. Turn on C-Span while Congress is in action. See how many minorities and women have a place in power in our government. You’ll be surprised at the dearth of people of color and women.
Perhaps you are mad because you want your white man status to get you success without having to work for it. Whatever the case, wake up and look around, Bunyan, before you find a conciliatory home in the supremacist clutches of the Aryan Nations, our “brothers” in ignorance. Ryan Cassidy Spokane
THE ENVIRONMENT
Overpopulation dangerous to all
A recent editorial addressing the negative effects of urban sprawl on game animals and hunting was accurate, as far as it went. The deeper problem is human overpopulation.
In this country, populations are vacating overcrowded urban areas, relocating to more sparsely populated areas like the Northwest or Southwest, sprawling to the suburbs or into the country.
Overpopulation is often a major cause of environmental pollution due to extensive chemical use, vehicle emissions, industrial wastes, improper waste disposal, etc. Many cancers are caused by some form of pollution. A significant percentage of many other diseases can also be traced to pollution.
Urban sprawl displaces farm land, now priceless considering our rapidly expanding population. Sprawl eliminates wetlands vital to flood control, plant species and wildlife habitat. Lost as well are other lands containing vegetation critical to health care, the dissipation of pollutants and creation of oxygen so vital to the environment and Earth’s ozone.
It is heartening that people are living longer via improved health care and healthier lifestyles. Consequently, worldwide, five people are born every second while two die. At its current rate, the United States’ population will increase by the equivalent of 20 New York Cities, or 150 million people, by 2050.
Disaster can be avoided but heads must first be pulled from the sand and ignorance and denial abated. In the animal kingdom, overpopulation is often a precursor of disease which culminates with the demise of most of that species. What is the future of our human animal kingdom? Dan Semler Colton, Wash.
More wilderness areas needed
Take out a map of Eastern Washington. Notice the mass of national forests, Bureau of Land Management and wildlife refuge lands? These are all publicly owned. Now, notice the lack of protected wilderness areas? It is sparsely designated, considering our state is notorious for its scenic beauty and that our outdoor recreation industry continues to expand and profit.
My concern is this: We have a state population which is predicted to double in the next 50 years and yet we have not designated enough wilderness to satisfy current demand.
There are many special places that are unprotected wilderness and they need just that: protection. For instance, the Kettle Crest on the Colville National Forest and the Jackson Creek area on the Okanogan National Forest. Wilderness is the land of true multiple use including backpacking, skiing, hiking, bird watching, hunting, horseback riding, wildflower identification, fishing, mountain and rock climbing.
What do these need protection from? Development by industry - logging, road building, mining - activities which benefit a few, unlike wilderness, which benefit everyone. Besides the tangible human uses of wilderness, it is habitat for native fish, like bull trout, for lynx and grizzlies. It is clean water and natural protection from flooding.
Eastern Washington needs more wilderness. Wilderness designation is a positive, exciting way to improve everyone’s quality of life. Spread the word. Frank Jezierski Republic, Wash.