Letters To The Editor

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Rodenspiel dedicated to helping all

Re: “Priest has parishioner arrested” (Handle, March 26)

In this seemingly accusatory article, reporter Angie Gaddy sounded like Father Rodenspiel, in a callous and uncaring way, had this poor little 73-year-old lady thrown in jail. I assure you that Father Rodenspiel is neither callous or uncaring. Nor did he act without just cause.

Phyllis Nelson had been coming to daily Mass for several years and had never caused any problems until several months ago when she became increasingly agitated and began pacing back and forth in front of the altar and to the back of the church. This continued until it became constant. Father Rodenspiel asked her on several occasions to please walk in the back of the church so as not to disturb others. She would say “Yes, Father,” and keep pacing back and forth, and it became very distracting.

I’m sure no business or civic organization would tolerate this behavior. It was becoming increasingly apparent that Nelson needed help, but Father Rodenspiel was informed by the officers that they could do nothing unless someone signed a complaint.

Linda Allen, please don’t blame Father Rodenspiel for trying to get your mother help. His whole life has been dedicated to helping and forgiving us all. Catherine L. Schauble Post Falls

Lynx article misleading

The March 14 article “Groups Sue to Protect Lynx” contains a very misleading statement: “One of the most crucial requirements for lynx habitat is an abundance of loose snow that has not been compacted by skis, snowmobiles or cars.”

Priest Lake often has hard crust snow allowing predators into the high mountain areas without contribution from humans.

Due to the difficulty of snowmobiling through trees in soft snow we follow each other in a single track. This results in an insignificant narrow track through a very vast area.

Assume a bobcat does follow a packed trail into rabbit country. Once he leaves the packed trail to hunt his small paws do not match the snowshoe rabbit’s ability to move over the soft snow.

The lynx does not hunt and stay in the high treeless mountain peaks where the snowmobilers ride. They lynx prefer the treed areas where his food source lives.

With over 50 years at Priest Lake, I have lost many pets to the food chain. Bobcats are not as shy as the lynx and they know there is easy pray where humans live.

Please stop printing the half-truths and exaggeration of special interest groups without some type of disclaimer. What you publish is taken by many as scientific fact, when in reality you are just reprinting someone’s press release, which can contain inaccuracies. Mike L. Sudnikovich Nordman, Idaho

Teach evolution - not in vacuum

Re: “Most want evolution taught” (March 11).

It is interesting that 69 percent believe “that the scientific theory of evolution is compatible with a belief in God.”

I get discouraged with the education I received because I was never taught to compare; never trusted with, or given, both sides of the story and encouraged to think it out for myself. Most of these people polled were educated obviously the same way. Think of it - if these two beliefs were so compatible, why did Darwin’s book cause a major upheaval at its publication and still does today? If there was nothing “incompatible” what were Clarence Darrow and William Bryant arguing about in Tennessee? As my fellow office mate says, “You must take me for some kind of a rube.”

I believe evolution should be taught - but not in a vacuum. Teach the opposing view also - that life may have originated by a cause, (as Darwin wrote) “greater than, but analogous with, human reason” - a Creator. In “Origin of the Species,” Darwin distinctly wrote that in order to review the subject of origins, “A fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question.”

I wish I didn’t have to read about the polling of people who have never done exactly that; they never had read Origin of the Species nor given Genesis any thought. I am saddened to think 69 percent of our population don’t know what they don’t know - and even have an opinion about what they don’t know.

I plead for a decent education for the still curious minds in our midst so we can read the opinions of those we can respect. Kenneth Connelly Hayden

IN THE NEWS

Do your part to reduce demand for oil

We Americans are 5 percent of the world’s population and drive 40 percent of all the cars and trucks.

We consume eight million barrels of fuel a day for all those vehicles and another 10 million barrels of oil for heating, power plants, jet fuel, lubrication, etc. Thus, 18 million barrels per day, largely imported. OPEC produces 27 million barrels per day so one can quickly see the tremendous leverage Americans have on world oil consumption.

The United States is asking OPEC to increase production by two million gallons per day to bring prices down from “astronomically” high of $1.50-1.70 per gallon.

(The Europeans are amused at our bleating - they routinely pay $4-$5 per gallon). A study showed that just keeping our tires properly inflated and our cars tuned can save nearly that amount of daily fuel!

Better yet, if we simply didn’t drive one day a week, i.e. took the bus, rode a bike or consolidated our errands, we could turn the tables on OPEC and have the gas stations offer free soda and glasses again to entice you to their stations.

It truly is humiliating to see our government groveling at OPEC’s feet in Vienna like a strung-out junkie pitifully begging for more oil. When the last vestige of the “independent American,” the long-distance truck driver, has to demonstrate for government relief of gas prices, then we are surely becoming wards of the OPEC.

Supply and demand is still the greatest economic force. Brace up, Americans, reduce the demand and the prices will take care of themselves. Jacob Laete Spokane

GONZAGA BASKETBALL

Bulldog fans: Thanks

On behalf of the trustees, regents, alumni, benefactors, faculty, administration, staff and students at Gonzaga University, I would like to express our sincere thanks to fans of the Bulldogs everywhere.

Thank you for your support all through the season and especially during the NCAA Tournament. You showed up in great numbers at Santa Clara. You were there in Tucson giving us a home-court advantage, and the strident support you provided the Zags in Albuquerque was evident and moving.

Thanks also to the local media for a job well done. I’ve been told by many who were unable to make it to Tucson and Albuquerque that they felt they were there, thanks to the informative and entertaining reporting done by Spokane’s media.

For all the `GO ZAGS’ signs that illuminated Spokane streets and businesses, for all the kind words expressed to me and members of the team, and for taking us under your wing, Spokane, thank you very much.

Finally, we at Gonzaga are thankful for God’s grace always at work in our lives - not simply during magic moments like these - and we marvel at the mystery of how he can bring all of us together. Here’s a prayer for continued unity in pursuit of our common good. Rev. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J. President, Gonzaga University

Zags great teachers

I would like to add my thanks to the Gonzaga men’s basketball team. As a mother of three children aged 6, 7 and 9, they provided a wonderful platform for teaching. My children had the opportunity to witness hard work and team play, good sportsmanship, grace under pressure, and the sheer delight of being part of something bigger than yourself.

The team truly exemplified the idea of “it’s how you play the game.” What wonderful role models they are for the youths of Spokane.

We have lived in Spokane just short of two years now, and I am so proud to call Spokane home. Community spirit was so evident by all the marquees on Division and elsewhere, the terrific coverage provided by all the local TV and radio stations, The Spokesman Review, and all the cheer cards handed out and displayed. This illustrates what community spirit really is! In victory and in defeat Spokane showed its pride!

And to the Gonzaga student body, thank you for showing school pride when winning and losing. It is notable that you showed more team spirit and class when your team lost than what the Purdue student body could muster when winning. I would be proud to send my children to Gonzaga someday.

The things my children had the opportunity to witness were lessons in life that no textbook or lecture could possibly teach in the way that the Zags’ ride into the NCAA tournament did. Thank you Gonzaga, thank you Spokane. Sheryl A. Anthony Veradale

Game brought smile to big fan

I would like to congratulate you, Gonzaga basketball players, on your big win on March 25.

I had an uncle dying in the ICU at Sacred Heart Hospital. He was only 39 years old, dying of a disease called dermatomyositis. He was a big fan of basketball. He was usually really weak, but when your game came on he sat himself up and watched. Every time you guys scored or did something good, he would put up his thumb, and at the end of the game he smiled and even clapped. That was the last time we saw him happy or even awake.

So I would like to thank you for entertaining him and putting a smile on his face one last time. Thank you again, and good luck in the future. Rikki Benson, age 14 Spokane

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Put self-denial on no-no’s list

I wish they would please make up their minds.

First, they tell us to quit smoking, that it causes strokes, lung cancer and heart disease. So we gain weight. Now they blast us with the news that Americans are getting fatter and it’s causing diabetes and heart disease. And the final kicker is, all us baby boomers are going to live longer into our 90s, put a strain on the overcrowded nursing homes and cripple the Social Security system by hogging all the money. Not mentioning that, dang it, it’s our money anyway.

What do they want? We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t. Even if we quit smoking, quit eating peanut butter sandwiches and exercise until we drop dead, guess what? Old age causes heart disease, strokes, diabetes and cancer.

So pick your poison, I say, and live it up. I don’t really know who “they” are, and I don’t really care. And if they are so worried about my health, are “they” going to be visiting me at a nursing home once I live to a too-ripe old age? Jeannie U. Greene Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Debate about more than safety locks

Editor Chris Peck and staff writer Gary Crooks grossly mischaracterize the controversy over the Smith & Wesson sell-out as being about gun safety locks. It is emphatically not about safety locks. Smith & Wesson has included safety locks with all their guns for years, and so have most other major gun manufacturers. Nobody’s angry because they have agreed to do what they are already doing.

Smith & Wesson was one of over a dozen gun manufacturers who have been in legal negotiations with the government for over a year. These negotiations are in response to attempts by some anti-gun groups and government officials to circumvent the constitutional process by extorting into enactment policies which they could not get enacted through democratic means.

Gun rights groups and other manufacturers are angry with Smith & Wesson over the way they broke ranks and cut their own secret deal without so much as a hint to their co-litigants. You would feel betrayed, too, under similar circumstances.

And in any event, Smith & Wesson agreed to a lot more than safety locks. They have agreed to some demands that are so burdensome for dealers that it will be completely impractical for them to carry Smith & Wesson products.

Don’t take my word for it, read the agreement yourself. (Available at www.nra-ila.org.)

Finally, Crooks claims that the NRA is calling for a boycott against Smith & Wesson over this agreement. I challenge him to either substantiate that charge or issue a retraction. Gene Greeson Nine Mile Falls

Dangerous dogs still free

My best friend walks to Assumption School every day with his dad, brother and sister. One day last week, his dad started walking back home when three dogs attacked him. They wasted no time biting and jumping on him. One bite went to the bone.

Later that same morning, the dogs attacked two more people. One was bitten.

SpokAnimal let the people keep the dogs and just considered them dangerous. They said the next time it happened, they would be fined. This is not right. Now my friend no longer walks to school. I am a fourth-grade student at Assumption School. I am worried that those dogs will hurt kids at my school or Balboa School. Something should be done. Clifford E. Chandler, age 10 Spokane