Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Spokane - a bad move on my part

I moved to Spokane from a small Idaho town eight months ago. I was accepted into two graduate schools, one here and one in Reno, Nevada, and had to decide which town I liked better. The factors influencing me to choose Spokane over Reno were mainly good public transportation and the availability and size of the public library. Boy, is the joke on me.

Now, thanks to the cuts and proposed cuts stemming from the infamous Initiative 695, the only time I can access the downtown library - the branch closest to my home - is 6:30-8 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays.

And now bus routes 24, 91 and 95 are due to be drastically slashed. I depend on all three of those routes, in addition to the 73 express, to get back and forth to work. I commute a total of three hours per day to do this. Spokane Transit Authority, what in the world are you doing cutting services to riders when you’re sitting on millions of dollars in the bank?

I think the higher-ups here have forgotten what public transportation is supposed to be all about - service to the public. I am not in as dire a situation as others who may be physically or financially challenged and have no choice other than to ride the bus. If forced to do so, I could buy a car - for the first time in my life - and contribute to the greenhouse effect and the pollution of our cities in general.

What I am is disgusted. Holly C. Williams Spokane

Body language tells the tale

Since you have taken “Cathy” out of your newspaper, I don’t find a great deal of humor in it, but the Feb. 22 picture of the city employees was a good laugh (“City employees listen to press conference introducing Henry Miggins as the new city manager,” page B5).

If one knows anything about body language, this was a good example of negative listening. Notice the arms folded across the bodies of the listeners and look at the expressions on everyone’s face (except one). Miggins didn’t have a chance with this group.

Great picture! Stan Williams Spokane

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Law provides Kaiser a handy fig leaf

RE: “Union attacks Kaiser pollution” (Feb. 17).

I am glad the United Steelworkers of America stepped up to the plate in cautioning local citizens about the hazards Kaiser presents to them. Someone needed to.

I feel sorry for people who live near Kaiser’s Mead plant and I don’t feel much better about living downwind from Kaiser’s Trentwood plant, now that Kaiser can hide behind the Chemical Safety Information Site Security and Fuels Regulatory Relief Act of 1999. The Freedom of Information Act allows companies like Kaiser to keep information on the deadly chemicals they use almost secret from the citizens who live nearby.

This made the federally required chlorine risk management plan meeting Kaiser held Jan. 25 at the community college a joke. Even this newspaper did not report on it.

What a convenient loophole for a company owned by an avaricious corporate barbarian and run by transient scabs to sneak through to evade safety accountability to this community. And how frightening for all of us who live in Trentwood or Mead or send our children to the schools surrounding Kaiser’s plants. Margaret Larive Steelworker, Trentwood, Spokane

Prescribed drugs subject to abuse

Schools all over the nation are posted, “Drug-Free School Zone.” The main focus is illegal drugs. But are the schools all that drug free?

There’s a different epidemic being sold into our schools across the nation: doctor-prescribed pharmaceuticals such as antidepressants, tranquilizers and painkillers. Kids may hold back their medication or their parents believe they are mature enough to administer their own dose. Or perhaps the kids are getting the medication from a family member.

This is an important issue that must be taken seriously. Time magazine (November 1998) featured an article, “The Age of Ritalin.” It stated that in 1995, 500,000 prescriptions were written for children who needed mood-altering psychotropics such as Ritalin, Zoloft, Paxil and Prozac. By 1997, the number of prescriptions had jumped to more than 800,000. According to the article, Ritalin has now become a common street drug. In The Physicians Desk Reference, it states, “Ritalin should be given cautiously to emotionally unstable patients, such as those with drug and/or alcoholism history.” The book also provides information about Prozac, with the same warnings. A person taking these mood-altering psychotropics (or a combination of) other than the person who needs them can experience serious emotional and physical side effects.

With our children going on devastating suicidal and homicidal rampages, it makes me wonder if this could be part of the problem. Not only does a person need to lock up their guns and ammunition, they need to lock up the medications, too. Diane L. Church Naples, Idaho

Nuclear weapons a threat to all

The Jan. 28 admission by Department of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson that tens of thousands of workers have been put at risk from radiation in the U.S. nuclear weapons complex confirms what Physicians for Social Responsibility concluded years ago: that even if our country never experiences a nuclear weapons attack, nuclear weapons have already sickened and killed many Americans.

When the Cold War ended, PSR and other groups called for a comprehensive look into the government’s endangerment of nuclear workers who we thought had been exposed without their knowledge. Our resulting two-year study produced “Dead Reckoning,” a 1992 report documenting serious flaws in DOE’s epidemiologic studies and severe lapses in DOE’s monitoring and protection of 600,000 weapons-complex workers over a 50-year period. Until now our findings were met with official denial.

While it is too late for those workers who have died of exposure-related thyroid and prostate cancers, respiratory diseases and the many other afflictions that nuclear workers suffered decades after their service, it is not too late to take two immediate actions. The first is to compensate those workers and families whose lives were threatened by nuclear weapons work. The second is to halt all plans for resumed nuclear weapons production and get out of this dangerous business altogether.

As physicians, we believe that there simply is truly no safe way to produce nuclear weapons. It’s time to stop. H. Jack Geiger, M.D. Physicians for Social Responsibility, Brooklyn, New York

It’s running - and flashing - season

This is the time of year when I am eager to get outside and start walking and jogging more. What has happened to me recently has put a streak of anger in my bones.

Last September, I was flashed while running along the Centennial Trail behind the Academy. It made me mad to think my day could be damped by some jerk.

Recently, it happened again. I noticed a man riding near me on a bike. I knew immediately that something was different with him. I saw him ride his bike down along the bank of the river. When I ran past that area, I glanced down to where he was and noticed he was sitting there without his pants on.

I am already frustrated to think that I’m going to have to contend with such perverts again during this running season. I hope other women will be aware of this situation, especially the elderly ladies I see often walking along this route.

When hiking in bear country, I see signs posted that read “bear frequenting area.” Maybe there should be a sing along the trail that warns of flashers and stalkers.

I refuse to let some sick person scare me from doing what I enjoy. I somehow do not believe that anything will be done, unfortunately, until someone is hurt.

I will continue to softly run the Centennial Trail. But, flasher, be aware that I carry a big stick.

Have fun running this year. Just be careful. Jill A. Chandler Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

McCain right on the issues

As a member, Mainstream Republicans of Washington, and as a moderate free thinker, I attended the John McCain for President town hall meeting last Wednesday at my alma mater, Gonzaga University. May I thank you, Spokane, for presenting this candidate?

McCain proved to be without the stuffy airs of his opponents; eager to have serious discussions with the college students, yet frank in his care for the aging veterans there and the working families who all packed the meeting. McCain will receive my vote. Marc Ramsey Spokane

Strange goings on, indeed

I realize that politics is a strange and mysterious profession, but the Republican presidential race has me absolutely baffled.

When you look past the election-year posturing that has Sen. John McCain moving left and Gov. George Bush moving right, you have two men whose records and philosophy are almost identical. Both represent the economically conservative, socially tolerant views that most Republicans and probably most Americans hold. Once the campaign is over, and they revert back to their true selves, you might find a dime’s worth of difference in their policies but that’s about it.

As candidates, however, it’s a different story. Gov. George W. Bush is a good man and an OK candidate who would probably win a narrow victory over Vice President Al Gore. On the other hand, McCain has the charisma and appeal to independents that hasn’t been seen since Ronald Reagan. All indications are that Mccain would have a landslide general election victory, with excellent results for the entire GOP ticket.

Given this reality, one would expect the party leadership to flock to McCain. Instead, they’re in a state of near panic. Instead of jubilation, we’re hearing dark mutterings about hordes of Democrats infiltrating Republican primaries with sabotage in their hearts. Apparently, they also believe these infiltrators are lying to the pollsters when asked who they’ll vote for in the fall.

I’m tempted to ask what these folks are smoking to believe such conspiracy nonsense. But then, politics is a strange and mysterious profession. Jim Shamp Cheney

Crossover voters not the problem

Re: D.F. Oliveria’s Feb. 18 editorial on the independent crossover vote.

In this country, democracy means you have the right to vote for whomever you choose. The idea that independents should switch to parties other than Republican or Democrat is ludicrous. The fact that the two major parties in this country are sometimes in danger of being thrown by a dark horse just means that, as a democracy, our nation is alive during the bid for one candidate to become a nominee.

This is still the United States and we still have some freedoms. This crossover is not the problem. The problem lies in the lack of interest in the primary, the caucuses and the apathy of people who don’t bother to register at all because they are sick and tired or the scandals and lies of most politicians. If the Republicans were honest and if the Democrats were honest, there wouldn’t be nearly the crossover vote there is now. Rosalee Thorp Spokane

Greed, power lust taint process

There are four men who want to be president of the United States. Why, I can’t imagine. By the time the debates and caucuses are over, each one will be so ridiculed that there will be much doubt about his ability and character to make a good president.

There is also the money issue. Those who have given so many millions of dollars to the campaigns will surely demand much in return. Will the next president be his own man or will he be manipulated by the special interest groups who buy him the election?

This is a sad situation for the most powerful country in the world. How much better it would have been if the billions of dollars had been spent on medical research or other urgent needs. Helen Rydell Spokane

THE MEDIA

Report on issues in greater depth

How refreshing to read Jim Camden’s page 1 critique of the way reporters ignore political issues and sensationalize the conflicts among candidates. How disappointing to read the page 9 half-page summary of the positions of the four leading candidates for president.

Camden rightly notes that voters are put off by the fact that reporters use 70 percent of their time/space to cover “the horse race” and 30 percent to explain issues. He notes that reporters could “ask the follow-up questions the voters never get to ask.” The tiny summary not only doesn’t have room for follow-up type analysis, it lists oversimplified accounts of the candidates’ answers. The answers are mostly incomprehensible because of their brevity.

For instance, it states that Vice President Al Gore supports increased military spending but gives no hint of what he would spend the money for. All we are told of Bill Bradley’s position is that he is against increased military spending. In fact, Bradley favors increasing military pay.

Further, all we are told about the candidates’ views on abortion is that none favors nominating justices who oppose abortion rights.

This summary is worse than useless and is a disservice to voters. What I would like to see is a series of daily articles, each larger than the Sunday summary, exploring the issues the candidates find most important. We don’t have much time to make an informed judgment in the primary elections and caucuses. Robert M. Stevenson Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

A crowning achievement in riskiness

It took less than 15 hours for life in a Danube River tributary to cease to exist recently after cyanide from an open-pit gold mine drained into the Tizsa River in Romania. The poison killed everything in its path. Not even bacteria survived.

The environmental catastrophe created by this spill will last decades. What is frightening is that the same thing could happen here.

The proposed Crown Jewel mine, located in the headwaters of the Kettle River, proposes to use cyanide and a similar process as the Romanian mine to extract gold, creating a huge toxic waste storage pond in the process. If a spill occurs there, the result could be the destruction of the Kettle River, pollution of nearby wells and contamination of Lake Roosevelt. It could happen - even here.

The Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board recently ruled against the mine because of its lack of pollution controls and the amount of water it would take from nearby creeks that are already used for irrigation. Gov. Gary Locke is now considering whether to challenge that ruling.

The Crown Jewel Mine was a bad idea to start with but the recent disaster in Romania confirms that it is not a risk worth taking. Tim Coleman Republic, Wash.

Sonduck inspired our students

After reading Doug Clark’s Feb. 6 column about Adam Sonduck I was touched. He’s the kind of kid we work for every day - great kids with huge potential hidden behind angry faces and hurt feelings.

We called Adam and invited him to speak at the Morning Star Transition School. He was very open and asked nothing in return for spending two hours in front of our students. He made a connection with each of our students and was very honest about his past poor decisions and how he turned his life around. He talked about self-control, managing anger, being responsible for one’s own behavior and making good decisions. He even helped us all set lifetime goals and short-term goals.

Adam was an inspiration to all of us. He would like to be a teacher someday and today, he was the very best kind of teacher, one with empathy. Shelly M. Pederson and Shelia A. Yamamoto teachers, Morning Star Transition School, Spokane