Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Please return gifts from baby’s grave

This letter is written in hopes of finding the person or persons who are stealing gifts left on our baby daughter’s grave at Greenwood Memorial Terrace.

On Valentine’s Day this person took her stuffed animals. On the anniversary of her death, the person(s) took three angel figures: one kneeling, one thinking, one holding a heart. The thief also apparently needed a bear holding a teddy bear, a Winnie the Pooh flower vase and a baby blanket.

It makes us sick to think anyone would steal from a grave. These are gifts that were given to our baby out of love. All we ask is for them to be returned to the statue. The gifts mean so much more than you can possibly ever even imagine. Please let her have her angels back! Your reward will be your clear conscience. Mick and Michelle Barber Colbert

Give military a break on greens fees

I was surprised and saddened by the report in The Spokesman-Review that the Spokane Park Board had voted not to allow any consideration to the military at Fairchild on local golf greens fees.

How well I remember the hue and cry by community leaders when it was a possibility that Fairchild could be closed. If the Spokane community considers Fairchild important to the community, the mean spirited vote by the Park Board is a terrible way to show it. After all, the military personnel at Fairchild are not overpaid. Indeed, many of the lower-ranking personnel qualify for food stamps.

Many military installations have long understood that military personnel need recreational facilities and have provided golf courses at low cost to military personnel. Fairchild has no such facility and airmen from Fairchild must pay the high weekend greens fees at city and county courses.

Could the board’s decision have been influenced by the fact that the Park Board a few years ago, with the help of Commissioner John Roskelley, tried to get a portion of county greens fees allocated to the Park Department? That idea was soundly criticized on the grounds that people who play golf have already paid their share of taxes to support the parks and they objected to being double taxed.

Is it possible that the Park Board members are influenced by Roskelley, who has publicly stated that golf is a game for the “rich?” It would be most interesting to know how much Park Board members and county commissioners pay when they play golf on local courses. J.E. Sherman Spokane

Avista deserves name on ball park

I’m not exactly sold on the naming of a taxpayer-built facility such as the ball park with a company name to generate a few bucks. But if any company is entitled to this ball park name privilege it is Avista.

Back in 1950, about a dozen of us fellows put in a lot of hours to create what is now the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds. One company that had a big hand in this creation of the fair was Washington Water Power Co.

One of their men, Art Mayer, was always available and when the fair needed power poles for parking rails or whatever, WWP would gladly furnish them at no cost, plus a lot of other favors. It could be safely said that if our fair board hadn’t had that early day support, the beginning of the fair might not have happened.

Then, in 1958, the Los Angeles Dodgers approached the fair board to build a baseball stadium on a portion of the fairgrounds so the team could bring Triple A baseball to Spokane. The stadium was built in short order.

If it wasn’t for the fair, that 99 acres of property would’ve had to go back to the many original owners. So now, some 50 years later, the entrance sign of the ball park says Avista Stadium. More power to them. Dan W. Eagle Spokane

Peregoy organized great event

I compliment Bob Peregoy of Spokane Community College for running the recent Eastern Regional Science Olympiad tournament at Spokane Community College. Peregoy did an excellent job of arranging schedules and events for over 400 students, coaches and parents who were on campus for the entire day.

The kids had a meaningful experience as well as the adult volunteers due to Peregoy’s effort. This is not an easy task and our teams truly appreciate the fine job that he did.

Thanks again, Bob. We hope to return next year. Chris Koester Science Olympiad coach, Moses Lake High School

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Adults should wear safety gear, too

On March 21 you had a good front page article reminding spring boaters about safety on the very cold waters.

It was great to see a father make sure his young daughter was appropriately dressed and was wearing a personal floatation device, or PFD. However, I noticed the father in the photo did not prepare himself in case something should happen and both landed in the water. (The article did mention that everyone should have on PFDs and be extra careful.) If the boat should tip and the father ends up drowning or becomes hypothermic, he would not be able to help his child. He missed a very important part in his child safety - his own safety.

Adults, please wear your life jackets, even if you are good swimmers. The cold water greatly reduces your swimming ability. Not only are you protecting yourself and your family in the immediate sense but you are a wise example to the young.

Wearing your PFD is just plain smart. Bonnie Hudlet Hayden, Idaho

Mobile might makes right

Re: “Automakers to render SUVs safer” (March 21).

It seems to me that this is another example of looking at a problem through the wrong end of the telescope. The menace to people is not large, privately owned vehicles but to those who drive small, economic cars in the interest of fuel economy. However, we can’t have it both ways, as sacrificing size and weight for thrift also compromises safety.

People who buy SUVs do so because of increased capacity and safety. Insurance companies have been telling us for years that compact and sub-compact autos have a higher rate of mortality than standard-size ones.

Large vehicles are not exactly new on the scene. I recall back in the 1930s, the monster Cadillacs, Packards, Duesenbergs and the scary Pierce Arrow with the headlights in the fenders. They all weighed between 5,000 and 6,000 pounds. My only complaint was that I didn’t own one.

It might help if the people who insist on driving mini vehicles would remember a basic though unwritten rule of the sea: right of way is a matter of tonnage. William E. Dudley Kettle Falls, Wash.

REMEMBRANCE

Frazier an exceptional doctor, friend

On March 13 countless women and families lost a man who was important to them. So did many physicians who were trained by him or to whom they referred patients. This was Wm. Harvey Frazier, M.D., who spent all of his medical practice life in Spokane after his training.

His treatment of his patients, with great respect and genuine concern for the whole person, not just the physical, put him a distinct cut above most of the rest of us. His concern extended beyond to the other members of the patient’s family.

Dr. Frazier was generous to a fault with his time and all those associated with Whitworth College since the 1960s owe a debt of gratitude to him for his unflagging service on the board and being the secretary of that board for many years.

Often, those most deserving of recognition are not given it in their lifetime. We hope that every family that was fortunate enough to have had any contact with Frazier as his friend, patient, mentor or colleague will honor the family’s desire to the causes for which he had the greatest concern.

Our God knows that those of us who knew him were especially privileged and our lives are richer as a result of this contact.

Please join us in demonstrating our appreciation of this wonderful man and his family in a very tangible manner. Dr. George and Dorothy Rodkey Post Falls

THE ENVIRONMENT

Anger no basis for policy making

An increasing majority of citizens want their public lands managed responsibly, with all values respected.

In the March 17 article, “Roadless plan takes heat,” some Forest Service officials warn of violent reactions if roadless public land receives a roadless designation.

Angry people get one vote, just like the rest of us. The Forest Service should stand its ground and not allow anger to make policy.

There is already significant intimidation surrounding resource issues. Public meetings can be dominated by angry people reciting the same emotional dogma they’ve recited at numerous previous meetings. Someone who addressees an issue risks being labeled a radical.

Angry people are the movers and shakers behind the dumbing of the rural communities.

I’m angry about the anger. We fight amid the battle cry.

The products of the American West - food, wood, megawatts - are dirt cheap compared to the products of other regions. Our products are undervalued because we don’t have enough respect for our own products or the environment that produces them.

So the rural American West has become an economic zone, like a colony or territory, where corporations come for cheap fiber, energy, etc. The profits frequently leave our area, while we live with the impacts and lower than average income.

How much longer must we continue the rituals of a failing economic model?

Can we evolve without somebody being assaulted, or worse?

Roadless areas will help to diversity our economic base by contributing higher quality recreation and living conditions.

Angry? Take a hike. Bill A. Dean Ione, Wash.

Logging job wrongly maligned

In “I’ve seen what greed can do,” Your Turn, March 15, Eric Graham’s emotionalism clouded his perceptions.

The logging job referenced was awarded to our company out of eight competing loggers. Timber harvest was designed using Washington state’s best management practices, incorporating additional shoreline and pastoral protection required by Spokane County.

Condemning our work equates to shaking a finger at any other timber harvest. Today’s landowners establish their own objectives for capable logging companies like ours to achieve, not the other way around.

Graham would have you believe this parcel was pristine and healthy instead of being riddled with insects and disease that were slowly destroying the forest. It was ripe for a catastrophic wildfire that would have rendered the trees charred and dead.

Wildlife usage was actually enhanced. Mule deer continue to thrive, enjoying additional browse created by logging. Snags were protected for use by woodpeckers, wood ducks and hawks.

The landowners decided against hiring a small operator. Slow logging would have displaced wildlife for a greater length of time, including the critical breeding season. Instead, this timber harvest was executed in a workman-like manner with state-of-the-art equipment and highly trained professionals at a time when wildlife would be disturbed least.

Our company has worked hard to develop positive relationships with the region’s major sawlog purchasers. Quality logging equates to referrals for future work. Steve Narolski, chief forester Shawn Montee Timber Co., Post Falls

OTHER TOPICS

As usual, media cater to Clinton

Wouldn’t it be refreshing if just once the Republicans in Congress, when confronted with something controversial by the liberal, lap dog Clinton media flacks, would stand up on the side of truth?

This is the same media that, when Clinton, Al Gore and the congressional Democrats accused the Republicans of wanting to put old people out of their homes and into the streets, starve school children and kill people by poisoning their air and water, confronted Republicans with those outrageous charges and never asked Democrats to substantiate them.

Wayne La Pierre, vice president of the National Rifle Association, got it right when he stated that Clinton gravitates to violence and needs violence to further his political agenda. Look at Clinton’s record: Oklahoma City, Columbine, you name it and there was Clinton biting his lip with a crocodile tear in his eye. A real phony.

In all fairness it should be noted that on at least one occasion Clinton didn’t gravitate to a scene that was the result of violence. Clinton was nowhere to be seen when the remains of our brave soldiers who lost their lives in Somalia were returned to their country. Their commander in chief sent Gore to perform a duty that was his alone. I guess that’s what you’d expect from a draft dodger who has expressed loathing for the military.

It astounds me to hear some people rave about how much Clinton has supposedly done for this country and then turn a blind eye to what he’s done to it. Bill R. Klein Nine Mile Falls

Get beyond lifestyle shallowness

Re: “Not bad to the bone” (March 21).

Let’s picture this. You have a wonderful life with your family when suddenly your parents decide to invite another into your home. When this wonderful moment arrives you are taken to a cage outdoors and told this will now be your new home. You have now become someone who “no longer fit(s) into our lifestyle.”

This is exactly what the Gotzians did to their yellow labrador retriever, Jackson, when the new baby arrived.

As an owner of three labrador retrievers I was terribly saddened to read about the home Jackson came from but so happy for him at the new home he has with Marsha Morris In California.

No longer fits into our lifestyle has become an attitude with our children as well as our pets. I have seen this firsthand with family and friends as well as in newspaper articles. No wonder we have so much violence and hate. What has happened to our children and pets being our lifestyle? Both of them offer more love than any lifestyle could possibly offer us.

When a child or pet goes elsewhere and gets into trouble, they are searching for what they don’t have at home, i.e. love, tenderness, attention, time, etc.

When we become a family (not a lifestyle) with our children and pet(s) we will then see how God has truly manifested his love for us with both of these gifts to us.

And please, Hap and Cheryl Gotzian, if you decide another lab doesn’t fit into your lifestyle there are labrador rescue clubs just waiting for people like you. Jennifer Caesar Greenland Spokane

Science is a discipline, not dogma

Gonzaga law professor David K. DeWolf writes of “teaching Darwinism as truth with a capital `T”’ (Letters, March 16). The fact is that no competent science teacher will teach any science as capital-T truth. All scientific knowledge is tentative, subject to replacement or revision as a result of new evidence or reinterpretation of existing knowledge.

Regardless of the specific field - chemistry, biology, astronomy, etc. - articles in scientific journals usually say something like “it has been thought … but this research shows that …” In science, there can be no permanent dogma.

As columnist Ellen Goodman pointed out the next day, most people don’t have a clear idea of either evolution or creation. There are two approaches to creationism. One is the biblical creation story, which must be accepted as is. This is sectarian religion, which is not appropriate for a pubic school. The other is what its advocates call scientific creationism, in which they use scientific methods to try to prove the creation story. However to be truly scientific they must be willing to change their ideas according to the evidence, even to the point of giving up the idea of creation. If they are, they can make a case for having their work taught as science in the schools. However, as with science generally, their work must be subject to questioning and confrontation with conflicting evidence and interpretations and judged accordingly.

If their ideas are correct, they will eventually prove themselves. Robert E. Forman, Ph.D. Colville, Wash.