Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Parks are not for paving, parking

At first I wanted to support the recent proposal to improving Manito Park. I agree that the park is not accessible to the handicapped and subtle improvements would be beneficial.

But then I kept reading.

I understand how busy the park becomes in the summer and appreciate the attempt of the city planners to create more room for visitors. However, I believe paving over 20,000 square feet of grass to be excessive. By doing this, they are taking away from the beauty of Manito and replacing it with the epitome of American culture: never-ending stretches of concrete.

A park is supposed to be a place to enjoy nature; including trees, grass and dirt trails. With this proposal, they are removing two willow trees, 30 inches in diameter, plus six others of undisclosed sizes. Those trees have probably been around Spokane longer than the past two generations and replacing them with 50 baby trees is not going to be the same.

I cannot speak for the others in the city but I can’t stress enough the importance of a natural habitat for the plants and animals living in Manito Park. The proposed plan would be detrimental to the city and the wildlife. Plus, it would defeat the purpose of having a park.

Before we know it, our city will be nothing but a vast wasteland of concrete and lifelessness. Lisa Hough, age 16 Spokane

McKay is truly a Bloomsday winner

We were at a Bloomsday Party after the race, eating, laughing and joking about how sore we were going to be. But out on the course, one man was still determined to finish.

My husband and a friend saw him earlier on Doomsday Hill. They asked him if he needed anything. He said “water,” which neither had.

My husband mentioned that he’d seen David McKay, so a group of us drove to find him. He was resting, with two and one-half miles to go. We gave him some water and told him we’d be at the finish line when he got there.

We returned later with three carloads of people. McKay had three blocks to go.

A friend and I asked McKay if we could walk with him. He talked about his determination, his daughter, his resting spots, one being the rock he fishes from, and his tumbles along the way. As I looked at the finish line one block ahead, that I’d crossed several hours earlier, I felt bad that he didn’t get to see the balloon arch and all the well wishers. He didn’t get a photo finish picture taken and there was no T-shirt waiting for him. He was so proud to cross the finish line and hug his wife and good friend who walked the entire course with him that none of that mattered to McKay.

We all clapped and gave him big hugs. He’s a great inspiration.

I’m proud to say I walked three blocks with David McKay. He’s definitely the real winner. Annie M. Obregon Liberty Lake

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Require fair trading with China

On May 22, the House of Representatives will vote on extending something called permanent normal trade relations to China. This is the condition formerly known as most favored nation trade relations. Rep. George Nethercutt is in favor of PNTR legislation.

This is not a treaty whereby we agree to certain things and China does likewise. It is a unilateral move on our part to extend to China the lowest import tariffs to this country that we give to any other nation. We hope China will reciprocate, but this has not been our experience to date. It’s a way of opening U.S. markets to China but not vice versa.

China is not our trading partner, it is our trading competitor.

We cannot hope to compete with China while its human rights and environmental philosophies translate to slave-labor wages and no costs involved to protect the environment. Let China raise labor costs to the point where compensation for an hour’s work there will have the same purchasing power as it does for our workers here. Then we might talk about tariff breaks.

Last year we had a $70 billion trade deficit with China. And in that year our exports to China decreased and imports from China increased by over $10 billion. This translates to a net loss of jobs here.

“Protectionism” is not a dirty word. Let’s use appropriate tariffs on foreign imports to level the playing field. Richard T. Brown Spokane

Snooze on and you’ll lose it all

While we were sleeping, an investigator in the infamous Waco debacle was found dead. Abu Jamal, a convicted felon who killed a policeman, has become a commencement speaker. Planned Parenthood devised an end run around Gonzaga University’s Father Spitzer, who stood firm for principles. A federal agent stormed a private home and removed, at gunpoint, Elian Gonzalez. Meanwhile, we Americans are still snoring. Too lazy to open our eyes, we swallow the spin the national media spoonfeeds us. If “they” tell it, it must be the truth, right?

Those little Waco kids probably set fire to themselves, anyway. And Abu Jamal is a black man; therefore, he must be innocent. Planned Parenthood is only trying to help the young ladies who become pregnant (through no fault of their own). Funny, the “blob of tissue” they remove has salable value as heart, liver, brain, ad nauseam. But, it’s not really a baby, you see. And as for Elian, don’t remind me that Hitler and the communists used the same tactics.

When the government comes to your house, I won’t lift a finger, either. Luella Dow Cheney

CHURCH AND STATE

Amendment author was pro-Bible

Kay and Harlan Hayes (Letters, April 28) believe that the First Amendment was written “to keep religions out of government and vice versa.” Regarding freedom of religion, the amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

According to the Congressional Record (Sept. 20, 1789) Fisher Ames was the founding father who offered the final wording of the amendment. Ames, in an article written for a national magazine in January 1801, expressed concern that as more and more books were being introduced into school classrooms, the Bible might someday drift to the back of the classroom:

“Why then, if these (new) books for children must be retained, as they will be, should not the Bible regain the place it once held as a school book?” Ames concluded by stressing that the Bible was the source of sound morality and behavior in America. (“Notices of the Life and Character of Fisher Ames,” T.B. Wait & Co., 1809)

If the author of the First Amendment didn’t understand what its intent was, who does? Why have all presidents and Supreme Court justices taken their oath of office with their hand on the Bible?

The 1962 Supreme Court, without legal or historical precedent, removed biblical principles from public life; and divorce, violent crime, illegal drugs, teenage pregnancy and illiteracy skyrocketed. When will we wake up to the fact that “the freedoms enjoyed for over 200 years” were based on the Bible? Laurel J. Durkee Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

ROTC valuable for future officers

While I admire the zeal with which letter writer Paddy Inman espouses his convictions and the courage with which he supports them (Letters, May 8), I disagree vehemently with the position he takes concerning the Gonzaga University ROTC program.

As a 1970 graduate of that program, I have personal, firsthand knowledge of the benefits of receiving my military training while attending college classes with my peers. The exposure of young military officer candidates to the multifaceted religious and philosophical viewpoints provided by a religious or state institution of higher learning is exactly the type of remedy to the abuses of military power that Inman has spent his life opposing.

I remind Inman that membership in the military is neither condemned nor prohibited by the majority of religions in the United States, including the Catholic religion. Furthermore, in the Gospel of Luke, it was the centurion who was praised by Jesus as having the greatest faith in the land. Alexander J. Shogan Jr. Spokane

Female athletes underreported

I am a freshman at West Valley High School. I participate in three different sports during the school year. My favorite would have to be basketball.

At West Valley we take great pride in our basketball teams, both boys and girls. But as always the guys do get more attention on all levels of sports. Even reading the newspaper about high school sports, the guys get twice as much space as we do. I honestly believe women work just as hard as men and should be equally recognized.

Have you ever heard of Lisa Leslie, Theresa Weatherspoon or Sheryl Swoops? How about Michael Jordan, Grant Hill or Kobe Bryant? Of course you have heard of the last three because they are men in the NBA, while the first three ladies mentioned are WNBA players.

Men get so much more attention in the world of sports than women do. Women work just as hard, if not harder, in their sports and they get less than half the credit. Casandra M. Ouimette Spokane