Letters for Feb. 5, 2022

John Stockton’s mask

It’s good news to read that John Stockton is not allowed to attend the Gonzaga basketball games because he will not wear a mask at the games. Rules are rules and he is not above anyone else who is fortunate enough to get to see a live game.

I am very sick of wearing a mask in public but I would wear 5 of them to get his seats. Send the spoiled frowning man home. His name and image do not matter. Gonzaga does not need him to be what they are.

Skip Bayley

Chattaroy

Not too much to ask, so much to deny

It was sad and unsettling to read the recent interview with our revered hometown hero and influential Gonzaga alum, John Stockton, who was educated in Spokane Catholic schools by Holy Names sisters and Jesuits – faithful and devoted educators who encouraged the full development of the whole individual with unique God-given gifts – teachers who emphasized volunteer service to those in need, who modeled a reflection of the golden rule, who explained critical thinking and encouraged research skills based on factual verifiable information, and particularly who emphasized the importance of offering a helping hand and lessening the load of those in need when traveling along the same path, sharing your journey.

These essential lessons of youth seem to be lost now to a repudiation of scientific research and a disrespect of fellow fans in the crowded Kennel.

A simple act of caring is not too much to ask. Just wear a mask during a pandemic and try to follow the golden rule.

Jere Mansfield

Spokane

Fire chief on right track

This letter is to commend Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer and his comment that the lack of accountability leads to bad behavior that eventually becomes normalized and tolerated (“Many fire deaths are preventable, Spokane must take steps to improve safety,” Jan. 12).

Thank you for seeing and commenting on the reason that our country is headed in the wrong direction. There are right ways to change things and wrong ways. When people and property are hurt or damaged in the protest, it is the wrong way. I love this country, but it is not perfect. We still need to strive toward that goal. One way is to obey the laws of the land and common sense. A big part of our problems come from our officials thinking they should overrule the will of the people that elected them. Most people just want to live and get along with other people, however there are selfish people that think (or don’t think) the rules and laws do not apply to them because they are in a hurry, busy, or just don’t give a care about anyone else.

So please think about what Mr. Schaeffer has to say and extend it to how we live our lives. We might not need so many laws that should be just common sense.

John Henry

Spokane

Why ask the Facebook ‘experts’

Do social media tropes trump sound medical research?

If I fall and break my wrist I will seek medical help: I won’t be asking my Facebook friends how to fix it.

Michael Moore

Liberty Lake

Nursing crisis

While nurses are responsible for the quality and safety of your care, they have no say in how many nurses are needed to provide that care – even though they are the only ones who have the critical information needed to make that decision (the real-time condition of each patient and experience level of oncoming staff). Imagine working in an environment where every day you can’t have what you need to do your work properly and ethically.

Instead of being aligned with the same goal, the situation is Nurses vs. Hospitals. Doesn’t it seem odd to you that nurses would have to fight administrators for the staff they need to keep their patient’s safe (Safe Staffing Bill HB 1868, SB 5751)? Shouldn’t hospitals and nurses have the same goal?

This battle is occurring because the system is fundamentally built on conflicting values: profit vs. service. And nowhere do these opposing values reveal themselves more than right now when hospitals are paying travelers lucrative salaries because their own nurses left to became travelers. And why not? From 2005 to 2015 the average nonprofit CEO salary increased by 93% to 3.4 million; but only 3% for nurses in that same period. Just know that ultimately, you, the consumer, pay for all these exorbitant costs; and you are at risk when nurses can’t have the staff they need to keep you safe. We must create a new system where both nurses and administrators have the same primary goal.

Kathleen Bartholomew

Ellensburg

Positive hospital experience

For two years we have read and heard the crisis of health care reaching past the doctor’s office through the COVID-19 testing into the emergency room and overcrowding of hospitals.

Plus, the exodus of nurses, administrators, doctors and first responders. Having to call in National Guard for assistance, to aggressive, combative patients and family. Patients dying in hospitals while families are locked out and the unbelievable toll of emotions on frontline doctors and nurses.

My recent experience with a seven-hour surgery to being sent home four days later was the opposite of what you would think. Providence Medical Center was the site of one of my most positive experiences with the medical field, from the seamless check in for surgery to the timely release to my wife’s waiting car four days later was handled with professionalism, concern, care and extraordinary positive attitudes.

During the four days of nursing care, I saw no less than 12 different nurses, RNs, LPNs, and assistants. Most had a badge saying floater, i.e., not assigned to a specific floor or shift schedule, willing to be sent where needed.

The entire medical system has been eviscerated, pummeled, ridiculed, heavily criticized, and beat down mentally. My experience showed resilience, professionalism, pride, positive attitudes and a stubborn belief of continuing to do the right thing for the right reason. Thanks to the eighth-floor supervisors and managers for holding together a fractured system to provide a critical service for the entire Inland Empire.

Chuck Taes

Spokane Valley

No man is an island

Does it really matter to you if China invades and conquers Taiwan? It will, and it will make all the difference in the world. Literally. The 20th century’s catastrophic destruction of empires was a cataclysmic conflict in the “clash of civilizations.” But China’s capture of Taiwan will put us all in a world of hurt. The whole world.

There is literally one crucial component that holds the world economy together: semiconductors. They are the electronic “neurons” that allow our modern world to connect. They are in virtually all electronics. Control the manufacture of semiconductors, and you control the world. So there is literally one crucial “nation” that holds the fate of the world in its hands right now: Taiwan. It controls more than 60% of the global contract manufacturing of semiconductors. Read “2 charts show how much the world depends on Taiwan for semiconductors” (by Yen Nee Lee, CNBC, Mar 15, 2021).

If China attacks and captures Taiwan, they will have the world by the throat. China will decide who gets semiconductors, or not. That is, if those semiconductor foundries survive the war. If they are destroyed in the conflict, the whole world loses, including China, and the whole world will plunge into a literal “Dark Ages.”

So those foundries are Taiwan’s ultimate defense weapon: Mutually Assured Destruction. “Attack us, and we’ll destroy the foundries – and you.” It worked for nuclear deterrence between the Soviet Union and the USA. And we know how that conflict finally ended.

Bob Strong

Spokane