Letters To The Editor

WASHINGTON STATE

Draconian measure unnecessary

Washington Citizens Against Regulatory Excess has found that Initiative 676 will require handgun buyers to take a training course, the availability of which is not specified, and that it will:

Register every handgun owner in Washington.

Report private handgun sales.

Impose a test and a tax ($25 “fee”) to exercise a constitutional right.

Confiscate handguns possessed without a license.

Make the Department of Licensing the state’s handgun czar.

Possibly be used as a de facto handgun ownership ban.

Wow, it sounds like Initiative 676 is just another “reasonable” gun bill, right?

Pushing emotional buttons, I-676 backers tell us that 676 is necessary to save children’s lives. Yet, statistically, children are much more likely to die from choking or drowning than from gun accidents. No, I-676, like most gun control measures, is unnecessary legislation aimed at a nonexistent problem.

It’s too bad that Washington state voters, duped by the anti-gun lobby and the media, will dutifully march to the polls this November thinking that Initiative 676 is some sort of safety measure, and vote away still more of our freedom. Curtis E. Stone Colville, Wash.

How about private gun sale ban?

Initiative 676 is an attempt to reduce the carnage caused by guns to citizens, especially children.

James E. Teague and Bruce D. Landahl (Letters, Aug. 7) oppose I-676. Fine, that’s their opinion and they’re entitled to it.

Criminals now can go to a gun show or flea market and buy guns from unlicensed dealers who do no background check. Would Teague and Landahl support a law making such private sales illegal?

If you sell a gun in a private sale and that gun is used to kill or wound someone, are you liable to a $1 million liable suit? Walter A. Becker Pullman

SPOKANE MATTERS

View scoffer knows only price

While castigating all those who love the library, the books and the view, Jeffery L. Johnson (Letters, Aug. 5) exhibits an unhealthy disdain for that which is not quantifiable. He has a talent for sarcasm and pretends to care why others treasure the gorgeous, ever-changing landscape framed in those lengths of glass.

Johnson submits a series of loaded questions intended to highlight what he fervently believes is aesthetic waste. Why, he asks, do library patrons need beauty transmitted inside?

Absent the soul-warming view, no, the library would not “become a lesser place.” That’s Johnson’s mind at work, counting coins.

If the windows were bricked over, the books inside would not “become less,” either. I love the feel of books, the scent of new paper, the sight of the stacks, waiting. I regularly visited the old library, then the interim library in the Burlington Coat Factory building. Now, I read, write and watch the sky change colors from a fantastic vantage point. I am surrounded by books and nature, happily paired, in the city’s heart.

Johnson wants to know what the view is worth. Is the answer not clear? The view, the land, the landscape are quite simply priceless.

Sometimes, I look up from my book or writing and watch the river churn, in failing amber light. I am not alone; the person seated across from me might be a CEO, a harried student or a homeless man. They all read, watch the panes of glass, then savor the pages and the sights. Barbara E. Baldwin Spokane

A little publicizing is in order

I just returned from a cruise and have been catching up on the news. The East vs. West articles were interesting.

On the cruise, my friend and I visited with people from 22 states, and what a surprise to those people when they would ask us where we were from and we would reply, “Washington.” Immediately they would say, “Oh, from Washington, D.C.?” If we said “Spokane” most had no idea of the location, but of course, most knew the location of Seattle.

Perhaps we should try to sell Spokane a bit better. We let all of the people we met know what a great place Spokane is and invited several to visit. Marie Yates Spokane

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Say goodbye to male domination

When David Hoake of Senor Froggy’s said there was going to have to be “some change in mentality” for welfare women to be able to work, he was absolutely right. However, the change is going to come from employers.

Gone are the days when employers could pay women less than men for the same job, bar them from promotions and expect them to work overtime for free because their religious views didn’t allow equal treatment. Welfare will no longer be there to make up the lost wages or cover the overtime day care fees.

Gone, too, are the good old days when managers and supervisors could get away with sexual harassment because the women could always go on welfare until they could find a safer place to work. Now, the women will have to file complaints.

Gone, too, is the idea that welfare mothers don’t need to bother to vote. I know of some who recently registered, and they don’t plan to vote Republican.

As for Hoake’s sexist and economically prejudiced comments, he had better keep them to himself. It’s against the law to discriminate against women, and as there are men on welfare, his targeting women is sexist.

Of course, I have no idea who will be watching the kids. Day care is out of the price range of minimum wagers, baby sitters are too undependable and family members are too busy. I also wonder who will cover their medical care.

Yes, things are going to change. The male establishment is going to get a rude awakening. Judith M. Jones Spokane

Teamster demands selfish, childish

Re: The people who keep complaining that United Parcel Service is ruining the lives of its part-tine workers by not handing them full-tine jobs on a silver platter.

How about this: Instead of bringing a nation’s business deliveries to its knees, why don’t you go out and find a full-time job somewhere else? It is the heighth of lazy arrogance to expect an entire nation to suffer, and an entire company to lose profits, so that you don’t have to get off your butt and look for another job.

You people remind me of the child who can walk perfectly well, but who is constantly crying out, “Carry me, Daddy, carry me!”

Grow up. Teresa T. Keene Spokane

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Team effort highlights schools’ failure

Interactive editor Doug Floyd’s editorial, “Team mobilizing to unlock futures” (Aug. 9) is vivid testimony to the dismal failure of modern public education and government control of same.

The fact that literacy is a concern to Fortune 1000 companies and that there’s a the need for a ridiculously named Literacy Advocacy Team stamp modern public education with a great big “F” for failure.

When I was a child in grade school many years ago, Fortune 1000 companies were not deploring illiteracy as a workplace problem and communities were not forming literacy advocacy teams because the schools, unencumbered by federal and state policies and regulations, taught almost all children to read. Those who had difficulty doing so were kept back until they were capable of reading.

The thought that most people now see nothing wrong with a futile attempt by well-meaning but misguided people to form a Literacy Advocacy Team is deplorable. Why shouldn’t we expect there to be no need for such measures if only our schools were doing the job that used to be commonplace?

Floyd is correct when he states that breaking the cycle is not only the right social policy but an economic imperative. However, the way to break that cycle is through a thorough overhaul of our public education system, getting federal and state governments out of same, and leaving the requirements for a proper education to be decided and regulated by the communities that will utilize and be rewarded by the education they are providing for their future citizens. Gene K. Ealy Coeur d’ Alene

Complaints lack merit, good sense

While encouraging citizens to attend school board meetings is a worthwhile goal (“School board makes lonely decisions,” Aug. 1), a couple of statements in the article are troubling.

If Jeanette Faulkner has a problem with the Spokane School Board handling a complaint against a principal behind closed doors in executive session, her anger is unreasonable. The board acted properly.

Its duty isn’t only to consider citizens’ complaints but also to protect the professional reputation of staff members from unsubstantiated allegations. If that causes Faulkner to avoid board meetings, that’s her choice. A school board cannot disregard the rights of one group just to mollify another.

Faulkner’s statement, “Unless you want to do happy talk with the school board, they’re not interested,” is inappropriate and disrespectful; more the words of a sulky adolescent who hasn’t gotten her way than of a responsible adult seeking a real solution.

Also of concern is Pam Shaw’s statement that the board should “just invite us” to the meetings. Every citizen’s ironclad invitation has been guaranteed by law for a good long time. It’s up to them to attend meetings as they choose.

I applaud the Spokane School District Board for trying to make its meetings more user-friendly, as board President Nancy Fike states. That’s appropriate. Nonetheless, the board is charged with handing the district’s voluminous and oftentimes complex business according to policy and the law. That process is rarely entertaining. Attending the meetings requires discipline, patience and respect from both the board and attendees. J. Andy James Colville, Wash.

Desire for input just window dressing

Staff writer Jeanette White’s excellent article on Spokane School District 81’s seeking ways to attract busy parents to school board struck a humorous note.

Last year, I dragged my husband to a board meeting that one mother described as “puppets who only want to hear happy talk.” As we left the three-hour evening meeting, my husband commented, “That was just a ‘love in’.” The public received the last few minutes to ask questions or give testimony.

If the board is capable of deciding how to spend $200 million, surely the members can discover a way to communicate with the taxpayers who fund their expenditures. Is this what is defined as a bureaucratic monopoly?

School board candidate Joanne McCann could enlighten the rest of the board on the issues they are voting on. She certainly has the qualifications, having served as teacher, principal, student teacher supervisor, and most importantly, homeschooling her grandchild. In addition to her common sense, she is listed in the “Who’s Who” of American educators.

Sunday’s guest column by Jeanette Faulkner is a masterpiece. No wonder many educrats are threatened by informed, articulate parents who are labeled mean-spirited or “critics of change.” While clamoring for citizen input, those in authority avoid or ignore challenging questions to their politically correct agenda.

Are we getting our money’s worth, or is this another example of taxation without representation?

Quality, professional educators and administrators are caught in the struggle, and the students pay the price. It’s time for a true reformation in education, not just paying for indulgences. Donna R. Kuhn Spokane

PRIGGEE

Better take Wells Fargo to work

As soon as I saw the fireman-baby caricature and “dialogue,” I knew staff cartoonist Milt Priggee was due to get skewered.

His politics are obviously a good 180 out from mine. I cringed at the Ellen Craswell-as-wicked-witch-with-the-apple entry last fall, as well.

In Priggee’s defense, and in defense of the First Amendment, it’s not a journalist’s job to be politically sensitive or correct. The visual journalist has two means of making a statement: the cartoon and the caption. Consider the pre-boomer political cartoons of “Pogo” and “L’il Abner.”

Priggee is one of the most talented political cartoonists I have seen in my roughly 50 years of literacy. What a crack-up! On occasion, my reaction is, “Owww! Ohhh! He’s gonna get it on that one.” He may not be subtle (always), but he makes his point with a delightful economy of words and image, and most of it is hilarious - if you don’t take your politics or religion too seriously. I see a lot of MAD magazine in Priggee’s humor, but without the grossness.

But hey! Lighten up, people. Sanctity of a topic is in the mind of the sanctimonious, and we aren’t all sanctimonious about the same things - perish the thought. Besides, have a little compassion for Priggee. With a last name like his, school must have been pretty cruel during his formative years.

Keep it up, Priggee, even if you have to commute in an armored car. Brehon McFarland Colville, Wash.

Let image serve as a memorial

I was very disturbed by staff cartoonist Milt Priggee’s Aug. 6 cartoon.

Firefighters who responded and the families who lost loved ones in the Oklahoma City bombing tragedy do not need to be reminded of the pain they’ve suffered. Using a picture that to many represents a very sad and sensitive time in our nation’s history, and using it to poke fun, is degrading at best. Firefighters are there to help in emergencies. They take their responsibilities very seriously. I wish I could say the same about The Spokesman-Review and Priggee.

When this picture was used in an Arizona paper under the disguise of a cartoon, many people from all over the country wrote and said they were offended. Letters to the editor of The Spokesman-Review expressed displeasure with the use of the picture in Arizona. Why did we not learn from their mistakes?

Let’s stop using this picture to poke fun and keep it as it should be: a memorial to those who lost their lives in a tragic circumstance and to honor those who responded and did their best to save lives. Bruce Holloway, president Washington State Association of Fire Chiefs, Cheney

Quit ‘plagiarizing’ Benson’s stuff

I was chagrined to see staff cartoonist Milt Priggee’s cartoon depicting Oklahoma City Firefighter Chris Fields representing the Atomic Energy Commission. A cartoon - correct me if I’m wrong - plagiarized from Steve Benson of the Arizona Republic.

In the previous incident, the firefighter was used to depict death penalty fanatics. I’m college educated and consider myself literate. However, I fail to see the relationship or the humor in either case. Perhaps you could enlighten me as to the honor in plagiarism and the humor in these two cartoons.

Two days later, you used another cartoon from Benson. This one depicted striking United Parcel Service workers in a “union power squeeze” on consumers. From what I’ve read, UPS workers are striking to retain control of their pension plan and not turn the reins over to UPS and to gain full-time employment status for employees being denied benefits under the part-time employee scam. Perhaps a better depiction would have been big business, in this case UPS, putting the squeeze on their employees in the interest of the bottom line. I would be willing to give up my biscotti (delivered for Starbucks by UPS) and latte in the interest of seeing UPS workers getting a fair shake.

I suggest Spokesman-Review editors reconsider the use of any more of Benson’s cartoons, original or plagiarized. James J. Schifferns, firefighter-paramedic Spokane