Letters To The Editor

HIGHER EDUCATION

Bad decisions hurting EWU

As an alumni of Eastern Washington University, it’s obvious to me that the school is headed for economic trouble. When a home town school tries to become something it isn’t, both its programs and students suffer.

Eastern is approximately a 75 percent commuter-based university. One that can’t continue to fund every politically correct culture class. They can’t continue to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into athletic programs that are going nowhere to produce not one cent of profit.

Athletics do have a place in our educational way of life, but these programs must be contained inside a realistic spectrum. This spectrum has become much too broad. Small universities nationwide have realized this and trimmed these budgets, not expanded them as Eastern has done.

I have two daughters who have graduated from Eastern, both with bachelor of science degrees - one in nursing and one in dietetics. My daughter who graduated in dietetics has watched her program be discontinued. Yet the same year, the athletic budget was increased. Is this the direction Eastern should be going?

A race to keep up with larger universities’ concrete skyline is another area that should be scrutinized before staff and programs are trimmed. Eastern’s student base is the surrounding area. Recruitment outside this area is a waste of time and money. James A. Nelson Spokane

Do what’s necessary to fix EWU

As an alumnus of Eastern Washington University and a Washington state taxpayer, I cannot believe the Legislature would leave the university floundering for funds to keep its educational disciplines afloat.

Yes, the number of EWU students has gone down, but not for want of excellent programs. Something is wrong with our recruitment program. Perhaps it is not energetic enough.

There may be many underlying reasons - the economy that keeps students closer to home, the high cost of out-of-state tuition, lack of students of different ethnic groups, etc. But how are we to entice new students and keep the present ones if good teachers are lost and programs are cut back? It is enough to discourage most students from choosing EWU as their alma mater.

Decreasing funds for EWU will simply escalate the situation. There must be stopgap funds for such needs. We certainly nave no shortage of funds in our lottery program, which was sold to us on the basis that it was for higher education.

We should remedy this possible catastrophe. A bad situation promises to get worse without corrective action. Dorothy M. Butler 1975 EWU graduate, Cheney

Let me explain professors’ help

In the June 9 article about Dr. Valerie Jenness of Washington State University, I was reported to have stated, “professors often go so far as helping students write whole chapters of their theses and dissertations.” I did not make this statement.

In a telephone interview, the reporter asked if I agreed with a statement similar to this. I hesitatingly agreed although, had I been making the statement directly, I would not have phrased the issue in those words nor would I have put the issue in the negative context as in the article.

WSU faculty take seriously their responsibility to educate students to write in ways appropriate to their fields. Many graduate students, especially in the sciences, are encouraged to follow a thesis or dissertation format in which each chapter is a manuscript that will be submitted to a journal for publication. Advisers are normally co-authors of the publications. Students and advisers actively debate the best way to structure the manuscript, present data and interpret results, and to describe how the work relates to the work of others and advances knowledge in that discipline.

Together, adviser and student rewrite the manuscript until each is satisfied. Thus, advisers do help students write entire chapters of their dissertations but this help is part of the educational process. As a result, students learn writing skills they will use for the rest of their professional careers.

I should have explained my response to the reporter. I am concerned that my failure to do so has unnecessarily tarnished the reputation of WSU. Dr. Peggy Chevalier Washington State University, Pullman

Date rape: Let’s hear from the men

Your recent article, “Breaking new ground,” on the University of Oregon date-rape policy, leads to some interesting conclusions.

Unless a sober person actively participates or indicates explicitly the desire to participate in a sexual act, rape has occurred.

Accordingly, if either party is passive or intoxicated, the other is guilty of rape, regardless of gender. If both have been drinking or taking drugs, both are so guilty.

Naturally, I expect the university to encourage complaints from men as well as women in order to avoid the appearance of a feminist and androgynistic attempt to castigate and demonize men for traditionally accepted dating and mating behavior. If such behavior is now deemed unacceptable, then it is also unacceptable for women. Robert D. Michik Othello, Wash.

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Education up to parents, too

The June 8 article, “Held back,” didn’t mention one very important aspect of a child’s education: parental involvement.

It’s time parents quit expecting schools to take full responsibility for educating their children. In classrooms with upward of 30 students, it is impossible for curriculums to be tailored to the needs and abilities of each child. Parents must supplement what the schools offer.

Turn off the television and help your child with his homework. Read to your child and with your child, no matter how old he or she is. Play board games that involve math, reading or problem solving. Visit the library and the museum.

By enriching a child’s learning outside the school experience, you guarantee a better performance in it.

It is the simplest, most cost-effective solution, the right thing to do, and yet parents will complain about lack of time. There is no such thing as not having time for something important. There is only choosing not to make the time.

Retention could be eliminated for the right reasons - competent learners - if parents would accept their role as supplemental educator. Chris M. Fischer Spokane

Heed kindergarten teacher

Children are evaluated in kindergarten to determine if they’re mature enough to be in school at that age. Kindergarten is the time to address the question of retention, not in fourth grade when their self-esteem is low due to being unable to keep up with their classmates.

When a kindergarten teacher recommends retention, it should be given serious consideration and not be arbitrarily dismissed due to the misguided notion that such retention constitutes traditional flunking. Sharon K. Leon Spokane

U.S. AND THE WORLD

State department bilks foreigners

It’s interesting what does and doesn’t warrant an investigation (“Judge orders investigation of visa system,” June 5). For years, some State Department posts have been encouraging people to apply for a visitor’s visa while having no intention of issuing the visa.

In Kiev, hundreds of people a day file for a temporary visa, each paying a $20 filing fee. Often, only those few applying for a business visa are granted a visa. The rest were rejected as “high risk” according to an early 1950s law and then told to apply (and pay) again next year.

People who have been rejected include those who have visited the United States before and freely returned to the Ukraine. People who had a spouse, children and good job were rejected, even when the rest of their family would stay in Ukraine.

Many of those rejected had been led to believe they could get a visa by just following the guidelines. Only after they traveled to the post and paid were all their reasons for visiting the United States rejected. Some people finally received their visa after having applied several times, even though nothing about them had changed.

Getting a visa in Kiev is often more of a gamble than a fair evaluation. By their present system, the Kiev post almost guarantees itself an extra revenue of thousands of dollars a day while providing few visas. What would happen if a government agency tried to pull that type of stunt in this country? Jay W. Logan Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Justice, yes, but merciful justice

Amidst the clamor for Timothy McVeigh’s death, consider how God dealt with the first murderer, Cain. He didn’t execute Cain in retaliation for Abel’s murder. Instead, He sought Cain’s correction. He even gave Cain a mark of protection so that no one else would kill him. (Gen. 4:15)

Cain’s punishment was lifelong banishment from tilling the soil (the loss of his freedom to be a productive member of society).

From the beginning (Genesis) God never intended that man should take another man’s life. Later, some Old Testament law allowed inadequate solutions to human problems. But Christ explained that that was because men’s hearts had become hardened - not because it was God’s original intent. (Mt. 19: 8-9)

If Christians want to uphold the sanctity of all human life, our life ethic must be consistent. We must protect society by imposing just sentences without shedding blood ourselves.

We must punish criminals severely yet give them the opportunity for repentance and redemption. As the Body of Christ on Earth, we must “not break the bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick,” no matter how despicable the person is.

Christians must reject McVeigh’s execution in favor of life imprisonment. Executing him will only promote the culture of death that provoked his heinous crime against life in the first place.

We must choose life (Dt. 30:19) to participate in what Bishop Skylstad calls “a tremendously creative act,” namely, the merciful justice of a loving God. Cindy J. Omlin Mead

Public lust for revenge will be fed

The roaring crowd has given the thumbs-down for Timothy McVeigh. Now we have to pick another human to kill another human.

It will be the withering against restraints on the lethal-injection table. Our emotions will be soothed for the time being. We will bury McVeigh in an unmarked grave.

Until the next time, when the roaring crowd will speak again. Bud Hammer Spokane

Offenders could learn from potholes

Aside from the O.J. Simpson case, two of the most frequently published subjects over the past year were:

Juvenile officers are overwhelming the system. There are not enough facilities to handle the offenders and the repeat offenders who plug up the system to the point where letting them go is too often the only way out. (I realize I’m generalizing, maybe even sensationalizing, but this is a newspaper, isn’t it?)

Potholes and street repair also are repeat offenders. They keep coming back and they overwhelm the system financially.

Sadly , the system asks the law-abiding, taxpaying citizens to pay for both 1 and 2, which is not a great reward for keeping your nose clean.

I don’t think you need to go to college to figure this one out. Just have the juvenile offenders fix the streets. We will get the streets repaired, the kids will learn skills and they will think twice about being repeat customers.

I know there are those who will say that this type of punishment does not work.

I say, if you make me patch the streets for 40 or 80 hours, without pay, every time I do a certain thing, I just might do that thing less in the future.

But then I am just another dummy who abides by the law and bends my rims on potholes. What do I know? Charlie L. Schmidt Spokane

Bishops spoke only for themselves

Regarding your prominent coverage of June 9 concerning capital punishment and the opinions of various Catholic Bishops of this country:

You will find the Roman Catholic Catechism of classical historical significance, and the formal status of capital punishment as taught by the church for many centuries. Instruction concerning the Fifth Commandment plainly explains the right of the state to inflict this just punishment, if and when necessary, to safeguard the general public.

Those bishops’ opinions are nothing more than personal opinions, not the formal teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Joe P. Bell Spokane

Do-gooders will likely get their way

Catholic bishops ought to spend a lot more time concerning themselves with obvious problems in their own ranks and stay out of the Timothy McVeigh issue.

McVeigh has been found guilty of killing 168 innocent people, including many totally innocent children. His fate must be a very deep hole in this Earth to receive his miserable body, never to be seen again.

Unfortunately, as in many other such cases of cold-blooded killers found guilty, the citizens will probably pay for his keep for many years to come. That will please the bishops, the American Civil Liberties Unions and other do-gooders who insist on coddling the criminal. George Britton Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Rockwell commentary worth reading

Llewellyn Rockwell Jr.’s commentary in the June 4 Spokesman-Review, “Government should’ve been on trial, too,” was an excellent piece of writing. I hope most of your readers read this.

About the McVeigh trial, he said the judge forbade an Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms informant’s testimony. The person wanted to implicate the federal government at some level. What does she know? Could it be the FBI knew something was going to happen that day and did nothing? Could it be that there were two explosions; the other caused by explosives illegally stored in the Murrah Building by the FBI and ATF? Could it be that the second explosion may have caused more deaths than the truck bomb? Glenn A. Herman Moses Lake

Davis, stand back and let them compete

I fail to understand the monopoly preoccupation that guest columnist Fred Davis (June 9) has with the proposed Southwestern Bell-AT&T merger.

There are a couple hundred long-distance providers (facility based and resellers) out there today ferociously competing for my business. Remember, it’s the consumer who chooses the carrier and the consumer is interested only in rates and quality of service - not who owns the underlying facilities.

Or does Davis fear that SBC-AT&T ownership of facilities combination would conspire to eliminate today’s vigorous long-distance competition? This would presume:

1, the FCC is dead.

2, SBC-AT&T would want to take the economic bath involved in underpricing the hundreds of today’s smaller carriers that are able to exist on the thinnest of arbitrage.

As a retired consumer, I would like to see direct, frontal, vicious competition governed solely by the marketplace, without reference to size. This ultimately leads to monopoly or oligopoly as only the best (in rates and services) survive. The rest can’t compete and eventually go the great American way: bankruptcy.

Davis ought to promote competition in local telephone service. Who wants to compete with the baby Bells in their areas? I certainly wouldn’t, because they are good! Robert J. Leigh Hope, Idaho

Correction:

Steve P. Downey’s letter of June 12 contained a typographical error. The price per gallon of gasoline in Airway Heights, as cited by Downey, is $1.139.