A Grinch is at work in Corvallis, ruining a woman’s Christmas

It is the season of giving, and many of our neighbors are setting up beautiful displays for our enjoyment. Unfortunately some people have no problem stealing from or damaging the private property of those who have worked hard or gone to great expense to provide this entertainment for us.

An older friend of mine set up a nice display in front of her small apartment. The next evening, half of the lighted candy canes were gone.

This lovely lady, who moved here as a Katrina survivor, lives on a small fixed income with limited funds for extras. She came here with nothing, but is now a happy and productive member of our community. She loves this place she calls home. It is too bad that some low-life had to show her the darker side of Corvallis. If you are the perpetrator of this crime (yes, stealing is a crime), please have a heart and return the decorations to her. It will make her day!

Sharron de Montigny, Corvallis

For Christmas, give the gift of understanding faiths of others

Wendy Haber has had two anti-Mormon letters printed less than a month apart. It looks like she’s got issues with the LDS church.

Ms. Haber says Latter-day Saints teach that anyone who does good works in this life can become a god.

Actually, Latter-day Saints believe just what the Holy Bible teaches on this in Psalm 82:6. Despite the fact that our bodies someday die, because we are children of God, we are gods already!

The Bible also teaches not only that Jesus Christ became the “heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2), but that anyone who “overcometh shall inherit all things” like He did (Revelation 21:7). That is what we mean when we talk about becoming like God. This doesn’t mean we replace God or that He stops being our God. Even Christ called His Father “my God” (John 20:17).

As far as good works go, we believe that “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24). These works are works of faith.

We believe Jesus calls us to do all this. We believe He wants to make us like God. Even C.S. Lewis wrote in “God in the Dock” that Christ “calls us to be gods,” and that any man who follows Jesus will become “an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful and drenched in joy.” And Catholic priest Jordan Vajda showed that the earliest Christians also taught this in his master’s thesis, “Partakers of the Divine Nature.”

Jill Taylor, Corvallis

Cut wages, holidays, not jobs at Oregon State, City of Corvallis

One very simple economic theory (popular during the last Depression) was that employers should make every possible effort to keep all of their people on the payroll. Business is down 50 percent? Keep everyone on. Simply

reduce everyone’s hours to 20 instead of 40. Continue to pay for health insurance, but with larger deductibles. End paid holidays.

In Corvallis, we have a perfect opportunity to test this theory. Oregon State University soon will be complaining that reduced funding will force management to cut the payroll. Not so!

Two simple steps are necessary: First, make the highest salary at the university $100,000. That would include coaches, tenured professors, managers — everyone, including OSU President Ed Ray.

Second, make the budget work by reducing work loads for everyone. If the normal week is now 28 hours, reduce it to 20, or 16.

There is no reason to lay off people at OSU. Many employees now are overpaid. By redistributing those overpayments and judiciously cutting everyone’s work load, OSU can survive any depression with no staff reductions.

Dr. Ray is an economist. Surely he understands the wisdom of this approach to the coming crisis. Laying off people by cutting staff is hugely negative and absolutely unnecessary.

Just as obviously, there is no reason for the City of Corvallis to lay off employees. Cut the workload, reduce salaries of overpaid personnel and get on with the business of running our city.

This economy can be viewed as a catastrophe or as an opportunity to think and act creatively.

Kirk S. Nevin, Corvallis

Why the use of electric cars is not such a good, green idea

Recently several writers have expressed support for changing our postal carriers’ gas vehicles over to electric. I do not think electric cars are a good idea, and here is why: Electric cars have large batteries with a five-to- ten-year life expectancy and will cost each owner $1,000-plus to replace.

Electric car batteries contain either lithium or lead, both of which are toxic and capable of being absorbed into ground water and human skin. I have not heard anyone address the disposal issues.

I am greatly alarmed at the mercury contamination of our disposal sites because of the disposal of all the compact fluorescent light bulbs, and now I have the same questions and concerns about the electric car batteries.

Mercury and lead were the main cause of our native bird population’s demise many years ago. We should be smart enough not to trade one issue for a worse alternative and check out the facts before we buy into paying more for a commodity simply because we are told that it is a better alternative for the environment or will save us from oil dependency.

Another issue that should raise eyebrows concerning electric cars is the issue of electric batteries needing recharging.

Coal plants generate 49 percent of the U.S.’s electricity. A significant increase in electricity demands means burning more coal. That in turn increases greenhouse emissions at a time when we are supposed to be decreasing emissions. There are many better alternatives to electric powered cars, for example, hydrogen and propane.

Robin Stepanek, Corvallis