Sports programs pay coaches' salaries

Gabrielle Snider juxtaposes two unrelated programs at OSU in a funding argument ("Is that why OSU can't afford art classes," Letters, Feb. 7) by asking why it is that the basketball coach's contract is far greater than the money it takes to support an arts program.

Once again, the record must be set straight for those who may not have heard it the first time, or hundredth, for that matter.

Athletics coaches' compensations are supported wholly by dollars raised from tickets, donors, TV/Radio proceeds, Pac-10 revenue sharing and so on.

They are not supported at all from state of Oregon funds.

The increase or decrease of one has nothing to do with the other.

While there are some OSU funds used to support programs in athletics, they are restricted to such items as buildings, grounds-keeping, and other assets in which the university has direct claim.

This fact has been reported often and clearly for many years.

The real issue, however, is the extent to which the state fails to recognize the distinct value and necessity of supporting higher education.

This myopia damages all of us in ways that keep us from growing in a world that is passing up the United States on nearly every conceivable front, and sets us back for generations.

It simply exacerbates the problem when we reduce it to such simplistic and faulty arguments as "coach vs. art."

If you truly believe in the arts, then place the blame squarely where it belongs n on the Legislature and the people who elect them.

Michael Beachley, Corvallis

Schools should serve vegetarian meals

"Corvallis schools contract new beef supplier" (Feb. 5) was inadequate.

Corvallis School District has switched to a beef supplier that has not yet been caught torturing animals in several of the ways that are not currently legal, but given that we are relying on the Humane Society to do the job of the USDA, I am not satisfied.

Vegetarian meals are healthier and more environmentally responsible. All state agencies should go vegetarian.

The nutrition services director says the new beef is safe to eat. Based on what? Has she checked?

The slaughterhouse that was caught was deliberately working around the USDA inspector, knowing they could easily avoid oversight by committing crimes when no one was looking.

The article stated that no instances of school children sickened by beef have been reported in Oregon, without specifying from this incident only.

This rosy spin neglects the fact that if anyone was exposed to mad cow disease, it would take years for symptoms to appear.

Maybe the Gazette-Times hopes to shelter readers from icky things, but a newspaper has a responsibility to inform people honestly, and I think mistreatment by forklift fails to capture the situation, which included animals too weak to stand squealing in pain from being dragged by chains, shocked with electric prods, and having water forced into their noses.

If you still feel comfortable eating beef, ask yourself if you have a responsibility to at least bear witness to the horror that results. Video at http://www.hsus.org/.

Kari Olsen, Philomath

Underage soldiers shouldn't be drinking

The South Carolina and Wisconsin legislators who want to lower the drinking age for underage soldiers have it perfectly backwards.

It's well known that folks under age 21 still have underdeveloped prefrontal cortexes, underdeveloped brains. Not capable of advanced reasoning, of seeing the consequences of their actions.

These well-meaning patriots want these underage soldiers to be able to drink. Their reasoning: If you can fight you should be able to drink.

No, the right way to go here is to increase the threshold age of these young people entering the military. I don't know if there's a correlation between their young ages and the extremely high suicide rate of soldiers in Iraq or the one-in-four returning with post traumatic stress disorder. But it doesn't seem like a stretch.

Does responding to the high pressure tactics used by recruiters make these young people mature or more responsible?

Those who don't return in a body bag or horribly maimed or psychologically crippled, yeah, maybe they're more mature. Or not mature enough to have known better?

JC and Rita Whitted, Corvallis

Our children will pay for 'feel good' rebate

Our legislators and president have agreed to give us all a chunk of money to kick up spending for nothing we have provided, neither goods nor services, just to make it look like they care about the economy.

What they don't mention is that this "feel good" comes before a major election and that our children will pay off these monies (plus interest) to rich folk and Chinese.

Would it not be better to have government spend our monies for goods and services that government rightly provides?

I'll make one suggestion here with more to come in future letters.

Government would announce that in two years they will buy X thousand replacement postal delivery vehicles three models, electrical plug-ins, made in the U.S., etc., judged and selected on certain testable criteria.

This would fulfill a "green" need and set in motion a financed basis for development of tested vehicles that could have appeal, perhaps with some modification, to a large market in the general public.

Spending our money providing jobs for Americans to produce useful goods and services.

The electrified Postal Service was first suggested on these pages on Sept. 5, 1997, by me ("Post Office would be perfect for electric-poser vehicles").

And in BBC News, 17 April 2007: The French postal service plans to order 10,000 electrical delivery vehicles, which it says are far more economical than normal cars or vans.

Arne Landsberg, Corvallis

Whiteside could be home for museum

Regarding the future of the Whiteside Theatre: Has anyone thought of turning it into the Horner museum?

The museum board has been trying to raise money to build a building on the old Copland Lumber site.

How about selling that valuable property and moving the museum to the Whiteside?

It seems a perfect match to me.

Carole Richardson

Philomath