As someone who attended Josh Grimes' sentencing hearing for shooting Dennis Sanderson in the leg last October, I want to explain something that may not be fully understood by some members of the public:

Every low-income person in that courtroom understood that if any one of us were ever to shoot someone in the leg from out of a window, we would do serious prison time.

It is, perhaps, understandable that the judge did not want to sentence a 20-year-old, first-time offender to five years in prison. There is, however, quite a large difference between five years and five months, even with the added three years' probation.

I would be happy to know that judges in Benton County were willing to give lighter sentences to young first-time offenders if I could believe that the same standard applied to all such persons.

Does Monday's decision set a precedent? I sincerely hope so, but I doubt it. That certainly has not been the practice in the past. Young, first-time offenders have been given far more stringent sentences by the Benton County court system (and by other courts) for crimes that involved no bodily injury to anyone.

So what, exactly, makes the difference in how a sentence is set? Whom - to paraphrase the judge - are "our jails made for"?

Marie Parcell

Corvallis

We're not safe from madness anywhere

The big headline across the top of Tuesday's Gazette-Times read "33 die in Virginia shooting." But then there was a smaller article across the bottom that told us that a former Oregon State University student was sentenced to 150 days in jail for shooting a homeless man. Josh Grimes said he didn't intend on hurting the homeless man. (Pointing a gun at him and pulling the trigger was supposed to make him laugh?) These two articles belong together because - believe it or not - one leads to another.

Am I the only person who sees something wrong with this picture? What is causing the dumbing down of America?

Josh Grimes should go to prison for the five years the crime calls for. Stop. Period. The end. No excuses. Why do we have laws? Nobody sticks to them and nobody upholds them.

I thought I'd be safer here in small-town America, but no. We've got more crime and fewer police.

Margaret Cummings

Corvallis

Light sentence for shooting a shocker

I am dismayed at the light sentence handed down to to Josh Grimes for shooting a homeless man outside his fraternity house. On a day that was headlined by the mass murder of innocent students and faculty at Virginia Tech, it seems incongruous that such a light sentence would be the reality.

The wanton disregard for the value of human life was only offset by a "lucky shot" that caused less injury than was typical from a firearm. I believe that we are - or should be - held accountable for our actions or inactions. In this case, Mr. Grimes lied, told half truths and otherwise obstructed the search for justice, only to admit his involvement when faced with incontroverable evidence of his guilt.

I respect Judge David Connell very much, and I know that this had to be a tough decision to make. However, the appearances are that the injuries to a homeless man have less weight than the pleadings of a young college student. I believe that (District Attorney) John Haroldson was correct in his assertions that Mr. Grimes had little remorse, and shot the victim for sport.

John Adamski

Corvallis

Judge made right call on a tough case

Please know that Judge David Connell's decision was absolutely the proper sentencing. Anything more would have destroyed the life of a young man who contributes to his family and his country.

I can only assume that District Attorney Haroldson prefers power and pain to justice.

Marian VanNice

Corvallis

Grieve for innocent, here and in Iraq

Hearing President Bush speak at Virginia Tech, I couldn't help thinking about another part of the world - a place where grief and fear hang in the smoky sky … the way they now hang over Blacksburg, Va., and this nation.

Yes, I felt guilty doing so while people here grieved for loved ones lost to senseless violence. But I couldn't help myself, so struck was I by how well the president's words would fit at any funeral procession winding through Baghdad:

"Those whose lives were taken did nothing to deserve their fate. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they're gone, and they leave behind grieving families and … a grieving nation."

Struck by how his words would have consoled any father or mother who has lost a child in a car bombing or mortar attack: " … as a dad, I can assure you, a parent's love is never far from their child's heart … in the coming days, I ask you to reach out to those who ache for sons and daughters who will never come home."

Struck hardest by the words toward the end of his short speech: "As the Scriptures tell us, don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

I grieve deeply for the people who lost loved ones in Blacksburg. But I also grieve for the people in Iraq who lose them daily, thanks to our president's sense of "good."

Gregg Kleiner

Corvallis

Cook your food with power of the sun

Jan Roberts-Dominguez's great article about green kitchens alluded to using the power of the sun to heat edibles but stopped short of the whole enchilada. Did you know that on sunny days between about March 15 and Oct. 15 in Corvallis, we can cook food using nothing but the sun's rays?

Two weeks ago, I cooked chicken breasts to tender perfection in a panel solar cooker set up in my sunny driveway and later shredded them to use in tortilla soup.

Cooking with the sun is simple; anyone can do it to take one small step toward reducing our carbon footprint. Several good books on the topic are available on www.solarcooking.org.

Lorraine Anderson

Corvallis

(Editor's note: Anderson is

co-authored of the 2006 book, Cooking with Sunshine: The Complete Guide to Solar Cuisine.)

Dollar's earning power weakened

In my family, there is a broad range of employment. I have brothers who are doctors, framers and engineers. All of my siblings work hard, yet the actual hourly wage rates they receive range from $15 an hour to more than $125 an hour.

This range in wage rates is increasingly difficult for me to explain as "fair," based on what I know of the investments each family member has made in training, and the capability and contribution each brings.

Including a few corporate executives makes it even more bizarre. Executive cash compensation rates (assuming the rumored 125 hours a week) ranged from $250 to $2,500 an hour in one annual report I checked.

It is within this context that I look at the newly passed minimum wage law.

I am delighted that the federal minimum wage is finally $5.15 and targeted to go up. The federal minimum wage rate, at $5.15, has only 66 percent of the buying power of the minimum wage that I enjoyed in the late 1970s, when I put myself through college.

Oregon and Washington have minimum wages that are almost $8 an hour, on buying par with the 1976-1981 minimum wage rates that I enjoyed.

Congrats to you, Oregon voters. I am proud to vote with you in the effort to improve wage equity!

Theresa Gibney

Corvallis

Gun ownership still a good defense

While Monday's shooting at Virginia Tech - and any such shooting - is a tragedy, the idea that banning guns will eliminate the problem is so wrong that I'm surprised any thinking person believes it.

Just ask yourself why crazed shooters never walk into a police station and blaze away, nor do they attack NRA conventions, gun clubs or any other gathering of armed or possibly armed persons. They only attack unarmed groups. The same can be said of governments.

Curly Finster

Alsea