To add engineering graduates, try this

The point of your Monday editorial seems to be dismay that only 38 of Intel's recent 347 graduate degree holder hirings came from Oregon. My first reaction was 38 of 347 is about 11 percent - not too bad for one state. By the way, you didn't say whether the 38 "Oregonians" were state residents, or graduates from state schools.

You state that many technical jobs are going to "enterprising (and cheaper)" foreign-born employees. I would be very surprised if foreign-born engineers, as a group, at either Intel or HP, were paid significantly less than American born engineers. They are hired simply because other, "home-grown," qualified candidates cannot be found.

I would propose that there would be many more engineering school graduates from all universities, not just OSU, if the candidates had been better prepared in K-12 by a return to emphasis on fundamental subjects: math, sciences, English, etc. Unfortunately, this is not a quick-fix solution. First, you must have qualified teachers, and good engineers, scientists and mathematicians will not settle for even a good teacher's salary. Second, you must have students who are motivated to excel, and are willing to dig into the "tougher" subject matters. Lastly, there must be an elimination of the toleration of mediocrity that seems to be prevalent in our education systems.

I don't believe American companies hire foreign-born employees simply because they are cheaper and available. They are probably also influenced by the fact that these workers are just better-educated.

Robert F. Godwin

Corvallis

Decisions show the power of one vote

One vote on the Supreme Court makes the difference.

The new U.S. Supreme Court is truly astonishing in its reversal of what I had thought was settled law.

Here are a few new rulings to come from 5-4 decisions:

• If you now learn that for more than 18 months your paycheck has been less than all the men who are doing the same job as you, you cannot sue for back wages. You have to learn within 18 months of the first instance that you have been ripped off, or you are now permanently denied legal recourse.

• If you want to appeal your conviction and your lawyer is late filing because s/he was misinformed by the federal court regarding the filing date, that is just too bad. Your appeal is no longer allowed.

• If your state has a law regarding the method of late-term abortion, your doctor is no longer free to pick the procedure which will be the safest for your deteriorated health. The process used to remove the fetus is more important than your health and your future ability to bear another child.

The last Supreme Court appointment tipped the balance. One vote makes all the difference.

Louise Ferrell

Corvallis

Protect Seavey Meadows Wetland

Attempting to use what remains of Seavey Meadows Wetland for a housing development raises all sorts of conflicts for the City of Corvallis. The city owns this wetland, which is protected by local, state and federal regulations. The city has declared that they want to destroy "part" of the wetland to put in affordable housing. The city makes all the land use decisions! How do they separate their roles as both landowner and the one who authorizes developments?

As far as wetland preservation goes, can the city really believe they are "preserving" this federally protected wetland by putting a housing development in the middle of it? And if they are hoping to use federal funds to build the housing, that's a conflict with the federal requirement to protect the wetland.

Remember that we, the citizens of Corvallis, are the owners of Seavey Meadows. We need to be sure our local government is actually protecting our local resources on the ground, not just on paper!

Jennifer Ayotte

Corvallis

Where is the banner OSU should show?

When driving by Goss Stadium at OSU, why can't we see a banner commemorating two national collegiate baseball championships for 2006 and 2007?

Younga Hennessey

and Ed Mayer

Corte Madera, Calif.

Jail time could aid D.C. bandits

Am I the only person who finds it interesting that Paris Hilton has spent more time in jail than Scooter Libby?

At least Paris has seen the error of her party-girl ways and will be spending the future in service of others. If jail was such an awakening for Paris, just think of the possibilities of what some jail time could do for that Imperial Gang of Bandits in Washington.

I'll be spending some time considering what this says about us as a country.

George Grosch

Corvallis

Iraq invasion did little good

Gordon Shadle's letter on July 4 claims that invading Iraq was the right thing to do because Saddam Hussein was evil and if we did not do it another country would. However, this important claim deserves a more realistic review. While Turkey and Iran might have invaded small parts of Iran, they had no interest in occupying the whole country.

Saddam Hussein was certainly no angel, but his abuses were kept in check during the 1990s. American control of the air provided enough protection for the Kurds and Shia to operate independently of the central government. Iraq had no ability to create weapons of mass destruction, but wanted Iran, who they had fought against for many years, to believe otherwise. Iraq was no threat to us as Saddam was too worried about internal threats or war with Iran. He had no ties to al-Qaida since their interests were not consistent.

Since the invasion, we have lost thousands of American troops and a much larger number of Iraqis. We have spent more than $1 trillion that could have been used to fight terrorism effectively or for other investments. Iraqis are left with less security and more problems. We have empowered Iran, a supporter of terrorists, by removing their chief enemy. Now we are left in a quagmire that will have a bad ending whether we stay the course or not. The invasion did little good while creating many problems.

John Liebeskind

Corvallis