Regulate scrap metal sales to deter epidemic of thefts

Last week, the Gazette-Times reported on the possible PCB poisoning of a local water body as a consequence of scrap metal thieves causing a power pole and transformer to fall into a pond in order to get at copper-bearing wires.

Earlier in the year, Oregonians were shocked to read that a revered statue of Sacagawea was cut at its base and stolen; later the piece was recovered at a scrap metal dealer.

The instigators of these crimes, and a growing number of similar acts, were allegedly drug users looking to finance their addictions.

It is becoming increasingly clear that these acts are threats to the art and infrastructure of our society and, now, to the shrinking habitat of other species.

While I have my own ideas about how our society should deal with the problems of drug use, I find acts like those above to be outrageous, intolerable and in need of immediate address.

Specifically, all scrap metal dealers and collectors must be licensed by the state and both should be monitored regularly - even if that means all of us have to pay for it.

Anyone determined to be doing business without appropriate licensure should be subject to stiff fines and long jail sentences.

I call upon state and local elected representatives to craft appropriate action now. Then our leaders should think long and hard about developing enlightened drug policies which would remove the financial incentives driving both ends of the current corrupt system.

Bud Laurent, Corvallis

Don't women also offer art-worthy inspiration?

I enjoyed the recent article on the dedicated young teacher from Harrisburg and the roomful of inspiring posters that included everyone from Che Guevara and Franklin D. Roosevelt to Frank Sinatra and actor Dean Martin ("Teacher mixes fun into learning," March 21).

But why are our walls of inspiration still so devoid of women?

The generic Rosie the Riveter is a start, but what about soccer star Mia Hamm, Red Cross founder Sara Barton, or Rachel Carlson, who woke up the world with "Silent Spring"?

What about novelist Toni Morrison, who won a Pulitzer and a Nobel, or the stunning Marian Anderson, who sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial because African Americans weren't allowed at Constitution Hall?

How about Eleanor Roosevelt? Or Maya Lin, whose Vietnam Memorial still moves visitors deeply?

How about Indie performer Kimya Dawson or the exquisite voices of Nina Simon or French singer Edith Piaf ?

What about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi?

The problem remains endemic. When experts are consulted, opinions are sought, or a journalist makes a list of good books, how many women are included? Often only one. Or zero.

Let's find the moxie to move into the 21st century, so young women have solid role models and the rest of us use the full breadth of our culture and collective knowledge.

Barbara Loeb, Corvallis

Social Security gives us financial insurance, safety

John Brennan ("Social Security is no match for Wall Street's return," Letters, March 31) is a victim of cowboy arithmetic.

He picks out only those numbers he wants to believe and ignores the rest.

He does not know that "average" returns of 10 percent still leaves about 16 percent of stock purchases losing money.

He does not consider the consequences to the country of having a large number of elderly people whose stocks have not done as well as "average." Nor does he consider the effects of inflation, taxes, fees …

He does not understand that Social Security is fundamentally an insurance policy. It insures you against inflation, against disability, against ending up too poor to buy groceries in your old age, against the market turning down just when you wanted to retire, against outliving your savings.

If Brennan had passed on when he was 30, Social Security would have provided basic subsistence for his widow and children.

If he got sick, or outsourced, Social Security would still pay enough to live on.

If he lives to be 100, Social Security will keep sending him a check that rises with inflation.

The stock market won't do that.

Nor does Brennan consider whether the returns on stocks would be as high with everyone forced into the stock market at the same time.

Very likely it is the existence of Social Security that allows the market to do as well as it does. We are all free to invest in stocks, but betting the rent is not a wise investment.

Dale Coberly, Corvallis

It's time for the young to take over leadership choice

Many people say they are supporting Hillary Clinton regardless of her faults and disingenuous behavior simply because she is a woman.

Others will support Barack Obama because he is black.

Some will support John McCain because he is a hawk.

I say, if you really must vote on a single issue, how about voting for whatever candidate the youth have decided best represents them?

Yes, as things look, it will be Obama. So be it.

Senior citizens have had their chance to uphold the Constitution and make our country better in the 1960s and '70s. We didn't solve all the problems, but we did make things better.

It is only natural that young people should step forward to lead their country. It is their job.

We can only be there to advise them if they ask. They are the future. They will inherit what they set in motion as have we.

Support them in whatever way you can. If you must be a single-issue voter, then please make this your single issue.

Toni Acock, Corvallis

Coverage of war, march a disservice to community

We, the undersigned, believe that the Corvallis Gazette-Times has done a disservice to the community in its selective and skewed reporting of the war on, and occupation of, Iraq. Additionally, it has failed to meet the standards and principles prescribed by its parent company, Lee Enterprises (www.lee.net/aboutlee/principles.shtml). Specifically:

"Identify and aggressively cover the most important issues to the local community." On Saturday, March 22, 2008, over 450 people marched through the streets of Corvallis to protest the fifth anniversary of the war and occupation in Iraq. At the subsequent rally, local speakers talked about the truth and horrors of war, including a first-hand account of the "Winter Soldier" hearings at which Iraq and Afghanistan veterans provided eye-witness testimony to war profiteering, violations of international law and human rights, and other grievous crimes. This protest was completely ignored by the Gazette-Times. On April 2, 2008, the G-T printed an explanation and called the absence of coverage an "oversight," but this "mea culpa" doesn't solve the problem. The G-T still has a responsibility to convey the content; the reasons for the protest.

"Show courage and independence in faithfully reporting both good and bad news." We believe that if the realities of the war/occupation were shown to the American people, they would demand its end. We have been insulated from the brutality of war by the omission of photos and reporting-while the Gazette-Times chooses to print "feel good" photos like the one on page A2 of the February 28, 2008, edition, with the sanguine title "Making friends in faraway lands."

"Be accurate. Be fair." On Tuesday, March 25, the Gazette-Times printed an op-ed piece by Kevin Ferris of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Mr. Ferris denounced the Winter Soldier hearings and the veterans who testified, yet he did not attend the hearings or listen to the testimony himself. It's bad enough that the Gazette-Times did not report on the Winter Soldier hearings, but completely irresponsible to print an uninformed opinion piece about it.

And finally, from the Lee Enterprises website: "We believe our newspapers must pursue the truth and must maintain independence from undue influence by government, advertisers or other powerful forces in our communities." We couldn't agree more.

Elvin Todd Allen Sr.

Esmeralda Allen

Jan Ames

Don Anderson

Kurt Andrews

Tom Baca

Mike Beilstein

Norm Bishop

Pat Bishop

Blair Bobier

Bart Bolger

Leah Bolger

Bruce Carsten

Diana Carsten

Laurie Childers

Courtney Childs

Richard Clinton

Rosalie Clinton

Beulah Crall

Michael Creighton

Kris Daniels

Richard Daniels

Michele Darr

Margo Denison

Elizabeth C. Elder

John Elder

James Emanuel

Tina Empol

Ed Epley

Judith B. Fisher

Robert Foley

Leah Frohnmayer

John Frohnmayer

Ann Gaidos-Morgan

Valori George

Margaret Giacopelli

Kathy Griffiths

George Grosch

John Helm

Alex Humphrey

George B. Hutchinson

Lois Kenagy

Willa Kenoyer

Amy Kunert

Steven Kunert

Carolyn Latierra

Nancy Leman

Jeanene Louden

Joseph L. Magner

Kate Mathews

Xaja Mykil

David McCarthy

Shelley McGuire

William Metz

Rebecca Michelson

Emily Myers

Jacob Myers

Katie Myers

Rebecca Myers

Ronald Naasko

Tim Nam

Loren Nash

Jean Nath

John Nath

Charles R. Newlin

Gretchen Newlin

Thu Nghiem

Carl. D. Niedner

Jean L. Niedner

Joan Noyce

Bob O'Brien

Ken Oefelein

Micah Oefelein

Sharon Oefelein

Sheila O'Keefe

Rachel Ozretich

Robert Ozretich

David Pilotte

Alex Polikoff

Maegan Prentice

Bryan Puckett

Tara Puckett

John Puma

Beverly Ragsdale

Gerald Ragsdale

Lindsay Rahmun

Ruth Roberts

Dick Rossiter

Terry Rossiter

Eugene Russell

Dianne Safford

Raven Sanders

Philip Scott

Christina Sever

Stephen Sever

Del Shirley

Robert W. Smith

Jim Spain

Joyce Spain

Robert L. Stebbins

Gordon Sturrock

Nancy Swain

Marolyn Tarrant

Jean Townes

Mark Van der Pol

Paul H. Vice

John Webb

Machele Webb

Valerie White

Karen Winget

Robert B. Winget

Gail Wolcott

Jane Woodward

Thomas Wrensch