Posted: Thursday, April 3, 2008 12:00 am
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