The City Council's administrative services committee is meeting today at noon at 500 S.W. Madison to hear testimony concerning the city's implementation of a 5 percent levy on wireless accounts that are domiciled in the city limits.

From early indications, this meeting is just window dressing, as many of our councilors have assumed de facto approval of this initiative. Some councilors believe the only opposition to the initiative is from the telecommunications companies; they are wrong.

I observed the committee meeting in April in which there was a broad spectrum of testimony opposing implementation of the levy. Testimonials offered came from homeless and fixed-income citizens on through to business owners. Were the few councilmen present not aware that the people who offered testimony were not telecom employees?

This is an inequitable tax. Think of the thousands of cell phones in use in the city limits whose owners have the bill sent to an address outside the city's jurisdiction. They will not be impacted by this tax, even though many of them live and work within the city limits. This is an ill-conceived, ill-executed initiative that, if passed, is likely to become an administrative nightmare.

I believe the council does not want to put this to the voters because they know it will not pass. I encourage Corvallis residents to let their councilor know of their disapproval. If city officials want to get into your pocket, let them know that they need your permission.

Rick Schroff

Corvallis

Tear down, recycle old bridge to save it

It seems to me that the responsible path to take regarding saving the Van Buren Bridge would be to tear it down and recycle it back into steel reinforcing bars which could then be used to construct a new bridge. This would cut costs for construction and save all of that money that would have to be spent to maintain it in years to come.

Those who feel the need to preserve the old bridge could then look at the new bridge knowing that the old one still lives within. This would also give the City Council an opportunity to apply the spirit of the new Earth Charter they chose to adopt. After all, recycling is good for the Earth and money is generated by using resources.

So, doesn't it stand to reason that saving money and recycling the bridge is good for everybody?

Tim McChesney

Corvallis

Fight for rights in native country

I find it quite ironic that a large group of people would leave a beautiful country, where rich Americans go for vacation, and come to a free country and then protest for better treatment.

If these 11 million people protested their oil-rich, fraudulent government, they just might get out of poverty and stay in their own country, speak Spanish and keep their culture.

I am an American. My ancestors were immigrants, but I was born in this country, worked and paid taxes. I am all for helping someone, but we have Americans who live in poverty, and we can't afford to take care of 11 million more people.

Don't forget that the immigrant law would include immigrants for all countries. To solve this problem, all we would have to do is levy a $10,000 fine on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants.

We have taken in a lot of extra people who have received more help than working, poor Americans. But we also have the drug dealers and those who lie about their situation to get more out of the government. They will continue to speak their own language and change our national anthem if we don't speak out.

There have been many good letters to the editor, but people, we need to send those letters to our representatives and senators.

We fought for our country; let them go back to their beautiful sunshine country and fight for their legal rights there.

Harriet Paradis

Corvallis

Immigration really a population issue

How do we balance immigrant rights with the need to stabilize population? The 1972 Rockefeller Commission concluded "there would be no benefits to further growth in the nation's population, and that stabilization would assist in the solution of our problems."

Immigration is certainly one of these problems. (This was offered over 34 years and 90 million people ago.)

It took the Vatican 350 years to apologize to astronomer Galileo Galilei for his blasphemous notion that the Earth was not the center of the universe. It is beyond time now for the Catholic Church to apologize to the world, and openly reverse its policies regarding family planning and contraception, which have contributed to unspeakable levels of population pressure and poverty. Without such action, calls for immigrant rights often ring just a little bit hollow.

Don't interpret this as a diatribe against individuals, because nobody asks to be born into the world. But it is the system that needs to change.

M. Boyd Wilcox

Corvallis

Support for Pride Center welcome

I would like to thank the Corvallis community for its outpouring of concern and support following the recent incident of vandalism at the Oregon State University Pride Center. It's good to know that we are in the thoughts and prayers of so many of you, our generous friends and neighbors.

Your actions in the wake of such incidents are what give us, the Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning and ally community, hope for a new and better day - one which is inclusive, thoughtful and grounded in the principals of social justice.

I do have one small correction to the otherwise excellent article: As coordinator of the office of LGBT Outreach & Services, I am proud to report that there is no "director" of the Pride Center. Instead, our two student coordinators - Gretchen Bates, internal coordinator, and Joscelyne Kravitz, external coordinator - act in the capacity nearest to that title. My office merely advises and supports the students as they work in these challenging paraprofessional positions.

Steven Leider

Corvallis