Letters in the Editor's Mailbag.Byline: The Register-Guard People deserve second chance The Register-Guard's March 6 editorial comment that "a rank odor attaches itself to the ideal of second chances when they are offered more freely to some than others" is true, but misapplied in the case of Rodney Woods. It is common practice for political leaders, teachers, religious leaders, counselors and others in responsible positions to write advocacy letters for an offending youth who has no other prior criminal history, has a supportive and intact family, has expressed remorse and has met all of the conditions of probation without any violations. This appears to be the case with Woods. Where the editors' statement is accurate is in the cases of poor children from broken homes who do not have the same level of support that Woods has and consequently are never offered the possibility of a second chance. Athletes do not deserve a second chance any more than any other young person who makes a mistake. However, they should not be denied a second chance that would be available to any other person under similar circumstances because they are involved in a high-profile activity. Woods aside, there is indeed a rank odor attached to the role that intercollegiate in·ter·col·le·giate adj. Involving or representing two or more colleges. Adj. 1. intercollegiate - used of competition between colleges or universities; "intercollegiate basketball" sports, particularly football and basketball, play in our society. It is indicative of values run askew a·skew adv. & adj. To one side; awry: rugs lying askew. [Probably a-2 + skew. when most large public universities pay their football, men's basketball and occasionally women's basketball Women's basketball is one of the few games which developed in tandem with men's. It became popular, spreading from the east coast of the United States to the west coast, in large part via women's colleges. coaches more than the university president or senior faculty members. RON CHASE Eugene Next invasion: Canada As we prepare to overthrow the government of a foreign nation and replace it with one to our liking, it is not too early to plan our next invasion and regime change. How about Canada? Why Canada? Well, for starters, they have a leaf on their flag, so they must all be wimps. They have a premier who talks like a Frenchy, and that's no good. I don't think they have nuc-a-lure weapons, but they all have hockey sticks, and we know how dangerous those can be. Also, Canada is much closer to home than those desert places. We can plan the invasion to take place during the Stanley Cup Stanley Cup: see hockey, ice. Stanley Cup Trophy awarded annually to the winning team of the National Hockey League championship. Named for its donor, the Canadian governor-general Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston playoffs when they will all be watching the games on television. Then we can sneak over the border and blast them back to the Dark Ages very easily. It should take only a day or two at the most. What's in it for us? I know they have huge natural gas fields This list of natural gas fields includes major fields of the past and present. N.B. Some of the items listed are basins or projects that comprise many fields (e.g. Sakhalin has three fields: Chayvo, Odoptu, and Arkutun-Dagi). all over the place and maybe even some oil - eh? BARRY JOHNSON Cottage Grove Cottage Grove, village (1990 pop. 22,935), Washington co., SE Minn., near the St. Croix River; inc. 1965. There is farming (cattle, sheep, corn, and soybeans) and manufacturing (chemicals and machinery). Share ambulance revenues A recent tragic event points out the weakness in Eugene's "hard boundary" ambulance policy. The Eugene fire chief is understandably concerned about shrinking budgets and growing responsibility, but the current policy puts dollars ahead of lives. It should not be this way. The good news is it does not have to be. A simple revenue sharing revenue sharing Funding arrangement in which one government unit grants a portion of its tax income to another government unit. For example, provinces or states may share revenue with local governments, or national governments may share revenue with provinces or states. plan for inter-city responses would keep money in both city's budgets while the saving of citizens' lives is kept at the highest priority. Adopting a 60/40 revenue split for any calls answered in one city by an ambulance based in the other will solve this problem. The host city (which does not have ambulance resources involved in the response) receives 40 percent of any revenue collected, and the responding city receives 60 percent of any revenue collected. The differential is to help account for the money involved in the response and the simple fact that not all ambulance bills are paid. The revenue flows both ways, so that either city helping the other will receive a share of the response revenue and both host cities receive a share of the revenue as well. Nothing changes for responses sent and answered within a single city. I suggest the rest of the system owners urge their respective city councils to adopt this plan and put our safety ahead of their budgets. GREG A. SHAVER Springfield Ambulance delays unacceptable It is still hard for me to believe that Eugene Fire Chief Tom Tallon thinks it is acceptable to delay ambulance responses by not using the closest unit, but rather using all Eugene ambulances first and then calling a Springfield unit. This policy does not give some sick and injured the best chance for recovery or survival. I understand that present policy is to dispatch a Eugene ambulance that might be miles away, even though a Springfield unit might only be a block away from a call. I would think Tallon would want the closest ambulance if he or a loved one were to find themselves lying in the rain in the middle of the road with an open femur femur (fē`mər): see leg. fracture. As good as our medics Med´ics n. 1. Science of medicine. and ambulances are, they still don't have X-rays, MRIs, operating rooms operating room n. Abbr. OR A room equipped for performing surgical operations. , surgeons and more. A fire engine is not an ambulance. In some cases, it is the rapid transport of the patient to the hospital that is needed. Chief Tallon's policy of delaying some ambulance responses will ultimately have tragic results, and for what? Are tragic results worth a few extra dollars? Response times are very important in emergency services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' . Sometimes responses are longer than desired due to call volume. However, any chief officer who believes it is acceptable to delay an ambulance several more minutes than is necessary is in the wrong line of work. I cannot comprehend the blatant trade-off of patient care for a few extra dollars. My heart goes out to the families who will pay the price in additional suffering. FREDRICK CHRISTIANSEN Retired Captain Springfield Fire Department Springfield Now we get fuzzy Get Fuzzy is an American daily comic strip written and drawn by Darby Conley. The strip features the adventures of Boston advertising executive Rob Wilco and his two anthropomorphic pets: dog Satchel Pooch and cat Bucky Katt. math It has been two years now. We have learned what fuzzy math Not to be confused with fuzzy logic. Fuzzy math (also called "reformed math", "whole math", "constructivist math" or "new-new math") is an educational approach to the teaching of basic mathematics for children. is now. We have learned from an expert. We have a good teacher. Is this as fuzzy at it gets? LEN (Low Entry Networking) In SNA, peer-to-peer connectivity between adjacent Type 2.1 nodes, such as PCs, workstations and minicomputers. LU 6.2 sessions are supported across LEN connections. GASIOROWSKI Drain Don't be duped by self-serve I am writing in regard to a March 3 article about self-serve gas stations in Oregon. This would not necessarily mean lower gas prices for the Oregon consumer. Let's look to California and Washington for examples. Has anyone taken a trip to northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern to see the beautiful redwoods lately? Gas in Eureka, a self-service paradise, is selling at $2-plus per gallon and rising. Gas in this area of California has not been under $1.70 per gallon for at least two years. And in Washington, another self-service paradise, consumers pay at least the same per gallon as we do here in Oregon. Where is the self-service savings? Don't be duped by the old argument that self-service equals lower prices. Appreciate those attendants who pump our gas for us, and quit blaming them for the high price of gasoline. PENNY L. WEBER Oakridge Kulongoski, Smith disappoint I am disappointed that Gov. Ted Kulongoski Theodore R. "Ted" Kulongoski (born November 5 1940, in rural Missouri[1]) is an American Democratic politician. Since 2003, he has served as the Governor of Oregon. He was re-elected in 2006. and U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith
Gordon Harold Smith (born May 25, 1952) is Oregon's junior United States Senator, currently serving his second term. He is a member of the Republican Party. support a war against Iraq. I do not believe they represent the viewpoint of the majority of Oregonians. If they would use their political influence to convince the Bush administration to use tact, diplomacy and cooperation in foreign relations Foreign relations may refer to:
This country could then invest in education, health care, alternative energy and restoring our environment. JOHN C. PERRY Eugene Time for a sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. The sales tax is long overdue. It works in all but a few of the other states, why not Oregon? Beth Kemmerer (letters, March 6) has it right: With proper exemptions, a sales tax can relieve other taxes. It is also time for our state and federal affairs to be run like any successful business. Our elected officials betray their oaths of office by voting for special interests instead of what is good for the people who elected them. BOB HARDWICK Springfield Give war a chance President Bush has control over weapons of mass protection. Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (born April 28, 1937, Tikrit, Iraq—died Dec. 30, 2006, Baghdad) President of Iraq (1979–2003). He joined the Ba'th Party in 1957. Following participation in a failed attempt to assassinate Iraqi Pres. , on the other hand, has control over weapons of mass destruction. Big difference. Read that twice if you need to. We Bushwackers, as we are wont to be called on this page, possess the intelligence to comprehend that difference. The abundant local Saddamites, on the other hand, must have been at the end of the line when God was handing out comprehension skills. Poor souls. After 12 years of redundant rhetoric from Baghdad, it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to give war a chance. Bomb Saddam. DONALD P. RICHEY Eugene Bush determined to have war In his March 6 news conference, Bush did not give real answers to any of the reporters' questions. In most cases, he did not answer their questions at all. He talks about having a lot of evidence but has never presented any that was clear. Saying he knows of this or that means nothing without something more than his say so. If he is unable or unwilling to detail any evidence, he is not to be taken seriously. It has long been evident that Bush is determined to have a war, and nothing will be permitted to interfere. ALAN D. REID Springfield |
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