Letters in the Editor's Mailbag.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Survivors have bonds

What a refreshing thing to read in the paper about Jake and Jen Ryker moving on with their lives (Register-Guard, May 21).

My son, Kyle Howes, and his girlfriend, Melissa Femrite, were married last August. They, too, were both wounded in the shootings at Thurston High School. No one will ever understand the bonds that these kids - yes, they are still kids! - have with each other. This event marked a turning point in their lives, and what better way to face the future than with someone who understands you completely.

LAURA WOODWARD Springfield

Stop waste shipments

In June, Congress will consider whether to deliver deadly nuclear waste up the Willamette Valley and over the Cascades to a poorly designed waste dump at Yucca Mountain near Las Vegas. Bad news for Nevada, and worse news for us in Oregon.

The Department of Energy is not planning to hold public hearings in Salem, Eugene, Springfield or Klamath Falls; the department doesn't want us to know what it is doing. It doesn't want to answer questions about shipping deadly waste, because it knows Oregonians won't like the answers.

The owners of nuclear utilities support this plan because it will pave the way for a rash of new nuclear power plants in America. The companies that drive our electricity and gas prices sky high are willing to risk the safety of Oregonians along Interstate 5 and our railways. For generations, the government has lied to us about the deadly radioactive substances at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and elsewhere.

The government estimates that it will cost $60 billion to build the Nevada repository; there will be no money to continue cleaning Hanford - a tragic mess. Sens. Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith will cast a vote that tells us whether they believe that the people of Oregon deserve to know about and be protected from deadly nuclear waste shipments. Call Wyden at [phone] and Smith at [phone] to warn them you will watch whose side they are on and will vote accordingly.

STEPHEN M. ANDERSON Eugene

Senseless seat belt law

I've been busted! Because I chose to drive a few blocks without using my seat belt, the local gendarme courteously slapped me with a $77 fine! To criminalize behavior detrimental to others makes sense, but to criminalize behavior detrimental only to yourself makes no sense.

Personally, I think you're a fool to drive any distance at all without using your seat belt. Does that make me a fool? Maybe, but since when is it against the law to be a fool? Considering how many fools there are making policy these days, it might even be considered a badge of honor.

The police in this town say they don't have time to come to the scene of an accident unless there's serious injury or impaired drivers involved. But they do have the time to stop you and write you up a ticket for minding your own business. I've heard no convincing argument for this intrusive Big Brother law. As far as I'm concerned, this drive to ticket seat belt non-users is just another gimmick used to glom onto more of our money.

JOHN DeLEAU Springfield

Will new agency help?

In 1947, President Truman created the Central Intelligence Agency because of the sneak attack of Pearl Harbor. In 2001, President George Bush created the Home Security Agency because of the sneak attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

My question is, if the CIA failed in doing the job it was created to do, what makes us think the HSA will be any better?

BARBARA ANDERSON Springfield

CAPTION(S):

The Register-Guard welcomes letters on topics of general interest. Our length limit is 250 words; all letters are subject to condensation. Writers are limited to one letter per calendar month. Because of the volume of mail, not all letters can be printed. Letters must be signed with the writer's full name. An address and daytime telephone number are needed for verification purposes; this information will not be published or released. Mail letters to Mailbag, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2188 Fax: [phone] E-mail: [e-mail]