Letters in the Editor's Mailbag.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Videotape mishandled

Our illustrious federal government has handled the Osama bin Laden tape with the dexterity of bear cubs juggling hazelnuts.

First, government officials had the tapes for two weeks and were afraid that their release might be construed by the Arab world as some Yankee deception. Oh, good - they had that right. Then the government released the tapes, the audio barely intelligible even by Arabic speakers, with English subtitles!

Here we are, preaching to the converted in most, if not all, English-speaking countries, including all of Europe. The real target should have been the Arab countries, who do not have much knowledge of spoken or written English and also have a deep distrust of anything produced in that language.

Why did the administration fail to do the obvious, which would have been to immediately and first release the tapes with Arabic subtitles to the only audience that really counts? Why do our Washington leaders insist on proving that, compared to them, the Keystone Cops were a gifted and inspired elite?

PETER MOUNTLION Eugene

Keep DARE in schools

I am writing regarding the Dec. 10 article reporting that the DARE program is once again in jeopardy of being cut from the Springfield school curriculum. I am a former police chief in Springfield (retired), and I am a strong advocate for the DARE program. I would be very disappointed if DARE is discontinued.

I live in Arizona now, but my home will always be Springfield. Two of my grandchildren have been through the Springfield DARE program. Any parent or grandparent who has had children complete the program knows it is effective. DARE is far more than drug education. In Springfield, it includes anti-violence education. We, more than others, should know how important that is to young people.

I give little credence to the national studies claiming DARE is ineffectual. I think they have asked the wrong questions, talked to the wrong people, and have reached wrong conclusions. There are times when your own judgment will guide you better than putting trust in "scientific studies."

DARE provides an excellent opportunity for young people to interact with police officers in a positive and safe environment. Every DARE officer I know is 100 percent committed to the students. They work hard to ensure their lessons are relevant to a child's life. Yes, some children do fail to heed the lessons when they get older, but it is not because we have not made the effort to teach them. More importantly, most children do not fail, and that is because we have taught them well. We need to count our successes, not our failures.

It is my fervent hope that the good people of Springfield find a way to keep DARE in the schools.

BILL DEFORREST Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Dams are a necessity

Kevin Maier (letters, Dec. 14) recently asked for an explanation about how the Snake River dams can be considered an economic necessity. I will attempt to answer his question.

Believe it or not, thousands of people, mostly small-time farmers, depend on the navigation provided by these dams to get their produce to the market in Portland. Contrary to popular belief, there are no railroads in Southeastern Washington any longer; they were all torn out years ago. The highway system consists of narrow, two-lane roads, which would make it very dangerous for an increase in semi-truck traffic, not to mention the accompanying hydrocarbon pollution from these trucks.

In regard to saving the mythical native steelhead and salmon, it should be noted that these stocks were well in decline by the early 1960s, well before most of the dams were constructed. Stopping the gillnetting and commercial fishing of these stocks would do more to save them than breaching any dam, but no one seems to be interested in this idea.

It's all well and fine to be concerned about another species in need, but the needs of the people who live in the area must be taken into consideration, which is something that Maier and his ilk refuse to do. Once again, a select few loudmouths with too much time and money on their hands are trying to destroy the way of life of people who actually have to work for a living.

ALAN D. PIERCE Eugene

Use assets for treatment

The Eugene City Council was wrong to even consider law enforcement's interest in capitalizing on drug forfeiture money.

It's a basic conflict of interest for those who seize assets to benefit from them. If taking these assets was appropriate in the first place, drug treatment and prevention is where the money should go. This would help alleviate two other problems: The stealing of assets would decrease, and the proven effectiveness of prevention and treatment would increase.

MIKE MEYER Eugene

LETTERS LOG

Letters received in past week: 129

Letters published: 57

What's on readers' minds: No single topic dominated the Mailbag flow during the past week. We received 14 letters about the war on terrorism, including three dealing with the issue of "eco-terrorism." We also received six letters about President Bush's decision to withdraw the United States from the ABM Treaty, and five each on the collapse of Enron, Eugene's no-smoking ordinance and a Dec. 16 editorial about the Public Employees Retirement System.

- The Register-Guard

CAPTION(S):

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