Our readers' views — March 11
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Opportunity lost, again
Once again, Vancouver has lost a gem in our community in the closing of the Arts Equity Onstage theater. I find myself dismayed by the total apathy by the Southwest Washington citizens toward the arts of our town.
I have great admiration for Val Ogden’s efforts toward a community arts center. However, in the Feb. 26 story “Curtain falls on Arts Equity theater,” I found her idea of tepid art completely lacking in the understanding of the true nature of artistic expression.
I look around at other communities such as Yakima, Walla Walla, Camas, or Old Town in Tacoma. They all have found ways to make the arts an integral and defining part of their communities. Art has been intertwined in culture since humans lived in caves. Yet Vancouver refuses to acknowledge or support such treasures. This surely is a great loss to us all.
Anne John
Vancouver
Judge not
I am writing in response to Jim McGuire’s Feb. 29 letter, “No ‘closet’ necessary,” where he stated, “I neither fear nor hate homosexuals. I do, however, disagree with their lifestyle choice.” I wish to express my own take on this subject.
When you say that you do not hate or fear someone, yet in your heart you do not wish the best for that person, you are masking your true feelings. When you act out of judgment and not out of love, you are not following the universal laws of God.
Judge not each other. Judge not yourselves. Before you pluck the beam out of another’s eye, pluck it out of yours. Look in the mirror. What is it that they are reflecting back at you while you stand in judgment of others?
We are all “one.” Love each other with all your heart. This is the message that Jesus came to deliver to the world. Stand in truth.
Danny Cole
Vancouver
Opposition misplaced
As a Washington resident, I am disappointed that Boeing did not win the tanker contract, reported March 1: “Boeing loses Air Force contract.” However, I am even more disappointed in the poor reaction from so many in both parties.
Northrop Grumman is an American company with a long history of supplying military aircraft prior to the merger in 1994. While some of the proposed tanker will be built in foreign countries, last I heard Alabama is still part of the United States.
The outrage expressed over the connection to Airbus while Boeing’s heavy use of China for parts goes ignored just astonishes me. China is currently undergoing major military buildups, according to our media. Why is there no outrage expressed over Boeing’s “outsourcing” of jobs to China?
I would prefer the contract be in Washington, but feel opposition to the awarded contract should be based upon facts, not hysteria.
Lew Waters
Vancouver
Dividends pay back
It’s time journalists get the gasoline story straight. We are regaled by Annette Fuentes’ Feb. 19 guest opinion, “As economy tanks, oil firms head straight to bank,”— beating the drum against Big Oil. She believes Exxon Mobil should renegotiate oil leases signed when oil was $10 a barrel. These leases, according to Fuentes, add $12 billion profit to Exxon or about 30 percent of their total profits. Her implication is that the “fat cats” who own Exxon Mobil are bilking the public. But who actually owns Exxon Mobil? … It’s you and me.
The majority of Exxon Mobil is owned by mutual funds and pension funds. Exxon Mobil’s largest shareholders are mutual funds Fidelity, Vanguard; state college funds; and pension plan managers for corporations, state governments, unions, etc. Fuentes is advocating removing money from our retirement funds and college savings accounts to give it back to the federal government. We should look at how well the federal and state governments have done with the 47 cents a gallon they receive. What have we gotten? Subsidies for Amtrak, museums at Woodstock, bridges to nowhere, etc. Are these funds being well used? At least with Exxon Mobil, we get the dividends in our 401(k) and pension plans.
Joe Keller
Camas
Voters left in the dark
I continue to hear how young adults like me are not interested in government, voting, or participating in the electoral process. As a
16-year-old, I will tell you why.
On Feb. 27, the Columbian ran a story, “County to stay mum on results of $9,825 look at division woes.” Once again, not unlike the recent sales of downtown property to developers for under-market value, thus incurring a loss in the neighborhood of $400,000, the local government now wishes to keep reports of possible corruption in the building safety division secret by utilizing a questionable loophole in the law.
Why would anyone, including those of us who will be of voting age soon, want to participate in a tainted process?
If government is not transparent, then the laws should be changed to force it to be.
Once again, local government is acting like we still live in the wild West where deals are made in the back rooms and the constituents are left in the dark. When will the government in this area grow up and come into the new millennium?
Carl Williams
Vancouver
Timing is not dependable
As a disabled senior, I have on many occasions used C-Van. The rates are reasonable and the drivers are courteous. However, C-Van has some serious problems to overcome before I would consider it a truly dependable service.
I have on several occasions made an appointment in advance for a pickup and delivery to a given address, and on the day before my appointment the C-Van office notified me of a change in time for either pickup or the return trip. There have been times when this would entail as much as an additional 90- to 100-minute ride on the bus just to a destination which may only be a few miles away.
C-Van’s policy is that you cannot phone its office unless your bus has not arrived to pick you up for 30 minutes past the due time. Many times the arrival times are 20 to 25 minutes late, but you cannot call. It is also a policy to give clients marks against their records if they cancel the day of the appointment, yet it is OK for C-Van to change your appointment times late in the afternoon the day before. It is a good service but needs some revamping to make it better.
Sandra Miller
Vancouver
Hire older teachers as well
As a local taxpayer and consistent voter for local operating levies, I was fascinated with Lee Goeke’s description of the Vancouver Public Schools’ hiring practices in the March 2 story, “It’s tough to keep a teacher these days.”
On the surface, his rationale for hiring extremely young beginning teachers makes sense — that as a group, the 22- to 26-year-olds are caring, idealistic, and interested in making a difference in the world rather than achieving other kinds of success and money.
I wonder, though, why those young teachers must all come from far away. At the same time that we are paying for recruiting trips to Illinois, excellent new teachers from our community seem to have less chance of being hired in Vancouver. How many new teachers come from WSU Vancouver? How many come from other local universities?
What is behind the apparent preference for candidates with no relationship to the local community, and no knowledge of the local culture?
Why is the focus on hiring people in their early 20s?
I know several second-career teachers who moved into education for exactly the reasons Goeke cites: love for children and the desire to serve. They were not hired in Vancouver, so neighboring districts benefit from their professional commitment and skill.
Bernice Burgess
Vancouver | 
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