Copyright 2000 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
Chicago
Sun-Times
February 18, 2000, FRIDAY, Late
Sports Final Edition
SECTION:
EDITORIAL; LETTERS; Pg. 38
LENGTH: 1527 words
HEADLINE: Limiting competition a loss for consumers
BODY:
When the Telecommunications Act was passed in
1996, consumers were promised a new era of choice and technological innovation.
It is a promise yet to be fulfilled.
Few consumers are able to choose
their local phone and cable companies, or have benefitted from competitive
prices. More disturbingly, we may be headed into a new era of monopoly control.
Since 1996, the telecommunications industry has been swept by a wave of
mergers as the industry giants attempt to consolidate their market control. The
emerging mega-companies are seeking to maximize profits not through competition
but by dominating the communication delivery methods to the customers. Few
companies cling to monopolistic control more than local telephone companies and
their traditional telephone service. The latest step down this path has been
making its way through Congress. Spearheaded by SBC Communications, the nation's
largest Bell operating company, the deceptively titled "Internet Freedom and
Broadband Deployment Act" would eliminate all federal and state
oversight of Baby Bells regarding new technologies. It creates a loophole for
the Bell monopolies to continue blocking competition and a free hand to control
Internet access.
High-speed Digital Subscriber Lines can provide
consumers with advanced phone and Internet services, such as music and movies on
demand. They also can allow businesses to transmit huge amounts of data at
super-quick speeds. SBC is well-positioned to dominate that market, having
recently acquired Baby Bells in California and the Great Lakes states. It now
controls 50 percent of all phone lines and two-thirds of the business phones in
the United States.
The bill would prohibit state regulators and even the
Federal Communications Commission from ensuring competition by eliminating the
only incentive the monopolies have to open their markets to competitors.
There is no compelling public interest argument for ending the
established authority of state regulatory agencies and the FCC to oversee phone
service. High-speed DSL is no different from traditional voice transmission when
it comes to the common carrier premise that created our vibrant Internet world.
Without open access and other regulatory requirements, consumers could face
higher prices and fewer choices.
It is dangerous public policy to allow
huge corporations to dominate the marketplace of information and ideas. Congress
should reject this bill and other efforts to close avenues of communication.
William McNary,
co-director,
Citizen Action Illinois
In desperate straits
In response to the news story ("Child
support center may lose contract," Feb. 4) and many other articles on the
devastating failure of the state child support distribution unit that the state
of Illinois was paying DuPage County $ 8.5 million to run: Please put a final
end to it. I speak on behalf of all parents who have had to endure the terrible
hardships and have fallen victims to this system.
I'm divorced, employed
with two children, and am entitled to child support payments of $ 778 a month.
The delays in my payments left me with a disconnected telephone and cable TV and
final notices from Commonwealth Edison and nearly caused the life insurance
policies I have paid the last seven years to lapse. It put me behind $ 600 in
tuition payments.
I had to make a choice as to whom to pay from my
employment wages: my landlord to avoid late charges, the sitter for after-school
and weekend care of my children, food, insurance, ComEd or a co-payment to the
doctor's office.
I know there are many tragic situations, but the delays
have added a financial burden. I'm working on my day off to catch up. Who will
put an end to this tragic system that has devastated so many families?
Myriam Sanchez, Albany Park
Every day is payday
It is
unfortunate that the usually perceptive Michelle Stevens chose to waste time
defending the payday loan racket in her column (Feb. 6).
Profiting from
people's desperation is neither a convenience nor a service, and lawmakers are
on the right track in their efforts to rein in such abuses.
While it is
certainly true that customer fees at mainline banks are excessive, payday loan
stores do not make their money by offering an alternative to the casual
borrower. Rather, these operations prosper by preying on captive customers who
run up hundreds and even thousands of dollars in fees and interest.
According to the state Department of Financial Institutions, 46 percent
of all payday loans are rolled over, and typically such loans are renewed 10
times before they are paid off. Not surprisingly, people forced to pay $ 20 a
week to borrow $ 100 find themselves too cash-strapped by payday to escape such
escalating debt.
Reasonable limits on loan fees and interest charges, as
well as effective prohibitions against repeated rollovers, are sound public
policy.
John D. Cameron,
director, community relations,
AFSCME Council 31
Buckle up: It's the law
By all
accounts, Derrick Thomas, the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker who died last week,
less than a month after being paralyzed in a car crash, was a superior football
player and fine human being. He has been called a role model by many who knew
him well. Unfortunately, when he got into a car and didn't fasten his seat belt,
he was not a role model. Michael Tellis, the other passenger in the car who was
killed, wasn't wearing his seat belt either. Only the third person survived; he
was wearing his seat belt.
If the attention surrounding this tragedy
would focus more on this fact, perhaps Thomas could be thought a hero one last
time; as a life-saving reminder to his fans that no one is invincible.
Joel Mehr, Skokie
Enduring stereotypes
Regarding Richard
Vachula's letter (Feb. 7): As for Chief Illiniwek, no Native American would go
onto a football field in full regalia and jump around. Who gave Illiniwek the
right to use the title "chief"?
Among American Indians, the chief is one
of the highest honors and has to be earned. Can Illiniwek speak for us? Does he
know our history? Is he an active member or leader in the Indian community? I
don't think so.
As for Iron Eyes Cody, "a white man from New Orleans,"
he portrayed the American Indian in a good way. He respected us and wore his
regalia with dignity. You cannot compare Cody to Illiniwek. Did you ever see him
jump around on a football field? He was not a mascot. Let Cody rest in peace.
Illiniwek is not an honor. As an American Indian I feel insulted and
disgraced by this man.
Hilda Williams, Lincoln Park
It's time to
fumigate
Hats off to Arianna Huffington for cutting through the
Washington baloney with her column ("Everyone's out to get in through outsider
door," Feb. 9). Watching Gov. George W. Bush, surrounded by the Beltway
heavyweights, say he's an "outsider" and "reformer with a record" while sporting
a huge smirk bring back memories of the current occupant of the White House.
Remember the pep rally? All we need now is the finger-wagging,
accompanied by "I do not have connections in Washington." The GOP camp is
rotting from within. They all smell it. How long will it take before they figure
out they are the source of the stench?
Why are so many outsiders
attracted to John McCain? Because he's a breath of fresh air.
Sharon
Fleck Herman,
Lindenhurst
Don't try this at work
Betsy
Hart argues that sexual harassment training and legal causes of action are
detrimental to male-female working relations and can act to further victimize
women (column, Feb. 7). She claims that women who experience unwelcome sexual
behavior on the job should "confront their sexual harassers." Her argument might
sound logical to readers who are unfamiliar with the issue, while those of us
with expertise in the area will easily see the holes in her overly simplistic
reasoning.
To begin with, sexual harassment training and laws protect
all workers, including men. Has Hart ever read the 1998 U.S. Supreme Court
decision about Joseph Oncale, a married father of two children who was viciously
sexually harassed by other male workers when he was on an oil rig in Texas
("Workplace rules refined: Same-sex harassment can be illegal, court says," news
story, March 5, 1998)? Regardless of the gender of the parties, sexual
harassment poisons the work environment for everyone, lowering morale and
productivity.
In addition, good training programs encourage
communication about harassment that may occur through misunderstanding, while
recognizing that a large percentage of sexual harassment occurs because of
individual pathology, or deep-seated hostility toward women in nontraditional
jobs; in these cases the harassment will not be solved by talking it over.
Finally, her advice often will be ineffective or counterproductive. Most
workers who file complaints of sexual harassment already have unsuccessfully
tried other intervention strategies. And some harassment, such as sexual assault
or stalking, is so intimidating and dangerous that it makes Hart's
recommendation for self-help irresponsible.
Andra Gomberg,
sexual harassment officer,
Chicago Department of Personnel
LOAD-DATE: February 21, 2000 
