Copyright 2000 The Seattle Times Company
The
Seattle Times
July 6, 2000, Thursday Final Edition
SECTION: ROP ZONE; OPINION; Pg. B7; NORTHWEST VOICES
LENGTH: 1001 words
HEADLINE:
LOGGING
National forests last of their kind irreplaceable
BODY:
LOGGING
National forests last of
their kind, irreplaceable
Editor, The Times: I am responding to the lack
of coverage of the U.S. Forest Service hearing (June 28). Of the approximately
400 people who were there, I saw no one from your paper covering this historic
event. It is outrageous that a national decision that is taking place in our
community is not being exposed to the public as it should be. The fact that the
National Forestry Service is even considering allowing logging in the remaining
roadless areas of our national forests should enrage citizens.
Not only do they propose to destroy what's left of our last wild public land,
they are even excluding the Tongass National Forest in Alaska from their
protection. These forests provide a safe haven not only for animals but people
as well, people who have a right to enjoy them in their natural state without
the scars of roads and stump-filled clearings. These national forests are the
last of their kind and once they are destroyed, they can never be fully
replaced. I am disappointed to see your lack of coverage on this issue and hope
that you help educate the public in the future.
Olivia Zimra-Turley,
Seattle
BOY SCOUTS
Discrimination halts charitable
contributions
Can someone please answer a couple of questions for me?
Where does The Boy Scouts of America get its financial support and backing? Does
our government, at any level, either financially support them or allow them the
use of any government-maintained land? The Supreme Court of this country has
ruled that The Boy Scouts of America can exclude and discriminate against our
youth based solely on their birth. If our gay youth are to be so excluded and
discriminated against, I wish to know which organizations to exclude from my
charitable contributions. The Boy Scouts of America and its backers do not
deserve the financial support of those of us who love and cherish our gay youth.
Ridge Staley, Burien
HOSPITAL SHOOTING
Was
language skill pertinent to job?
The shooting at the University of
Washington Medical Center highlights the ruthlessness of promotions and status
within the medical profession, as well as a deadly bind for a success-crazed
person ("UW couldn't stop troubled doctor from buying gun," June 30). The news
reported that poor English skills by the foreign-born Dr. Chen played a role in
a performance appraisal that led to the murder-suicide. How important is
language to the practice of pathology? From an outsider's view, it is an
occupation in which one person is looking through a microscope to discover the
dynamics of a disease and then writing about it. Job positions are complicated,
and it may be that in a specific situation, lack of skill in English could be a
cause for failure in pathology. However, was the importance of English
determined by an objective analysis, or was it assumed by professionals bound by
stereotypes and prejudices? Dr. Chen was emotionally and physically unable to
learn English and tolerate failure in his profession. Many other people have
similar dual disabilities: inability to quell the desire for a job and inability
to perform an aspect of it. We need more objective analyses of what people are
doing at work to ensure those aspects of jobs are indeed crucial to success.
Bill Gregory, Kirkland
HERBICIDE
EPA report
buried under 'real news'
With amazement I read, in a small article on
Page 4, how the most commonly used herbicide in the United States has been
upgraded by the Environmental Protection Agency from a "possible" to a "likely"
carcinogen ("Report upgrades herbicide," June 29). The EPA report goes on to say
that the popular weed-killer "could cause uterine, prostate and breast cancer in
humans and may disrupt reproductive development." We can all rest assured, as
any decision whether action should be taken to restrict its use is months, if
not years, away. Silly me. Here I thought all this time that "real news"
involved months and months of headline coverage about Elian Gonzalez.
Thankfully, your story about a potentially hazardous risk to millions of
Americans at least made it inside the front page where it got the 4-inch
attention it so richly deserves.
Don Lee, Seattle
I-745
Eyman has to gain voter approval
As a door-to-door signature
gatherer for the Traffic Improvement Initiative, I was able to conduct a mini
grass-roots poll. Thirty percent hate Tim Eyman but can't explain why, obviously
responding to editorial-page hype. Forty percent had never heard of I-745.
Twenty percent were most interested in preventing the blight of a light-rail
system. Fifteen percent wouldn't sign anything until they saw an overall plan
that made sense. Twenty percent stated that we would end up looking like L.A.,
now ranked number-one in congestion. Lacking the pocketbook bait of I-695, my
take on I-745 is that Eyman has a lot of selling to do if he ever expects voter
approval in November.
Dave Petrie, Des Moines
JULY 4TH
CELEBRATION
Let's declare morning after a holiday
Last night
was, predictably, another of those "Fourths from Hell"- one that afforded
precious little sleep, with every other waking moment punctuated by explosions
and dogs wailing their signature responses. If only the Fourth could be kept to
a daytime celebration! On second thought, keep the Lake Union and Elliott Bay
shows in all their splendor. Just keep the noise out of the neighborhoods,
please! Wait! Since all setting off of fireworks in the city is against the law,
I must have been imagining the commotion at 3 this morning, silly me. At the
very least, maybe we can declare the morning after the Fourth to be a half-day
holiday, so workers on any schedule can avoid arriving at their appointed
destinations in a state of stupefaction!
Lewis Witham, Seattle
GRAPHIC: PHOTO
LOAD-DATE:
August 26, 2000 
