Letters for April 26, 2007

‘Voice of reason’
Re: “CEO: Hospital ‘must and will change’ “ (Newslines, by Robert Speer, CN&R, April 19):

Listen, look, talk—communication is key to improving performance and being the best at Enloe Hospital. Let our new CEO do her job, but equally, allow staff to do their jobs in an atmosphere of cooperation and trust.

The service department trusts it will soon bargain for a first contract. Layoffs are high priority. Return those who got eliminated so they can contribute skills and ideas for making Enloe the institution it should be.

We all need to work together for change to our bruised center’s low image and morale. It takes unity to make it work.

Think SAFE:

S for safe staffing and patients.

A for accountability to our core values and actions.

F for fairness to all (patients, staff and community).

E for everyone working together to make this venture succeed.

It’s a new start! We can be the voice of reason, truth, justice and the Enloe way.


Peter Calo
Chico

Underwhelmed by gene pool
Re: “Evolution or creation?” (Sifter, CN&R, April 19):

Considering that 90 percent of Americans couldn’t accurately describe the processes of evolution and natural selection if a gun were held to their head, asking their opinion of the veracity of same is akin to asking them whether it’s better to equalize the rear tire loads on a drag car statically by preloading the right rear tire or dynamically by increasing the rear roll stiffness using a larger anti-roll bar.

Oh, and as long as we are determining science truths by popular vote, how about one on whether or not gravity is real? After all, the amount of evidence for gravity’s existence is minuscule compared with that for evolution and natural selection.


April M. Dorsey-Tyler
Chico

Review your critic
Re: “Food for thought” (Chow, by Henri Bourride, CN&R, April 19):

Two paragraphs into “Henri Bourride’s” most recent food column, I was shocked to find myself believing the CN&R had come to their senses and requested something other than his usual steamed-marshmallow version of food writing. Unfortunately, he quickly returned to dishing out his overcooked fruit and vegetable style, and I was once again feeling like I was going to puke some asparagus soup.

I appreciate that Henri can find restaurants off of the beaten path, and you can take heart I at least skim the content for something of value, but the drivel a “food fan” has to pass through in order to find the meat makes its reading as unpleasant as skinning a catfish.


Al Petersen
Chico

Feeding killer’s frenzy
If there is one thing that will almost guarantee us another sensational murder on the scale of Virginia Tech, it is not our crazies with guns or our gun lobby—it’s our mainstream media with a frenzy to publish a juicy story. They are empowering lunatics in ways never dreamed possible just a few decades ago. The results are clusters of undeniably similar crimes.

NBC’s editorial decision to air the shooter’s tape weighed ratings versus ethics, and ratings won. The families of victims it would offend lost. And we might lose, too: There is a high risk coming from those who fantasize doing their own psycho-killer tape someday soon on NBC.

In the killer’s mind, he saw himself being elevated to the status of a glorious avenger and empowered not only to speak to the world, but to influence the world. This power and control is what he desperately craved. I say that based on my experience and training as a homicide investigator.

Bottom line: NBC’s airing of that tape, and all the networks that picked it up, was a very dangerous and irresponsible thing to do. I fear more people will lose their lives as a direct result. I hope I’m wrong, but history says I’m probably not.


Jack Lee
Chico

Response to tragedy
As the nation began the transition from shock to mourning after the deadliest shooting attack in American history, the network of more than 100 campus Chabad Houses declared a “Week of Goodness and Kindness” as a way to honor the memory of the slain.

People often feel at a loss of what to do after a tragedy of this proportion. Rabbi Mendy Zwiebel, who directs the Chabad House at Chico State, says that “Judaism teaches the need to turn tears into action. Taking a positive action to uplift the memory of those who died sheds light on a dark and despairing situation.”

Chabad on Campus representatives are handing out “Hearts to Hokies” pledge cards. Students will be encouraged to pledge a good deed in the merit of those lost; the collected cards will be presented to the students of Virginia Tech.

At 7 p.m. Friday (April 27), the Chico Chabad House will hold a Sabbath candle lighting. As students kindle the lights together, they will rejoice in the goodness of man and unite to bring a more positive spirit into the world. Following the ceremony, Chabad and Chico State’s Hillel group will host a Shabbat dinner. For information, please call 313-5511 or e-mail <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> </script>.


Chana Zwiebel
Chico

Activist hungry for action
Putting trespassing protestors in jail does not obscure the fact that our U.S. tax dollars are still supporting the rogue training school that graduates soldier-terrorists. I refer to the controversial, notorious School of the Americas (SOA), renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), located at Fort Benning, Ga. Graduates of this school for Latin American security personnel have been accused of, implicated in and convicted of human rights abuses ranging from kidnapping and torture to assassination and massacre.

Those who refuse to deny this truth lobby Congress year after year with the goal of taking SOA/WHINSEC out of the U.S. budget. HR 1707 is coming up for a House vote in May as part of one of the budget bills decided this summer.

Thousands across the Western Hemisphere are participating in the “Close the SOA Fast” April 25-27 to prepare for the struggle of truth against power. Chico is participating; 1,000 Grandmothers are also. So am I.


Cathy Webster
Sacramento County Jail

Why the delays?
In 1999, the city of Chico took ownership of the Teichert Ponds. This purchase for mitigation-fees forgiveness seemed fiscally sound and morally correct, since the city had been using the ponds as a detention basin for nearly 20 years.

In 2001, funds were set aside by the City Council to do restoration work, which would retain environmental features while improving detention functions. About $500,000 was designated and reserved to do the improvements.

Jones & Stokes, from Sacramento, was hired to do the study, and its recommendations were accepted by the council in 2002 after public hearings and meetings with stakeholders.

In 2003, Restoration Resources, a Rocklin firm, was contracted to do the improvements. It has been doing final studies and preparations ever since. Public hearings and city approval must once again be given before work can commence.

All these delays have placed the estimated construction time to begin next year. Meanwhile the health of the ponds deteriorates.

How much study is necessary? After all, there is a legacy of 30 years available at the Chico State library. I say, “Fish or get off the ponds!”


Dick Cory
Chico