07/01/09 Letters to the Editor

The following letters appear only online.

An alternative method

To the editor — The Yakima Herald-Republic recently printed a short article titled “Washington prisons want to deport illegal aliens.” The article reported the head of the state prison system as saying that the state wants to deport inmates who are in the United States illegally. Because the Legislature ran out of time this session, it is an issue being considered for a later session. Incarceration is a huge expense and a substantial drain on our budget deficit.

Another cost-saving method of reducing the offender population whose time has come would be to provide treatment for mentally ill offenders, rather than expecting punishment to “cure” them and reduce recidivism. National findings indicate that more than half of all prison and jail inmates, including 56 percent of state prisoners, 45 percent of federal prisoners and 64 percent of local jail inmates, were found to have a mental health problem, according to a study published by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. The National Alliance on Mental Illness considers these statistics to be “both a scandal and a national tragedy,” stating; “What it means is that the mental health care system is failing — long before people enter the criminal justice system and after they leave it. Individuals are sentenced to lives without hope and enormous costs are shifted on to our police, courts, jails and prisons at all levels.”

The promise of deinstitutionalization for mental health patients focusing on prevention and community-based care failed because the promise of housing, with appropriate support services within the community, was never realized. As a result, an overwhelming majority of homeless people are mentally ill and consequently have served a prison sentence. A 2002 report by the Sentencing Project suggests that prisons are replacing hospitals as homes for people with mental illness.

To reverse this crisis, we need to divert people to mental-health treatment rather than sending them to jail and prison. We also need to provide state-of-the-art mental health treatment (such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing or EMDR) to the prison population. It is well-researched and proven that the cost of treatment versus prison will be much less, and the outcome will be much better for our society. Just about everyone knows someone affected by mental illness whether the stigma of it allows us to talk about it or not. The sheer numbers of people involved impacts our entire community. Money not spent on recovery services will cost us tenfold for prison beds and crisis hospitalizations in the future. A study released last year by the Corporation for Supportive Housing indicates that humane supportive housing for our mentally ill citizens costs virtually the same as the cyclical scenario of first, hospitalization, then life in a shelter until finally you end up in the prison system, a cycle that many mentally ill are caught in.

KIM UTZ

Yakima



Clinic did the right thing

To the editor — Re: The May 26 article about a patient being denied treatment over asking to have his Social Security number taken off his records.

I cannot believe that Aram and Marjorie Langhan had the audacity to go to the newspaper about this. How can they compare getting your identity stolen from a rental application to health care? It is health care. Yes, they might already have your ID, insurance card and date of birth, but that isn’t enough information to look up a patient and to make sure it is the correct patient. I work in a health-care facility and when I call the hospital to ask about a patient’s information, the very first thing they ask me for is their Social Security number to look up the patient. What if insurance doesn’t pay, patient moves, and changes their phone number, etc. How do they find the person to send them to collection? There are so many “John Smiths” and I’m sure there are a few thousand with the same date of birth.

So for all the hospitals and clinics to say that its “OK” not get a Social Security number, is a complete lie. Take for example Yakima Memorial Hospital; if you go to the emergency room and have never been there before, they give you the option to either apply for credit or given a percentage to pay up front. How do you apply for credit? By giving them your Social Security number. Oh, and if you have insurance, didn’t you fill out an insurance application with your SSN? They won’t process your information without one. So bravo Yakima Heart Center for doing the correct thing.

CRYSTAL ARREGUIN

Yakima



What is their motive?

To the editor — Today the majority of Selah City Council persons decided that promoting the city of Selah was not a good idea. The sign was to be used to promote all community events. The sign also promoted the Carlon Park Sports Complex, i.e., girls fastpitch, softball, baseball, tennis and skateboarding.

The Selah Parks Commission had reviewed the proposal and recommended that the sign be approved by the council.

City Council member Denise Nichols was concerned that it was not in the budget and should be looked at against all items in the Parks Department as to its priorities. She was concerned that it was too costly and money could be used for other items.

City Council member John Tierney said that in these tough economic times it was too costly.

City Council member Summer Derrey said that maybe we could get a cheap vinyl cover and put it over the existing sign.

Councilman Paul Overby was concerned with cost and should be  carried over  to the new budget.

Councilmen Kevin Jorgensen and Dace Smeback were in favor of the proposal. Mayor Bob Jones also spoke in favor of the proposal.

The money was not to come out of the Parks budget, but from the general fund. The budget line at this time has in excess of $330,000. Total cost of the sign project was $30,695.

Carlon Park Complex is an economic generator for the city of Selah. During the summer girls fastpitch softball, Legion baseball (Pepsi-Pak) almost every weekend are holding tournaments or games. During these tournaments the majority of people are from out of town, generating sales tax revenue for the city. Last weekend there were 424 girls and 40 boys playing at Woods Field. They also play up to five nights during the week, after the games many people use the local fast-food or regular restaurants. Year-to-date girls fastpitch has played 320 games at Carlon Park.

It was obvious to this observer that these council members already had made up their minds to deny the sign. I am not sure whether they just do not like Carlon Park Sports Complex or they do not want the city to continue to grow and prosper.

ALLEN J. SCHMID

Selah



Thanks for a great event!

To the editor — Re: Kids in the Kitchen/Junior League of Yakima.

I would like to thank everyone involved in this year’s Kids in the Kitchen event put on by the Junior League of Yakima! This year KITK took place on April 25 at the YMCA from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and was a huge success! We had between 125 and 150 kids attend and enjoy healthy snacks, physical activities, and educational material to raise awareness about child obesity and its associated health issues.

I would like to extend a special thanks to our partners in this endeavor: the YMCA, Wray’s Thriftway, Yakima Bears Baseball, Tamaki Law, Wal-mart, Lakeside Dental, Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, Fresh Taste Meals, Target, Top Foods, Gilbert Fruit, the Washington Apple Commission, and the California Avocado Commission. We couldn’t have done it without you and your support.

Most of all I need to thank the Provisional Members of the Junior League of Yakima! Each and every one of you made Kids in the Kitchen 2009 a success with all your time, hard work, and dedication! Thank you!

JO REINHOLD

Moxee



A few more words

To the editor — During the recent 15th Legislative District Democratic Central Committee Diversity Dinner, time constraints limited my speech. Here’s the essence of the undelivered part of my speech:

In more ways than we may admit, the novel buzz word “diversity” is the key to much of life’s adversity. Do we expect to alleviate modern life’s challenges with “tunnel vision”? Can we expect to get different results with the same actions?

Peering from an angle of unfamiliar perspective and sensing results from measures more promising than the scorns of sobering state of our economy, social and quality of life, should we not act? Are to let our well meaning natural instinct of self-preservation die out and succumb to unworkable tendencies? Must we continue blanket practices and blind adherence to conventionally free-enterprise justified, self-serving and greed-driven intentions?

Some of us say, it’s socialism. Whatever happened to compassion and our value of human dignity and respect for human life as Americans? Do we realize that most of us who believe also profess always to follow the “Ultimate of Socialist”? Are we to care about our fellow men?

And those of us who do not profess to believe, we in America dwell and celebrate our unmatched and precious quality of life of minimal human suffering, a way of life we seemingly struggle for others to experience. Why do we even spend vast needed resources to export our way of life when in the final analysis it is our most potent weapon that will conquer all men and women with free human spirit?

Naiveté is simple and nonmalicious. It is an option offered in spirit of “Diversity.” By our inherent nature, we always employ workable options. Think about it, but not knock ourselves dead. It is really simple.

TOM T. SILVA

15th LD DCC chair



Doomsday approaches?

To the editor — Re: The June 7 “Doomsday” article.

The whole thing boils down to the comment “life as we know it will cease to exist.”

That means a lot of different things to a lot of individuals and when it was first said, it covered a lot of bases. When you toss in the solar activity in the current solar cycle that is suppose to peak in 2013 and it gets even more interesting.

The last time the U.S. experienced a major solar flare of the intensity that could happen during the current solar cycle was in September 1859. That one produced Northern Lights so strong that you could sit outside in places like Arizona and read the paper. It also burned the telegraph wires and set fires in building that had telegraph instruments.

According to “SpaceWeather,” NASA is watching and hoping that a repeat does not happen as “life as we know it will cease to exist.” In 1859 we had very few telegraph wires, now we have power lines all over the place. Communication and military satellites, none are shielded to the extent necessary to withstand a mega-radiation hit.

Forget anything that even remotely relies on satellites (TV, GPS, navigational systems, cell phones, computers, Wall Street, the Internet and web, that new car with all the gadgets, electronic transfer of data or funds, etc.). They will be offline until new satellites are launched. NASA figures the damage could be between $1 trillion and $3 trillion in the U.S. alone and take anywhere from five to 20 years to correct.

If it comes to pass, get out the board games and make sure there is air in the bike tires. There is a good side. Crime should drop drastically as you can’t carry much on a bike.

P.S. If the sun goes vova on Dec. 21, 2012, all bets are off.

JAMES B. KRUEGER

Sunnyside



Did he get special treatment?

To the editor — Normally the first prerequisite for any transplant is which patient has the best chance for long-term survival. My aunt had been healthy all of her life, did not drink, smoke or do drugs. She was then diagnosed with primary billary cirrhosis, a disease of the liver, which has nothing to do with drinking of alcohol; she passed away, after waiting for many, many long months for a liver transplant.

I do not understand why or how Steve Jobs was able to receive his transplant when he had already been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which is an extremely difficult cancer to treat. I know that the reports state that he was cured of his pancreatic cancer, but how do we know he was? Had my aunt been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer there was no way that she would have been considered for a liver transplant.

USAToday reported (see http://tinyurl.com/mgu89p) “only 21 percent — are lucky enough to receive liver transplants, according to the study, which analyzed records from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program. Other patients were treated with methods such as surgery and medication. …

 Many cancer patients are ineligible for liver transplants, which require people to take medications that prevent their bodies from rejecting the donated organs, Merion says. These immune-suppressing drugs can allow hidden cancer cells elsewhere in the body to grow.”

I do not know if Mr. Jobs had his transplant in the USA or went to another country to receive his transplant, and I suspect that we will never know. I do wonder that if Mr. Jobs had been Mr. John Doe would he have received the transplant at all. It sounds to me like a case of we have to keep this man alive because he is the head of Apple Computer and with out him the company’s stock might take a tumble and this, to me, is troublesome. It seems, to me, that the welfare of a company has taken precedent over the life of any Jane or John Doe in need of the same medical treatment.

Some of you may recall that Robert Redford’s son, Jamie, received two liver transplants in 1993 because of a blood clot that formed in the first transplanted liver. Is the life a rich and or famous person anymore valuable then the life of you or me? While I would not want anyone to have to die from this illness, to me it seems as though there are some preferential treatments that are offered to some and not to others.

I am an organ donor and would hope that others, after reading my letter, would decide to also become an organ donor.

RON KRUEGER

Selah