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Public service over public image
The editorial board of the Mail Tribune has wagged an admonitory finger at Gold Hill for sticking with Royal Gasso. Clearly, Gold Hill is also on probation, facing ostracism if it further tarnishes its image. Oh my. Royal Gasso is the best public works superintendent Gold Hill has had in the 25 years I've lived there. In staying with him, the town is placing public service ahead of public image. - Peter Fish, Gold Hill Maybe anthrax has silver liningNow I despise junk mail more than ever. Hucksters who stuff our mailboxes with this relentless garbage increase chances for pathogens to infect legitimate mail. Perhaps this anthrax scare will have a silver lining - an end to junk mail! Until then, I'll keep a trash can right under the mailbox. - Scott Morrell, Medford Doonesbury critics don't get itI am often amused by the locals who get so hot and bothered by Doonesbury. Obviously, they don't understand that he is an equal opportunity satirist. His jabs are aimed at the excesses and follies of both liberals and conservatives. The constant carping of the local conservatives just validates his messages. - Ruth A. Carson, Medford Show some respect for the flagIf you really love your country, show some respect for the flag. That means taking it off your car antenna or window when it's raining. Put it inside until the rain stops. Local businesses need to do the same. - M. Conens, Medford Students abuse neighborsThe 5-year-old whose kitten was crushed last month by a red VW Jetta during a football game at South Medford High School would like to thank its teenage driver for not killing his mommy, too. Residents around the high school have accepted the fact that students treat our neighborhood like a toilet. We deal with four-letter words shouted in front of our children, driveways blocked during school events, trash and broken glass tossed into our yards during lunchtime (one 3-year-old cut her foot open a few weeks ago), and we even shrug off the loud thumping bass while our children sleep as due to pure inconsideration. But is it too much to ask people to slow down so they don't kill someone? Every 10 minutes a car flies past with the engine revved so hard the only thing louder is the idiot behind them with the bass rattling our windows. School officials say, "We'll look into it. It's just a few kids." Perhaps they'd like a video. It's not "certain kids." It's students in football jerseys, blue-haired ones, all kinds. Medford police can only drive out so much, and students obviously slow down during brief periods when a police car is in plain view. Perhaps a closed campus (and closed lunch) would extend the amount of time we have before facing the death of a small child who was just trying to walk home from the bus stop. Who approved putting a high school so close to where human beings live, anyway? - D. Patterson, Medford Let's not defame IslamThis is in response to the letter entitled "Students got false information" of Oct. 24. While I can understand that there will be a certain amount of fear that results from unfamiliarity with Islam, it is important that we not overreact and label an entire religion's basic teachings "extremist" because of the actions of a few. There are around a billion Muslims in the world and I have been fortunate enough to have several acquaintances and even a couple of friends who are Muslims. None of them sought to "destroy" me because I am a nonbeliever in Islam. I also read the Koran while studying for my BA and I would ask the writer to please cite the Surah that states that "people that do not accept the teachings of Allah be killed." The Muslims I have known have included working women, equal partners and happy families. Let us please not defame the religion of hundreds of millions of peaceful adherents as a knee-jerk reaction to the evil that was perpetrated on us by a few who clearly interpret the religion to their own ends. - Joshua Richardson, Medford |
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