Letters 

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Missing Boo Boo in Grover

I will certainly miss Boo Boo Records in Grover Beach ("Boohoo for Boo Boo," June 7). They always gave me personal service by finding the CDs I was looking for, not waving me toward a vague area of the business. If they didn't have it in stock, they ordered it and had it available within a few days. They even opened the packaging for me, which is an exercise in frustration for me.

They always made me feel welcome and not like a potential shoplifting criminal. I quit trying to purchase at Best Buy years ago because of the above negative service/attitude and will continue to patronize Boo Boo Records in San Luis Obispo because of their friendly and educated customer service.

Ines A. Fuhlrodt,

Santa Maria

 

 

 

Only you can save the Internet

The nation's largest phone and cable companies are lobbying Congress to abandon the Internet's First Amendment - network neutrality, which prevents AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and other network owners from deciding which Web sites work best for you. These decisions are made based on which site/company pays the phone or cable provider the most to host a Web site. If the public does not speak up now, our elected officials will cave to the telecommunications giants' multi-million-dollar campaign and sell out our Internet freedom.

As the 109th Congress comes to a close it is incumbent upon Congress to heed the will of the public. Congress cannot pass telecommunications legislation without enforceable net neutrality protections. Go to savetheinternet.org for more information and write to your representatives in Washington, as over one million other Americans have done and ask them to support net neutrality to require all Web sites be treated equally.

Michelle Ritter-Taylor

San Luis Obispo

 

 

 

Diablo discussion

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff members are coming to San Luis Obispo "to provide members of the community an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments on issues regarding the Diablo Canyon Power Plant".

If you have concerns about the expanding radioactive waste dump that is being added to the plant a few miles from Avila Beach and two-and-a-half miles from a major earthquake fault, be there. If you have questions about NRC requirements of PG&E in defense of the spent fuel pools in this age of terrorism, be there.

PG&E and the NRC tell us that pilots are ordered by the FAA not to fly over nuclear plants, and that boats and ships are kept a mile away. I participated in a tour of Diablo last week. A plane flew directly overhead, then a small boat came within a quarter of a mile of the ocean water intake before the Coast Guard showed up to escort it out to sea. The NRC continues to protect corporate profit instead of the public.

The meeting for public comment will be at the Embassy Suites Hotel on Madonna Road beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26. Be there. There is also a 2:30 business meeting the same day during which the NRC will assess Diablo records for 2006.

Jane Swanson

San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace

 

 

 

Why not paint injured men too?

The New Times June 14 article "Paintings that heal," was interesting in view of the fact that one in four families has a member who suffers from a mental illness.

At $17,000 a painting, hopefully artist David Settino Scott will donate some of the proceeds from the sale of his paintings to NAMI Sloco, National Alliance Of Mental Illness San Luis Obispo County.

Mr. Scott needs to be an equal opportunity artist and paint nude male models who have castrated themselves because they suffer from a brain disease akin to the women in his paintings who self-mutilate themselves because they are so mentally ill.

Mr. Scott can probably find these male models at ASH.

Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of and help is available at www.namislo.org.

The shame comes when the mentally ill are exploited for self-profit.

Naoma Wright

San Luis Obispo

 

 

 

Why blame environmentalists?

Regarding "Environmentalists should be concerned with illegals," (June 14): Steve, it is not environmentalists who are luring illegal immigrants into the United States by paying them lower than minimum or standard wages. It is the average American who wants everything cheaper. From restaurateurs hiring dishwashers, to homeowners hiring cheap construction workers, while legal employers are paying astronomical fees in employee taxes and worker's compensation insurance, employers hiring illegal immigrants are getting off cheap. I'm sorry, you cannot drop this problem at the feet of environmentalists. It lands solely at the source the people who hire illegal immigrants.

Marcy Israel

San Luis Obispo

 

 

 

Thanks for clean water plans!

The San Luis Bay Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation would like to thank the San Simeon Community Services District (SSCSD) for reconfirming their commitment to upgrade their sewage treatment plant to tertiary treatment capabilities. As stated by SSCSD legal counsel at the Wednesday SSCSD meeting, the SSCSD board still intends to comply with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board's re-order to upgrade to tertiary treatment.

Although Mr. Schultz, SSCSD Counsel, indicated that steps toward tertiary treatment have been made through the acquisition of studies and various analysis of costs associated with the upgrade, it is still unclear (1) if the [water board] will grant an extension on the compliance order and (2) when and if SSCSD will fulfill this order. It is clear that they will not meet the originally mandated deadline of September 25, 2007. Therefore, SLB Surfrider encourages SSCSD to vigorously pursue an extension of time to complete the tertiary project and thereafter to work diligently to complete the project within the parameters of the time extension, if any.

SLB Surfrider, as well as the communities of Morro Bay and Cayucos, recognize tertiary treatment (and eventually water recycling) as a wise investment in the protection of our economic assets of ocean water quality and local water supply. Utilization of reclaimed water displaces the use of drinking water in landscape application, industry, and fire control, while offering the opportunity for wetland/open space restoration and replenishment of groundwater aquifers. In our dry state of California, the value and cost of water will only increase in the future therefore, tertiary treatment with water recycling is a step towards long-term local self-sufficiency and sustainability. Again, SLB Surfrider thanks the SSCSD for hosting a tour of their sewage treatment plant and for their commitment to an upgrade to tertiary treatment.

Noah Smukler

Chair SLB Chapter of Surfrider Foundation

Morro Bay

 

 

 

Corporate health care ruins hospitals

I found your article "Nurses Wanted" (June 7) very informative and interesting, but it was unfortunate that you neglected to mention the impact that corporate giants like Tenet have on health care throughout America today.

I worked for Sierra Vista for many years and chose to leave because once the 5:1 ratio was implemented Tenet decided that now they would eliminate nurses' aide positions, which meant that we nurses would be doing "total care" for five critical patients a day. We were already. Overworked and underpaid and for my own sanity, I chose to leave. The amount of work, poor wages, no support from management, and having to literally fight for everything just to do your job was more of a challenge than I needed in my life. I now look forward to going to work, I have health care coverage and a retirement which can sustain me for the rest of my life plus I make good money and I'm not tired and exhausted all the time. For me this was a wonderful change. I only wish I had done it sooner!

I personally believe that our major problem with health care is when big corporate America stepped in and the insurance companies began to make medical decisions. Hospitals are no longer hospitals. They are a big business out to make big money and even though they profess that patient care is a number one priority, it is not! They don't care about patients and they don't care about staff. While nurses make small wages and hardly any benefits, the CEOs at Tenet make a six-figure income yearly. Their profits are astounding and yet the "worker bees" get nothing. Their focus on profits, instead of on patients' needs and staff needs, are what has brought this situation to where we are today.

The federal receiver instrumental in improving health care in the prison system did so by raising wages. Perhaps local hospitals should follow suit instead of complaining about "unfair competition." Where there is a will, there is a way!

My concern is that the community become informed and educated about our real health care problems. Many individuals have no idea what nursing is all about until they end up in the hospital. Most nurses want to do a good job. They are caring, compassionate, and dedicated employees who would like to be paid appropriately for the hard work they do.

Jeannie Rosen, RN

San Luis Obispo

 

 

 

Guns can kill

No matter how may people are killed, pro-gunners reflexively reiterate: "Guns don't kill, people do."

Guns make killing easier and faster. An M1903 rifle pierces 15 inches of solid wood from 600 yards range, and an M-1 Garand rifle penetrates 70 inches of pinewood from 78 feet away. Guns kill or cripple instantly from a few feet or yards. No other weapon has such range and power. Knives, bayonets, clubs, even slingshots, cannot do so.

Steve Kobara

San Luis Obispo

 

 

 

Ticket to pick it

Just read your article ("The dive that delivers," June 14) and found it hilarious that I wrote an e-mail this morning about that very subject to a friend in Reno. I was describing how the campus feels during June finals week and mentioned how much I miss "diving" on commencement weekend. (I'm an employee here.)

I say "miss" because it IS against university policy and city ordinance to Dumpster dive and you can be ticketed by university or city police. My husband and I were stopped a couple of years ago by university police. We confessed our crimes and, because I was well-acquainted with the police chief at the time, we talked our way out of the ticket. But it was a little embarrassing...after all, we are 50-somethings! I come from a long line of proud, and enriched, Dumpster divers AND I married one.

I must say that you might have mentioned the potential hazards, aside from the bio-hazards, in your article. Oh well, I guess we all live and learn.

Thanks for the really fun article.

Gabrielle Lea

San Luis Obispo