School district employees the real heroes
To the editor:
The Review-Journal has once again chosen to sensationalize a school incident (Tuesday, "Police: Teen menaced school staff with knife") by ignoring the truly heroic and courageous actions of a school administrator and turning the incident into another attack on the Clark County School District.
Instead of heralding the school dean, Christopher M. McEntire, as a hero for acting to protect human life, you chose to give an uninvolved parent who chooses to live in that school's attendance zone a moment of fame with multiple pictures and quotes.
In my 30-plus years of living in this community, I've seen time and again the Review-Journal's countless and constant attacks on the Clark County School District. School-based administrators, teachers and support staff are the first to intercede during incidents of student violence, oftentimes putting their own safety at risk. They lay it on the line every single day.
Mr. McEntire should have been the focus in this article, not the parent. If not for his dedication and skilled handling of the situation, lives may have been lost. He is a hero, and the Review-Journal should be ashamed for not recognizing him and his courageous actions.
Ken Bedrosian
Las Vegas
Create jobs
To the editor:
In the Sunday edition's Viewpoints section, you quoted President Obama saying that it is not the government's role to create jobs. That was immediately followed by a quote from Sen. Harry Reid saying that his role was to create jobs. Rep. Dina Titus also claims that her role is to create jobs.
Are these two calling Mr. Obama a liar, or is he calling them a liar? There is clearly a disconnect on the issue.
Lawrence R. Jefferis
Las Vegas
Make work
To the editor:
There are two major problems in our country: a decaying infrastructure and unemployment. Our electrical grids and gas lines need updating or more blackouts and more gas-line catastrophes like the one recently in California will result in loss of life and increased costs for the many people involved.
Fixing the problem would certainly cost less than letting the infrastructure fail by doing nothing. The fix would require millions of people working for a considerable length of time.
The second problem is the unemployment for millions of people. The results are that these people, although wanting to work, draw unemployment and produce nothing.
Why can't these two major problem areas be merged to quite possibly solve both?
Don Sibrel
Las Vegas
Police reporting
To the editor:
I have to disagree with the Tuesday story about the falling crime rate. I also disagree with Robert Raider's Wednesday letter arguing that gun ownership stems crime.
Crimes are being committed more than ever. The simple fact is the police aren't reporting them. Either they can't be bothered filling out the paperwork, the person committing the crime is the son/daughter of an "influential" member of the community or the criminal himself is an "influential" member of the community. Some people are untouchable. Others aren't deemed worth going after.
I have found this to be true in my own personal experience and have heard the same from others who have been recent victims of crime. Has anyone out there called the police and been disappointed in the attention to detail or lack of notetaking? Or have you ever followed up to see if there is a record of the crime against you on file at the police station?
Many of us have come to the conclusion that there's no point in calling the police. Like the Chicken Little story, it's not the sky that's falling, it's the "crime." Good cops see this trend and it creates a problem within law enforcement nationwide.
Linda Monilaws
Boulder City
Dumb idea
To the editor:
So the county commissioners may require all new homes to be equipped with automatic fire sprinklers? I can't think of a better way to add additional costs to building a home.
This is just what we need in this current economic climate: higher home prices and lots of ongoing maintenance.
These systems are no panacea and are subject to being accidentally set off and ruining furniture, etc. (Think higher homeowners insurance.) The costs of these systems far outweigh any perceived benefit. This is what happens in today's nanny state.
I can't wait to see the next idiotic idea to come from our leaders in their never-ending quest to save us from ourselves.
Curtiss Williams
Henderson
No resentment
To the editor:
Regarding Tuesday's letter from David Mackett about the taxing the rich "their fair share":
Exactly what is the "fair share" for rich folks? Taxes are collected for the purpose of funding government services for the citizenry. Does a rich man use government-provided roads more than I do? Does he get more protection from the military than I?
The fact is, a fair tax would not be based on a percentage of income, but on cost of services and population. Taxing the rich more than the rest of us is nothing more than income redistribution, and it should be obvious that it can take away the incentive for people to be more productive. Sure, the rich can afford it, but let's not talk about it being fair. In what way is it fair for one person to pay more for the same services than someone else does?
Most of us want nothing more than what we've earned, and I don't resent anyone who has earned more than I have. That would be petty.
Blane Bujalski
Henderson
