May 15, 1975 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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/PETE 15 A,'FI-I,( ID IN CAMBODIA
The worst legislative session in the state's history?
Probably. If anyone claims he can find a connection
between what is going on in Olympia at the moment and the
general welfare of the citizens of Washington, he must be
eating and drinking from the same ,fouled trough as the
legislators.
A House and Senate leadership which told the people its
continuing session concept would shorten and improve
regular sessions is now presiding over the longest and most
unproductive session on record.
The optimistic boasts of four months ago about the
computer system which would burp fiscal miracles at the
push of a button are now ancient history.
Computers do not make decisions; computers provide
figures. And when the persons who are provided with the
figures are unable or unwilling to make decisions the instant
statistics are useless.
Not everyone, however, is unhappy with this marathon
session. The beneficiaries of the ripoffs perpetrated during
the past four months are satisfied.
The highway lobby is happy that it has been given ample
money to spread more asphalt and concrete at a time when
every indicator points to the need to replace a large portion
of automobile travel with efficient public transportation.
The small loan companies are pleased with the
House-approved expansion of their 12-to-36%-interest vise on
citizens who are shown the door at stuffier lending
institutions.
The private utilities will be ecstatic if the ripoff they
guided through the House escapes the Senate.
Then there is Wally Miller, beneficiary of the most
blatant ripoff of the session, which was engineered last week
by House Speaker Leonard Sawyer and Senate Majority
Leader August Mardesich.
Several weeks ago, when hordes of teachers, students and
parents invaded Olympia to pressure legislators into providing
relief from special school levies, the Legislature asked State
Superintendent of Public Instruction Frank Brouillet for a
definition of a basic education. That was an obvious starting
point lot any evaluation of the state's responsibility for
school financing.
Brouillet, a former legislator who is now paid to come up
with answers to questions such as this, produced a typical
legislator's answer.
That's a tough question to answer, he told his former
colleagues; you just give us the money for schools and we'll
decide how it is to be spent.
The administrator of a $1 billion-plus budget to educate
the state's children could not define a basic education.
liacredible? h o. Par for the course.
in Brouillet's files is a copy of a report on special levies
made in 1970 to answer that very question. The Special Levy
Study Commission, authorized by the Legislature, spent a
year and a half and $395,000 to produce its report.
Following Brouillet's non-answer, Sawyer and Mardesich
hired the aforementioned Wally Miller on a personal contract
of $250,000 to go over the same ground covered by the 1970
committee.
Yes, gentle reader, this is the worst session in history.
And your money is paying for it and its crop of ripoffs.
•
Editor, The Journal:
Some kind soul sent me your
column of March 27.
It was funny. Funny. Funny.
1 laughed. And laughed and
laughed.
My husband was an editor for
many years. He was an editor
when ! entered junior high school.
People tell me two things about
him: He was one of the best, and
he was a dirty old man (for
marrying a child like me).
He also thinks your column is
funny. He now is the western
representative of King Features.
Washington is part of his
territory. You are one of his prey,
although he does not normally
call on weeklies. 1 am going with
him this summer. He plans to visit
Washington. He says he will take
both of us to lunch if you can go.
Here's the best part.
He will pay. And he won't try
to sell you anything.
Which of my articles did you
see? Some editors agree with my
conclusions. Some do not.
Vidura, the editor and publisher
of India, has a version in its
current issue. Gannett
Newspapers has duplicated it and.
distributed it among their
editorial departments. Gannett is
very big. 1 am pleased. Professor
Harlan Stensaas of Washington
State does not agree. 1 am sad -
but ! cannot change the statistics.
The part of your newspaper
sent to me consisted of two
columns on page 4. Just below
your column was one by Joseph
C. Harsch. He works for the
Christian Science Monitor. My
husband says the Monitor is one
of the finest newspapers in the
world. He says all its writers are
tops. He says the Monitor has told
its reporters to hold their
sentences to 15 words average. He
says they are to avoid words
longer than three syllables.
In columns one and two of
page 4 he has 17 complete
sentences. They contain 245
words. That's 14.4 words per
sentence. Of the 245 words, only
three have more than three
syllables. They are disintegration,
expensively and abandonment.
Would you hire Joseph
Harsch?
I hope you will have lunch
with us. It will be fun. You can
have a banana with your cereal.
Please let us know.
Carolyn Clark Relley
La Joila, California
By ROBERT C. CUMMINGS
Of all the money spent on
education, school administration
costs have received more criticism
from both the Legislature and the
public than any other one item.
But at least one legislator has had
some words in their defense.
Representative Edward
Luders, a legislator from Spokane,
said court decisions declaring
every child between ages six and
18 is entitled to an education
have made it impossible to expel
unruly students. Attempts to do
so have not only been
• unsuccessful, but have resulted in
expensive court costs and
attorney's fees, which are charged
to administration.
Security Costs Money, Too
Compelled to keep such
students in school has made it
necessary for some school
districts to hire 24-hour security
guards, also charged to
administrative costs. Still
vandalism continues and
insurance premiums rise as a
result, adding als0 to maintenance
costs.
Though sympathetic to this
situation, numerous lawrqakers
remain unmoved on this point.
Any legislation providing for
special levy relief is pretty certain
to include some proviso
restricting the amount which may
be spent on administration.
Long Study For Moratorium
A bill to impose a five-year
moratorium on construction of
any additional nuclear-fired
energy plants could be subjected
to a study for almost as extended
as the proposed moratorium.
Representative A. A. Adams,
Tacoma, chairman of the Social
and Health Services Committee
which has the bill, has assigned
the study to a subcommittee
headed by William J. S. Day,
D-Spokane, who is known to
"make haste slowly." Other
Democrats named to the
subcommittee include Elmer
Jastad, Morton; Mary Kay Becker,
Bellingham; and Adams.
Republican members are Ire
G reengo, Seattle, and Earl F.
Tilly, Wenatchee. Not more than
two of the subcommittee
members could be classed as
environmental-oriented.
it Won't Go Away
A proposed 12 percent excise
tax on corporation profits, HB
673, has been buried in the House
Ways and Means Committee, but
it isn't dead yet.
The measure, sponsored by
Charles Moon, D-Snohomish,
received a "do pass"
recommendation from the,
Revenue Committee, but he
concedes it lacks the votes.to get
out of Ways and Means.
Another Way To Go
The schools' financial crunch
provided the measure with
enough stealfi to get it out of the
first committee. But the certainty
that the measure, if passed, would
be tied up for a year or more in
court challenges, caused many of
its supporters to back away.
But on file in the Secretary of
State's office is Initiative 314,
which is identical to HB 673.
Prohibited by the public
disclosure law from campaigning
personally in behalf of Initiative
314, Moon is counting on support
from various groups, though a
similar .initiative failed to make
the ballot on a previous try.
Moon had expected backing
from the Washington Education
Association, but it failed to
materialize.
~M~j~l~llll~l~l~ll~l~lll~lll~ll~l~l~ll~lllllllll~l~l~l~l~l~l~l~l~ll~l~lllll~
By DAVE AVERILL
It is not true that all politicians complain about
newspapers.
Stand one of them up in front of an audience of editors
or publishers, and he will deliver 30 minutes of praise. A free
press is a bulwark. Keep at it, fellows.
Then he will go home and rinse out his mouth with
Lavoris. ,
Look, count yourself glad that the press and the
politician are natural enemies. If a bunch of rascals like that
ever got together and lined up on the same side, everybody
would be in trouble.
When you do run into a statesman in his natural
condition, grumbling about the newspapers, it is instructive
to consider what kind of newspapers we would get if we let
politicians do their own editing.
By happy chance, a publication already exists that shows
what the result might be.
It is the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a massive monument to
political vanity that costs the taxpayers millions of dollars
every year.
Because a member of Congress can change his mind after
making a speech, calling back the very words he has uttered,
the Congressional R cord is full of inaccuracies.
Because everyone enjoys seeing his own words in print, it
is full of fluff. It can be boring beyond belief, with page after
page of trivia.
The Congressional Record has no regard for the truth. It
will aid any congressman in presenting the fiction that he is
hard at work, making speeches on the floor of the House,
when in fact he may be thousands of miles away.
Unblinkingly, it prints obvious lies.
It's bad. It's even worse than the newspapers.
Editor's Note: The following
is a sample of the material printed
in the Congressional Record. "Mr.
ESCH" is Representative Marvin
L. Esch, Micigan Republican. The
item appeared in the Record on
February 27, 1975.
Mr. ESCH. Mr. Speaker, easily
the most serious problem m the
United States today is the state of
the economy, and the problems
all of us are having coping with
rampant inflation. Our many
distinguished economic advisers
have met on numerous occasions
to determine policies which might
alleviate these ills, and many
consumer groups and private
individuals have taken upon
themselves the burden of seeking
solutions to our economic woes. 1
would like to take a moment to
share with you the text of a letter
which I recently presented to
members of the Huron Valley Girl
Scout Council of Michigan for
their efforts in combating
inflation in a most unique
lash ion :
Huron Valley Girl Scout Council
Dear Friends: I wish to take this
opportunity to commend the
members of the Huron Valley Girl
Scout Council for their initiative
in maintaining the 1974 price of
Girl Scout cookies in the face era
1975 price rise. While other
Councils throughout the United
States have bowed to a 25-cent
increase in price, the Scouts in
our area have decided to do their
part in fighting inflation by
setting the goal of selling 25%
more cookies than last year at last
year's price.
While the chief topic of
conversations in Washington and
throughout the country has been
the state of the economy, our
local Girl Scouts have decided to
do something besides just talk. I
am proud to be able to commend
them for their determination and
drive to not only help themselves
and their organization by selling
cookies, but to do so in a manner
that is an inspiration to us all.
Sincerely,
Marvin L. Esch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H~~~~~~~~~i~H~~~~~i~~
Page 4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, May 15, 1975
Editor, The Journal:
In 1973 I spent six months as
a volunteer role-play coordinator
at Western State Hospital on the
sexual psychopath program. What
I observed during that internship
produced in me an eager faith in
what has come to be known as
"rehabilitation."
The rationale upon which the
sexual psychopath program ts
based assumes the innate
potential of its inmates, and the
result is an almost tangible
positivism among the staff and its
charges. Members of the staff are
generally insightful, aware
individuals who purposefully
stand beside the inmates to face
the common adversary which
they recognize to be the infinite
complexity of life.
In addition to viewing the
inmates as individual offenders,
the staff is able to see them as
byproducts of a disturbed and
confused society, and it is this
very awareness which brings
about in the staff a sense of moral
responsibility toward the inmates
and a stake in their future. The
staff and the inmates work
together, and the result is a
dynamic, creative and stimulating
gestalt that feeds back to
everyone involved.
There is no cleady defined
division between the staff and the
inmates inasmuch as everyone is
striving toward the common goal
of adjustment. The staff helps the
inmates to discover innate
strengths and to develop living
skills which will allow them to
cope with their everyday
existence. Faced with the
integrity of that program for six
months I came to believe that the
State of Washington was facing
the problems of criminality
rationally and progressively.
After six months at
Washington Corrections Center in
Shelton I have discovered to my
dismay that the program in which
i participated at Western State
Hospital was not in any way
representative of the corrections
system at large. What I have
witnessed here at Washington
Corrections Center appears to me
in many ways to be opposite to
what 1 witnessed in Steilacoom.
The strong sense of "we"
which was so constructive at
Western State Hospital is replaced
here in Shelton by an equally
strong sense of "we versus they."
The population within the barbed
wire is divided absolutely into
"staff" and "inmates," the
institutional rationale revolves
around "good we and bad they,"
and the inmates themselves are
the enemy.
The evolution of this overview
is certainly a natural
phenomenon, for it is little more
than yet another manifestation of
that all too familiar attitude
which has evolved into "good
white and bad black." "good
Aryans and bad Jews," "good
cowboys and bad Indians,''and
"good Christians and bad
Saracens" since the dawn of
ethnocentrism. It is, however, the
more disheartening to one who
has seen a program in a state
institution that functions
successfully without it.
The system of corrections
w h i ch results from so rigidly
judgmental a rationale is
ineffective by its very nature.
Socially conscious employees
invariably flee in despair after a
length of time that is directly
proportionate to the strength of
their ideals. In order to function
within the present system at
Washington Corrections Center
one eventually must declare one's
position or leave the field. Those
employees who refuse to stand
apart and above the inmates by
declaring themselves socially,
morally and intellectually
superior figuratively have signed
their resignations.
In the interim between the
"signing" of the figurative and the
submission of the real resignation,
such employees are necessarily
forced into a group that is
isolated from the dynamics of the
institution.
At Washington Corrections
Center attention is focused upon
a rigid social structure represented
by job titles and arbitrary labels
underlaid by the aforesaid
we-they syndrome. Injudicious
hiring practices have created an
indestructible core of fearful,
insensitive staff members whose
very existence gave rise to and is
perpetuating the negative
atmosphere within the institution.
The few fringe individuals
who genuinely are concerned
about the inmates are forced
every day to defend their
compassion, and they are
maligned and derided by the
remainder of the staff. The result
is low morale, bickering and
gossiping, and an almost universal
lack of pride in employment.
Staff members are hostile to one
another and the inevitable result
is an atmosphere of hostility from
which the hapless prisoner must
attempt unsuccessfully to glean a
positive sense of self.
Within this milieu the
prisoner, in the words of the
"State of Washington Philosophy
sexual psychopath
short of p¢
imperfections maY
ensured its demise.
the program
the unity of
involved in it.
The people
psychopath
together toward a
and to assail a giant
time, misfortune
people at Washingt°n~
Center are at
several
unconscious 0:
significant issues,
of Corrections," is expected "... perceive the giant.
to maximize his opportunity to Until the staff~
become a productive, constructive
member of society...," and to
execute "... an early return to
responsible citizen participation
employing a pattern of behavior
which is both rewarding to the
individual and acceptable to the
society."
This discussion of the Western
State Hospital sexual psychopath
program and Washington
Corrections Center is not
intended to suggest that one is all
right and the other all wrong.
There is little doubt that the
Corrections Center
above its own
unified staff
inmates to
problems, it will
dismally in its
"correct." The
is a product of the
fear that
prejudice, and
that an institution
prejudice will
all.
Editor, The Journal:
I have a question and response
to two letters published in the
Journal May 1, 1975. -
First to J. Westlund. You and
many like you feel drugs are
"your business." Your attitude
seems to be, leave us alone to do
our own thing. That might be fine
if one, your thing was not illegal
and two, if it didn't affect others.
You seem to feel it only affects
yourselves.
afraid that as a
and parent,
restriction are
my child's
Second, to
Demand hares
evident in every
There is a very
the X-rated movies :
Don't go if you
them.
As the
has a full house
Answer this for me, please. If movies. All are
it only affects you, where are the 18 years of age.
drugs coming from that are (shown by a full
available in the schools, even the family movies, he
grade schools? If it only affects
you, where are the children, who
come from families that have no
idea what the difference between
marijuana and LSD or
amphetamines~ and barbituates,is, "
getting their drugs? Maybe from
people like you or more possibly,
and as likely from your children
who see their parents with it so
feel there is no wrong.
I enjoyed your letter; it was
very well written. However, I am
more.
I don't care
movies generally
have seen some
movies with an
, times when" aft~
much. However
does with this
The point
supply is
demand.
Editor, The Journal:
In response to your article,
"Civil Services Practices of Sheriff
Questioned." In October 1974, l
took a Civil Service test for jailer,
Mason County Jail; two positions
available; six applicants.
Results of test - four failed,
two passed. The type of Civil
Service test - 3 hours length,
rookie patrolman, larger city,
Midwest. Categories of questions
- logic and reasoning, memory,
attitude and a few others.
The test was given by Warren
Knutzen. I spent the total three
hours taking the test and
rereading test questions that I had
doubts about whether l had
answered correctly.
Have you ev
the woods or
and smelled
wonder if Warren
has the test results
to show them to
other people that
It has been
of the
already a parl
don't know
time, but it
Well anyway, if
driving by
notice a
maybe they
plumbers.
Mack McGi
I have a friend who took one karate lesson and
boards. With his cast.
.~aul Dean in The
A motorist, filling out an accident report form,
out of a parking space, and by the time I backed
what was coming, it already had."
(Charlie Wadsworth
Gauging in.qation's bite: A Minneapolis man ate at
and noticed that a "poor boy" sandwich now costs
Mailing Address: Box 430, Shelton, Wa. 98584
Published at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton,
Washington 98584, weekly.
Second-class postage paid at Shelton,
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $6.00 per year in
in advance -- Outside Mason
E~)ITOR AND PUBLISHER ...............