Letters to the Editors

Don't let personality or policy risk force

The most logical, sensitive and thoughtful response I've seen to recent police killings was the letter by Randy Nabors (Aug. 26).

Mr. Nabors rightly pointed out that anyone can face a police officer in a confrontational situation if that officer perceives a citizen as a threat. This possibility is apparently lost on those who defend the police actions unreservedly. Mr. Nabors also wisely admonished municipal leadership to re-examine police training.

There will continue to be detractors to this commonsense approach who will ignore reality and pretend they could never be a target for police bullets; there will be those who will cave to the national fear that infects this nation's character and blindly embrace weapons as the only form of security, and there will be those who abandon their God-given ability to think for themselves and endorse anything that "government" does. Nonetheless, police leadership would do well to heed Mr. Nabors' advice.

Those in law enforcement do not have to remain in that profession if they do not feel they have the temperament or the training to effectively handle deadly force. Neither the police nor the citizens they serve should be placed at risk because personality or policy is not suited to careful use of force.

The reality of these tragedies is a human being dies each time and a family is thrust into the horror of seeing their loved one killed. "Policy and procedure" rationalizations are inadequate defenses of such tragedies.

TIM MCDONALD

Avoiding Obama talk teaches hate, fear

"You've got to be taught

"To hate and fear...

"You've got to be taught before it's too late,

"Before you are six or seven or eight,

"To hate all the people your relatives hate,

"You've got to be carefully taught!"

Parents who kept their children out of school on Sept. 8 and the school (not educational) administrators who cowered in their offices rather than have their charges hear the president remind children to be in class, to pay attention, and do their homework need a trip to the woodshed.

The parents because they told their children, "Education isn't important." The school (not educational) officials because they are not up to their job. Both forget that education is about making choices. To help younger generations separate the valid from the invalid.

The noise came from the same side of the political spectrum that wants the Ten Commandments posted in classrooms and (Protestant) prayers opening the school day. Now that's "indoctrination."

Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics from "South Pacific" raised the question. "How are we teaching our children?" What we are seeing is "To Hate and Fear."

What are we as a nation coming to?

VAN A. CAVETT

Lookout Mountain

Were rules followed in Signal teacher case?

Several years ago when the Georgia State Department of Education required that all teachers be certified in the field in which one taught, all teachers were required to make a copy of their certificate and give it to the principal of the school. If they were not certified, they were either (1) required to take courses to obtain certification or (2) be moved to another subject.

Was this done in Mr. Jonathan "Wes" Greene's case at Signal Mountain High School? Or did the good-ole-boy system raise its ugly head again?

No brainer, here, folks!

MARGIE MERRITT

Catoosa County Schools

Ringgold, Ga.

Nation should strive for universal care

A recent editorial suggests most people like the medical coverage they have. They used a poll that found 86.3 percent Americans considered their coverage is good, very good or excellent. I wonder if results would be different if they took the poll when health insurance premiums were due?

Health insurance surged by 78 percent since 2001. The U.S.A. spends more money on health care than any of the nations on the list of countries with best health care but still ranks 37th.

Forty-five million Americans can't offer an opinion because they don't have health insurance. They live and pay taxes in a country where 700,000 of its citizens go bankrupt because of medical bills, and 20,000 will die each year because they can't afford to see a doctor. That statistic reminds me of Ebenezer Scrooge when he said, "If they would rather die, they better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

There are 9 million children now without health insurance, and as Nelson Mandela observed, "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than that way in which treats its children."

Americans should be ashamed we can't achieve something other industrialized democracies can, universal health care for all its citizens.

BRIAN DRAKE

Ringgold, Ga.

Enforcement robots prey upon visitors

I read with interest your article (Sept. 8) concerning red light cameras that seem to be sprouting up in the Chattanooga area. As a past frequent visitor to your area, I found out about these cameras through a number of computer generated announcements in the mail. What a surprise!

As otherwise safe drivers, my wife and I appreciate Chattanooga and Red Bank's safety concerns. However, most of the citations were for offenses we were unaware of, such as the new (and unlisted in your article) speed trap at Dayton Boulevard. According to my acquaintances in Red Bank, this has proven to be an excellent spot for catching the unwary motorist. Naturally, as uninformed out-of-town visitors, we inadvertently ran afoul of these enforcement policies.

We've shopped a great deal with the merchants of Hamilton County and have particularly enjoyed our interactions with the friendly folks in your community. Unfortunately, we must avoid any further expensive entanglements with your traffic enforcement robots, who, by admission in your article, are primarily concerned with revenue generation, particularly from country bumpkins like us.

So, we'll take our trade elsewhere. We'll be looking for a place where our business is welcomed and we're not preyed upon by hidden, autonomous machines.

ROGER M. DUGAS

Winchester, Tenn.

Republican view behind the times

It seems there's been two common threads sewn into the fabric of the recent town hall meetings held by U.S. senators and representatives. The first is the rancor shown by Republicans who say in unison they're against health care reform, even though they -- and the rest of us -- would benefit greatly from it. The second is the total lack of minorities in attendance.

So maybe we've overcomplicated things since last Nov. 4 by saying they're Democrat vs. Republican or liberal vs. conservative. Maybe it's as simple and plain as black and white.

This past month has given us insight into the Republicans' view of politics and society. In order to get up to date, please set your clocks back 150 years.

ALLAN BAGGETT

Trion, Ga.

Changes needed on Highway 64

U.S. Highway 64 in the Ocoee River Gorge needs safety deficiency improvements. Over 40 percent (94) of 228 vehicle crashes in the gorge from 2004 trough 2006 occurred in the Mile 14 and Mile 15 vicinity (at and either side of the precipitous "trucker's curve"). A westbound tunnel through the steep ridge is a necessity to reduce collisions. Both a short curved tunnel and longer tunnel should be evaluated.

Interchanges should be constructed so traffic into the Whitewater Center and rafting put-ins and take-outs at Ocoee No. 2 Dam does not have to cross lanes at grade. Additional right-of-way may be needed north of the existing roadway near the Olympic Center. Conservation minded people should allow a slight modification of Little Frog Wilderness southern boundary in order to avoid back country destruction on Kimsey Mountain or from the possible Corridor K southern route very near Big Frog Wilderness.

The evaluation in the 2003 TDOT EIS was that "Alternative Following Kimsey Highway" and "Alternative Entirely to South of Ocoee River" both had too many adverse environmental consequences. The current Corridor K study would face difficulty if it does not each the same conclusion.

KIRK JOHNSON