Bonuses hardly compensate work
There has been a lot of negative press about bonuses for Erlanger management, and I honor everyone's perception of what should have been done instead. Erlanger's line staffers are hard-working, caring individuals who are the heart and soul of the organization.
I cannot speak for the "gang of 99," but as one of them, I can tell you I and most of the other salaried people in my department put in long hours and do not get the perks of hourly employees. We only get additional compensation if the hospital meets its targets, and this was the first time in four years that happened. My bonus was equivalent to about $5.68 per hour. If you know anyone willing to work for that, send them my way.
The CTFP printed the compensation for top executives, and only one of them earned $400,000 a year. The rest of us are so far away we'd have to drive to get there. Many of us are not paid at market rates because we've been hard-pressed to recruit managers for less than we pay directors. The variable compensation David Cook calls a "bonus" is what makes up part of the difference for us.
Cindy Olson
Obama oversteps with media support
President Obama is doing things backwards and by so doing altering 238 years of this country's great heritage. Major actions are being taken by one person, himself, and then public debate and discussion follow. This is all backwards. With action taken first, debate and discussion cannot help mold the final decisions. In this, Congress is being treated as scum. In our system, Congress is to represent and reflect the voice of the people. Therefore, by cutting Congress out of the decision-making process, the voice of the people is silenced. This is unAmerican, king-like and dictatorial. Recently, the president acted alone on two complex issues: immigration and Cuban relations. It appears he is determined to go solo since he has no more elections to face and since he has little respect for the U.S. Constitution. Who's going to stop him? He is able to hide behind the media's adoring support. So he likely will become even more bold and brazen for the remainder of his term. Throwing the president's own words back on him, "This is not who we are" this is not how we are to function here in America!
Jerry Johns, Ringgold, Ga.
Changing starts with respect, love
I have long awaited some pundit to address this issue of racial profiling and attitude adjustment. I am dismayed and appalled that the black community has shot itself in the foot with the recent retaliatory actions. It has reinforced the bigot's stereotyped view of blacks as thugs. What the black community wants to do is change the thoughts, attitudes and therefore the actions of the white community. It naturally wants fair, equal treatment. We all thought the Civil Rights movement would solve that. It hasn't.
There is no law that can be passed that will change this issue because we cannot legislate how a man thinks or feels. But the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gained respect by acting respectfully himself. If we want to be heard and listened to, and perhaps even change some attitudes, we must act respectfully and respond with love. And pray for the bigot, for he too is fearful and has no true self-respect. It will take time, for only love and time will change a cultural attitude.
Barbara Tynes Claiborne, Dayton, Tenn.
Young people should think before acting
The whole thing is ridiculousness. Drinking, asking or not asking for sex.
Sometime ago, there was a young female reporter on the newspaper staff. I remember she was young and from north of the Mason-Dixon line. She wrote several times about young people living together, casual sex and drinking. I wrote her once and asked her why a young person would feel compelled to jump in the bed with just anyone. Disease, anyone? Respect? She had no definitive answer.
Solution: Young people think. Your reputation is yours to either protect or ruin.
Margie Merritt