Hanford mess is just one of many

The Hanford clean-up article in on Sunday, Jan. 25, explained only part of the significance of the largest remedial attempt ever made in history as our country struggles with the contamination produced by former plutonium production for nuclear weapons at Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash.

The governor-appointed Oregon Hanford Cleanup Board member, Max S. Power, will be on the Oregon School University campus to address the complexities and extent of our national quandary with nuclear waste from weapons production.

Author of the well-received 2008 book, "America's Nuclear Wastelands," Max Power has been a consultant with a long career in Northwest nuclear waste issues and he will share his insights on cleanup, policy and accountability at the OSU Memorial Union at 4 p.m. on Feb. 11 in Room 109B.

Linda Richards, Corvallis

Look for hundreds of thousands of green jobs

There is a lot of misinformation that has been spread lately about the economic stimulus package, and I for one am sick of it.

First off, how many of you want your children to receive a good education? If you don't, then by all means this bill is not for you, but for those of you who answered yes, let me point something out. Every year, we have to cut more and more jobs and cut more and more funding for the school district, but this bill will avert "literally hundreds of thousands of teacher layoffs." I have thought about that for a while, and I cannot find any rational reason why that is bad.

And let us not forget things like the creation of hundreds of thousands of green jobs. That creates employment and works to replace the polluting methods of energy creation that are currently being relied upon to power the United States. Again, I am unable to find any bad aspects to that.

Oh, and all of that health care for unemployed people. Once again, I cannot find a bad thing about that. This bill is not perfect, but it is pretty close. We need a solution to fix the damage caused by the big businesses and the Bush administration. This is that solution.

Quinn Van Order, Corvallis

Kilpatrick and 'busking' in Corvallis

(Alan McDermott, "Wordsmith hangs up his quill," Feb. 1, 2009:)

After James Kilpatrick (in "The Writer's Art" on April 20, 2008) humbly cited "busked" as being "a new verb on me," I mailed him a copy of a local newspaper story by Becky Waldrop, "Corvallis drops ban on buskers," Corvallis Gazette-Times, May 25, 2003. Not only did Kilpatrick reply he loved reading it, but he asked some questions about busking in Corvallis that led to an enjoyable email exchange.

I wasn't surprised because the only other time I wrote to Kilpatrick was in the 1980s and he mailed me back a handwritten note on letterhead stationery. He later "upgraded" to using AOL email.

I wish schoolteachers of English would adopt James Kilpatrick's methods of instruction, especially for those of us who flunked English class. My English teachers always scolded me for asking logical questions about pronunciation and grammar. To them the rules of English were perfectly clear and etched in stone.

It was not until I started reading James Kilpatrick's column in the early 1980s that I learned English is illogical and constantly evolving. His wisdom freed me to start the lifelong process of learning English.

Thomas Kraemer, Corvallis

Will we see Kilpo's like again?

(Re: "And another thing …," Jan. 25, "Now who will correct us in grammar and words?": I could not agree with you more. It is truly a terrible day when James Kilpatrick hangs it up. His column was always the first thing I turned to - even before the comics. When will we see his like again?

Sackcloth and ashes time. But to Mr. Kilpatrick: Ave atque vale!

Jonathan A. Hayes, Corvallis

New Jersey acts like what it tries to move against

In New Jersey, the state Division of Youth and Family Services has seized a couple's children, whom the state contends were in "imminent danger" ("Nazi dad says state neglecting children," Sunday, Feb. 1).

However, the only imminent danger that the children appear to be in is contracting the parents' virulent political beliefs. While the dad, Heath Campbell, only believes in Nazi ideology, the state of New Jersey is practicing it.

I find Mr. Campbell's political beliefs reprehensible, but I find the state's action even more so. In this country, there can be no cause for removing children from their parents because of their political beliefs. To do so is to engage in oppression of the highest order.

Mr. Campbell may be misguided or just plain stupid and hateful, but that does not give the state the right to seize his children. The state refuses to comment or state publicly why they have taken the children. Without such transparency, the state opens itself up to the perception that they are penalizing this man (and, by the way, his children) for his political beliefs.

Last time I looked, that was a tactic that the Nazis used and is in contravention of the U.S. Constitution. The state of New Jersey should release this man's children to him forthwith or come up with a good public explanation why not.

Martin R. Mulford, Corvallis

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