January 22, 2003

talkback...

The prison threat

Thank you for printing the article about the prison guards' union [12/4/02]. The prison-industrial complex is a very real threat to anyone's freedom and positive change in our society.

Every time our children's educational funding is cut back, our libraries and recreation facilities are forced to be open shorter hours, our health services are allowed to deteriorate, that money goes to the prisons. Instead of housing, decent jobs, drug rehab programs, we have prisons. While real street crime drops, more people get locked up for nonviolent, petty offenses. Our communities are struggling to survive with less resources while the numbers of traumatized former inmates are increasing.

Is this what we want for our loved ones, to know violence and neglect instead of love and creativity? Is this the kind of society we want to live in?

Mary Merryman San Francisco

Free Muni

I would like to see the San Francisco Board of Supervisors go further than resisting the proposal to raise the fare on Muni by 25¢. They should get rid of the fare on Muni entirely. Make it free to ride public transit. Such a change would speed up service, reduce the operating cost, and induce more people to ride public transit. The lost revenue from fares would be more than offset by the reduced demand for city services that support automobile travel.

The city of San Francisco subsidizes automobile travel by providing the police to control traffic, the fire department for emergency care, and the public works department to maintain the streets. Less automobile traffic would free the police to fight crime, the fire department to fight fires, and the public works department to keep the public transit system running smoothly.

Greg Kalkanis San Francisco

Are we fair to PG&E?

The Bay Guardian's Jan. 15 editorial "Free Joe Lynn!" says Joe Lynn was reprimanded because he disclosed that PG&E failed to disclose $800,000 in campaign spending. Without passing judgment on Joe Lynn, I find it hard to understand why the Bay Guardian takes such a biased position on the matter and comes to his defense. If the company failed to disclose the amount, how can a public officer release an official number? No matter how much your staff and readership hates PG&E, we at least deserve some evidence. The charge seems to be complete speculation and assumption and fails to give any evidence that there was really anything covered up.

Neil Hallinan San Francisco

Tim Redmond responds: What Lynn released was a late Pacific Gas and Electric Co. filing that essentially acknowledged that the company had failed to disclose all of its spending before the election. The minute the PG&E filing arrived in the Ethics Commission office, it was and should have been public record.

Not just SUVs

Car owners pointing the finger at SUVs are the pots calling the kettles black. According to Consumer Reports, the Ford Explorer, a typical SUV, gets 16 miles per gallon, whereas the Ford Focus, a typical small car gets 24 mpg – better, but only 50 percent better. Suppose each is driven the national average, about 12,000 miles per year. Then the Explorer would use 750 gallons, which translates to 7.5 tons of the primary greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. The Focus would emit less, but still a lot – 5 tons. Even hybrid cars, like the Honda Insight, which gets 51 mpg, would emit 2.3 tons.

The only way our species is going to survive this century is if Americans radically rethink how we live. The only way to continue with our overpolluting, auto-dependent lives is to impose poverty on the rest of the world through military force. Alternatively, we could regain moral high ground by biting the bullet (or better, melting it into something useful), and become a world leader in converting to a sustainable way of life.

David Fairley San Francisco

Vaccination problems

As a scrub nurse who has worked for 23 years in San Francisco, I am ready and willing to protect the health of northern Californians, but I have some deep concerns about President Bush's smallpox vaccination plan. Congress passed legislation protecting the big pharmaceutical companies from liability stemming from the vaccination's side effects, but there have been no safeguards put in place for health care workers and the public.

I have a skin condition called eczema. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with eczema or other skin conditions, along with pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, should not receive the smallpox vaccine. If I were to get sick due to the vaccination, I would not be able to care for my patients at San Francisco General Hospital, which is already seriously understaffed.

I am also concerned about the needles that will be used. The federal government has purchased 50 million conventional needles to ship with the vaccine that do not comply with the Needlestick Prevention Law. For pennies more, individual hospitals can purchase safer needles that would protect against HIV and hepatitis being transmitted from accidental needles sticks.