Happy To See Smiley's And The Coastal Post
As a former Marin native ( I have to consider myself a Brooklyn native now - or die ) I'm totally psyched to see pictures of Smiley's on the web to drool over while I'm at work-mostly sitting around doing nothing.
As to the Post I've read it since I was just a Whippersnapper in San Rafael. Just wanted to say thanks and keep up the good work.
Yuri Weber
Brooklyn, NY
Herion?
Hi there enjoyed the article By Don Deane about "Heroin popping up in Marin", 4 Aug. 1996, just a shame the proof reader? missed the opening word "Herion"! But apart from that an outstanding article.
"When I die, I want to go peacefully like my grandpa, not screaming like the passengers in his car."
Ray Wellington
New Zealand
cajones@ihug.co.nzSPAM
Thanks (sic) Supervisor Steve Kinsey
We want to acknowledge Supervisor Steve Kinsey's major role in greasing the wheels for the destruction of wildlands at French Ranch in the San Geronimo Valley. Come watch the bulldozers roll over some of the best native grassland left in the State, blow dust and silt into the adjacent coho salmon and steelhead trout stream, and destroy the habitat of the bobcats, hawks, owls, and mountain lions that still roam our precious Valley.
We eagerly look forward to the gated million dollar homes that will follow, and the extra traffic that will reverberate along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard through Fairfax, San Anselmo, San Rafael and onto Highway 101. And let's not forget the precedent of allowing a private developer to own and operate a centralized sewage facility which will speed housing development in other rural areas of the San Francisco Bay region.
Hurry out to see Kinseyland under construction while driving out to our natural wonders: Samuel P. Taylor Park and the Point Reyes National Seashore. Pass the scarred landscape, share the view with desolated neighbors, watch as nature runs for cover-all courtesy of our good-ol' local boy, Supervisor Kinsey and HIS vision of "progress."
Gloria Belsky
San Geronimo
Transit Tax Best Alternative
I read your analysis of the coming transit tax measures, and your claims that traffic congestion will not be reduced appear reasonable to me. Although the effect of the projects that the measures would fund appear to be limited, it doesn't necessarily mean that the measures should be opposed.
Although you don't approve of the measures' legal sleight of hand (majority vote for a general tax increase, accompanied by a separate advisory measure) and although you are critical of the measures' limited impact, are you ultimately in favor of holding the line against traffic congestion or would you rather have it worsen?
If you have a politically viable alternative-something that could likely be approved in Marin's present political climate within a couple of years-that would actually reduce congestion, then I would like to hear it. I'd be the first to line up behind you. If you do not have such a viable alternative plan, then I think that you owe your readers a clarification that although the measures are flawed, they represent the best compromise that representatives from a broad spectrum of the community could achieve.
The transit tax is only one of many simultaneously necessary ways to combat traffic congestion. We must also fight for enforceable boundaries to suburban growth. We must also insist that building be concentrated in our already developed areas, a "building in" approach. We must also work to make our more densely populated areas more enjoyable places to live, including through more convenient, affordable public transit. These are all necessary to ever get a handle on traffic congestion. Please don't reject the transit measures simply because they won't single handedly solve our traffic woes.
Kevi Krause
Kentfield
Mazzoni Is Poisoning Our Children
What is more tragic than failing to act when we are being poisoned? Nothing. And this is what Kerry Mazzoni has done. The data was presented to her in Sacramento-the proof that MTBE is poisoning our crops, drinking water, and Bay-and she did nothing. Mazzoni chose to "study" MTBE another 18 months while it continued to seep into our environment.
I brought this frightening problem of MTBE to Mazzoni's attention personally last May in a meeting with the editors of the IJ. I showed her the data, told her it should be eliminated immediately, and her response was to "study" rather than eliminate MTBE.
Why would she fail to protect us? Is she owned by Big Oil companies?
Shame on you, Kerry. I thought the children were important to you.
Is she representing your interest? I don't think so. You decide.
Hold her accountable on election day for poisoning us. If elected, I will ban MTBE immediately, not "study" a proven poison.
There is nothing more important to me than our health and the environment. What is more basic than clean drinking water?
Russ Weiner
Candidate, 6th Assembly District
Sausalito
State Department Deserved Bombing
The lines start forming before midnight outside the gates of the consular section of the embassy. Before 7 o'clock, they stretch down the block. People are waiting for hours in the hot sun, seeking to get information about the visa rules that pertain to their cases. At the gate, the guards turn them away for lack of an appointment. They claim appointments must be scheduled by telephone, but on the phone, they say you must come in personally to schedule them.
Even though you arrive before opening time, and go directly to Window Six, they send you to Window Fourteen, which is closed. Come back some other day. They leave married couples split up as weeks drag into months and years, waiting for these parasites to feel good and ready to schedule appointments, then they mail the notices through the unreliable local mail, not caring whether they ever get delivered.
They schedule people who live far away, to early morning appointments, knowing darned well that no buses arrive in the capital early enough to make it. They don't care if you must blow two week's pay on a taxi or motel room.
Once inside the gates, you can go left, for non-immigrant visas, or right, for immigrant visas. A K-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa, so you turn left. You waste your time waiting for these turkeys, because K-1 visas are processed on the wrong side, the immigrant visa side. They don't care.
One excuse they are fond of spouting off is that they have a backlog of cases. This means they left yesterday with work on the table instead of doing that work. This also means that they are spending too much time completing paperwork "required" under regulations that they impose upon themselves. Foreigners arriving at the Ambassador Tunnel, to attend a Detroit Tigers game, are routinely waved through with only cursory inspection.
There is no reason in the world why a married couple should have to wait months, and even years, for bureaucrats to feel good and ready to give them permission to live in the same country together. These parasites act as if people who finally are granted permission should be eternally grateful or something.
On your appointment day, you can expect to sit for hours in the tropic heat, in the prison-like environment of the compound, so you can get hassled and interrogated, and pay a fee for it (exact change only. U.S. dollars or local currency, but no mix of the two. No coins. No change can be given or forfeited, these sponges demand exact money.)
Finally they tell you that the visa is approved. Wonderful, right? Now you can get on the next plane to America, right? Wrong! These are professional bureaucrats, remember. The visa has only been approved. Come back in a week, and it will be issued. There's a big difference, to them. Meanwhile, the separation takes its toll on the marriage. Staffers don't care, though, as they sit on the air-conditioned side of the bulletproof glass. Such is the scene at the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo. Clearly, the U.S. State Department deserved what it got elsewhere.
Maybe a 100 kg chunk of concrete wall will get through these jerks' heads. Knock it off with the garbage. When people come in for a visa, issue it. Anything else, and they have nothing to whine about when the embassy blows up. Just pick the wrong person to tell that their spouse cannot join them in the USA, wreck their marriage with delays, or rule that their ailing mother cannot go for medical treatment available only in the USA, and see how long the building stands.
The U.S. Government condemns billions of people to wretched Third World conditions by threatening to fine airlines that would bring them to the USA without a visa, by hiring INS goons to turn them away for want of a visa, and then refusing to issue them a visa. ("We can't let them enter the USA to work because we might decide to give them free welfare money, which we cannot afford to do.") Then they whine about it when somebody fights back. If the American public doesn't like it, the American public should tell Congress to knock it off with the garbage at the embassies.
Tom Alciere
talciere@xtdl.com
Real Meaning Of Gay
"I have been warning for years that the insulting disrespect shown by gay activists to religion would produce a backlash over time," lamented lesbian columnist, Camille Aglia, in a recent Salon magazine article. That "time" is now.
Strangely mimicking him in his rapidly accelerating slide to political oblivion, President Clinton's new left social agenda and its mostly secular advocates-also, are taking heavy flak and public criticism. Most notably, the highly vocal homosexual community is currently enmeshed in a fierce national firestorm fighting for its fragile political life-reaping a growing public backlash against its prematurely triumphant inroads to new found societal acceptance and legitimacy.
A basic premise and belief of the "moral majority" conservative side is that homosexuality is a behavioral disorder, not a genetic predisposition. Homosexuals and assorted liberal allies vehemently argue the latter case-with support from a politically manipulated and consequently suspect, 1973 decision by the American Psychiatric Association declassifying homosexuality as a "mental illness."
In his/her homespun and innate wisdom, what does the average American believe? The latest Gallup Poll shows 59% feel that homosexual behavior is morally wrong. And get ready for the real bombshell-the same survey found that more people think homosexuality is a "product of environment and upbringing rather than a biological trait!"
Who to believe-the genetic predisposition "I can't help it" camp, or the environment and upbringing "you can change, if you choose" crowd? Americans, more and more, are turning a decidedly deaf ear to contemporary liberal arguments supporting the often debunked concept of helpless victimization. So my money goes on the side of hope and individual empowerment-you can make it, if you try!
Gary E. Jordan
San Rafael
Can We Please Move On?
Now that the enemies of the President have managed to embarrass him and his family over sex, maybe we can get on with the business of the country. I personally consider sex to be a private issue and I wish that Clinton had told Starr to go pound sand when this first began.
During this investigation, the rights of the citizens have been severely eroded for political gain. We now have investigators investigating a person to look for a crime. That has never been done before. The United States Supreme Court has ruled, in a self serving manner, that a county judge has more immunity than the President of the United States. The court has, for the first time, forced a lawyer to testify against his client. And the government has effectively criminalized a sex act between two consenting adults.
During this investigation the Judicial System has again proved that self regulation doesn't work, allowing Kenneth Starr to leak secret testimony of the grand jury to the press, as well as allowing Starr to simultaneously represent the tobacco industry, the Presidents political enemy, while working for the government as an independent counsel without raising a conflict of interest issue. This is appalling beyond belief.
The President used poor judgment in having sex with Monica Lewinski. But that isn't Clinton's biggest mistake. I am personally more offended by the fact that he agreed to this investigation in the first place. Because when Clinton waived his rights to not be investigate unless he is charged with a crime, he waived the rights of all Americans to resist baseless and politically motivated which hunts.
I don't care who Clinton is having sex with. As far as I'm concerned, that is between him and his family. It doesn't set a very good example any more than it did when Jimmy Swaggart was caught with a $15 hooker. What really offends me is that people seem to think that this is an opportunity to bring down a popular president who's doing a good job.
In 1992 Clinton confessed to sexual wrongdoing, and we elected him. In 1996 he was accused of more sexual wrongdoing and we reelected him. I have no doubt that if Clinton were to run for president tomorrow that he would be reelected again. This is supposed to be a democracy and the voters have twice spoken. I feel that the enemies of Clinton are trying to undermine democracy and thwart the will of the voter and I resent it. If the enemies of Clinton want someone else as president, they should field a candidate who can beat him in an election rather than try to undermine the constitution with a scandal about something as trivial as sex.
Marc Perkel
Springfield Missouri
The People's Choice On Clinton
What can we do about the Presidential sex scandal and possible suborning of justice? Here's my idea. Why not leave the question of Clinton's fate directly to the American people? As voters, we can exercise our democratic rights in the upcoming November Congressional elections to settle this dispute.
Those voters who want to see Clinton impeached can vote Republican. Those voters who prefer to see the investigation come to a speedy close should vote for Democrat candidates. If the GOP keeps control of Congress, then the investigation continues and the President will most likely be impeached. But if the Democrats win control of the House, the investigation will end and there will be no impeachment.
By making this ongoing drama a referendum on Clinton, Starr and which party controls Congress, the American people can best decide what should happen. I am telling my friends to register to vote if they have not already. Then it's a simple choice: vote Republican to impeach Clinton or vote Democrat to retain Clinton. What a perfect solution. And democracy wins.
John Chittick
Boston, MA
chittick@post.harvard.edu
Applauds Kirby's Y2k Analysis
Speaking as someone who has used computers since the early 70's and now uses computers daily, I must applaud Kirby Ferris' latest article on the Y2K problem. WIRED magazine had a recent article which reached the same conclusion, the Y2K errors generated by non-compliant embedded chips are going to have catastrophic results. What about the chips in our communications satellites, NORAD and NOAA, air traffic control, railroad switches, municipal water supplies, life-support equipment and even household appliances (like refrigerators). Now picture all these systems going berserk at once, and we haven't even gotten to the biggest problem yet; the power grid. Be prepared for lengthy power blackouts, food shortages and communications breakdowns.
We should all take steps to prepare for this upcoming disaster and become as self-sufficient as possible, we know it is coming and we know when problems are going to surface, it would be foolish not to take precautions to weather through the upcoming glitches. Forewarned is forearmed. Check out http://www.wired.com
On a positive note, I would like to say how nice the Village Green looks in Stinson, and how happy I am that the Library is getting a long-deserved new home.
Richard Kimball
stinsonbeach@earthlink.net
Look To Thyself, Christian Right
My overall evaluation of these religious right people that put these gay and lesbian ads in the newspapers is that:
1. They are very few in number;
2. God does not approve of their behavior. They do not know God. God does not tell them to pick fights with groups different from them.
3. Their rhetorical flame-throwing-an excellent example of projection-has parts of themselves in it: their own gay or lesbian tendencies, similar to the accused. But because of their already-learned intolerance, they must express these tendencies in the disguise of an outcry. The problem is the intolerance of the accusers and not what the accused has done or is doing.
God has the answer to the victims of their own suppressed tendencies in the Bible's mote-beam truth (Matthew 7:5). "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
I suspect that the religious right will not listen. They enjoy their "imaginary games" too much. They are playing a very dangerous game because they will absolutely reap whatever is sown to the other person or group.
Ranier Penkert
San Francisco
The Mote And The Beam
Ellen Goodman has an interesting July 23rd column in the Chronicle, followed by Peter Flynn's July 28th letter.
My reply was that Ellen Goodman did not criticize Judeo-Christian values ( in fact, she is an excellent example and role model of Judeo-Christian values herself). What Ellen Goodman did was to deplore the hate, the intolerance and the superiority complex (hardly Judeo-Christian values) of the Christian Coalition toward the Christina and non-Christian gay-lesbian community. The spirit and love and happiness of the gay and lesbian people put the sad-faced, unhappy, and forever-complaining Christian Coalition to shame.
I went on to say that if anyone wants information about Ancient Rome, I suggest that they contact the Christian Coalition people themselves. It is they who are lustful, preoccupied and mesmerized by Ancient Rome; they are the victims of their own suppressed tendencies.
And finally, actually there is a Biblical way that the Christian Coalition can get themselves out of this predicament. They need to start loving themselves by practicing the mote-beam truth in Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 1-5, where we are admonished to look within ourselves, accept and develop our own personalities and to take responsibility for our own lives, instead of pointing fingers outside, being the victims of our own guilt, scape-goating and having an holier-than-thou attitude.
Dick King
Transit Tax Mendacious Skullduggery
For a rich and shining example of why We the People have such low regard for politicians, consider the current disgraceful performance of Marin County's Board of Supervisors, recent co-recipient (with MMWD) of MUTA's annual award for Marin's "Worst Managed Public Agency."
In a monumental masterpiece of mendacious skullduggery, the Supes first surveyed the county to see which groups could be most easily bribed, then crafted their phony "transit" tax (Measure A and B) in such a way as to snooker the most voters into voting for what in reality is not a transit tax at all, but a sales tax, the most regressive type of tax because it hurts most those who can least afford to pay it.
Their "Toonerville Trolley to Nowhere" with its multiple transfers will not speed but rather will delay users reaching their destinations, will take riders away from the current bus system, causing its reduction, and thus pushing more riders back into their cars.
Yielding $55 million of the revenue to what amounts to blatant Sierra Club extortion for open space purchase both dishonors John Muir and disgraces Supes and Sierrans alike.
Although pitched as designed to relieve Highway 101 congestion, only about 11 percent of the revenue will actually be used to increase 101 capacity-and the result, in fact, will be not to reduce but to increase congestion on 101 in Marin, flooding more cars into Marin sooner, causing Marin's commute period congestion to start earlier and last longer than they do today.
The coup de grace hidden within this sordid scheme is that Big Lie about the various recipient allocations specified in the "advisory" measures. Those funds don't have to be paid out that way at all. All the revenue would go into the General Fund, and therefore could be spent on any project the Supes decide on-even their own perks and pay hikes.
They say, "Trust us!" They seem to think Marin voters just fell off the turnip truck. Measures A & B are unadulterated supervisorial deceit. Vote NO on A and B.
Fielding Greaves
MUTA, Secretary and Past President
For Measure A
I applaud your editor's article in the August Post regarding Measure A, the $300 million transportation tax on the November ballot. It's good to see the Coastal Post examining this measure three full months before the election.
Mr. Deane argued in his article that the tax measure is senseless because "it won't make [traffic congestion] go away.... It will just keep current congestion from getting worse," due to projected residential and commercial development in Marin County.
I say, maybe keeping traffic congestion at current levels is the most we can expect out of Marin at this point. After all, in our culture and especially in a wealthy county like Marin, an automobile is a status symbol. We cannot expect ever-increasing flocks of Marinites to ditch their previous cars in order to reduce congestion.
Perhaps it's best to take reader Kevin West's advice and "lease the freeway the way it is and make it miserable for people to drive, thus forcing those that have the option to use alternative transportation."
Another reality to face is the steadily-increasing population of Sonoma County, which will increase traffic through Marin on Hwy. 101. A commuter rail system like the one proposed in Measure A would give commuters one more options besides autos and buses.
Keith Bramstedt
Few Bucks For Good Work
Sorry it's taken me so long to send a few bucks. Keep up the good work and exposing the bad guys.
Pat Latimer
Pt. Reyes Station
Y2K: An Opportunity For Real Change
Ok, ok, Kirby Ferris, time to chill out. I, too, have read Gary North's materials on Y2K and read more than enough advice from survivalists on this issue. Yes, a systemic breakdown of epic proportions is heading our way, but there is much more information to be factored in if you want to communicate responsibly about this prognosis.
Emphasizing physical survival in terms of money or gold or dehydrated food or guns is staying inside the paradigm the soon-to-be-failing system has created for us. What's the difference between an armed squatter and a Fortune 500 corporation? The only way out of this problem is through it. On the other side of survivalism is survival.
We have an economic-political system that has deeply conditioned us to believe that our natural state is to be forever fighting over limited resources, whether it be out on the veldt or up in the corporate penthouses. That model has been challenged by biologists, anthropologists, social scientists and a host of other reputable scholars.
These observers of humankind have discovered that essentially we are a cooperative species. We are also very resourceful. As we look around at the mad, mad world that we have created, we can always see our genius at work, even if misguided.
Y2K is not another version of the revolution of the have-nots against the haves or an update on survival of the fitter. Y2K is an opportunity of intelligence which has been building as the invisible shadow of the out-of-control materialist mania. Many of us were part of it. Remember small is beautiful, appropriate technology, voluntary simplicity, bioregionalism, sustainable culture-not to mention peace and freedom, social justice, human rights and back-to-the-land?
These themes were not fads; they were expressions of the desire of humanity toward a new style of relationship with the biosphere and each other. They are rooted in truths that transcend the temporal ways of government and economic organization, such as the current arrangement which now shows us its tragic flaw. Some people call these "spiritual" truths, but they are simply the formulas uniting humanity with the integrity of all creation.
So let the story go on through its own natural unfolding. As each of us comes to terms emotionally with the decline and fall of the industrial-military complex, our innate intelligence can be released and harnessed to create a new social order that co-exists with the natural system.
The information is already here to create that world and to create so-called miracles. It seems to me that the most responsible thing for writers like us to do right now is get that information out in every way possible.
Elizabeth Whitney
Olema
Hamilton Essential For Disaster Defense
Marin County residents will rue the day that the runway at Hamilton Air Force Base is converted to "wetland" and lost forever. The reason for this is simple: Marin is very much an island with regard to natural disasters. Of the five main roads into the county, two cross bridges that will be closed in the event of a major earthquake. Highways 101 and 37 cross alluvial deposits hundreds of feet deep, making them highly susceptible to earthquake damage. Highway 1 hangs on the side of a cliff and will probably be closed by rock slides or slipouts.
It is very likely that all roads into Marin will be badly damaged or closed after a major earthquake strikes. Hamilton's runway is the only one in our county capable of handling tactical military transports that could provide emergency relief. Even if as much as a third of the runway is damaged, it could still be used by military C-130s and smaller transports.
Fire is the second reason that we will miss having a viable runway in Marin. The Bay Area needs an airport that can handle our largest fire-fighting aircraft. It should be located within 10 minutes of high-value, high-threat areas (like Marin). Hamilton would have provided an ideal reload base for forestry airtankers and staging area for fire-fighting helicopters.
If a catastrophic fire does occur in Marin, fire-fighters from all over the United States will be sent to help via chartered commercial jet transports. They could have landed in Marin County at Hamilton. Instead, the fire-fighters will have to be flown into another large airport like Oakland and bussed the rest of the way.
Hamilton could have been a joint civil/military air field with many tenants sharing the cost for its use. The National Guard, the Coast Guard, the United States Forest Service, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection are just some of the agencies that could have put Hamilton to good use for the taxpayers. Hamilton was the ideal base of operations for any natural disaster. The United States Coast Guard once used the field as a base for their emergency oil spill containment team.
Even if Marin's residents are opposed to commercial aviation, the runway could be left intact and restricted to emergency operations.
Ultimately, Marin County's citizens will pay a much greater price than the millions it will cost to destroy Hamilton's runway and rehabilitate it as "wet land." What that price is will be known after a disaster strikes.
JAMES M. BARNES
Forestry Airtanker Pilot
Redesign School Bureaucracy's DNA
The latest report released by the non-partisan legislative analyst's office has Californians spending $5,789 per pupil, $342 below the national average, for education, grades K through 12. California has moved from 37th to 28th place in national per pupil spending.
When Governor Wilson said he was going to lengthen the school year, Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni said it would cost the taxpayers $55 million for each additional day.
There are 180 days in a school year and at $55 million per day, Californians are spending $9.9 billion for teachers' salaries and classroom supplies. But, hold on a second, they're spending $5,789 for each of the 5.6 million students for a total cost of $32.4 billion, that leaves $22.5 billion or more than two-thirds of all the money spent on education being spent for something outside the school.
School districts all over the state are having school bond elections to renovate worn out schools; Novato will have a $40 million bond election in June, 1999. Novatans had to approve "A+ for Kids" in order to have enough dollars to "maintain, restore and improve educational programs."
A case might be made that the California Educational System is spending $22.5 billion or more than two-thirds of the total budget on bureaucratic overhead.
Look no further than Novato to see how easily funding can be shifted from the classroom to administration.
For more than a quarter century Novato schools survived without a Deputy Superintendent, except for a very brief period when, for whatever reason, an about-to-retire Assistant Superintendent was given the title of Deputy. When he retired the job was retired.
The School Board resurrected the job about the time Mr. Montero made an unsuccessful bid to become Sonoma County's School Superintendent. Mr. Montero has since resigned and the search goes on for a new Superintendent. It looks as though the job of Deputy Superintendent, with its $94,960 price tag, is here to stay. The new Superintendent will receive at least $103,000.
Novato teachers received a three percent wage increase, but the School Board saw fit to give administrators an eight percent raise. In an attempt to justify the unjustifiable, the District Spokeswoman said, "The work year and the work day are longer for a superintendent than for teachers; he's responsible for a $40 million budget, close to 8,000 students and close to 900 employees."
On that basis how much should the President of the United States be paid? He is never totally off duty, he is responsible for $1.2 trillion budget, hundreds of thousands of employees and how he does his job affects 260 million Americans. The lowest paid major league baseball player receives a paycheck three times larger than that of the President.
There is an acute shortage of public school teachers in California. Chancellor Charlie Reed of California State University said, "You have a crisis here.... Producing teachers in sufficient numbers is the most important thing we can do for the state." Eleven percent of the state's 240,000 teachers have either emergency teaching credentials or are teaching without a credential.
There is no shortage of administrative personnel, so why should any school board reward administrators with a pay raise three times greater than what they gave the teachers?
The only reason for the schools to exist is to educate the children. The lawmakers say they want to make education California's number one priority. If they really believe that, they will intensify their efforts to bring caring, competent and qualified people into the teaching profession and they can begin by funneling the funds out of the bureaucracy and into the classroom with higher teachers' salaries, smaller class sizes and the necessary teaching tools to get the job done.
The changes will come about because they have to, but it will take the Legislature redesigning the bureaucracy all the way down to the DNA level.
BILL GILLEN
Novato
Union Malfeasance
I am a member of a union that recently had an election on their contract, which was voted on to extend until 2001. This union has 122,295 members (100%) ; of that number, 95,168 (72.8%) DID NOT RETURN their ballots. A total of 27,127 (22.2%) sent back their ballots with 18,539 (15.1%) voting Yes and 7,916 (.06%) voting no.... The ones that DID NOT return their ballots would seem to be a cause for concern. When members received their union paper, the headlines stated, "70% of the members voted in favor." I guess that looks better in print as in reality. It should have stated, "72.8% did not respond and 15.1% voted for the contract."
Our local branch representatives got us nothing membership asked for, as to increased benefits or an expansion of a work zone for its members.
This union with its local branch here recently had a nominating committee of five people. Two of the members were also members of the local's national board, and two were husbands of the two ladies. One lady is on the national board and one lady is on the local council. The remaining two committee members were chosen by members at a general membership meeting. One of these remaining members stated in the meeting, "I am a new member, and I will vote the way the chairperson does on all issues as they must be right." The last remaining committee member was a substitute school teacher, with many years of good service in his field.
In this nominating committee, the chairperson stated, "We are only going to nominate for office one person per office, and anyone who challenges this and wants to run can do so by obtaining a petition." This was challenged by the school teacher as not being fair for others who are seeking a nomination, and also not being a democratic process. It was voted on by the chairperson, with one member abstaining, and carried 3 to 1 to do it this way. Again, with the school teacher protesting.
One of the husbands on the nominating committee stated, "I want my wife for a second term on the national board" (remember no one is running against her nor was anybody considered). The other husband stated, "I want my wife to run for president of the local council, as the existing president sent in a letter informing of their intent to run as vice-president of the council." The other seat on the local council that was open was held by a member of 35 years and his first term in office. The nominating committee did not approve him for re-election as he stood up at a local branch general meeting and spoke up for members.
The national board of this union recently voted that if any person challenges an election, they will be written up in the newsletter along with the costs.
This is how the democratic process in this union works. So what's the name of this union-well, you come in contact with it every day. It's the Screen Actors Guild.
May Marsh
(My friend, a member, asked me to write this and not sign their name.)
P.S. As of this letter, we have heard that members have written to the main office of the Screen Actors Guild requesting an investigation in the San Francisco branch office regarding the non-union work over union performers. The Los Angeles main office is going to "investigate," as the San Francisco branch would not forward any concerns to them. The Director of the San Francisco Guild has resigned. They always do when the word "investigate" comes up.
Hot Music Software
I work for Wildcat Canyon, a music software company out of Berkeley, CA that has created a program called Autoscore that listens to you sing or play a musical instrument into a microphone connected to your computer, and instantly transcribes the sheet music right before your eyes. The user can then edit, print or playback their composition. This is breakthrough technology and we are very excited about its potential.
Autoscore takes advantage of advanced signal processing algorithms that convert sound into written music notation on a computer. The program requires no additional hardware and includes a microphone.
Prior to the release of this program, the only way to compose music on your computer was to either point and click with a mouse (not much different that writing it yourself), or through the use of a MIDI keyboard and painstakingly tap in each note you want represented. Musicians who did not play the keyboard or didn't know the language of music composition, were locked out of the world of composing. Autoscore is fantastic because it opens up composing to musicians of all levels and players of all instruments, even the human voice. So even someone who never learned to play a musical instrument, but can hum a tune-can now compose.
The majority of music software available these days is geared to the high-end user. Autoscore, because it allows requires very little musical knowledge, has great commercial and educational applications. This is a software program that the general music lover can appreciate and use to compose themselves.
I would love to get you more information on Autoscore, such as a press kit or review copy. If you are interested in this technology or may have the potential of using Autoscore as a story or review, please feel free to contact me at 510.527.5155 or via e-mail at sam@wildcat.com. We can also be reached by fax at 510.527.8425. I hope to have the pleasure of talking to you soon. Thank you.
Sam Thorpe
Public Relations Manager
Wildcat Canyon Software