Shouldering responsibility is true leadership
7/15/2001In my 35 years of public service as an educator and mayor of Fostoria, I learned that finger-pointing and seeking to blame others was a waste of time and, in fact, counterproductive. The truth is that major public responsibilities often require all the efforts that people have. There simply is not time to provide the leadership needed to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow and also to make a case to try to show that current difficulties are the fault of “the previous administration.”
Therefore in order to free present and future administrations of the city of Fostoria from the time-consuming and counterproductive processes of placing blame on past administrations and thereby allow them to spend full time solving the problems of today and tomorrow, I offer the following assistance:
On behalf of the broad-shouldered members of my administration (1996-99) I accept full and complete responsibility for any current problems and for any mistakes made or for any lack of foresight shown by any city administration going back to 1941, the year of my birth, and for any problems, mistakes or lack of foresight of present or future administrations through the year 2041.
Hopefully 40 years of blame-free government will be a blessing.
JAMES E. BAILEY
Fostoria
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The news that early cloning experiments have resulted in some defects is no surprise. This is a new science. This should not be used as an argument against further cloning, and certainly not as an argument against stem-cell research, especially by government-funded institutions. Research and discoveries from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., for example, have saved hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of lives, mine included.
If research were halted at the first sign of failure, there would be no human progress; we would be flying in Wright Brothers airplanes and suffering plagues from “The Black Death.”
Groups based on superstitious dogma (religion), and C-student presidents should not be deciding our national research and scientific policy.
WAYNE OSBORN
Petersburg, Mich.
Editor's note: Mr. Osborn is a research chemist.
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Don't doctors take some sort of oath to do no harm? I felt just fine before reading Dr. Howard Madigan's cloying plea for medical sainthood, but afterwards even a handful of pills couldn't calm my stomach.
Were it not for the pharmaceutical industry, he would be riding 20 miles on a pony to bleed a patient, then heading home with his payment of a ham tucked in his saddle bag. His statement worrying about the pharmaceutical industry having a focus on profit is like reading that Pol Pot wants more togetherness and understanding. There is gall, and then there is unmitigated, overweening gall that surpasses understanding.
Let's turn off the TV, stop listening to phony politicians, and get some facts straight. The high cost of medical care in the United States is because medical doctors charge 10 times their worth, not because drug companies make a profit.
Go to a family reunion and look around. Those of us in our 70s and 80s take pills for high blood pressure, the lowering of cholesterol, combating leukemia, arthritis, and a thousand other afflictions. When we play golf, swim, bike-ride, play volleyball, tennis, and all the other things we can do, it isn't because of some overpriced doctor, it is thanks to the scientists working for the drug companies that have invented those wonderful lifesavers. One good medical researcher is worth 10,000 medical doctors.
Furthermore, if Dr. Madigan is really worried about costs to the public, why doesn't he donate four-fifths of his annual income to the drug companies? There still would be plenty left over to lead a handsome life.
BRUCE SAMPLE
Woodville
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In recent decades, a disturbing trend has developed in American industry. American corporations have moved large amounts of their manufacturing overseas, seeking cheaper labor costs. The American and foreign workers both suffer when this happens.
Many American industrial communities have been devastated by the closing of factories that provided their economic lifeline. At the same time, the foreign workers who take jobs with these corporations lack many of the protections American workers enjoy.
U.S. minimum wage, child labor, and health and safety laws do not apply when these companies move their factories overseas. This is a major loophole in our laws that needs to be fixed.
Congress should enact legislation requiring that products imported into this country, especially when made by U.S. companies, be manufactured in compliance with all laws that affect similar production in the United States.
DOUGLAS BENNER
Adrian, Mich.
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Having lived in Point Place for close to 40 years and waiting 15 years for the widening of I-75, it all seems worthwhile since the erection of the barrier walls along I-75. The walls have stopped airborne rubber dust, intolerable noise, and pollution from auto and diesel soot. Also, years of worry about the safety of kids crossing the expressway to see their friends who lived on the other side have been eliminated.
Many negative questions are asked as to why we live so close to the expressway. When we first moved here, I researched the noise by parking close by, day and night, and listening. Who would have guessed that the traffic would quadruple? The next time you zoom past the walls, think about how peaceful and tranquil it must be on the other side, because it is!
TED GEORGOFF
Windamar Road
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Normally I am interested and enlightened by Michael Woods' contributions to The Blade. His recent article warning readers about the perils of listening to Dr. Laura, however, was uncharacteristically condescending and insulting toward his audience.
Any regular listener of Dr. Laura's knows her credentials and does not consider her success to be an “enigma,” as Mr. Woods refers to her. It is not “mental health” advice she doles out on the radio day after day, but “moral health.”
The mere fact that an estimated 20 million people are taking Dr. Laura's message to heart should indicate that her followers are not a small herd of feeble-minded sheep who are being led astray. Taking her quotes out of context is the oldest trick in the book and one I would have thought Mr. Woods was above.
If he would listen to Dr. Laura for a week I am sure he would be bright enough to pick up on her sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek methods used for effect on some callers. I challenge Mr. Woods to find another person in the media working as hard as Dr. Laura to encourage families to stay together and help people see the accountability of their actions.
PATRICIA J. NUSBAUM
Holland
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What Toledo does need is a Wal-Mart, possibly even a Super Wal-Mart. The price of groceries is astronomically high, and trying to feed a family of four is very expensive even if you use the grocery store cards. We drive to Wal-Mart in Monroe, Bowling Green, and Fremont just to get the deals that Wal-Mart has to offer.
Another Forum contributor made the point that Meijer might have to lower its prices if Wal-Mart came to Toledo, and I completely agree.
Way to go, Rob Ludeman. Keep fighting to get Wal-Mart in Toledo so we don't have to keep driving distances to get such excellent deals. Maybe if Pete Gerken would shop at a Wal-Mart, he, too, might be in favor of having one in Toledo.
JOHANNA DANFORD
Orchard Street