Owens should pay for mistake

11/23/2009

The loss of national nursing accreditation at Owens Community College demands immediate action from its board, specifically the removal of the provost, Paul Unger, and a full public review of the weaknesses identified in all programs, followed by action plans that are funded, implemented, and tracked to full resolution by the board and Mr. Unger's replacement.

Only this will preclude other at-risk disciplines at Owens from losing accreditation and prove to the students, their parents, and taxpayers that the board is capable of proper action.

That a board spends a lot of money and has highly paid executives are clearly not indicators of its ability to provide a quality, accredited education nor the quality of its executives.

Every student expected to matriculate from a nationally accredited institution as Owens claimed to be. With Mr. Unger having been warned in 2007, and sufficient corrective actions not put in place, the students, their parents, and the medical community that employs these graduates were shortchanged by Owens, the board, and Mr. Unger.

The students appear to be entitled to a full refund of tuition and fees as a show of good faith or, in "board speak," to avoid extended, embarrassing litigation. And no, there is nothing financially in this for me personally, as my daughter graduated from Mercy.

John B. Fowler

Oak Harbor, Ohio

In regard to the Nov. 13 story "Murderer spared a cell on death row": Florence "Mollie" Newbirt was my grandmother. She was the kindest, most considerate person I have ever known. William Thomas killed her almost 15 years ago in a savage attack with a hammer, at the age of 87, while she slept in her longtime home. On Nov. 12, Thomas had his death sentence commuted to one that keeps him incarcerated for another 30 years before he is eligible for parole. He would be 89 then.

After the judge's ruling, family members were left trying to understand the decision in light of their preferred outcomes based, no doubt, on the human emotion of revenge and the logical expectation of just retribution. While all may not have agreed with the judgment, I believe down to the very fiber of my existence that my grandmother would have spoken to save the very life of the individual who had taken hers.

How ironic.

Eric D. Cook

Mequon, Wis.

I was nauseated to learn that convicted murder William Thomas will be spared the death penalty for the murder of Mollie Newbirt due to his "significantly subaverage intellectual functioning." Apparently his intellectual functioning was sufficient for him to beat an 87-year-old woman to death.

It's a shame the honorable judge couldn't spare my Aunt Mollie the brutal assault she suffered at the hands of this vicious monster, or rescind the grief and heartache that we endured for 30 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas in 1995 and still feel to this day.

Still, I understand Thomas will not be eligible for parole until he is 89 years old, so maybe there will be some justice for our family. Perhaps when he is 87 and too frail to defend himself, God will send a vicious monster to beat him to death.

Dianne Grace-Kinkaid

Sylvania

I took my grandchildren to the circus at the new Lucas County Arena. The show was terrific and the children loved it, but it was the first and, unfortunately, last time I will ever attend anything in that facility.

The seating was designed for people who are 5 feet 9 inches tall and weigh about 150 pounds. I'm 6'3" and weigh 250, and I spent the most uncomfortable three hours of my life in those seats. Plus, the cup holders placed at your knees further complicate the situation - you can't move your knees if you can get them in place.

Who was the learned person who designed the seating and what commissioner approved it? For $100 million-plus, I would think that those of us who pay the bills for these flights of fancy should at least be provided with a modicum of comfort.

So, a word of advice: If you're over 6 feet tall, stay home unless you are also double-jointed!

Joe Fern

Maumee

I read with amusement the articles concerning the proposed deer cull in Ottawa Hills and the outrage of the village gentleman who proclaimed that a state of "civil war" exists now between those who oppose the culling and those supporting it. I have to wonder if this "civil war" would exist if the culling was going to restrict the rising numbers of skunks, rats, or possums? I think not. It's because of the perceived gentleness and beauty of the deer that there is the outrage - the "Bambi" syndrome, if you will.

As a truck driver, I saw many instances of the havoc wrought by these animals but the one that will forever be imprinted on my memory is the young couple in their Honda Civic who were driving down the road, just-married signs all over the exterior of the vehicle, when they ran into a large doe. It went through the windshield and in its effort to extricate itself from the car proceeded to frantically twist and kick its razor-sharp hooves. It succeeded.

What it left behind was a formerly pretty young woman who had been a bride for some six hours and a young man who became a widower before he was ever a husband. This horrible scene could easily be duplicated on the roads of Ottawa Hills and surrounding areas. If that poor young woman had been the child of those erecting their opposition signs. would they still oppose the cull?

Better yet, since the problem is due to encroachment on the habitat of the deer, tear down your homes and return the land to the wild.

Scott Sanford

Sylvania

I read the letter from the senior citizen stating that he would spend the $250 stimulus check any way he sees fit. Well, I received my new premium for my supplemental insurance, and it is $198 more a year. That so-called stimulus check is almost gone and the only thing it is going to stimulate is the insurance companies.

We have not yet found out how much they are going to deduct from our Social Security checks to pay into Medicare. It just might take up the balance.

If we can't receive a Social Security cost of living raise for the next two years, which is how we have been paying for the rising cost of insurance and Medicare, the government should freeze raises on both and forget sending out the $250 checks.

Money deducted from our Social Security checks to pay for Medicare will never be recovered. They are permanently reducing checks of all Social Security recipients, and they are being nice enough to send $250 for one year to do it.

Eileen Posadny

Oldham Drive

When conservatives in Maumee gather to call for thetaking back of the country and adhering to principles of freedom established by our "Founding Fathers," they are missing some of the freedoms we all take for granted today. For all the good things they did to establish a government framework that brought personal and religious freedom, these guys also sanctioned the disenfranchisement of women and the enslavement of millions of African-Americans.

Ifconservatives want to take back our country, they should turn their attention to the current progressive movement to take back anti-trust exemptions granted to health-care giants. These exemptionsallow them to reap outrageous profits and deny coverageto the detriment of the physicalhealth and welfare of countless millions of Americans.

Mel Pommeranz

Lakeside, Ohio