Letters to the editor

Nowhere to go

Interim indifference: A home 9 years away helps no one on the edge

Editor, The Times:

In editorial columnist Lance Dickie's analysis of the effectiveness of the outreach effort staged by our local churches ["Time to fold up the tents," Times editorial column , Aug. 25], he seems to have forgotten about the homeless themselves. Throughout King County, thousands of citizens have no place to call home. Many are able to take advantage of the social safety net that does exist here, but many more are not.

As Dickie points out, homeless people need much more than shelter to rebuild their lives. Tent City may not have a rich array of services, but it offers important things like safety and community for the residents. It also offers proximity to employment. Quite a number of Tent City residents hold down jobs in the communities on the Eastside. For some homeless people, this is exactly the right kind of support.

I am thrilled to have a 10-year plan to end homelessness in King County. Unfortunately, Dickie seems to think the existence of a plan to end homelessness has already ended homelessness. What should the homeless do for the next nine years while this plan is put into action? What should the rest of us do now that strides are being made to tackle the problem over the long run?

I would hope we continue to find ways to care for those in our community who need help. I would hope that we make Tent City go away because it is not needed rather than because it is not wanted.

— Mark Nelson, Kirkland

The tired vigil

After reading Lance Dickie's "Time to fold up the tents," I propose a new diagnosis to describe his condition: "Secondary Compassion Fatigue Syndrome." In this new disorder, the sufferer is not tired of being compassionate. He's tired of other people being compassionate.

If Dickie's tired of the Tent City controversy, he could suggest that cities like Woodinville drop their heartless opposition to congregations that want to serve the homeless. These cities have spent more than $400,000 fighting Tent City congregations and their pro bono attorneys, but have not kept a Tent City out of town yet.

Dickie and everyone else recognize tent cities are a temporary solution, but Dickie provides no funding solution that will build the 9,000 units of permanent housing that will solve the problem. In fact, The Times opposed last year's Veterans and Human Services Levy — the only new, local funding source that would provide money to help solve the Tent City problem. Fortunately, voters overwhelmingly approved the measure, despite The Times' opposition.

Dickie has now pooped out before the job of ending homelessness is done. I hope he'll take a vacation, recharge his batteries, and come back ready to propose real solutions to the problem of homelessness.

— Sanford Brown, Seattle

A rickety shelter

Lance Dickie's "Time to fold up the tents" echoes what Eastsiders have said since SHARE/WHEEL's Tent City 4 (TC4) was foisted on us more than two years ago.

It quickly became apparent TC4 was political in nature when those opposing it were labeled "hateful" or "bigoted" regardless of any personal history with homelessness or efforts to help the homeless in which they were engaged. Now SHARE's refusal to cooperate with transitional efforts (witness last spring's Safe Harbors MIS flap) is understood as a political stunt by those who see the future of helping the homeless, per Dickie, is in those very transitional services SHARE disdains.

While Dickie praises TC4 hosts, he fails to hold them accountable for their unwillingness to urge SHARE to think transitionally. And he fails to applaud the courage and integrity of TC4 opponents who repeatedly raised legitimate issues and demand of local governments — not always successfully, as evidenced by King County and Kirkland — that they enact balanced local ordinances to govern homeless encampments.

Yet Dickie's piece overall is a wise wake-up call. SHARE and TC4: Get on the transitional bus or find yourselves stuck in an empty tent.

— Scott St. Clair, Kirkland

Study in inertia

Ennui-covered walls

The Times' description of research funding cutbacks at the University of Washington and Washington State University was accurate but incomplete ["Prized research at UW is facing cutbacks," Local News, Aug. 22].

What was described for these two institutions is but a glimpse into the status of funding for the entire biomedical research enterprise in the U.S. What the UW and WSU are experiencing are not isolated incidents, as they are happening across the country in other universities. Dismissing staff and terminating a research program will be very costly to restart — if, indeed, it ever does.

While the loss to the state is regrettable, the loss to the country will be deplorable in the long term.

— Robert F. Labbe, Ph.D., professor emeritus, Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle

Experiment abandoned

Regarding the University of Washington's funding cutbacks, I am further reminded of the true costs of a nation headed in the wrong direction. Instead of funding our premier institutions and leading the world with our technological capacity, the U.S. is feeding a federal system that serves both special interests and the destruction of foreign peoples.

National Institute of Health (NIH) grants like those the UW and Washington State University are dependent on will only face more cuts as we struggle to manage a draining cash cow in Iraq and a gigantic national debt burden.

UW's research is not a "social program," but it comes under fire through execution of larger, neoconservative agenda. Let's stop killing, drilling and depleting money that could be used for lifesaving research.

— Bryce McKibben (sophomore, Political Science, University of Washington), Seattle

Lonely planet

Seeking same for Plutonic relationship

According to an official source, Pluto, having been removed from the protective umbrella of planethood, is sending an emissary to Washington, D.C.

"We're not sure what they want," a credible official was quoted as saying. But other reliable sources contend they are going to ask for military aid. "Removing them from planethood places them at great risk of being overtaken by other rogue non-planets," the official said.

Meanwhile, speaking from the White House on condition of anonymity, an informed aide said, "The president has no intention of allowing terrorist attacks on America. For that reason we are taking very serious any threats from Pluto or any other planet ... uh, non-planet."

However, another source within the White House said this trip is not viewed as a threat. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves — we don't want the tail wagging the dog," he said.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was unavailable for comment, but a reliable source within the department was quoted as saying, "I'm sure there will be a statement just as soon as we figure out which security slot a visit from outer space fits into."

— Louise Page, Auburn