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October 20. 2014 2:00AM Letters to the Editor, Oct. 20 No to a military man Colonel Dotterer can never be a public servant. He doesn't know how. He is what you call a career military man. Our "military" is not a democratic organization. It is an autocratic organization. In the military if you are a superior, you are to be accepted as being the leader. He was an officer and a gentleman by congressional decree. Not because he was a leader. Having spent four years in the military under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, I know of what I speak. I was directed by one of my officers not to commit an act of heroism. A man died that I was trying to save. That is how our military is structured. You must follow a "direct order" even if it is wrong! We don't need a "military man," especially one who runs a political campaign on being a "colonel," in the Oregon Senate! Ed Scanlin, Medford Stricker for Talent mayor We are encouraging other Talent residents to vote for Darby Stricker for mayor. As a career woman, Darby understands local business owners and knows how government and the community can support them. As a concerned member of the Talent community, Darby listens to citizens’ issues concerning the delivery of governmental services. As a City Council member, Darby is an effective advocate for both citizens and business. She was the earliest supporter of the Mountain View Meadows community in their quest to bring Mountain View Paving into compliance with state and county laws. On the City Council, Darby has advocated for economic development to encourage business growth. Vote for Darby. She will represent the best interests of the entire Talent community. Jim and Marguerite Schellentrager, Talent Dotterrer's own wastefulness There are many people in the Rogue Valley with no conception of how state government functions. These folks have bought into the idea that Alan Bates is solely responsible for the Cover Oregon debacle, and the lack of jobs in Jackson County. Using this same (lack of) logic, since Dave Dotterer was in the military, he must be personally responsible for the billions and billions wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since Col. Dotterrer's main claim to fame seems to be he was in the service, and the military is the poster child for profligate spending, we should be very wary of letting him anywhere near the purse strings of Oregon. Will Bartell, Medford Concerns about food safety I have read many scientific studies that raise questions about the safety of genetically engineered foods. I believe in the precautionary principle and don’t want to eat genetically engineered foods or feed them to my family. Besides concerns about food safety, I have concerns about the future of our entire agricultural system. Genetically engineered crops have increased the use of pesticides, creating pesticide-resistant weeds and insects, requiring more and stronger toxic pesticides. They are contaminating our seed gene pool through cross pollination, and destroying our diversity of seeds which are needed to respond to changing environmental conditions. I want to do what I can to stop this trend by voting with my dollar and not supporting this type of agriculture. With clear labeling I am empowered to make such a decision. Vote yes on Measure 92 for a healthier future for our farms, food and families. Anna Cassilly, Talent Bates has earned support Al Bates has been my medical practice partner, my friend and several times my benefactor in difficult times. His kindness, generosity, honesty and attentiveness have been unparalleled. I give my thanks and my full support to him in his re-election bid for state senator. We all need a man of his caliber representing us in Salem. John Shonerd, Medford Facts hurt Bates Of course Sen. Bates would accuse the Dotterrer campaign of "going negative" when in reality, the bare facts hurt! Bates recently advocated for an additional $1 billion in new resources for schools. When will we understand that just throwing more and more money at the problem will not improve our kids' embarrassingly low test scores or raise our graduation rates? Looking at how Oregon ranks by national standards, it's glaringly obvious that more money is not the answer. It's time for a fresh perspective and I like Colonel Dotterrer's idea of reevaluating an educational process that is not preparing our youngsters for a successful future. It's time for fresh ideas in Salem and I think Dotterrer is just the man to bring about a "positive" change in education. Bates must go. Dave Dotterrer gets my vote for state senator. Beverly Layer, Medford No denying climate change Well, you can continue to deny it, Mr. Nelson (Rick Nelson letter, Oct. 8), but the evidence of climate change is now irrefutable and 97 percent of climate scientists now agree that we’re causing it. And, who are these “zealots of the religion of climate change” that you’re referring to? Our National Academy of Science? Maybe NOAA? The UK’s Royal Society? How about the Max Planck Institute in Germany? You’ve chosen to defame a worldwide body scientists researching the climate problem Fortunately there are fewer and fewer climate change deniers as the evidence mounts. And thanks to the MT’s continued reporting of this evidence, we will begin to combat it. I’ve read that even as the Titanic began to list pretty severely, and the on-board engineers (zealots?) urged passengers to abandon ship, there were people in the lounge that continued to deny that the ship could ever go down. Time to come out of the lounge, Mr. Nelson. Carl Prufer, Ashland We need water Lightning strikes that start forest fires have been happening forever. What is incompetent is taking out our dams and draining the water reservoirs so we can't fight them. How do we fight the fires without water? Our USFS roads were decommissioned in the Clinton years so we can't get equipment close enough to fight fires for hours. By then, the fires have a good head start. We have a new generation that doesn't like dams. This idea is causing a huge debt to our country. We're putting up windmills to offset the electricity we'll lose, then build roads throughout wheat fields so we can service the windmill motors, scrape the dead birds off the blades, etc. The fine for killing a bald eagle is $10,000 for a private citizen. However, the government can do this with the ESA's blessing. If you subscribe to this boneheaded green theory, you'll enjoy the other expensive ideas the progressives are engineering. How about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife buying wolves raised in captivity and releasing them in cattle country. This is full-blown terrorism in our own backyard. The EPA, ESA are all working hand in glove with the green movement. God save America! Gene Pollman, Medford Why take a chance? Simply, vote yes on Measure 92. You have the basic right to know if GMOs are in the foods you consume. Will it cost more to label them? If you read the labels like most of us who take responsibility for our healthy choices, why would it cost more? Is using more paper and ink too problematic when your health is at stake? The scientific results for GMOs in our food chain or environment has not been completed. There is a list of medical organizations that are taking a stand against GMOs not being labeled. Why take a chance with our well-being or risk damage to our bodies by GMOs by assuming that all is well? Informed choices lead to right decisions. Preserve your inherent rights, which could easily slip away if you are not vigilantly doing your homework. Dee Hawkins, Shady Cove http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141020/NEWS/141029992 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->