By Staff
Message to Democrats: Are you with us or not?'
To the Editor:
Mississippi's congressional delegation is being reduced from five to four congressmen because of the little to no growth in population. A current congressman will be out of a job. Which one?
It is given the Congressmen Thompson, Taylor and Wicker will retain districts designed to allow them to remain in office. The question before the Mississippi Legislature is how to draw a new district from most of the areas now represented by Shows and Pickering.
Republicans like John Robert Smith and chamber of commerce types who have gained from an association with Congressman Pickering want a new district that will insure, a Pickering victory over Shows. You can't blame them.
But isn't it also only natural that Democrats would take a different view? Charles Young is a highly respected leader in the Mississippi Legislature a personal friend of my family and much loved in his community. Mr. Young is also a Democrat.
Asking Mr. Young to abandon his party, his principals and the people who trust and elect him as Republicans like Mayor Smith have is an insult to his integrity and the interests of the voters Mr. Young represents.
If the Democratic Mississippi Legislature designs a new congressional district to give Republican Pickering an advantage over Democrat Shows, it would destroy the state Democratic Party. Such a move would prove a disaster to the majority of Mississippians who look to the Democratic Party to protect their interests.
Representative Young and all Democrats in the Legislature must insure that Mississippi's new congressional lines reflect Mississippi's racial, political and economic best interests. That means that at least three of Mississippi's new congressmen must be Democrats.
Amy Tuck's new plan sounds like something someone with ideas of running for governor as a Republican might propose. She and others are going to find that the Democratic majority of Mississippi voters are going to be loyal to those who are loyal to them.
In the real world, congressional redistricting is always a political issue. Voters have a right to expect candidates who run as Democrats will vote as Democrats. The vote on congressional redistricting is a critical test of public and political integrity. Mississippi Democrats are asking Democrat members of the Mississippi Legislature, "Are you with us or not?"
Harrison Lewis
Executive Director Coalition for Change Meridian
Nurse notes childish' behavior
To the Editor:
Yes, there have been layoffs at Riley Hospital and, yes, the morale at Riley is low. But it is not all HMA's fault.
HMA came to this community knowing it would be a difficult transition. But little did they know they would be up against a lot of childish professionals.
Yes, childish. The physicians in this community have to take most of the blame for the low morale and layoffs. When they realized they weren't going to get their way all the time, they starting acting so childish.
By childish fits, I mean screaming, throwing instruments, charts, etc., stamping feet and sitting down in the middle of the hall. I wonder what would happen if your patients saw how you act.
Think about who you have hurt. Do you think HMA is hurting? No. You have hurt the nurses and other members of the staff. Most of all you have hurt your patients. You are to blame for the layoffs. You have deprived your patients of the best care given at Riley. Thanks a lot. I hope you are happy.
I ask you, is this the way well-educated professionals should act? Is there a course that is required in medical school that teaches arrogance-abuse?
I have worked long and hard and I do a good job. I love nursing, especially the patients. I didn't go to school to pamper the physicians. It's a shame the physicians act like this.
Yes, I still work at Riley Hospital and I will continue to do my best to deliver the best care to my patients. They come first, not the physician.
So quit throwing your fits because there's not a nurse to make coffee, get you a drink or make rounds. Grow up.
I guess you can tell that I am angry. Well, you are right. Before you verbally abuse a nurse think about who is actually taking care of your patients. You can change and bend a little. Think about it.
Name withheld by request
Reader says United Way insensitive'
To the Editor:
Hats off to Dorothy Dean's letter to the editor (The Meridian Star, Oct. 14). I, too, saw the television interview with the director of United Way. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Not only was he insensitive, but also his total disregard for the disabled community made me cringe.
The United Way is supposed to help everyone and building a ramp is just the tip of the iceberg. The United Way's director was cold, uncaring and downright wrong. I am ashamed and embarrassed to think that this man is trusted to head up any non-profit organization.
I have made donations to the United Way for several years, but never again. I will donate to the individuals that need my help the most. To think that any of my money could possibly go toward paying this man's salary is more than my conscience will allow.
I hope if this United Way director ever suffers a disability, he does not encounter the same type of treatment that he dishes out to others. I also agree that he should have sensitivity training consisting of being put in a wheelchair and carried into all places that do not have wheelchair accessibility.
I'm afraid the only way to make him see the light is to take away his paycheck and let him try to live on a disability check or social security income.
Attention United Way! You have seen your last donation from me and hopefully from the thousands of people who have a disability.
Aline Plilar
Hickory
Dog problem in the county
To the Editor:
My son went out of town for one night and asked me if I would come and feed his three cats in Toomsuba the next day. It was beautiful weather outside and the cats enjoyed sleeping under the trailer and playing in their yard. They were spayed and neutered so we knew they wouldn't roam and his close neighbors promised to keep an eye out for them.
I knew when I went up to his trailer and only two cats came running out to me from under the trailer that it didn't look good. Garbage was scattered everywhere and even the garbage can had been eaten. There were only a few pieces of it left.
During the early morning hours, the mangy dogs who run the area had just torn the whole yard up as well as killed one of his sweet cats. Midnight was her name. The dog who killed her was a Timberland wolf. He dragged her precious little body all the way over to his house on the street behind where my son lives.
My son had already talked to this man before about his dogs under his trailer so he knew where to look for her. Her lifeless body laid right beside the murderous dog. The man was sorry it happened and, pointing the little cat out to his dogs, he even whipped them for it and chained them up.
My son buried his cat beneath the tree she used to play under. The man came to my son's house and helped him clean the garbage up that his dogs had strewn everywhere. Looking at how sweet his other two cats were the man apologized again saying how sorry he was.
If the man had just taken responsibility for his dogs and kept them in his own yard this would have never happened.
Please, people, think about what I've written and have respect for others before it's too late.
Miriam Garrett
Meridian