CHC should raise nurses' salaries
Prediction: Turmoil at Camino Healthcare (CHC) will decrease if management actually "... keep(s) registered nurse pay and benefits on a par with other South Peninsula-area hospitals" as advertised. Nurses' wage and benefit levels at CHC now rank third or fourth in this area. The Professional Resources for Nurses Union has been definite its July 22 vote to reject CHC's "last, best and final offer."
Clearly, the text of the offer implies that there will be no reductions. But will CHC make revisions that reverse its proposed reductions in shift differentials, accrued vacation and continuing education assistance?
According to an open letter to the public dated July 16, CHC "must also have the authority to manage its operations. ...We cannot yield decision-making authority to any union." What decisions will be made?
We customers are concerned about changes in staffing which would degrade the quality of care--changes brought about to compensate for the huge financial losses. A statement of policy based on the terms of the expired contract would relieve concern about arbitrary decisions by management and show responsible use of authority.
CHC promised to reduce costs through integration. Instead, huge increases have resulted: According to audit reports, expenses increased $37 million, or 23 percent, from fiscal year 1993-94 to 1994-95, and that level has scarcely decreased in 1995-96. The public has a right to know where these increases occurred: How much was accrued by Sunnyvale Medical Clinic? How much by Shoreline Medical Group? How much by El Camino Hospital? How much went for consultants, severance pay, etc.?
Is management right when it says, "We're doing everything we can to avoid the disruption"?
William T. Dyall
Los Altos
Air freight provides best option for Moffett
It has come to my attention that a great many people are opposed to commercial freight carriers flying in and out of Moffett Federal Airfield. I ask those opposed to consider the alternatives.
Many charge that NASA is considering the freight carriers as an easy solution to its 0.5 percent operating deficit. In all honesty, NASA could have solved the problem in a much simpler fashion by allowing, for example, displaced squadrons from Alameda NAS to fly the A-6E Intruder and the MH-53E Super Stallion into Moffett. The Super Stallion is the second-largest helicopter in the world, and both aircraft are considerably louder than the proposed freighters.
Proof of NASA's consideration for area residents is in the squadrons that fly out of Moffett. Only after Squadron VR-55 transferred from the C-9B Skytrain--a military version of the DC-9--to the much quieter turbo-prop C-130 Hercules did they move from Alameda to Moffett. All of the aircraft that fly out of Moffett are, in a word, quiet.
To say that NASA is not considering the local community is a lie. Ninety-eight percent of all inbound cargo flights would make their approach over the San Francisco Bay, not over the homes of residents. If 50 flights landed at Moffett in a day, only one would make its approach over Sunnyvale and Mountain View. As a result, Moffett's air-traffic control will be taxed to keep the inbound freighters away from flights coming into area airports. San Jose International Airport may even have to alter its flight paths, all in the name of consideration for Moffett's neighboring communities.
And let's not forget the hundreds of new of new jobs that would be available if Federal Express made Moffett its new hub for west coast operations. Demand for housing would go up, spurring new and frenzied construction, and the entire area would prosper.
Or we could vote down the proposal and allow civil aviation to fill the skies over our homes, a terrifying proposition at best. All one has to do is look at all the crashes at and around Reid-Hillview Airport to know how dangerous and at risk we would all be.
One thing we should not forget is that Moffett Field has been here longer than most of us--since 1933, to be exact--and until it is no longer operated by the government, then only the government should have the final say in what it does with its facilities.
Perhaps rather than being at odds over the matter, we should unite and work toward a solution that pleases all sides. If commercial freight is not desired, perhaps we should look for displaced military units to fill the void at Moffett. The U.S. Coast Guard currently operates C-130 Hercules aircraft from Mclellan AFB near Sacramento, which is slated to close within the next year. The Coast Guard's C-130s would make a pleasant addition to the 11 to 15 C-130s already operated by NASA, the California Air National Guard and the Navy Reserve.
No matter what, the consideration the government of our great country has shown us in its operations at Moffett Field are far above and beyond the call of duty.
Robert M. Vitale
Sunnyvale
Little Leaguer not "one of the boys"
I'm writing on behalf of Kelsey Severns, whom I've never met, and also on behalf of the thousands of girls and women who play on baseball teams throughout the United States. I take great exception to the headline that ran with the July 3 story about Kelsey--"One of the Boys"--which labels girls who play on teams, and especially those who play well, as boys.
Using this simple-minded cliché as a headline makes a mockery of serious efforts to break down stereotypes regarding women's roles in our society. The headline is also in conflict with the focus of your article--that gender is no longer a barrier to putting on a baseball uniform. Your article states that Kelsey is "a diehard baseball player. She's aggressive, determined and has good baseball skills." Are these traits limited to the male of the species?
No. Determination and aggressiveness are universal traits found in successful people of both sexes. Women, and all individuals, should be recognized for their abilities and readily accepted in what previously may have been considered nontraditional roles, whether these are professional or recreational.
Why can't a young girl who plays baseball well be recognized as just that: a young girl who plays baseball well? Categorizing a young girl as "one of the boys" infers that only boys (or girls who act like boys) can succeed in this sport. Girls who play baseball are not trying to act like boys. They are girls participating in a sport they enjoy and may even excel at.
Please update your viewpoint (or at least your headlines) and stop putting men and women in boxes. It is careless journalism such as this that continues to undermine the successes achieved by the women's movement. Kelsey Severns is a good ball player. All good ball players are not necessarily boys.
Linda Crabill
San Jose
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 7, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.