Letters: Dec. 27, 2018

Radiation doses you face daily

I’m a little behind on this one, but this regards “Hanford releases weren’t minimal” (Sept. 18, 2018). Forget the banana, let’s consider the human body.

An average human (say 150 pounds) has 4.5 liters of blood with a normal potassium level of 5 mmo/lliter. The natural abundance of the radioactive isotope potassium-40 (K-40) is 0.012 percent. Based on these numbers, 0.000106 g of K-40 is present in the average human’s blood stream.

Given a specific activity of 259,000 disintegrations per second (dps) per gram for K-40, the average person’s blood has 27 dps, which translates to 2.4 million disintegrations per day. Compare this to the particle-emitting 800 disintegrations per day that the author of the above-cited letter is concerned about. Granted the K-40 dose is spread evenly across the body as opposed to a localized dose that might be produced by the alpha-emitting particle. But, the general public is exposed to naturally occurring particulate alpha emitters. For example, I have detected thorium-232 in two different brands of kitty litter, both of which form respirable particles.

Radiological dose to the public from these sorts of naturally occurring radioactive isotopes is much greater than that from the minute particles released from Hanford.

Scholarships often go unclaimed

I needed to respond to Dakotah DeRoos’ Dec. 7 letter. Yes, middle class students face a definite gap. Lots of scholarships and grants, though, go unclaimed. Many are from specific companies/agencies looking to maintain their workforces. Show interest in them — become a pest!

Without grades to qualify nor an affluent family, and little financial aid available, I learned how to finance my college education: I went to work, mainly summers. Question was, “What can I do, even with jobs I hate, to earn what I need?” I graduated with a four-year degree and no debt.

Determine what is your dream (what you want). Depend on no one but yourself. Check out jobs in agriculture (wheat truck jobs are hot and dusty), landscaping, construction, other trades to finance your education. I hear mowing lawns pays better than flipping burgers. I believe when it comes to an education, “if it is to be, it is up to me.”

Good luck and go for it!

Remember about stalking awareness

“Stalking: Know It. Name It. Stop It.” January is National Stalking Awareness Month. We, as a community, can support victims of stalking by educating ourselves on what stalking is, the signs of stalking, and how stalking can affect our family, friends, co-workers and others.

Legal definitions may vary in different jurisdictions, however, stalking is illegal in all 50 states. The National Center for Victims of Crime uses this working definition: a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. Some examples of stalking behavior are: gathering information about the victim; showing up unexpectedly; contacting by text, phone or social media; hanging around the person’s home, school or work; sending or leaving cards or gifts. These behaviors can escalate to threats, vandalism or physical harm.

Responding to stalkers may increase their behavior. Victims may become anxious, depressed, may develop eating or sleeping difficulties, and may miss work often. If you are being stalked, report it to law enforcement, and tell your family, friends and coworkers. For more information, please call the Support, Advocacy & Resource Center. An advocate can help you with reporting, safety planning and a referral for counseling if desired.

Apply prudent risk management now

Some readers might have dismissed the recent front page Tri-City Herald article on climate change causing multiple concurrent natural disasters as either too much bad news to deal with or another chicken little prophesy. But only a fool would skip insurance when warned their house could burn or flood. So why not apply a prudent risk management strategy to climate change?

If climate scientists are correct, the year 2015 gave Eastern Washington an example of common concurrent disasters expected here by 2100: little mountain snow because precipitation during warmer winters falls as rain, and the snow that does fall melts during warmer springs, leaving the mountain soil and vegetation dry and prone to wildfires, and the summer irrigation water so depleted that orchards perish.

The wise homeowner pays for insurance in case his or her house burns; we as a nation would be wise to take action to protect us and our children from the possibility that the climate scientists are right. Add the currently socialized cost of climate change to its primary cause (fossil fuel use), and give the revenue from a price on carbon back to the people on an equal basis. We have competitive energy options now.

Klippert registry: Is justice failing?

Was a little alarmed when I noted Rep. Brad Klippert (R-Kennewick) was proposing legislation for a domestic violence registry. At first blush, I thought this was a Democrat’s proposal. After all, they are the ones who want government oversight on everything.

While no one condones domestic violence, oftentimes it is a one-time offense wherein alcohol/drugs fuel the event. Generally, it is a youthful indiscretion and violators do not repeat. Yet Klippert wants to create a registry that will follow these folks forever? Thought we had a criminal justice system that maintained convictions for repeat offenders. Is there a failure in the criminal justice system to maintain current and accurate records? Why do we need another? We must ask what’s next … a registry for our race? A registry because we didn’t wear our Jewish Star or we failed to support the governor’s goofy carbon tax?

Maybe Klippert should create a registry for meandering bicyclists who fail to pay road taxes … that seems to be more his forté.

Legalizing pot is ‘huge mistake’

The legalization of marijuana will prove a huge mistake. Look at a longtime socially acceptable drug like alcohol with a 2,000-plus-year of history and the “pool of misery” it inflicts on the human family. Men won’t or can’t provide, women beaten and abused, children who go without due to a parent’s abuse of the drug, the carnage of drunk drivers and prison sentences.

Now add in the up-and-coming effects of marijuana. The pool of misery of alcohol won’t shrink. An equal pool of misery due to marijuana use is already growing and in time could well rival the alcohol misery pool. The marijuana misery pool will grow to its own level, notwithstanding the fact that marijuana will produce some conditions we don’t even yet comprehend. I know 45-plus-year, long-term marijuana users who have great difficulty in counting from 20 to 1 backward.

Marijuana has some legitimate uses as a drug as prescribed by an M.D. and has always been available as a controlled substance, as it should have stayed. The legalization of marijuana carte blanche will inflict misery on the human family to rival the misery already caused by alcohol.

This story was originally published December 26, 2018 at 11:06 PM.