Conscious Choice: Choice Feedback

October 2004 | Letters

Choice Feedback

The Buried Truth

Thank you for the informative article on Barrie Park. While informative, your article was also educational in that it explained the problem of clean up: the responsibility, funding, and the actual labor involved. I also enjoyed the fact that a large amount of historical data was included to explain where the pollutants had come from. Since I am a frequent visitor to and a former resident of Oak Park I will follow up on this story with the Village of Oak Park.

L.J. Foley, Chicago

Air Show Protests

PRESENTED AS a free summertime family event at the beach, the Chicago Air and Water Show offers visitors a chance to experience up close the exhilaratingly raw power of the fastest, sleekest and stealthiest examples of American ingenuity. Then again, the Air and Water Show is also a high-octane, Mach-2, city-sized military commercial. That’s the message Rev. Paul Bossie and the What Will We Give/Leave the Children of the World Coalition have been bringing to the show for 11 years. He and his fellow protesters were hard to miss at this year’s event, having situated themselves front and center at the east end of the North Ave. Beach pedestrian overpass. Bossie was there to protest the show, an event he claims is a “glorification of war” that the “Pentagon spends $20 million” to put on. Or as fellow protester Hooshi Dara, a retired physician, more pointedly put it: “These killing machines are presented as just toys.”

Other protesters loosely affiliated with Bossie’s coalition took their efforts to the other side of Lake Shore Drive, where recruiters from the Army, Navy and Air Force were busy working to sign up a few good men and women. The recruiters there emphasized the many benefits of enlisting: money for college, global travel, a chance to serve one’s country.

Eric Peters, a burly UIC anthropology major, was busy doing some talking of his own about the military — right out in front of the Army trailer. A member of Students for Social Justice, he said he wanted to provide potential recruits with information on financing college without joining the military. Peters said he was not at the air show to convince people not to enlist, but rather tell potential recruits to “make sure you get the facts. If they promise you something, make sure you get it.” He was also handing out literature, including one flier that outlined “Questions the military doesn’t want you to ask” such as: “Why do veterans earn less than non-veterans?” and “Why do people of color make up 35 percent of the enlisted people in the military, but only 12 percent of officers?” Another provided a graph based on data purportedly from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget showing that 50 percent of U.S. discretionary spending for fiscal 2003 went toward national defense.

So was Peters against the air show? Not necessarily. He said he didn’t mind if Red Baron Pizza’s squadron of Stearman biplanes entertained the kids, for example. Of course, then there wouldn’t be much of a show left. And judging by the crowd’s enthusiastic cheers and applause to flybys of the ground-assault A-10 Warthog, an AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship, the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team and the headlining U.S. Navy Blue Angels in their F/A-18 Hornet fighters, attendees of the air show wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bossie said he felt there had been a generally positive or “contemplative” response to his group’s efforts, but during the 20 minutes I spoke with him, several passers-by hurled insults and threats at him and his fellow protesters. Very few stopped to read the group’s lists containing the names of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians who had been killed. Most people simply walked past without paying attention at all.

Adam Schreck, Chicago

Bright Night Fight

IN RESPONSE to Mark’s letter in the August issue:

I agree the city has way too much lighting and there is an organization devoted to preserving nighttime dark skies so that we can still see the stars. It is the International Dark-Sky Association in Tucson, Ariz. Their web site is www.darksky.org. Mayor Daley has been responsive to “green” ideas in the past and perhaps he can be educated about lighting issues that are an equal if not greater environmental intrusion.

Jan Gerske, Chicago

Wal-Mart Manager Comments

A RECENT article you published on Wal-Mart disturbed me (”Wal-Mart: The Blockbuster,” July 2004). I’ve worked at Wal-Mart for 17 years, am now a district manager in the Chicago area, and know firsthand that many of the claims made are just not true.

First, it’s important to point out that much of the information used in the piece came from the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which has its own agenda that is not necessarily in the best interest of our customers or our associates. In fact, our associates have consistently chosen not to unionize. That’s not to say that Wal-Mart is against unions — many of us have friends and relatives who are union employees — we just don’t think it’s right for our company.

And consider this: in most cases, annual wages for Wal-Mart associates are very close to those of unionized grocery workers. The average Wal-Mart associate in Chicago works 36 hours a week at a wage of $11.03 per hour. This adds up to $20,648 annually, and doesn’t include benefits like our combined profit sharing and 401k account. According to the UCFW’s own website, the average UCFW employee makes up to $12.50 per hour, but works only an average of 30 hours per week. That’s $19,000 a year.

We’re looking forward to becoming a member of the Chicago community and we think everyone will benefit. Readers should know that we also offer a comprehensive benefits package ... [which] are even available to part-time employees.

Skip Tinney, District Manager

Editor’s Note: Wal-Mart executives refused to add comments to our story despite our repeated requests.

Re-Draft?

THIS IS in reply to the letter written by Richard of Glen Ellyn (Sept. issue). I don’t know anything about the IRS issue you speak of, but I did do some research on the draft bill “HR 163” and you are right, there is such a bill. But what you failed to mention was the sponsors of this bill. They are congressmen: Rangel, McDermott, Conyers, Lewis, Stark, and Abercrombie. They’re all Democrats the last time I looked. You make it sound like a Bush proposal.

Jan, Palatine, Ill.

Kudos to Kevin

AS A Northwestern University graduate in Clinical Psychology and a lifelong animal rights activist, I was very touched by your coverage of Kevin Pratt, the 12-year-old boy who is trying to change the dynamics of the cruel “Goldfish Day” held annually in Glenview. Why, in the first place, does the Glenview Park District release 1,000 live goldfish into a municipal swimming pool that contains toxic amounts of chlorine? If they don’t die in the pool, they will be dead in a matter of days after the children bring them home.

Kevin, I applaud you and your cause. And you are personally invited to come to our home to see our Koi pond that is the home to many beautiful Koi, a very large relative of the goldfish. Our largest fish, Goliath, is about two feet long and they live for 80 years or more. When I was your age, I collected hundreds of signatures for petitions to stop clubbing baby seals in Alaska for their fur. I’m 47 and the clubbing of baby seals ended many years ago. Now I’m fighting to end vivisection. You’re a remarkable young man, Kevin, and you can make a big difference to help put an end to needless suffering in the world. Keep up the good work. You rock!

Julie Johnson, Evanston, Ill.

We want to hear from you. Send your letters to: Choice Feedback, Conscious Choice, 920 N. Franklin, Suite 202, Chicago, IL 60610. [click to e-mail]. Letters should include the writer’s name, address, and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity or space.

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