Writer misinterpreted my letter

In reply to the letter from Arlene Cook (Jan. 19, titled: Tsunami response great worldwide), the point of my letter had nothing to do with the fact that "the U.S. is the biggest donor in this crisis." I am truly impressed with each and every individual, business, and country who are helping the victims of the tsunami disaster.

The point of my letter was "if our generous U.S. citizens would donate and raise money on the same scale for the homeless, disabled, and unemployed right here at home, we would not only be assisting our own citizens, but greatly decreasing the number of those receiving welfare assistance, which would, in turn, decrease our national debt and make us a stronger nation."

I certainly hope that the rest of the Skagit Valley Herald readers did not have the same misinterpretation of my letter!

Annette Arp
Sedro-Woolley

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald

Many citizens devoid of character

The six building blocks of Character published by Frank Schaffer Co. displayed at Cascade Commons in Mount Vernon:

"Respect. People who are respectful follow the Golden Rule — they treat others the way they would want to be treated. They:

Are polite and courteous.

Treat everyone well, even if they look, act or behave differently.

Solve disagreements by peaceful means.

Citizenship. People who are good citizens:
Cooperate with others.

Contribute to their community and work to improve it.

Obey rules and laws.

Trustworthiness. People who are trustworthy:

Are honest in their words and actions.

Do what they say they will do.

Do what they know is right, even when it is difficult.

Are good friends.

Fairness. People who are fair:

Play by the rules.

Are open-minded. They listen to and think about different points of view.

Do not take advantage of others.

Speak up and work to change things that are unfair.

Responsibility. People who are responsible:

Do what they are supposed to do.

Do their best and work hard at what they do.

Think about how their actions affect others.

Accept the consequences of their choices.

Caring. People who care:

Are kind with their words and actions.

Think about other peoples' feelings and needs.

Help others.

Give without thinking about what they will get in return."

After reading this, I realized how many millions of our citizens are completely devoid of character.

Richard H. Royston
Mount Vernon

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald

‘Vestigial' organ theory flawed

Miller, 6-11-00, presumes that the "Intelligent designer" wasn't very intelligent, since there are so many "vestigial" organs in the human body. Aside from the fact that Haeckel sees this as a theological rather than a scientific argument, we should note two other more important points.

Scadding, S.R., "Do ‘Vestigial Organs' Provide Evidence for Evolution?" Evolutionary Theory, Vol. 5, (May 1981), p. 174 states, "As our knowledge has increased the list of vestigial structures has decreased. Wiedersheim could list about 100 in humans, recent authors usually list four or five. Even the current short list … is questionable."

Emphatically, the list has shrunk because man's knowledge has increased as to the functions performed by these "vestigial" organs, not because the "Intelligent Designer" has become smarter! (Scadding was in the zoology department at the University of Guelph.)

The fact that we have learned the function of most of these "functionless" organs clearly means that their origin by bumbling randomness is far less likely than previously thought, and that our respect and admiration for an Intelligent Designer should increase proportionally!

Secondly, we must understand that "vestigial" organs, even if they were actually "vestigial," cannot explain the rise of new organs necessary for the production of new life forms! Neither can they explain the origin of the new genetic information that would cause one life form to produce the body parts for a new life form and the necessary instincts to make the new parts useful!

Ward E. Ellsworth
Mount Vernon

Letters to the Editor - Skagit Valley Herald