After ignoring Dean Tong's recent commentary on Family Court's supposed bias toward women, I must respond after reading these sentiments echoed by letter writer Amber Schutz.
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Statistics show that women lose most in divorce court, at least since the advent of the "no fault" system. Men's incomes increase; women's plummet. Men win custody in about 70 percent of cases where they fight for it.
I spent years raising good kids. My husband prevented me from attending law school, allowing me to spend only one year earning a teaching license. I was left with the means to get a lousy job that's destroying me.
He, with his eight-year doctorate, doubled his salary in the time I worked in the home. He fought for one of two kids and got him: Two siblings were split because he wanted one, though that child wanted joint custody.
His salary is probably close to triple mine, yet he pays only $500 per month in child support. And I was ordered to pay half of both children's medical costs. I will never see alimony again, and I won't be able to retire. Struggling to buy a decent home has been a nightmare.
More than a decade of work within marriage left me with no more money, and less opportunity, than I'd entered with. I was a breeder and free domestic servant, treated like a freeloader because I'd raised my children, working part time, rather than sticking them in day care.
Research bears out that my experience is typical. Though fathers sometimes experience horrendous decisions, women generally suffer more from divorce court.
Betty Buehler
LAS VEGAS
Lap dogs
To the editor:
President Bush and his Republican lap dogs should stop the undeclared war on the media, and in particular quit trying to intimidate The New York Times and others from doing their jobs. The American people need to have a free press to check the excesses of government. And certainly this administration has not yet earned the trust it keeps trying to command.
Instead of the reckless contempt the administration shows for a free press, the Constitution, and our Bill of Rights, they should be fighting tooth and nail to preserve them.
Sen. John Ensign of Nevada and all the other congressional Republicans should quit lying down and start demanding some accountability. They must start providing oversight and the checks and balances our people deserve. If we're not going to do that, we might as well have an emperor and a state-run media. We're darn close now.
Richard Secrist
MESQUITE
Nice work
To the editor:
The June 27 letter from Andrew Sheridan concerning teacher pay seems to have conveniently omitted some very important facts that need to be considered when comparing teacher compensation to the money earned by valet parking attendants, ditch diggers and waitresses/waiters.
Teachers get paid vacations, paid sick leave and paid holidays. Teachers get subsidized medical insurance and a pension. Teachers work in an air-conditioned environment. Also, as mentioned by Mr. Sheridan, teachers work about 10 months per year, but are paid an annual salary. Mr. Sheridan seems to think that 12 months of pay for 10 months of work is "no big deal."
Valet parking attendants, ditch diggers, and waitresses have none of the above-mentioned perks, except that waitresses and waiters do work in an air-conditioned environment.
Finally, if the above-mentioned workers do not do their jobs, they are fired. If teachers do not do their jobs, it is the parents' fault, the student's fault, the fault of too many students in the classroom, or the fault of insufficient funds, etc. Teachers are never fired, except when they engage in criminal behavior. They simply wait for their next step increase and go on being incompetent. The union makes sure that nonperforming teachers will not be disciplined and over-performing teachers will not be rewarded.
Walter F. Wegst
LAS VEGAS
Nice check
To the editor:
Thank you for your Sunday editorial, "Boulder City questions." Basically, you have it right.
But who in their right mind would ask the city to cut them a check for anything? Not many, I think.
If the voters choose to sell the Eldorado Valley and distribute 90 percent of the proceeds, the checks will not come from the city. The money will be distributed by a trust department of a prestigious nationwide bank.
Who could wish for the city, which has wasted so much taxpayer money, to cut them a check? Not me.
