STATE BUDGET CRUNCH DEMANDS SALARY SACRIFICE

To the editor:

How could the governor and legislative leaders decide to ignore $130 million in savings that could be found by eliminating salary increases for state workers? Just because the judges decided several years ago that was not appropriate? Perhaps we may have more honest judges now.

It's time the government workers and public employee unions realize they are a big part of the problem.

Stephen J. Brase

HENDERSON

Bright idea

To the editor:

I see in the Friday Review-Journal that Nevada's secretary of state ruled that one must have voted in an election in order to qualify for signing a future recall petition. I thought voting was a voluntary privilege and petitioning the government for a redress of grievances was a constitutional right.

Perhaps we should re-call the secretary of state before he gets any more bright ideas.

robert w. ritchey

HENDERSON

Rural Nevada

To the editor:

With Las Vegas' mad and happy rush to growth and prosperity, it's far too easy to overlook Nevada's rural counties. As a former resident of Tonopah, I have seen the decline of northern Nye County, Lander, Eureka and White Pine counties, among others, as Reno seemingly stands still and Las Vegas increases its domination of the state.

I would call upon the Review-Journal to begin a series of articles on the plight of rural Nevada to be run weekly. The R-J has always been a progressive voice for Las Vegas; let's witness how it can expand its breadth to examining what is happening in our rural towns and counties.

Bob Hanks

REDONDO BEACH, CALIF.

King Oscar

To the editor:

I find it highly disrespectful of you to question King Oscar's new monument to himself ("City Hall plans win support," April 3). He'll need a proper palace when he coerces the law change to allow him to be Emperor For Life.

Besides, the city would probably squander all those extra billions we have laying around on frivolities such as social infrastructure, road repairs, etc.

And with the proper tax break incentives, I'm sure Mayor Goodman can get Bombay Sapphire gin to buy the old City Hall since it's still a perfectly good building. They could turn it into the Oscar Goodman Memorial Martini Bar, the nation's largest.

That would certainly be a draw to downtown.

Dale Wysocki

LAS VEGAS

Test to blame

To the editor:

The math department at Spring Valley High School takes issue with the assumption that the cause of the abysmal results on the geometry semester exam was the fault of either the teacher, the students or the parents. The fault lies in the exam itself, which obviously was not a valid test.

Some questions contained mathematical errors, namely questions one and 10. Many questions were on topics normally taught during the second semester as per the district benchmarks (see questions 22, 27, 31 and 49). Several questions were poorly worded making them vague, misleading and hard to decipher. This included questions 28, 31 and 46. Questions three and 34 are virtually identical, which is not acceptable since major topics that are taught were not on the test such as area, inequalities, the distance formula, isosceles triangles and mid-segments.

Professional standardized tests are written by educators who are currently teaching the subject being tested. Once written, the tests are given to a sample group to determine the validity of the test. The district semester tests were written by unknown authors who may or may not be current math teachers and they were never tested through a sample group for validity.

It is very frustrating for our math department to follow the standards and guidelines of the district and then have students fail a test that does not accurately reflect the student's understanding of the material taught in our classes. Our teachers are monitoring student progress and are confident that the students are meeting the expectations we have set for them. This test was not indicative of the learning achievement we observe every day in our classes.

ANN COLLUM

LAS VEGAS

Form a committee

To the editor:

It seems today that the reaction by elected officials and public administrators to any crisis is to refer the matter to a committee. The committee is expected to come forward with a solution to the crisis, but is never vested with the authority to actually implement their collective decision.

Hence we see the formation of blue-ribbon committees, special committees, task force committees, audit committees, bipartisan committees, nonpartisan committees, and the ubiquitous committee of experts to address a crisis.

Committees have been tasked to study everything from the financial distress of Social Security to natural disasters, the environment, education, crime, campaign finance, and all forms of reform. Committees study the problems and produce some big reports with proposed solutions, but they never seem to get implemented. By the time the report comes out, the crisis is off the front page and can be ignored by those accountable.

Now we have the superintendent of the Clark County School District forming a "committee of experts" to study the collapse of math education in our school system (Review-Journal, Wednesday).

Why does he need this committee? Doesn't he already have an administrative bureaucracy in place to perform this task?

The superintendent is accountable for the problem and its solution, and he alone has the power to act. So why is he deferring the math crisis to a "committee of experts"? Does anyone think this will add up to a solution?

Harry Truman had a sign on his desk stating, "The buck stops here." It sure seems that today the sign must have some fine print that says, "Unless I can pass the buck on to a committee."

We pay big bucks for an administrator to make decisions, not to defer problems to a committee. What has happened to the concept of accountability?

David R. Durling

LAS VEGAS

Saving species

To the editor:

Re: Your March 31 editorial, "Putting the brakes on species listings":

For decades the Endangered Species Act has been used to victimize property owners, to take away their land, their asset, and their livelihoods. In the name of preserving every variant of plant and animal life, the Endangered Species Act has enabled the violation of individual rights in every corner of the country, rights that our government was instituted to protect, not trample.

At the expense of human life and progress, the Endangered Species Act has been used to prevent the construction of dams, irrigation projects, power plants, housing complexes, highways and other essential forms of human development.

No law that places the well-being of plants and animals above the well-being of humans should stand.

David Holcberg

IRVINE, CALIF.

THE WRITER IS WITH THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE.