Hotels not the only places where sexual assaults occur

To the editor:

In her column last Thursday, Jane Ann Morrison takes a subject -- women being drugged then raped -- and turns it into an opportunity to chastise hotels and slander bartenders ("Drugging, rape list yet another black eye for Las Vegas resorts"). She says, "It could be done by a bartender for a customer in anticipation of a large tip." Unless she has some pretty good proof that this has occurred, she has no business making that charge.

Then, after telling us of 734 rapes reported to the Rape Crisis Center in 2007, she opines that the hotels here had better straighten up and start looking after these girls. How utterly ridiculous.

By her count, eight of 734 rapes occurred on Strip hotel properties. Only slightly more than 1 percent of the total. Why not go after the places where the other 99 percent occurred that don't have security cameras everywhere?

There is so much Ms. Morrison could have done with this piece. She could have talked to law enforcement personnel and given safety tips on how to be more proactive in your own defense. She could have said, if you suddenly start feeling strange, instead of asking for help from the guy you just met, ask the bartender to call security to help you to your room.

An opportunity lost to perhaps prevent a rape in the future, just so Ms. Morrison could attack those evil casinos.

Terry Ostlund

LAS VEGAS

Cost of living

To the editor:

In your Thursday editorial, you provide a rounded discussion of Social Security cost of living adjustments, which due to falling prices last year won't be paid again until 2012. Several additional points are worth considering.

First, while Medicare Part D premiums will rise by an average of $2 per month next year, Medicare Part B premiums, which are much larger, do not rise in a year without a COLA. On net, a typical retiree will save around $75 next year. Moreover, falling prices mean the real buying power of today's Social Security benefits is about 4.5 percent higher than in 2008.

Second, seniors question whether the traditional Consumer Price Index accurately captures price changes for retirees. But even an alternative CPI measure that tracks retiree spending habits show that prices fell in late 2008. Moreover, most economists believe that conventional CPI measures overstate true inflation.

On net, the current CPI measure is probably about right for seniors.

Andrew Biggs

WASHINGTON, D.C.

THE WRITER IS RESIDENT SCHOLAR WITH THE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE.