Legislators suckered into wasteful warranty
To the editor:
Although minor in the larger picture, Assemblywoman Francis Allen, the self-proclaimed "warranty gal," was misguided, as were the members of the Legislature's Information Technology Subcommittee, when voting to extend their laptop warranties for $16,000 (Thursday Review-Journal).
Warranties are notoriously known to be cash cows, accounting for nearly 50 percent of operating income for companies such as Circuit City and Best Buy. Actuaries simply figure out the projected costs for defective items and wear and use over time, then the company and actual corporate insurer add excessive profit margins.
The legislative laptops are generally used for e-mail, Excel spreadsheets and the like. The only differences in the needs of legislators in regard to laptops is memory, which can be taken care of with an inexpensive external flash and wireless capability. Otherwise, there is no general need for lawmakers to purchase new laptops until they fail.
The warranty cost of $16,000 for 63 computers -- unless a catastrophic event is forecast over the next two years -- can be better spent by replacing failing laptops (software or hardware) with lower-cost models at around $750 each. In all, 21 new laptops could be purchased versus a highly questionable warranty.
And unless there is some required, emergency-related aspect involved, purchasing 10 spare laptops at approximately $1,500 each, which remain unused -- that, too, is similarly wasteful.
Martin Dean Dupalo
LAS VEGAS
Prehistoric education
To the editor:
There is a lot of talk now about state and local government funding cuts, more across-the-board accountability and paying teachers for performance. Personally, I am opposed to embedding any targeted taxes into a constitutional amendment.
What I am for is an emphasis on turning out high school students who can both walk and chew gum at the same time. If this means cutting back on superfluous subjects and Friday night football, so be it.
I would also like to stop the finger-pointing by teachers. You know the ones who say, "They didn't do well in my class because they were not properly prepared in prior years." Start testing students every year for advancement and if some are held back, then so be it. Peer pressure can do wonders for the previously unmotivated student and/or teacher.
When faced with tough economic decisions, what does a school district do? When I attended parochial elementary school and then a poor rural high school, here is what they did. It was called the three R's. We didn't have the opportunity to participate in the study of the psychological impact on frogs clustered in small ponds or examine esoteric issues like how high is the sky. What students did get was an in-depth grounding in what would support them throughout their entire lives.
During this prehistoric era of education, our high school requirements included three credits of science, four of mathematics, four in English, one credit in a foreign language, one credit in government, one credit in home economics and two credits (four years) of physical education. Eighteen credits were required to graduate, so that left two credits for electives such as typing or music appreciation. Students purchased their own books new and/or used.
Surprisingly, most of us actually graduated and left high school equipped for survival in the real world. At this level of education, the world as I knew it then has not changed as much as some try to perceive it to be now.
Richard Rychtarik
LAS VEGAS
What shortage?
To the editor:
Where and when were you last turned away from buying gasoline for your guzzler, or diesel for your truck? Do you know of anyone who has actually experienced any fuel shortage?
There must be a hole in the GOP thesis of supply vs. demand setting prices, as proved by the present abnormal price increases without any true lack of crude oil and shortage of motor fuel.
In the face of projected downturns of automotive use by the public because of high gasoline prices, doesn't it seem strange that Wall Street insiders are bidding such outlandish prices for oil futures? Where is all this money coming from? Is it real cash or more "virtual investments" from stock market manipulations -- as in Bear Stearns buying "futures" income from blocks of overvalued mortgages purchased with borrowed "real money," such as our retirement deposits in 401(k) plans?
Only massive public demands for congressional investigations can unravel these probable market shenanigans and then sensibly deflate any unruly bubble. Can we readers count on publicity and help from the media in our quest for the truth?
Richard E. Law
LAS VEGAS
Flawed evaluations
To the editor:
Having attorneys rate judges makes about as much sense as having prisoners rate wardens or students rate teachers ("Judging the judges," Review-Journal series). Businesses have to be audited by independent auditors, as do hospitals and other groups. Judges should have independent people making a determination as to their fitness for their job.
Lynn Ratcliffe
LAS VEGAS
