Make people pay to visit mountain
To the editor:
Last weekend I spent a quiet weekend at Mount Charleston, a true oasis in the desert.
The number of visitors to the mountain continues to increase annually. Unlike statistics maintained by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, however, it is not something to boast about. Limited camp spots, scarce financial resources and shortages of manpower have the weary Forest Service workers and emergency crews desperately looking for a solution.
At the first sign of snow, "flatlanders" in all manner of vehicles, mostly ill-equipped to handle dangerous conditions, drive up the hill and deposit themselves in any wide spot they can find on the road. Many leave their vehicles protruding out into the roadway while they rush to take their makeshift sleds to the nearest slope.
Last weekend, I witnessed a small child dart across the highway as he tried to catch up with his mother, who was walking obliviously on the other side. A minivan slammed its brakes and narrowly missed the youngster. Had there been a patch of ice at that spot, it would have been another tragic tale with the hysterical parent deflecting blame.
As I drove down the hill last Monday, I was saddened to see the aftermath of the weekend's entertainment: bottles, cans, six-pack containers, cardboard box remnants and other debris strewn on the side of the roadway.
No doubt, under the pristine snow was waste of another kind, left behind by those drinking and partying far from public facilities. Symbolizing the mess was a white plastic bag entangled in the branches of a proud pine, as if it were being waved as a sign of surrender.
Cheap entertainment for a few irresponsible people only serves to cheapen the environment for everyone else. When a person pays nothing for a privilege, it seems as if it becomes that much easier to abuse. That is why I am suggesting that the Kyle Canyon Recreation Area becomes a fee-entry site. At least then, there would be funds to upgrade the area and police those who lack the respect for this precious resource.
JEFF SILVER
HENDERSON
Hospital errors
To the editor:
A story in Tuesday's newspaper addressed a new way to help the safety of patients during their hospital stays: not paying hospitals for certain mistakes that they make. Medicare might save up to $190 million over the next five years.
Why did it take the government so long to see this problem? Why wait until so many people have already given up their life savings to pay off these medical bills that were due to hospital mistakes?
Like Dr. Steven Gordon says in the article, "Money talks." I bet hospitals will hear this message loud and clear once their errors start coming out of their own pockets.
Charley Yaeger
LAS VEGAS
Never mind
To the editor:
Your Friday editorial, "Nevada quake," was right on target. Some of us are concerned with the damage an earthquake could do to an underground nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. The damage to that sparsely populated area of federally controlled land could be immeasurable.
As an engineer, I am even more concerned about the damage that could be done to us and our children in schools, hospitals, malls, and other high-density population clusters constructed out of materials subject to failure from earthquakes. Perhaps we should consider relocating these people inside more structurally sound and seismically stable rock formations such as Yucca Mountain, where the ceilings won't fall in on our children.
Oh, wait. As commentator Emily Litella of "Saturday Night Live" fame used to say, "Never mind."
Dan Kane
LAS VEGAS
Going underground
To the editor:
Your Friday editorial, "Nevada quake," implies that the planned Yucca Mountain repository would suffer greatly from a quake like magnitude 6.0 temblor that hit Wells on Thursday.
Yet the underground gold mines around Wells suffered no damage from the quake. Why is that?
Here is a concept that is quite well-known in earthquake engineering: reinforced underground structures, well below the surface and in bedrock, are almost immune to earthquakes. The damage from an earthquake is mainly due to the surface waves. That's why workers in mines have survived earthquakes that devastated nearby cities in Asia.
If you want to see real damage from a big earthquake, don't go to Yucca Mountain. Go to the older parts of Nevada's cities.
H.W. Stockman
LAS VEGAS
Gaming tax
To the editor:
I have been following with great interest how the casino moguls are trying to avoid donating more profits to the schools by challenging initiative petitions that seek to increase the gaming tax rate. Their high-priced lawyers are probably charging more than the casinos would be asked to contribute.
I cannot remember the last time I saw a large payout advertised at a casino. It's time the voters turned up the heat. Nevada's children are the only gamble that has 100 percent payback.
Patrick Lee
LAS VEGAS
