Students becoming property of the state

To the editor:

Am I the only person who sees an expansion of random drug testing in public schools as dangerous ("Money for drug testing sought," Friday Review-Journal)?

Am I a lone dissenter in fearing that our schools are becoming more and more a process by which the children are taught to subsume their individuality and cede their liberty and control over their own bodies to a ever increasingly powerful state? Does no one else feel disturbed about the coming generations who will have no expectation of freedom to live their lives in peace?

Who will keep the government from tyranny? Is there no one else concerned about our posterity? Are the "nannies" produced by the hippies of the '60s going to be allowed to drag our society down to Orwell's vision of 1984 (they all seem to be worried that the children will turn out like themselves)? Is there no longer the concept of "probable cause"?

Is our perceived sense of "security" worth the price of all of our liberty?

Kevin L. Stockton

NORTH LAS VEGAS

Quit whining

To the editor:

We are obsessed with our birthright to cheap gasoline and the right to drive monster vehicles. And, when confronted with the reality of market-priced gasoline, we recoil against big energy and the government and demand subsidies for relief -- just so we can go on driving energy-abusive cars and continue to use more than our share of the world's energy -- by a large margin.

Reality is that we have had it too good for too long, and now it is coming home to roost. President Reagan let U.S. automakers off the hook when he bowed to their demands to soften the CAFE guidelines because the oil crisis of the '70s was over. And they have never looked back, and we are still paying the price.

The rest of the world lives with market-based gasoline prices. According to an Associated Press report in Thursday's Review-Journal, French drivers pay the equivalent of $8.04 per gallon. In London, a gallon sets you back $8.38, and in Norway they pay $8.73.

Even in India, with a per capita income equal to a food stamp subsidy in the United States, drivers pay $4.50 per gallon. It's interesting that Norway, at $8.73 per gallon, is completely self-sufficient in oil production and is the world's third-largest exporter of oil after Saudi Arabia and Russia.

It is time for Americans to get real and face up to the facts: the free energy lunch is over.

We must demand efficient vehicles and alternative transit modes. Norway, once again, leads the way with a 300-mile highway with hydrogen fueling stations -- that's further than Las Vegas to Los Angeles -- and hydrogen cars are sold in the country.

So to all you Hummer-heads and Esca-ladies: You bought the gas-guzzlers. Pay the man at the pump or get energy smart and quit whining.

Stacy Standley

LAS VEGAS

Ethanol fraud

To the editor:

In response to your Monday editorial, "Those magic beans called 'ethanol' ": Three cheers to the Review-Journal for having the guts to tell it like it is.

Clearly, the politicians and automakers continue to dupe much of the American public. Other countries are not being duped -- they are feeling it in their empty stomachs. Our citizens are seeing it in increased food bills. Restaurants are trying to hold the line on prices in a difficult time.

The science is clear: corn ethanol is a petroleum negative, as you point out. We did not hear the truth early in this election cycle because the politicians were vying for votes in Iowa, a great corn state.

What we need is a Congress and a president with the courage to follow science, not votes. Instead, we have many who pander to special interests and a president who is beholden to Big Oil. The failure of our leaders to meet this problem head-on exposes one of the weaknesses of our political system.

Gary Musser

LAS VEGAS

Poor payouts

To the editor:

Is anyone really surprised that gaming revenues have dipped ("Low and behold," Saturday Review-Journal)? All games within their gambling houses are so tight that the wheels squeak when they turn.

Almost every single table game is local-unfriendly, with prices ranging from $10 to $25 a hand. Then they try to ameliorate the situation by giving away plastic "gifts" that even garage sales wouldn't accept.

C'mon, guys. Loosen up the slots, bring down the table stakes and re-adjust the poker payoffs. Give us a decent return for our money.

George Puccini

LAS VEGAS