Letters to the editor: Vaccinations, Murgoitio Park, climate change, ‘real’ history

Cost of not vaccinating

I am curious what the cost of a hospital stay might be for a person to be treated for COVID-19. One may stay at home with the virus, but one may also have to go to the hospital. The person could avoid the hospital stay with a vaccination. The vaccination is largely free. The hospital stay is a cost. Who pays? Same for the folks with long-term consequences for the virus. Could be avoided with a vaccination. Once again, who pays?

Joseph Gallagher, Boise

Get vaccinated

I recall with some nostalgia and a lot of respect my parents’ generation and how they stepped up when the two-theater conflict of World War II was dropped in all Americans’ laps. This “Greatest Generation” demonstrated true sacrifice in supporting that enormous effort to counter tyranny and fascism in Europe and the Pacific. I have often wondered if my generation would be up to such a challenge. Or if we would indeed face something of that magnitude.

Well, we do indeed have our own challenge to meet and to overcome. In service to our country and the world at large, we are asked to fight and defeat the COVID-19 virus. That call to action is to get a vaccination to stop the spread of deadly variants of this incredibly nasty bug. Are you willing to make that sacrifice? Can we demonstrate our own “great generation” moment here?

John Lodal, Boise

Climate change

Deadly heat, historic drought, extreme wildfires, choking smoke. Climate change is real. It affects each and every one of us. Both political parties have looked the other way for decades as climate warnings have been shouted but silenced. Please contact politicians who are climate change deniers and refuse to work toward climate change solutions, and tell them their time is up. We will support leaders that will make the necessary hard decisions. No one can look away any more.

Mary Kay Hoffman, Boise

Murgoitio Park

Boise City Council is being asked on July 20 to annex and convert land that has been set aside as a regional park for 20 years.

This proposal is just wrong in many ways. The land was set aside as “open space” for good reasons. Mayor and council knew that southwest Boise was where most development would take place in the future, so a regional park would be needed. That has proved to be true.

Now, 20-plus years later, a different mayor wants to trade the park to developers for high-density development. This is at a time when 2,000-plus homes are now being built, and another 3,500 submitted for approval. This in an area which has had the largest number of homes built in the city and yet has only 1% of the park space in the city.

Currently all major city parks are in or near the North End. This southwest Boise park would serve many in South and West Boise. It’s sorely needed.

Please contact Boise City Council and mayor to say you oppose this land swap. It’s not good government, and it’s not fair to South and West Boise residents.

Mary Ann Lawford, Boise

‘Real’ history

I totally agree with Jim Harris about the importance of teaching “real” history. Shall we start with the first explorers bringing gifts of smallpox, measles and syphilis to our shores, diseases to which Native Americans had no immunity? Then for colonial history, perhaps discuss the pious Christians who burned alive countless innocent women accused of witchcraft in New England. During our westward expansion unit, we could talk about how we gifted smallpox-infected blankets to the native Plains tribes in order to clear the land for white settlers. When we teach about World War II, we could discuss the interning, in concentration camps, of thousands of native-born American citizens because they were of Japanese extraction. This could be paired with the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, two non-military targets populated mostly by the elderly, women and children. Then there’s that ship full of Jewish orphans escaping from Germany to which we refused entry and sent back to Europe. Lynching might be a good way to introduce modern post-war history. I’m so glad I was an honors history graduate, so I could assist with this important task. Those of us in the “university gang” love to be helpful.

Lois Ortmann, Meridian