Don’t blame autoworkers for General Motors’ woes

Don’t blame autoworkers for General Motors’ woes

EDITOR:

For decades now, I’ve read the comments, listened to the callers on talk radio and even received hate mail from those who believe that union autoworkers are lazy, stupid, overpaid and generally a poor excuse for a human being. I used to waste my time responding to these attacks but with age comes wisdom and the realization that facts don’t matter to an irrational, ignorant mind.

Why do autoworkers always have to justify the money they earn for the hard work they perform? This is especially true in our area, which is ironic considering the vast amount of money that UAW members pump into our local economy and give to charitable organizations. I don’t ask my dentist to justify his wage, or the cashier at the grocery store or the guy who picks up my trash. Why? Because they earn their pay and I respect that. Autoworkers earn every penny that they take home.

Some people in our area have such a sick, twisted mentality they want GM to close up shop in Lordstown and return the site to the farmland it once was. Do they understand the ramifications of this happening? A drop in property values, the towns they live in losing millions in tax receipts, a steep drop in sales at stores and restaurants, more foreclosures, etc. The trickle down effect would be devastating. Their attitudes mirror some of the smug Republican members of Congress who oppose loaning the companies any money.They instead would prefer non-union foreign companies building vehicles in their states.

The Big Three provide employment for at least 3 million people, who pay $25 billion a year in income taxes and $21 billion a year in Social Security taxes. When you factor in the hundreds of thousands of retirees and their pensions, that’s a tremendous amount of money at stake if the companies fail.

There are several reasons that contributed to the perfect storm that has put the U.S. auto industry in such dire condition, but to attack the women and men chasing the chain every day is ridiculous.

TIM O’HARA

Austintown

Don’t ignore the danger marijuana presents to youth

EDITOR:

“Approximately 60 percent of kids who use drugs use only marijuana,” report counselors of drugfreeatlast.com. This popular, cheap and illegal substance is dangerous to both mental and physical health. Kids, however, are using it at younger ages. In a long-term study conducted between 1991 and 2001, the number of high school eighth-grade “users” increased from one in 10 to two in five, and the numbers have since increased.

Physically, marijuana acts as a stimulant, speeding up heart rate — with the ability to double it — as well as acting as a depressant, lowering body temperature, increasing hunger and slowing muscle reaction time. It also inhibits the structures that trigger cells to grow and replace themselves. Users are more likely to acquire illnesses, meaning a weakening effect to the immune system. Of the 400 poisonous chemicals it contains, one cigarette of marijuana has four to five times more cancer causing agents than one tobacco cigarette. Mentally, depression, paranoid anxiety and addiction to “feel normal” occur. Students who use are twice as likely to skip classes, reports Melissa Leung, pre-medical student of California University, Berkeley.

As parents, ignoring the possibility or reality of your children as marijuana users endangers their bodies, minds and reputations. Discuss with them the harm marijuana causes, voice your concern and offer social and emotional support. These children have futures; are you going to let marijuana change them?

COLETTE WILLIAMSON

Sharon