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6A – Daily News – Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Opinion Salmon D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Editor: I take two newspapers, the Daily News and the Record Searchlight. Recently an article in the Searchlight by John Spencer addressed the problem of the salmon in the Sacramento River. He listed as problems, diver- sions, pollution, predation, flood- ing, estuary problems, and the loss of young fish to pumps. Note the word predation. What that word means is the relationship between two groups of animals in which one species eats the other. In this case we are talking about fish. Big fish eat little fish. The Daily News had an article earlier this year about the striped bass in the delta. Turns out they are an Atlantic coast fish. Back in 1879 a man named Livingston Stone imported the striped bass into the delta from New Jersey. The stripers feed on the delta smelt and the fingerling salmon trying to reach the sea. Salmon have had serious threats to their lives for centuries, what with their freshwater/saltwa- ter lives, and climbing the rapids to spawn, but this establishing a new predator into the ecology of the delta was, I believe, the nail in the salmons coffin. One big step in the reestablish- ment of the salmon population would be the decimation of the striped bass population. Because they had such a detrimental effect on the salmon population they are now facing a large reduction in their own population. Somebody needs to take a hard look at what is really going on in this fishery. Myself I think we can have salmon or we can have some striped bass. The stripers will bal- ance their population feeding on the delta smelt or they will eat all the smelt too, and we won't have any smelt, stripers or salmon. This delta, northern California river environment was impacted one hundred and thirty years ago by a person who probably thought he was doing a good thing. When we had millions of salmon hatch- ing every year the effect of the stripers was not very important, but with all that the salmon have had to deal with over the last few decades they have probably, unless we intercede, lost their fight to sur- vive. Face it folks. It's time to do something. And please, don't leave this up to the Department of Fish and Game. They couldn't run a Chi- nese fire drill. Fred Boest, Red Bluff Marriage Editor: It’s interesting that today with all the hoopla about same sex marriage, more and more young men and women have chosen not to commit to a long term marriage relationship. In 1970, 35.8 percent of young men between the ages of 20 to 24 preferred to remain single. The percentage increased to 86.9 in 2008. For young women of that age the percentage went from 54.7 in 1970 to 76.4 in 2008. Is the marriage reluctance due to more and more of our popula- tion becoming homosexual, or have heterosexuals found it easier to gratify their sexual desires without committing to a legally binding relationship? If it is the former, the question isn’t if same sex marriages will be legally recognized in this state or nation, but when. Our tax code continues to con- tain financial penalties to married couples. So the prospect of a fur- ther declination of marriages is good, excepting maybe for the homosexual population. Orval Strong, Gerber Wars Editor: Your Turn More and more older couples are deciding to divorce. Accord- ing to US census records, 5 per- cent of couples over 65 divorced in 1990, and it increased to 7.4 percent in 2002. That’s an increase of 48 percent in 12 years. One of the reasons for the increased rate is our federal laws. Although there are 1,100 rights and protections for married cou- ples there are a few disadvan- tages. One big disadvantage comes in the form of Medicaid coverage. When one spouse is stricken to the extent that he or she requires a nursing home, such facilities can cost as much as $12,000 per month. This can wipe out an elderly couple's assets and retirement benefits very quickly. One alternative is to divorce. Heartbreaking though it may be, the healthy partner remains finan- cially intact, and the ill spouse's care is then covered by Medicaid. What right do the Iraqi and Afghan peo- ple have to defend their own country against the corporate powers of America? After all was it not their country that invaded America. It was one man along with 19 thugs who attacked the Twin Towers. So some idiot in the White House who ordered the invasion of two independent states. Now we piss and moan about the enemy killing our brave young men. Wake up America, our brave young men are dead and disabled for America’s corpo- rate greed. These brave young people could be doctors, lawyers, carpenters, auto mechanics, etc. They all had someone who loved them. Now they have been lost to all, and for what? Just ask yourselves “Would I be willing to replace one of the 30,000 troops sent to the Mideast to defend America’s corporate interests? Bob Hogan, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 4164 P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento 94249; (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319- 2102 STATE SENATOR — Sam Aanestad (R), State Capitol Bldg., Room 2054, Sacramen- to, CA 95814. (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Customer service travels well Commentary As Labor Day approaches and with it the end of the vaca- tion season, many Americans are so stressed by the rigors of travel that they're happy to have a vacation from vacations. Anyone who's taken a plane ride recently knows how unpleasant the process has become - and we didn't need a beer-toting, emergency-exiting, JetBlue flight attendant to con- firm it. Although most airlines are reporting an upswing in pas- senger volume, customer service seems to have reached a record low. The nation's hotel chains, which took a similar beating when the economy tanked, are also seeing modest improvement in occupancy. But here's the twist: customer service - partic- ularly among mid-priced hotels - is soaring and may be nearing an all-time high. Why are these two corner- stones of the travel business so diametrically different when it comes to pleasing customers? How is it that most hotel chains are battling to gain customers by serving them well, while major airlines seem audacious enough to seek passengers while treat- ing them poorly? Most of my flying is on Unit- ed Airlines, simply because it dominates the routes out of the small airport near my home in Central California. I'm often compelled to fly United despite its customer service, not because of it. On the road, I've become a big fan of Hilton's Hampton Inn brand, not because of limited choices, but because I'm so impressed by the level of service and value I've experienced at many of Hampton's 1,700 loca- tions. The customer service dynamic is dramatically differ- ent between these two areas of the travel world. For a clear example of how the industries have diverged, look no further than the "points" or "mileage" award programs. The concept of earning free ser- vice by collecting points was invented by airlines roughly 30 years ago. Today, the airline pro- grams are a mess, with trillions of unused miles and great frus- tration among fliers who accu- mulate points and then find how increasingly difficult it is to use them. The Hilton Honors system on the other hand is simple, conve- nient and, best of all, it works. With very few exceptions, the hotel industry has not crippled its award programs with too many blackout dates or other restrictions. As a result, the pro- grams foster consumer loyalty for all the right reasons. Another profound example is in ticky-tack charges. Airlines seem sold on the notion that charging separate fees for every- thing from luggage to pillows to boarding priority results in greater revenue, which earnings reports indi- cate it has. But at what expense? Most fliers are fuming. Hotels, meanwhile, are trending in the opposite direction. Wi- Fi connections, for example, were available at many hotels for an extra charge; now the industry has wised up and provided free Inter- net. The latest survey by J.D. Power and Associ- ates shows increased satisfaction among North American hotel guests in every category mea- sured. Peter Funt The top five hotel perks according to the survey are: free Internet, free breakfast, choice of bedding, pillow-top mattress- es and free parking. Hampton Inn, like most of its mid-priced competitors, offers all these and more. Newspapers, toothpaste, coffee 24/7, a brown-bag snack for your journey - it's all includ- ed in the basic rate. J.D. Power also reports a slight increase in satisfaction among airline passengers in the first half of 2010, but except for perennial standout Alaska Air- lines, the uptick seems to reflect surrender by consumers rather than a vote of approval. It may be marginally less annoying to ride a plane than it was last year - although this sum- mer's crowded condi- tions may change that - but nearly one-half of passengers sur- veyed say that prices for in-flight bever- ages and food, checked baggage, and preferred seating are unreasonably high. Consolidation of airlines has left fliers with little leverage. Other factors impact- ing air travel, from security to yo-yoing fuel prices, make it tough on carriers as well as their passen- gers. But there is something fun- damentally wrong with the air- lines' approach to customer ser- vice - and it's vividly clear when compared with the strides taken by hotel chains. Someone once said, "getting there is half the fun," but nowa- days the travel industry is changing the equation. Peter Funt is a writer and public speaker. He's also the long-time host of "Candid Camera." A collection of his DVDs is available at www.candidcamera.com.