No plan B for BP
The president and others are insisting that BP cover the full cost of the gulf disaster. There’s only one problem with this concept. The sentence does not fit the crime. Wildlife, fisheries and habitats have been destroyed. Livelihoods, too. Most of all, the source of this disaster still has not been fixed.
Cars are equipped with spare tires in case of a flat. Let’s call that Plan B. Apparently there’s no technology to plug a hole in the bottom of the sea should a disaster occur. No plan B. I am reeling from this realization, and no amount of money is going to reverse the fact that our great nation is responsible for one of the worst man-made disasters in history.
Besides which, the money spent to address this disaster, whether it is paid by BP or the U.S. Treasury, ultimately comes from the same source — us.
Mary Offutt
Deer Isle
···
Corporate museum
On May 27, four members of the Farnsworth Art Museum staff were fired in a manner representing corporate behavior at its worst. They were blindsided when they were called into a room, one by one, by the museum’s chief financial officer and a hired consultant and told that this was their last day at the museum.
They were offered a totally inadequate severance package of two weeks’ pay if they signed a waiver and agreed not to make legal waves. They were given only seven days to sign, four of which were over a state furlough day and a holiday weekend severely limiting their ability to seek help in making such an important decision. Neither their supervisors nor the museum’s executive director offered one word of explanation or gratitude before, during or since the incident.
There are two issues: the firing of four loyal employees, which the museum had every right to do, and the ungracious manner by which it was executed. It is akin to our financial crisis and the horror of the oil spill; another example of corporate arrogance. This unconscionable behavior is an insult not only to those who were fired but also to all the working people in our community.
In its attempt at damage control, the museum is understandably trying to put an optimistic spin on this incident but by cutting out its heart and soul that damage just may be irreparable.
Bob Brooks
Montville
···
Protect clean laws
As millions of gallons of oil surge into the Gulf Coast — one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history — Sen. Lisa Murkowski is helping Big Oil and its allies by keeping America tied to oil.
Last month, Murkowski helped block efforts in the Senate to raise the liability of BP and other oil companies, now she’s trying to help her Big Oil allies by undoing the Clean Air Act.
Now is not the time for another Big Oil bailout. Our senators shouldn’t be wasting taxpayers’ time and money by undermining the EPA’s finding that carbon pollution is dangerous to our health. Instead, we need to pass bipartisan clean energy and climate legislation that will put us in control of our energy future, while cutting our dependence on oil, reducing carbon pollution and enhancing our national security.
Bryan Wells
Old Town
···
No athletic supporter
The Bangor Daily News recently reported that hockey coach Tim Whitehead’s contract has been renewed with a salary of $170,000. In the latest salary book for UMaine, his salary is listed as $175,000, but what’s a few thousands among friends? He’s been getting $5,000 added to his salary each year for inflation.
One has to question UMaine’s priorities. A faculty friend of mine stated it accurately: “If there was an example of the ‘two UMaines,’ this is it.” In the UMaine I live in, all faculty and staff were told there was no money for across-the-board raises.
But no worries — there is no inflation, so we’ll be OK. In the UMaine that Tim Whitehead inhabits, it’s “Here’s another $5,000, big guy.”
The Maine Campus newspaper reported this past year that the athletic department loses $7 million a year. UMaine answers that by saying that $7 million deficit is “an investment.” While UMaine cuts whole majors and rids itself of 20 percent of its faculty (you know — those people who actually accomplish UMaine’s mission of education, research and public service, plus bring in millions of dollars in research grants), athletics has no shortage of money.
While dedicated, hardworking students graduate thousands of dollars in debt, athletes have their education paid for by virtue of being able to throw a ball or shoot a puck.
As my faculty friend also said, “Go, Blue!”
Cindy Carusi
Orono