Park district

Vote ‘yes’ on levy to preserve park services

The Vashon Park District by law is considered a non-essential service. This means that there is no continued funding. Every four years the park district asks the voters of Vashon to approve a maintenance and operations levy. If the levy is approved, the park district continues. If the levy fails, there will be no park district.

Do you walk the beaches of Point Robinson? Have you ever had a late supper at Lisabeula to watch the sun go down? Do you ride your horse at Paradise Ridge? Do you exercise your dog at Agren Park? Do you like the concerts in the park? Do you enjoy the farmers market at Village Green? Do you dance with the folk dancers or attend Drama Dock plays at the theater? Does your child do ballet? Do you participate in senior activities? Does your child play baseball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse or football? Do you like the Island Harvest Festival? Do you do yoga? Do your children or grandchildren play at Ober Park? Has your child participated in summer camp or taken sailing lessons? Did your third-grader learn to swim? Do you value nature preserves? Have you launched your boat at Jensen Point?

Vashon voters will have the opportunity to vote on whether they consider their park district essential in November.

— Bill Ameling

Flu vaccine

Side effects outweigh benefits

Dr. Laurel Kuehl stated in a letter that my recent article on swine flu was “full of misinformation” and claimed that flu vaccines have been proven to provide dramatic benefits. I have solid references for the contrary conclusions presented in my article.

Cochrane database reviews of clinical trials are the gold standard for evaluating drug efficacy. Cochrane reviews of flu vaccines conclude that they have not been shown to benefit most groups, including the elderly. Earlier studies claiming that flu shots reduced hospitalizations and death were found to be flawed. Another review of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease found that the flu vaccine caused mild adverse effects and produced no benefit in the elderly with lung problems.

Similarly, the Cochrane review of asthmatic patients concluded that vaccination does not reduce flu-induced asthmatic attacks. Moreover, a British Medical Journal study found 70 percent of flu studies lacked data to support their findings. A review of the actual data showed that claims that flu shots provide a benefit most often were not supported by their data. In contrast, negative studies on flu vaccines typically were supported by their data.

As for the Australian flu study cited by Dr. Kuehl, that study tested whether the vaccine generated an immune response. It did not test whether the vaccine prevented swine flu infections or complications. These preliminary studies are done to determine how large a dose and how many shots are needed to evoke a response — not to determine effectiveness.

According to my research, data showing a clear benefit from flu vaccines and antiviral therapies are lacking. Thus, while Dr. Kuehl may strongly believe that flu vaccines are of great benefit, I believe her opinion has no scientific basis. Nor does science disprove my equally strong belief that their potential side effects outweigh their claimed benefits.

— Kathy Abascal

Otters

Deaths matter to all

The killing of six otters at Sylvan Beach is everybody’s business. It certainly is ours. For years we’ve been enjoying the antics of the resident otters at Fern Cove, where we live. Their presence, along with the eagles, herons and other wildlife that reside here, offers some solace that, at least in our little corner of Puget Sound, all is well.

But yes, living with wildlife can be frustrating, and compromises are a part of the deal. Like the individual who exterminated the six otters, we too have spent countless hours scrubbing otter poop from our boat’s deck — hours that we would have rather spent sailing — and we understand his complaint about what a nuisance they can be. Tempering our annoyance, however, is the shocking degradation of Puget Sound’s natural habitat and ensuing decline of our local native species. We would like to believe that Vashon Island, at least, offers natural refuge that elsewhere is disappearing. But the killing of these six otters reveals that, even here, nature must yield to human desires.

The killing of the six otters apparently was lawful. Antiquated laws permit individuals to kill animals that inconvenience them.

Further, the six otters apparently were trapped, not on the individual’s land or his boat, but in public waters. Were these the same otters that fouled his boat? Will the traps remain a permanent fixture in the water off Sylvan Beach until all the otters in the area are killed and his boat safe from future affronts? Is killing otters that Westside residents have enjoyed for years not our business? One thing we do know, the fate of wildlife in our region is everyone’s concern.

— Meredith Yasui and Erin Flory

Slurs are inappropriate

Ethnic slurs are not part of civil discourse. They are not productive when a community debates issues, such as river otter and human interaction.

On Vashon Highway, a spray-painted sign mocks an Italian family name. When family names are shortened or lengthened, the results attack the individual and demean the ethnic group. Such seeming cleverness recalls the time when adults demeaned minorities by twisting meanly others’ family names, assigning nicknames or repeating belittling labels. Such words do not leave physical bruises, but they do leave emotional hurt.

It is an extreme form of bullying. In the public forum, acknowledging disagreement can be done without resorting to name-calling colored by racism.

— Ann Spiers

They prefer floats

I live in a beach cabin adjacent to Camp Sealth. Fortunately for the river otters in my neighborhood, Camp Sealth provides wonderful places to den up, play and raise young. Even so, the otter are cruising past my house a couple of times a day. My neighbor keeps a couple of dinghies out in front, and otters get into his boats and leave the mess no one likes to clean up.

River otters have to leave the water to eat. Since beaches are hazardous due to dogs and humans, otters look for safe places to eat their fish. Hence the boats. To provide an alternative, my neighbor has created a cheap little float for the otters, anchored with a piece of concrete. He built the whole thing with stuff from his backyard. The otters love it and leave his boat pretty much alone.

I suggest to any boat owner who is faced with otter mess in their boats to trail a floating platform behind the boat while at anchor. The otters seem to prefer it.

— Jean Bosch