Arizona Daily Sun from Flagstaff, Arizona • 5

FRIDAY February 23, 2007 Page A5 QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? Contact editor Randy Wilson at (928) 556-2254 or rwilsonazdailysun.com YoilPView New homeless shelter humane and cost-effective After JetBlues problems, Congress needs to investigate View loss rape opens safely Just as one hole in the social service safety net closes, another one is set to open. Flagstaffs homeless men have a new emergency shelter. But victims of sexual assault are about to lose a key program in the battle against date rape and domestic violence. The struggle, as they say, continues. The shelter comes more than a year after the Flagstaff City Council majority voted to outlaw overnight camping, essentially making criminals of the unsheltered homeless.

A recent count showed there were nearly 100 people in greater Flagstaff who fell under that definition. The only existing shelter was religion-based, didnt accept drunks and had a lock-down policy that prevented the homeless from getting out to look for work early in the morning. Many of Flagstaffs homeless chose the streets instead, risking arrest and hypothermia. One has i died of apparent exposure already this winter. Three non-profit organizations the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities and Flagstaff Shelter Services stepped in to fill the gap.

They have rented the historic El Divino Redentor church in Southside until a longterm shelter can be built at the Salvation Armys Cedar Avenue facility. As Larry Hendricks reported Sunday, the new shelter has proved an immediate hit, attracting up to 30 men on a recent snowy night. The genius in the arrangement is that there is no red tape and no questions asked: As long as you dont drink or use drugs in the building, youre welcome to a cot for the night. The men, about half of whom were intoxicated, had a variety of stories to tell. Some said they were just down on their luck and But the regions center hole in the service passing through; others appeared to have adopted a homeless lifestyle by choice (although why they were in Flagstaff for the winter instead of warmer climes is a mystery).

The emergency shelter is certainly a more humane and cost-effective way to deal with a chronic social problem than carting the homeless off to jail or the edge of town or letting them freeze to death. Soon, there will be a detox center to address their alcoholism and substance abuse. The jail will have an in-custody rehab program. Flagstaff is on the right track, and those involved with the shelter deserve the communitys thanks for putting us there. The imminent demise of the Northern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault is another story.

The center is part of VictimWitness Ser- vices, another non-profit that gets its funding from a variety of public and private sources. The sexual assault program needs $120,000 a year to pay for professional medical and forensic exams services that cant all be provided by volunteers. About 150 people a year, a quarter of them college students, visit NACASA, and about 50 receive the medical exams needed to press charges. Without NACASA, victims will be referred to the FMC emergency room, where the lack of privacy and longer waits are likely to result in fewer victims willing to cooperate with police. Theres still time to save NACASA it is funded through June 30.

Because this program serves a vital law enforcement and judicial function, it might be time for local government to step up with more funding. Board President Rebecca Plevel is also looking for discounted office space and more community donations. You can contact NACASA at (928) 527-0708. of the crisis a new social net GUESLEDITOmAL 2006, only about 330 planes waiting to take off held passengers for more than five hours. This issue is indeed complicated.

Requiring a plane to return to the gate would throw a wrench into a complex air-traffic system. It would cause planes to lose their place in line, cause airline crews to run up against limits on work hours, and require the rebooking of passengers a much harder task with todays planes flying at near full capacity. It would be far better, says the industry, to allow airlines to maintain flexibility to respond to weather and other problems and allow them to set their own standards, as JetBlue did this week by proclaiming its customer bill of rights. Americas flying public has heard promises of voluntary standards before. Many have not been fulfilled.

In 1999, airlines staved off legislation with industry guidelines to improve service. They made some inroads but have slipped in these times of high fuel and personnel costs. Legislating service is not the preferred way to go, but Congress can keep the heat on the industry by holding hearings. In particular, lawmakers should urge airlines to write a time limit on tarmac waiting into their contract of carriage their legal obligation to passengers. Those contracts, which can be pages long, should be summarized in plain language and be as easily available as are the ground rules for taxis posted on the back of cab seats.

Armed with clear information about an airlines obligations, consumers can make smart choices. And that will help each airline remember that keeping customers happy is far easier than having to find new ones if airlines make some of them unhappy. This editorial appears today in The Christian Science Monitor: ost fliers havent been left inside a grounded airplane for up to 10 hours, as happened to JetBlue passengers in icy New York last week. While JetBlue commend-ably made amends, runway delays and other breakdowns in customer service have put a needed spotlight on the airline industry. Of course, no air passenger should be held captive for hours without adequate food, water, air circulation, or toilet facilities.

But such problems in customer care are still far too common in the otherwise friendly skies. How can they be fixed? Airline deregulation in the 1970s opened the skies to Americans. Competition reduced prices to the extent that flying is, well, no big deal anymore. Vacationers scan the Internet for cut-rate fares and with a click, theyre on their e-ticket way. But increasingly, service is being bumped from flights.

For the sake of cheap tickets, consumers may be willing to forgo meals and free movies, but why is the rate of lost baggage at its worst in more than 10 years? Why have delays in takeoffs and landings risen for the past five years? Why is there an increase in the number of passengers unexpectedly denied flights? Why are long tarmac waits more common? Fed-up fliers are asking Congress to legislate better customer care, including a rule to require a plane to return to a gate if its waited on the tarmac for three hours. The industry is working up a strong head wind against the idea. In the case of the tarmac wait, they argue, why legislate for an anomaly? About 15,000 flights take off daily in the U.S., but between 2000 and Tesla: Kerski was professional, fair To the editor: This letter is regarding the City of Flagstaff and particularly Michael Kerskis effort to attract Tesla Motors factory to Arizona. As you know, Teslas factory was being sought by several communities, including three cities in California, the state of Michigan (in general), the State of Ohio (in general) a couple of cities on North Carolina and of course, Albuquerque, N.M. Although several of these communities dropped out early in our analysis, the final selection was a very difficult decision for Tesla, and Flagstaff was there until the end.

Mr. Kerski did an excellent job promoting the community of Flagstaff, working to match the competition, and engaging the State of Arizona government to help with his cause. (I got two personal calls from Governor Napolitano, as well as calls from several other well-placed officials promoting Arizona as a great business climate.) In the end, we chose to locate in Albuquerque primarily for logistical reasons having to do more with proximity to our own suppliers and accessibility from our two centers (in California and Michigan) than any other reason. But Flagstaff was a very close alternative, and we felt that Mr. Kerski treated Tesla honestly, fairly, and in a very professional manner.

I hope that the people of Flagstaff do not think that Mr. Kerski failed them in any way; he was far more professional and responsive than his counterparts in many other communities we considered; I would recommend Flagstaff as an excellent location to my own colleagues at other companies in part because of Mr. Kerski and his team. MARTIN EBERHARD CEO, Tesla Motors Inc San Carlos, Calif More support for Women in Black To the editor: I have been dismayed to read letters criticizing the Women In Black group. I have often passed these individuals thinking I should join them.

I admire what they stand for and the committment they have made. I am disheartened at the judgemental comments that have been made toward this group. It worries me that these people dont get it. I really am afraid regarding the direction this country is in and for humanity in general. Women In Black-thank you for your courage and perseverence.

DONNA ENGLESON Flagstaff Dont overinflate egos of young athletes To the editor: I was greatly distrubed to see and read your attention-grabbing story titled, Ready for The Big Time. In an era where professional basketball players act like children themselves, the last thing a sixth-grade young man with unlimited basketball potential needs is an inflation of his ego. The Arizona Daily Sun Staff should be proactivley charged with Child Endangerment. THOMAS BIANCIOTTO Flagstaff Will voters accept Hillarys nonapology? By danikl SCIIORR GUEST COLUMN A A I Sum Ed D'Hooge, Production Manager Bill Smith, Pressroom Foreman A Lee Enterpnses, Inc. Newspaper Official Legal Newspaper City of Flagstaff, Coconino County www.

azdallysun.com Don Rowley, President Publisher Randy Wilson, Editor Heidi Hansen, Retail National Sales Director Brenda Hazlett, Classified Legal Sales Director Kristi Hostler, Business Manager Ken Bohl, Circulation Manager context of weapons of mass destruction In 2005: (If) Congress had been asked, based on what we know now, we never would have agreed And Feb. 17 in New Hampshire: Obviously, I would not vote that way again if we knew then what we know now. Still, Senator Clinton has not apologized for her vote, and she apparently doesnt intend to. She reportedly ended the debate in her own camp by deciding that she would not make an apology that she didnt believe in. What she may do is support a resolution revoking the war-making authority contained in the now-controversial 2002 resolution.

Whether that will appease her supporters remains to be seen. What they apparently will not get from her are those three little words. I am sorry. What her lack of contrition will cost her, that also remains to be seen. She may take comfort from the "great compromiser, Sen.

Henry Clay of Kentucky, who on the Senate floor in 1839 declared, I Ijad rather be right than president. The Christian Science Monitor News Service WASHINGTON Welcome to the politics of apologia the 2007 version. In the 2004 election, Sen. John Kerry, had to endure charges that he was flip-flopping on funding for the Iraq war. In 1964, only two senators Wayne Morse, and Ernest Gruening, D-Alaska, voted against the Tonkin Gulf Resolution authorizing President Johnson to expand the Vietnam War.

I dont recall any of the others offering apologies. So now, Sen. Hillary Clinton is being warned by some of her supporters that she may endanger her front-runner status if she refuses to make some outright apology for having voted along with 76 other senators in 2002 to empower the president to use force in Iraq. A simple I was conned and Im sorry it happened might have done it. But the evolution of her position is like a study in self-torture.

At first in 2002, she made a speech supporting the resolution. In 2003 she said, I stand by the vote. In 2004: "I dont regret giving the president authority because at the time it was in the OUR POLICY ON THIS 1 QQC The siege of the XOOO Alamo began in San Antonio. 07 U.S. troops under IOt I Gen.

Zachary Taylor defeated Mexican General Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico. A during Worid War. II, U.S. Marines on Iwo Jima captured Mount Suribachi, where they raised the American flag. (Actually, there were two flag-raisings that day the second was the one captured in the famous AP photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal.) hi Associated Press The Arizona Daily Sun welcomes your thoughts on appropriate public issues.

Letters to the editor should be 250 words or less and include the signature, address and telephone number of the author to verify authenticity. The Sun reserves the right to edit or refuse letters because of length or content Letters that have been substantially changed will be so noted. Letters should be sent to the editor by mail to P.0. Box 1849, Flagstaff via fax to (928) 774-4790; or via e-mail to rwilsonazdailysun.com. Questions can be directed to Editor Randy Wilson at 556-2254 during normal business hours.

Daniel Schorr is a senior news analyst at National Public Radio..