Letter: Hoover Dam turned out to be bad trip for kids

Thursday, Oct. 21, 1999 | 9:58 a.m.

On Oct. 15 one more fed strike hit. The 4th grade students of Doris French Elementary School went on a long anticipated, well-planned field trip to Hoover Dam. They arrived at the departure point 20 minutes late and were told too bad, they were late -- unless they wanted to pay $2 each! These children were refused their tour, period. And, very rudely.

Aside from the fact that the dam pays for itself, it should be available to educational tours without such arrogance. Sure, being on time is extremely important. Were the teachers informed in advance that they had to be there exactly on the dot of 10 or lose their tour? No. Can the traffic be predicted to the minute? No. No one involved in getting this trip on the road was remiss in keeping things moving.

There are many outraged parents and sad students over this. And, let us not forget, that trip was paid for out of that school's budget, and they were wrongly denied the right to fulfill the purpose of that trip. The feds are out of touch with reality.

CATHERINE HAMMELRATH

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