Tuesday, November 1, 1988
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Malak should be looking for a job

A "Voices" letter from Linda Miller.

ALEXANDER — I think it is interesting that the governor wants to give Dr. Fahmy Malak a raise. Consid­ering all the cases he has made mistakes on lately, I would think he would be looking for other employment.

In most cases when you make several errors in a short time in your work, you are ei­ther demoted or fired. And considering the importance of the job Malak is supposed to be doing, I think he should be seeking employment else­ where.

I sat in a hearing when Malak testified on his findings concerning the two boys killed in Alexander. I found the man to be extremely arrogant, rude, unsympathetic and cruel, not to mention unprofessional and not too knowledgeable on the effects of marijuana.

I am not a pathologist or a drug user, but even I know that it would be close to impossible to smoke 20 joints in a few hours and lay my body neatly beside my friend on a railroad track. If I had smoked that much I doubt I could even find the tracks, let alone lay down straight between the rails in such a manner.

He also stated that if anyone was responsible for the boys death, it was the engineer for not stopping the train in time—as if that were within the realm of possibility. I though that statement was not only cruel but stupid. ·

There are several other cases in question that the al­mighty Malak has made rulings in error: the man at the rest home and two children who were killed, all ruled as acci­dental or natural causes. So by all means, let's give this great man a raise. You always reward employees for not doing their jobs.

I think the governor needs to read the papers and review the facts a little more before he starts handing out raises. If he wants to give someone a raise, give it to someone who deserves it—like our teachers who bravely go into the class­ room to teach our children or the families of victims who have to fight to find out the truth about their loved one's death.