Reader Feedback 3.12.03

Money aplenty

I can’t tell you how sad it makes me when you talk about the
city schools (“Doing the Math,” February 19). I can tell you from first-hand
experience that most schools are failing not
because they lack resources or money.

                  It is
disheartening and tiring to hear School Board member Rob Brown, teachers-union president
Adam Urbanski, and others cry about needing more. I saw schools replace
perfectly good tables with computer-specific tables that costs thousands more.
I had plenty of nice meals at fine restaurants and hotels listening to district
trainers. I know for a fact that the school-wide reforms that are being
purchased by the district cost almost $200,000 per school in some cases.

                  There
is plenty of money, but it is spent foolishly. Everyone wants their own piece
of the pie, and the reason the “community” is not supporting the
schools is because the “community” gets shit on every time they try
to help. Ask almost any parent who has left the city why they moved. It was not
because of race or lack of caring. They left because they felt abused.

                  The
fact is that the whole damn system is run by self-serving political types who
would not dare let your paper or any other dig deep into what really goes on.
The local business leaders are not mean-spirited or uncaring, but they have
dealt with the Rochester school district and they know how much waste (both
financial and emotional) there is. Stop blaming it on lack of resources or
“equitable funding.”

                  The
only time these “leaders” get vocal is when there is an economic
crisis that affects their constituents. This latest “school within a
school” idea is old. I tried for two years to get one to happen; other
than the parents, no one would openly support it. This new plan is a
transparent one that will only force more parents to flee. In six or seven or
10 years, we will be looking for a new plan, blaming the failure of this one on
money or commitment.

                  Get
real, because no one is listening. It’s over.

                  John Bliss, Nottingham Road, Rochester (Bliss
is a former teacher with the Rochester school district)

All in the family

If President Bush’s wife and daughters were Iraqi and lived
in Baghdad, I wonder if he would be so anxious to invade. My point is that we
all have family in Iraq: human family. Anywhere on earth there are fathers,
mothers, and children. We are related. I cannot understand why Mr. Bush seems
ready to sacrifice hundreds or maybe thousands of innocent Iraqi lives (not to
mention American soldiers’ lives) to get one man.

                  This
is completely immoral — and Mr. Bush is supposed to be a Christian.

                  Dan Quilty, Kosciusko Street, Rochester

Fighting the war

Why are hundreds of millions of Americans demonstrating
against invading Iraq? We don’t believe the Bush administration’s hype on Iraq,
or that the administration is concerned with democracy, human rights, or international
law.

                  There
are those who say that Saddam is a butcher and that we need to invade to
liberate the people of Iraq. Protesters are not so naive as to think that
bombing Baghdad and killing tens of thousands of civilians (again) is what the
people of Iraq want. A recent UN report states that over a million Iraqi
children would be at risk of starving if we bombed Iraq again and further
destroyed its infrastructure.

                  For
the last 12 years Iraq has been under siege, unable to repair its water-treatment
plants or power grid, unable to stock hospitals with medicine.

                  Before
the US bombed Iraq 12 years ago, the people of Iraq were enjoying the profits
from the nationalized oil industry. They had universal health care, universal
literacy, and free secondary education. Now the people of Iraq are starving to
death and dying of dysentery. Our sanctions have killed hundreds of thousands
of Iraqi’s.

                  Colin
Powell has tried his hardest to link Iraq with Al Qaeda, but the bottom line is
that Iraq does not pose a terrorist threat. Perhaps Powell should have read CIA
Chief George Tenet’s letter to the Senate Foreign Intelligence Committee. In
it, Tenet explains that Iraq does not pose a threat and that the US is actually
increasing the likelihood of retaliation by backing Hussein into a corner.

                  Hundreds
of millions of protesting Americans aren’t falling for the Bush
administration’s pretexts for invading Iraq and privatizing the oil. Please
join us this Friday, March 14, 5:30 p.m. in front of the Federal Building for a
massive anti-war demonstration. Let’s send a message.

                  Jon Greenbaum, Metro Justice Organizer

Praising ‘Gods’

To paraphrase: Jon Popicks’ reviews are a God awful waste of
time.

                  Perhaps
Mr. Popick would do better to consider the purpose of the films he reviews
rather than the outcomes that never seem to please him. The things that seem to
annoy him in Gods and Generals (February 19) are the things that make the movie a powerful message against
war.

                  He rails
against the inconsistency of uniforms, while admitting their accuracy. If Mr.
Popick had paid a little more attention in 8th grade, this would have enhanced
the realism, rather than distract him. He is confused? Combat is confusing.
History does not always play out accurately on the screen (witness Gangs of New York), but the points that
history makes are better understood when accuracy and drama mesh.

                  He is
annoyed by the lack of limbs flying about. There was plenty of violence, plenty
of death and destruction, without emphasizing the gore. Perhaps he would have
liked it better if the film had eliminated the smoke and dust so we could see
the maiming and death.

                  Men
sleeping on the Fredericksburg battlefield, using the corpses of their comrades
as shelter from both bullets and the cold: That speaks eloquently to the
violence of war. That it is historically correct underscores it.

                  The
actors confused him. Because Stephen Lang played a different role than in the
previous movie in the series? Because Robert Duvall rather than Martin Sheen
played Lee? Actors are actors.

                  There
was a cereal commercial line: “Mikey hates everything.” So, it seems,
does Mr. Popick.

                  Hermon R. Card, Syracuse

More GYN help

My thanks go out to Jennifer Loviglio for her article on the
importance of regular gynecological exams for women (“For That Someone
Special,” February 12). It is estimated that between 60 and 80 percent of
American women diagnosed with cervical cancer had not had a pap test in the
last five years.

                  I
would like to add another avenue for women to take to ensure their health.
Planned Parenthood of the Rochester-Syracuse Region is dedicated to providing
reproductive health-care services to all women, regardless of their ability to
pay. Depending on income, women (including teens) may qualify for low-cost or
no-cost health-care services, particularly with the new Family Planning Benefit
Program that offers free services to many women who may not have qualified for
other such programs.

                  For
more information, or to schedule an appointment, consumers can call our
Toll-Free Helpline at 1-866-600-6886 or visit our website at www.pprsr.org.

                  Bonnie Bohme, Regional Director of Clinical
Operations, Planned Parenthood of the Rochester-Syracuse Region, University
Avenue, Rochester

Viewing Tom

I enjoy reading This Modern World, usually because I
disagree with its blatant partisanship, and find its arguments laughably weak.
What are those Democrats going to whine about next?

                  But
I’m curious: How much do you pay to run this? Or does the Democratic Party pay
you to run it?

                  The
funniest thing in a recent “comic” was the part about GW Bush being
an unelected president. What’s he doing in the White House if he wasn’t
elected? Does anyone still believe that Bush lost Florida?

                  I don’t
care if Bush had been elected by a one-vote margin in the House of
Representatives. If it had gone that far and he was chosen in that method, he
would still be the legitimate president.

                  However,
I do feel that the Democrats had an illegitimate year or so in control of the
Senate, thanks to that selfish grandstander, jumping Jim Jeffords.

                  Joe St. Martin, Penfield

Talking back

Why is it that when people write letters to City, your writers sometimes feel
compelled to write back? As journalists, you should know better. You had your
shot. Your article was a lot longer than the letter, and you got paid for it.
Instead of insisting on having the last word, perhaps you should go eat worms.

                  Amy D’Amico, Rochester

                  Editor Mary Anna Towler’s response: Fair
question. Many newspapers do not permit their writers to respond to letters.
Many magazinesdo, however.
Alternative newsweeklies, in many respects, have features of both.

                  Several
years ago, a longtime reader asked why our writers didn’t respond to letters. “When
you don’t,” he said, “it makes me feel as if you’re ignoring me.” I agreed —
in part because I realized that personally, I’m more apt to read letters in
magazines that contain a writer’s response. As a whole, the package seems more
interesting.

                  We give
all of our writers the option of responding; some want to do it. Others object
to the practice, vehemently. (Coincidentally or not, the number of letters we
receive increased when we started publishing responses.)

                  You’re
right, of course; doing this gives our writers the last shot. But I think all
this continues a public dialogue on important issues.

                  And,
on occasion, as this week, it permits us to explain a practice that concerns or
confuses readers. Along that line: We try to let our letters keep their
distinctive personality. We let them run a bit longer than many daily
newspapers do, and we try not to squeeze the individuality out of them.

                  Our
Mail column is designed to let readers talk to us and to one another; our goal is
to provide a community forum, one that reflects the life and the concerns of
the region.

Writing to City

We welcome and encourage readers’ letters for publication.
Send them to: themail@rochester-citynews.com or The Mail, City Newspaper, 250
North Goodman Street, Rochester 14607.

                  Our
guidelines: We don’t publish anonymous letters — and we ask that you include
your street name and city/town/village. While we don’t restrict length, letters
of under 350 words have a greater chance of being published. We do edit letters
for clarity and brevity. And in general we don’t publish letters (or longer
“op-ed” pieces) from the same writer more often than once every three months.

This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2003.