Reader feedback 9.8.04

HEALTH CARE, SLASHED

Thank you for the article “Catching the Cold” (Metro
Ink, August 18). It fills in the details of a July article in Harper’s magazine titled “We are
not immune,” by Ronald Glaser.

            Glaser
says: “Public health is often invisible and unremarked when it works well;
when it fails, our neighbors sicken and die. A public health system is only as
strong as its weakest link; an epidemic enforces, in the most rigorous fashion,
the American credo that we are created equal. If we allow one segment of our
society to suffer and perish from preventable disease, little stands in the way
of collective doom. Prevention becomes secondary to simply keeping people
alive.

            “While 44
million American people are without health insurance, many receive inadequate
treatment. As people become more mobile, so do deadly diseases. AIDS took
decades to spread, SARS took weeks. Tuberculosis has reemerged as an epidemic
in some places and spreads with drug-resistant strains. Each year 76 million
Americans fall ill to food-borne illnesses resulting in 335,000
hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. Influenza infects 10 percent to 20 percent
of the population every year and kills 36,000. A virulent avian flu could kill
millions. The truly imminent biological threat, which all public health experts
agree will inevitably strike, is an influenza epidemic.”

            The article
goes on for pages with grim warnings of the reckless gamble taken by public
officials:

            “The
peculiar dynamics of American politics, with its periodic spasms of irrational
antigovernment hysteria, has resulted in attracting powerful political enemies
to effective public-health policies. The president’s budget calls for a $105
million cut in bioterrorism funding.”

            “State
and local health budgets continue to decline.”

            “The
New York public health budget was cut 19 percent.”

            “Meanwhile
we are afflicted with a government that wages war across the world at $4
billion a month to avenge the death of 3,000 terror victims, far fewer than die
of influenza in a mild year; a government that insists on spending $50 billion
on a missile defense system that does not work.”

            Why is the
county executive cooperating with this madness instead of fighting it?

            Bill and Sally McCoy, Magee Avenue, Rochester

CASINO’S RACIST

Yes, gambling sucks money from the pockets of the poor. It
could have negative impacts on our downtown, and we don’t have enough say in
decisions like this. But I want to talk about another issue, one that receives
far less attention and shouldn’t. New York State casino gambling relies on
policies that are racially discriminatory and deeply unjust.

            Casino
gambling is illegal in New York. Rather than change the law, allowing the state
and its corporate partners to earn revenue from casinos, Pataki has taken a
subtler route: real estate is sold to Indian nations and incorporated into
their “sovereign” territory, which is not subject to state law.

            Nations
like Canada cannot buy land in the US and add it to their territory. When a
Canadian business acquires land in Rochester, the property remains subject to
our laws and is still taxed. The problem is that Indian nations are not truly
sovereign. American Indians are US citizens and vote in US elections. Indian
nations have a degree of self-governance, but the US government clearly does
not regard them as fully sovereign states.

            Membership
in Indian nations is determined by ancestry. You cannot emigrate. Therefore,
policies governing Indian “nations” are really policies governing a
particular race. American Indians have special rights to which other races are
not entitled: the right to own a casino gambling business and the right to sell
gas and tobacco products tax-free. Some say these policies are fair
compensation for past mistreatment. However, Indians themselves are the real
victims. The apartheid system of limited self-determination and special
treatment has only perpetuated the cycle of poverty in Indian nations. Casino
profits enrich the powerful leaders of Indian nations, while gambling addiction
further burdens their already struggling society.

            American
Indian policy counters all efforts toward racial equality, and it is morally
unacceptable. Our country must move away from its current patronizing attitude
toward American Indians. They must be given equal rights and responsibilities
under the law, or else full sovereignty, not the mock sovereignty currently
allowed by the federal government.

            Nathan Chronister, Laurelton Road, Rochester

COVER UP?

I was pleased that City included the Northeast Naturist Festival as a City’s Choice and with Meg Devine’s
follow-up story. However, I was surprised that City chose to place stars over body parts in the photo accompanying
the story. This cover-up speaks against the naturist philosophy: “Body
Acceptance Is the Idea; Nude Recreation Is the Way.”

            This form
of editorializing against acceptance of the human body is inconsistent with City’s principled coverage of women’s
campaign for topfree equality when City included uncovered male and female chests on its cover. This year City placed stars over female but not male
nipples.

            Topfree
equality exists on every street in New York State, but not on the pages of City. Accurate reporting should include
natural, untouched photos.

            Morley Schloss, Vassar Street, Rochester

CHANGE THE BOARD

I am following the election campaign for Rochester school
board with great interest. Although I do not live in Monroe County, I spent 12
years working in Monroe County at a mental-health agency. It always amazed me
that more often than not, city school district children lacked the basic
educational skills: reading, writing, math.

            While
certainly their home environment contributed to this lack, I never had the
sense that their schools were prepared to deal with these children. This did
not change in the years I spent working with the children. People grow
comfortable in the “tried and failed” methods and either do not or
cannot consider other viable options.

            The same
party has been in charge of the school board for 30 years. Perhaps it is time
for fresh ideas, new blood. Holding onto the party line has clearly proven
ineffective.

            Chris Sullivan, Lincoln Avenue, LeRoy

CONSPIRACY? OR
TRUTH?

City’s cover story featuring Ron Netsky’s dialogue with author Michael Barkun
was a devastating blow to your reputation as our trusted source for alternative
news in Rochester (“Paranoia Strikes Deep,” August 4). City and other papers like it are alternative because they offer a
gamut of information not readily available in mainstream coverage. And they
sometimes even raise the bar a little higher by investigating where others fear
to go — courageous enough to pursue truth, wherever and to whomever it leads
us.

            As a reader, I expect enlightened
news coverage that offers us an opportunity to expand our base of knowledge and
that entices self-exploration while also pushing the investigative-journalism
envelope so that important stories that require time, effort, and money are not
forgotten.

            City and the many other papers like it across the country have a great responsibility,
probably now more than ever before. That responsibility is to inform the people
with as much truth as reporters can find and deliver it to us with brutal
honesty.

            Netsky’s interview with Barkun made
my stomach turn with each insinuation that legitimate concerns about certain
global-power organizations are as far-fetched as UFO sightings and the many
religious proclamations that lay claim on apocalyptic evidence. Barkun seems to
be in good company with authors like Peter Knight and Daniel Pipes (appointed
by President Bush to the US Institute of Peace board), who apparently confuse
legitimate investigation into socio-political critiques with fringe
conspiracies.

            Including comments about September
11, the Kennedy assassination, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the
Trilateral Commission were like the sprinkling of misinformation our national
media delivered by including Saddam Hussein’s name whenever there was
discussion about the terrorist attacks. After weeks of that kind of coverage,
many Americans believed and still believe that Saddam had a hand in them.

            Are we to walk away from Netsky’s
article with the notion that the Council on Foreign Relations doesn’t exist? Or
that the Trilateral Commission is some phantom group that exists only in
folklore and urban legend? Or even worse, to believe that Kennedy was killed by
three shots from a book depository?

            The Tuskegee Experiment did happen.
Small-pox was provided to Indians through disease-ridden blankets, and
President Bush did appoint Henry Kissinger to chair the 9/11 Commission,
knowing that he has been the subject of international indictment. Kissinger was
involved in the 1972 Chilean Coup led by dictator General Pinochet, which
ousted democratically elected Salvador Allende; 75 political prisoners were
executed shortly after the coup took place — which, oddly enough, was on
September 11, 1972. Kissinger was Secretary of State, and former President Bush
was the director of the CIA.

            Consider those examples while you
think about the ramifications of publishing, with consistent quotation support
from Ron Netsky, what could be considered borderline propaganda. Organized
overt acts that affect us every day take place in high places; this has been
true for many, many years.

            I leave you with a quote: “The world
has accepted compulsory vaccination against small-pox, which is surely an
invasion of the body…. And the state so claims control of the body of its
male citizens that it compels them to accept military service, and of the
bodies of its children — male and female — as to force their attendance at
school…. In this context I do not think that sterilization after an allowable
number of births is so revolutionary a restriction on personal freedom as it
may first appear to be. I think it is obvious that we should help to discover
and to support any system of incentives which would significantly reduce the
birth rate in the countries which are in a population crisis.” — John P.
Robin, Ford Foundation, representative
for East and Central Africa, 1968.

            City,
we need your help! There is still time to report the truth. Please don’t
let us down.

            William
John Spaker, Brighton Street, Rochester

WE CAN HELP

To solve its budget deficit, the Rochester school district
may have to lay off staff and cut programs. The proposed cuts include
eliminating parent liaisons at the secondary level; reducing the number of
counselors, art, and music teachers; reducing the number of academic
intervention specialists, who generally work with at-risk older students; eliminating
seventh and eighth-grade sports, and reducing after-school tutoring for
students who did not pass state exams.

            Superintendent
Manuel Rivera laid out an exciting, inclusive “Surround Care” plan in the past
year, proposing that the school district partner with community organizations
to address the needs of our youth. The pending cuts coupled with the strengths
and services of community organizations like The Community Place of Greater
Rochester, Inc. make this the perfect time for a true partnership.

            The
proposed cuts mirror the exact services offered by The Community Place.
Formerly known as Eastside Community Center, Genesee Settlement House, and
Lewis Street Center, The Community Place is a neighborhood-based, multi-purpose
community center established in Rochester nearly a century ago. It is a stable
resource of programs and services in the community.

            When other
organizations reduce or eliminate services, close their doors, and move out of
the neighborhood due to funding cuts, a shift in priorities, or other factors,
the settlement house remains and continues to provide those needed programs and
services in a cost-effective manner. We could enhance and expand our programs
and services at a fraction of the cost the school district pays for the same
services.

            If the
school district cannot provide counselors, art, and music, send the children to
The Community Place. We provide those programs. When there aren’t enough people
to work with “at-risk youth,” send them to us. They are children and youth from
our neighborhoods, so sending them back to us will ensure proper guidance,
support, life-skills training, mentoring, and decision-making skills.

            If the
district can’t provide continuous after-school homework assistance or tutoring,
send the children and youths to us. We have skilled, qualified, and
credentialed people who can provide that service.

            Oh, by the
way, send the children and youths’ families to us, too; we see the whole family
as an extension of the children.

            Let’s
surround the children and their families with the care we can provide as
partners in the community. Children who attend Rochester schools should not
have to receive fewer resources due to budget issues when together, we can
ensure they get it all.

            Sherry Walker-Cowart, president and CEO,
The Community Place of Greater Rochester, Inc., Parsells Avenue

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. We don’t publish letters that have been
sent to other media. 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 about once every two months.

This article appears in Sep 8-14, 2004.