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It’s time to stop
the war in Iraq
Last Wednesday, nearly 50 people gathered in front of U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz’s office near Frankford and Cottman avenues to hold a candlelight vigil in remembrance of the 2,000 people from the United States and the 30,000 to 100,000 people from Iraq who have died in the war in Iraq.
The group also noted the 10,000 wounded soldiers, the hundreds of thousands of wounded people from Iraq, and all the families for whom life has changed forever as a result of this war.
These residents of Northeast Philadelphia are calling on Congresswoman Schwartz to oppose further funding for the war in Iraq. Northeast Philly for Peace and Justice, the sponsoring group for the event, will join with the Coalition for Peace in a rally at Rep. Schwartz’s Jenkintown office on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. For more information, call 215-698-2422.
Marion Brown
Fox Chase
Thank you,
sweet savior
On Wednesday, Oct. 19 at about 4 p.m., a young boy 11 years old helped my brother and possibly saved his life. My brother is a diabetic, and when he was away from home his sugar level dropped very low. My sister called his cell phone. He picked up but was unable to respond. He could not tell us where he was.
For almost an hour, my family desperately tried to locate him. I prayed to God that someone would come to help him. Well, this boy came walking by and came to his aid. The boy picked up the cell phone and told my sister that my brother was at Northeast Avenue and Rising Sun Avenue (a small street behind Welsh Road). At this location there are not many people walking around.
I believe this boy was an angel sent from God. We would like to know his name and thank him if we could.
Please call me at 215-533-7747.
Maryanne Seifert
Northwood
There’s always room
for some mercy
In response to Mrs. Smith’s letter last week (Justice should prevail, says Sarah’s aunt): Your message came through very loud but far from clear. You seem to be of the belief that because Megan Miller lacked a piece of paper from the commonwealth and Rich Miller failed to react quicker, that the events of April 17, 2005, were not accidental.
The fact that Megan failed to have a learner’s permit does little to predict how she would react in a real-time driving situation.
In regard to a football field’s length before the car impacted, yes, Mr. Miller should have reacted quicker, so that means it was intentional?
Incarcerating Richard Miller will not bring Sarah McGinley back. You seem not to believe in accidents, unless you commit them, or human suffering unless it is your own.
Furthermore, do you really believe that I don’t understand human loss and suffering because I have compassion for the Millers? The little modicum of forgiveness and mercy I have has taken a lifetime to learn. If you’re not at that stage yet or never get there, so be it.
Remember this, Mrs. Smith: the heaven that your angel Sarah rests in exists because the Father forgave.
Brian P. Tait
Mayfair
Some thoughts from
a murder victim’s sister
Regarding the murder of my brother Chris in 2001, I am very happy they have caught the men that killed him.
We hope no other family has to go through the pain and suffering of losing a loved one from a murder. This is the hardest thing my family and I have ever gone through.
Hopefully, the fact that his murderer, Russell Chrupalyk, was sentenced to life in prison will mean that he cannot cause any more pain and suffering to any other family.
I hope that him being in jail means that he cannot be a threat to any other person. He is evil and doesn’t care about human life except for himself.
My brother was brutally taken from me. I feel guilty that I couldn’t help him and won’t be able to ever help him.
My thoughts were that these guys being put in jail would give me a sense of closure, but I don’t feel any better. I still have this sense of emptiness that I believe will never go away.
My family will always have this emptiness. Every Mother’s Day, my mother will be reminded of this. Every May is like a blur, as we coast through the month trying not to remember what happened, trying to remember just the good times and trying to get life back to normal.
You ask who has the right to decide who lives or dies. I say only the big guy upstairs does.
My family and I would also like to thank Detectives Jeff Piree and Chuck Boyle for all the work they did on Chris’ case and the support throughout the trial. We can never repay you for all your kindness and support.
Carol Jastrzebski
Castor Gardens
In defense of
those pit bulls
As a mother of three young children, two school-aged and a newborn, I won’t stand here and say nothing while some people have stereotypes about pit bulls.
People and animals alike are not born dangerous but are brought up that way. I see pit bulls being walked through my neighborhood every day and nobody has ever had a problem with them. There is also a mother who walks her pit bull to the school every day to pick her kids up and he’s the gentlest dog I’ve ever met.
How do you explain that? I would love to see foes of pit bulls pass through my neighborhood. My pit bull would probably lick them to death.
When there are problems with pit bulls, it is the fault of the dogs’ owners for not having them on a leash.
Melissa Verucci
Castor Gardens
Just wondering . . .
Regarding the indictment of City Councilman Rick Mariano, I would like to know why a police officer, if indicted or charged with a crime, is presumed guilty and is suspended for 30 days with intent to dismiss.
I think it should apply to any crooked city employee.
Maureen Till
Juniata Park
Who better to fill
Councilman Cohen’s seat
than his wife?
There will never be another David Cohen. The poor, the handicapped, the minorities need a spokesperson. Florence Cohen (David Cohen’s wife of 60 years) is it. Florence, who shared David’s mission and vision, is the best, indeed, the ONLY person to perpetuate his legacy.
I am sure that Council President Anna Verna did not mean to be dismissive of David Cohen’s life work or to ignore the will of the voters when she said that his seat should remain vacant.
I am also sure that she did not mean to render the position of Council-at-large as superfluous.
Please call your ward leaders and Council president’s office (215-686-3412 or 215-686-3413) and request that there be a special election to fill Councilman Cohen’s seat, and that Florence Cohen be named the Democratic candidate to fill those wonderful shoes. She is the only one who can, since she was by his side for 60 years.
Alice Getzes
Bell’s Corner
Editor’s note: The writer’s daughter Mona is married to the Cohens’ son, state Rep. Mark Cohen.
Keep intelligent design
out of public schools
Is it constitutional to teach intelligent design? The bottom line is, the United States follows a strict separation of church and state. As a result, strict separation ought to be applied to state-controlled and tax-supported schools. Therefore, in the issue of whether intelligent design is acceptable to teach in public schools, the lesson is a blatant violation of the separation.
Many argue that intelligent design is a scientific alternative to Darwin’s theory of evolution, filling in the unexplained gaps of evolution. Regardless of whether the belief specifies who the supreme being is, it contradicts atheism.
Being a Catholic high school student, I do not reject the belief of intelligent design, I merely feel it inappropriate to teach unproven information in a secular science classroom.
Teaching intelligent design breaches the strict separation of church and state in the U.S.
MaryEileen Fagan
Pine Valley
Boys playing field hockey?
Readers are calling it foul play
Men are from Mars, women are from Venus, girls are made from sugar and spice and everything nice, and boys are made from some concoction using puppy dog tails and other strange ingredients.
My point is that there are great differences in men and women that society has acknowledged for years. Under the law we are all equal, and that is how it should be. In marriage I know my wife Joanne is always right, and that’s how that should be. But on the sports field there is a great difference, particularly in team sports.
My daughter Sarah is a junior on Central High School’s varsity girls field hockey team, and I am very proud of her and enjoy watching her play. I became upset when she played a recent game against Washington High School, which has on their team five boys, three of whom are starters.
These young men are all good athletes, and the style of the game changed. I played soccer in high school and college, and I know and love the game, and there is a great difference in styles between the men’s and women’s soccer. Just look at the U.S. national men’s teams that struggle during each World Cup match, and the U.S. women who dominate the game, having won at least two World Cup championships.
With the boys on the team, the style of the game just changed. I recently read the Northeast Times issue of Oct. 20 (No skirts here) with a write-up about the controversy, and the players were quoted that as boys they feel they have advantages in strength; however, they lack experience.
In seeing the game firsthand, there is no question that their shots go farther, they run faster, and with experience, they will dominate the game. There lies the problem: whose game is it?
I strongly believe women are underrepresented in sports, and allowing men to dominate in a traditional women’s game will only further this divide. There also is a safety issue. Boys at the high school level are generally larger, stronger and faster than their counterparts. Injuries happen in all sports — as they say it is part of the game — however, with such differences it only makes injuries more likely.
At this time in Pennsylvania PIAA, there are no rules governing the participation of boys a team could play. With 11 boys on the field and with the needed experience that comes with time, they could win the state championship. This will not only change field hockey, it will also remove another opportunity for women to excel in sports. Conversely, the state of New Jersey’s Interscholastic Association rules prohibit members from allowing boys on girls’ teams.
I believe in equal rights for all; I believe that all young people should be exposed to as many sport opportunities as possible. If boys wish to play field hockey, as they do in many parts of the world, they should be encouraged and supported by all of us — but they should play in a league of their own.
Al Taubenberger
Fox Chase
• • •
After reading your article about the males in local high schools playing field hockey, I felt the need to write in.
I have no issue with the equality of the sexes. I do have a problem with boys participating in a sport heavily played by females.
This young man from Washington is a senior, which means he’s already faster and larger than most of the underclassmen playing this game. Not only does he have an advantage because he’s male, he’s also way more intimidating than most people would think.
If you were a girl and saw a boy coming at you with a field hockey stick, you would not be as aggressive as you would be if your opponent were another female. Other cities have seen this trend of men playing with females to feel more powerful throughout the state. I read an article from Pittsburgh that said it wasn’t right to have boys on a female field hockey team.
Men do play field hockey. It is very popular in Europe and I have had the pleasure of seeing the men and women’s national teams play. They do not, however, play on the same team. Do you see this happening in the Olympics or in collegiate sports? No. Why should this be permitted in high school? It even says that he will not be pursuing this in college.
Since collegiate male field hockey is not widely available, he wouldn’t be able to play on the female team. I applaud the other teams in the league that have to compete against Washington during the season.
Those girls have to work three times harder to play a game that was, up until this year, solely for them. Their hard work and sacrifice should be commended, not ignored.
Janine Cozens
Mayfair
• • •
I am captain of the Philadelphia High School for Girls field hockey team. I just read the article on the four boys playing in the league in this year.
I think it is extremely unfair that they are allowed to play. Going to an all-girls high school, we don’t have the option to have boys on our team; if we did, I wouldn’t be writing this. So when we play teams with boys playing, it is clearly an advantage for them.
After playing our first game against Washington High School this season and losing 4-0 (Mike Walsh scoring two of those goals) everyone in our school was outraged, as well as friends and family of mine and my teammates.
I know Title IX quite well, and I know you can’t discriminate, but when an all-girls school is in the league there should be a restriction or even a limit.
Even though my team beat Frankford, we still think they had an advantage. Anyway, I was hoping my senior year playing field hockey would be great. Unfortunately it hasn’t, and this has a great deal to do with it.
Kristen Verdi
Fox Chase
• • •
I suggest the following compromise regarding the participation of boys on girls’ teams in sports such as field hockey, where there are not enough interested boys to form a league of their own: Allow a limited number of boys to play during a portion of the game and reserve the remainder of the game for girls only.
Clark Loveridge
Castor Gardens
Recognize veterans
for their service
If you define heroes as people who have made significant sacrifices to benefit others, then you have been blessed by the heroic efforts of millions of servicemen and women who put their lives on the line so you can enjoy freedom.
Whether they lost their lives in battle, returned to civilian life or are now taking the fight to terrorists, all Americans should pay tribute to military personnel who defended our nation so today we could be free of communism and tyrannical dictators, and have a strong defense against today’s enemies of democracy.
Since the Revolutionary War and through our current efforts to defend freedom and liberty, Americans have been protected by well-trained and dedicated soldiers, pilots and sailors. They watched over citizens’ backs and marched forward into danger.
Veterans Day should not be seen as just a day off from work or school. Rather, it’s a federal holiday to maximize the number of people who participate in remembrances that honor those who placed their country’s future before their own safety.
Depending on the era of their service, veterans received a varied reception when they returned from military duty. Remember that without their service, our nation and the world would be completely different, and for the worse.
On Nov. 11, support these brave patriots by attending a parade, visiting a veteran’s gravesite, flying the American flag, praying for troops, sending packages to deployed personnel, supporting military families and thanking veterans for their service. They deserve our gratitude and have earned our respect.
Robert C. Eiler
Vietnam War veteran, VFW state commander
Stop the killing
of innocent people
On Oct. 25, it was announced that 2,000 of our troops have been killed in Iraq, with 15,220 maimed in varying degrees of horror.
"Shock and Awe" for a "Mission Accomplished!"
Shame! When will the American people wise up to what these murderers in the administration are doing to our children, both in uniform and civilian?
When will enough be enough? Are Karl, Don, Dick and George trying to break the record of Johnson, McNamara and Nixon in Vietnam? It sure looks that way. Let’s stop the useless killing of innocents BEFORE the 2006 election!
Robert D. Eckel
Southampton
AAA rep is fuming
over oil company profits
How is it that "big oil" companies are releasing quarterly statements with record profits at a time when motorists are paying record high gas prices? AAA Mid-Atlantic wants to know. These enormous profits should raise eyebrows and question marks.
During the third quarter of this year, when Hurricane Katrina created major supply and distribution issues, oil companies reaped unprecedented profits from motorists. Some companies’ net income soared as much as 75 percent, an industry record. When the pump price of gasoline climbed almost hourly and accusations of price-gouging were made, reasons proffered by oil companies were almost comically contradictory and even apologetic. What explanation is there now?
AAA Mid-Atlantic does not begrudge any business a fair profit, but the billions upon billions being reported in the aftermath are at best, appalling. In hindsight, motorists had every right to be outraged. And still do.
As the motorists’ advocate, AAA Mid-Atlantic would like every elected official to take note and action. Their quarterly statements are empirical evidence oil companies were certainly less than candid in September.
If the explanations these companies proffered at the time prices were skyrocketing at the pump were true, then how can they justify the financial results they are reporting now?
Americans deserve a straight and honest answer.
Motorists, speak up to your lawmakers.
Catherine L. Rossi
Manager, public and government affairs, AAA Mid-Atlantic
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