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Good folks come to the

aid of mugging victim

I want to thank everyone who helped me by getting involved on Thursday, April 3.
On my way to volunteer, I had the unfortunate incident of meeting up with a man who attacked me while trying to snatch my purse. The crossing guard at the corner of Hellerman and Brous saw the assault and flagged down a motorist to call 911 and report a mugging in progress. At the same time, a wonderful neighbor also witnessing the attack jumped into her vehicle, asked me which way the assailant went and gave chase. Another friend/neighbor came out and saw me chasing the assailant and asked if she could help. She called 911 also. Police officers also saw him running with my handbag, and he was captured and arrested near Gilham and Brous.
If it hadn’t been for everyone caring and becoming involved (calling 911, chasing the assailant, apprehending him), the outcome could have been so very different and possibly even tragic.
We need our neighbors/friends to become involved and help be the eyes and ears of the police department. Just make that phone call when you see something happening that is wrong or against the law. Please don’t ignore potentially serious problems.
If everyone hadn’t come to my aid that day, I may not be able to write this thank-you letter.
Frances M. Azarewicz
Mayfair



We don’t care about politics

at the Perzel community center

Regarding the letter of April 3 (Yo, John Perzel, take it outside!), I’d like to speak in defense of the center.
I am a volunteer with the Holy Terrors STARS sports program for children with special needs.
If it weren’t for the John Perzel Community Center, where would our children go?
We meet there every Friday evening, and sometimes Saturdays or Sundays, where our children can play safely, be themselves and have the same opportunities that our typical children have, but without the pressure, the competition, and the difficulties that ordinary activities present for our special children.
I am aware of the controversies surrounding John Perzel and his "namesake" center. Honestly, I don’t care.
I know the all-volunteer group that I work with performs a vital service to families of special needs children in Northeast Philadelphia, and that this need is growing by the month, with each new diagnosis.
My own preschooler has benefited greatly from attending STARS, and I have met some amazing parents, been introduced to some wonderful agencies and organizations, and have taken advantage of many opportunities for both of my children — special and typical — thanks to my involvement with STARS, and the use of this center that this gentleman is bashing.
Please, I know there are political controversies and longstanding arguments over almost everything. But at STARS, we’re not about politics. Yes, we learn to advocate for our children, and some of us learn how to work with politicians and other key people to get needed change and legislation rolling that will help our kids. But STARS is not a political group. We are a non-profit group of volunteers — parents, caregivers, TSS workers and other support people who care. We have children with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, brain damage, mental retardation and other mental and physical disabilities.
We don’t focus on the politics of the center that we call "home" — we just work with our children and help each other.
Sometimes you need to look past the politics of a situation or a place to work together for the common good. We do.
Kim Wilson
Rhawnhurst
Administration/Web site/Resources
Holy Terrors STARS sports program



Noise is polluting the

good life in Oxford Circle

Attention, everyone out there with an older do-it-yourself car alarm: Please adjust or repair it so that every night at 2 a.m. when a motorcycle goes by, your alarm and every other one in the neighborhood doesn’t start beeping, causing everybody in the area to wake up!
Or, what’s up with someone else on my street who leaves for work every day by 6:30 a.m. and their horn has to honk 15 or 20 times. This is every day!
Or, how about someone a street away whose alarm chirped from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. last night!! Doesn’t this person have a neighbor or someone to knock on their door to tell them their car is driving everyone crazy?
Obviously, no one pays attention to these things anyway, so why even have them?
I love sleeping with the windows open, but aside from running up the electric bill, I am actually anticipating closing the windows and running the air conditioner all night just to get some peace and quiet.
Cindy Sobel
Oxford Circle



That’s no way to

treat the Angels

Pick up any newspaper and read about Philadelphia’s high crime. Watch any television station and read about Philadelphia’s high crime.
Then we hear that the Guardian Angels have offered their services to protect the citizens on the SEPTA system as a result of a murder and two attacks, and they aren’t even given free transportation on the SEPTA system. What an embarrassment to this city!
Joann Hutton
Upper Holmesburg



Rhawnhurst is sitting pretty

after the cleanup

For the third year in a row, the Rhawnhurst NORC’s Spring Cleaning Day on April 13 was a huge success. We had a whopping 41 volunteers who helped 43 aging neighbors with yard work, window washing and minor home repairs.
We want to thank our enthusiastic volunteers from the Rotary Club of Northeast Sunrisers, Orleans Technical Institute, state Rep. John Sabatina Jr., Keller Williams Real Estate and Beneficial Bank for their hard work. The Rhawnhurst NORC office has been deluged with thank-you calls from happy seniors who were delighted with the spring cleaning help.
For more information on the Rhawnhurst NORC — a joint effort of Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Catholic Human Services and United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania — please call 215-728-1330 or e-mail me at egriffin@philafederation.org
Elaine Griffin
Rhawnhurst NORC Project Coordinator



Another shot fired

in the gun control battle

While reading last week’s responses from readers concerning your editorial about state Rep. Dennis O’Brien’s vote on a Pennsylvania House amendment on gun trafficking, I was surprised by the readers’ comments.
Our city is plagued by gun crime. All you have to do is watch the news or read the papers and see what is happening to Philadelphia due to inefficient gun laws. In regard to Adam Lang’s comments, I would recommend that the Republican ward chairman not make this an issue between Democrats and Republicans. Members of both parties are being murdered at a record pace, and that’s the bottom line, Mr. Chairman.
Blaming the media for their lack of due diligence is nothing but a poor excuse. Why has it taken so long for these elected officials to do the right thing? How many deaths will it take to get something done? 400? 500? 1,000?
To Mayer Krain, I’m glad that you are proud of your state representative and his courage. Courage is a two-way street. Winston Churchill once said that "Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm." Let’s hope and pray that Rep. O’Brien doesn’t lose his enthusiasm and will stay the course and work on a solution to this issue.
To Jennifer Smith, I agree with you that the majority of crimes are committed by illegal guns, and that IS the issue here. This city needs to address this situation. This bill could have been a start but unfortunately it wasn’t.
Rep. O’Brien had the ability to forge a path in the right direction and voted against the bill. I’m sure he is a good guy, but sometimes good guys have to make tough decisions, and the editor disagreed with his vote. We live in America and we are unlike many countries that do not have the luxury of free press.
To Matthew O’Brien, please don’t blame the editor for "what our society is becoming." He’s merely trying to open up a dialogue on this issue to try to get some sanity back into our society. Blaming the courts for having "restricted the efforts of teachers to correct students and give them a moral compass" is just another excuse. No one wins at the blame game. Look, the simple fact of the matter is that whether it’s the city of Philadelphia or the state of Pennsylvania, we need to address the existing gun laws and make them better and more efficient to protect all of us. We need to stop making excuses, blaming others and find a way to fix this problem.
I wonder if these opinions have been mentioned to any elected official? What’s disturbing to me is that it took an article in a local newspaper to generate these opinions. That’s a sad commentary.
Kevin M. Coughlin
Fox Chase



A serving of liability

on underage drinking

Once again the time for proms and graduation celebrations is here. I know I speak for the Philadelphia Police Department in passing on our good wishes to the graduates on the occasion of their milestone achievement and wish them every success and happiness. As law enforcement professionals it is a key concern to make this graduation season safe for all revelers. It would be most unfortunate to allow this time to be marred by an incident involving alcohol.
Pennsylvania Law, Title 75, Section 6308 is very specific when it comes to underage drinking; a person commits a summary offense if he, being less than 21 years of age, attempts to purchase, purchases, consumes, possesses or knowingly and intentionally transports any liquor or malt or brewed beverages.
Whenever a person is convicted or is adjudicated delinquent or is admitted to any pre-adjudication program for a violation of section 6307 (relating to misrepresentation of age to secure liquor or malt or brewed beverages), 6308 (relating to purchase, consumption, possession or transportation of liquor or malt or brewed beverages) or 6310.3 (relating to carrying a false identification card), the court shall order the operating privilege of the person suspended.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will issue a 90-day license suspension. A second offense will result in a one-year suspension. Even if the underage drinker complies with every order and requirement of the court, a driver’s license suspension will still be issued. In addition to the penalty imposed above, a person convicted of violating Section 6308 may be sentenced to pay a fine of $500 for the second and each subsequent violation.
The law is also very clear on liability associated with hosting a party where alcohol is served. Anyone under 21 years of age commits a criminal offense if he or she attempts to purchase, purchases, consumes, possesses, or transports any alcohol, liquor, or malt or brewed beverage, and an adult who furnishes any assistance is also criminally liable. Furthermore, a person commits a crime by serving any alcohol to a minor; it is not necessary that the minor have been served an amount sufficient to intoxicate him. Any person who serves minors non-alcoholic beverages marketed is criminally liable.
The term "non-alcoholic beverage" means any beverage intended to be marketed or sold as non-alcoholic beer, wine or liquor having some alcohol content but not containing more than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume. Most social hosts probably assume that furnishing beverages with just a trace of alcohol to minors is legal, but doing so is prohibited by the Pennsylvania Liquor Code.
During this season you can safeguard yourselves and your minor guests by explicitly making it known that only adults may drink alcoholic beverages, and if observed, get involved and stop any minor from drinking.
When a social host discovers that a minor has been drinking alcoholic beverages, the host should prevent the minor from driving. Dispelling a minor from a celebration for drinking is chancy, since his intoxication may not be obvious and sending the minor away may increase his link to danger. The minor should be given a ride home. Please join us in making 2008 the year when no one is arrested, injured or killed because of parties that got out of control. Let’s pay tribute to our graduates and ensure their safety and their futures by not allowing alcohol to be part of the celebrations.
Captain Deborah J. Kelly
Commanding officer, 8th Police District



Nosebleeds can be a

matter of life or death

I am writing in response to a letter by Susan Curran’s letter last week (Bloody nose should take a back seat to true emergencies).
Although I agree that a lot of people abuse the ER and use it as a "clinic," for a lack of better words, I must say my blood boiled when I read your letter. I have to tell you, first of all, the worst opinion you could give is a wrong one! A bloody nose does require a trip to an emergency room in a lot of cases.
I am not giving my opinion here, I am telling you from firsthand experience. A nosebleed, if not due to allergies or an injury, can be a sign of a major situation — blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, need I say more.
A few years ago, my husband had a nosebleed while just standing outside doing nothing, with no other symptoms with it. He was only 33 at the time and we just shrugged it off as a nosebleed.
After a few minutes it continued and didn’t stop. I took him to the ER, which is total of maybe four minutes away in traffic. We had to stop more than four times and used a roll and a half of paper towels. When I went into the ER and told the triage nurse my husband was in the parking lot with a nosebleed and it wouldn’t stop, they went out to get him with no hesitations, and their ER was packed.
The hospital I went to was Jeanes, and they were great when I needed them.
My husband’s nosebleed was due to high blood pressure that he didn’t know he had (247/178). He is lucky he didn’t stroke out. And to make it more complicated, they also found a 95 percent blockage in his LAD (left anterior descending artery) which they call the widowmaker.
Susan, anybody in the medical profession knows how serious that is. I tell you this because that is how serious a nosebleed can be — a "true medical emergency."
Without that nosebleed as a warning, my husband may have died. Our cardiologist told him how lucky he was that he knocked on death’s door but nobody answered. Thank God.
So, I tell everyone out there, take your nosebleeds serious. Go to the ER. Obviously if it is still bleeding by the time you get to the hospital, go in and get checked out. If it stops, then you could probably turn around and go home and get checked by your primary care doctor.
So, Susan, if you were just giving your opinion, you need to do your research first. But if you are in the medical profession, well, that is just scary.
Gina DiNofa
Fox Chase

• • •

I want to correct Susan Curran’s idea that a bloody nose does not need an ER visit. Have you ever heard of a condition called ITP? Not many people have.
I have had ITP for the last 15 years. If you saw me, you would think I was healthy, but I am not. A bloody nose could lead to my death if I cannot get it to stop bleeding.
ITP is a condition where your platelets are very low. Platelets clot your blood. When there is nothing to clot your blood, you just continue bleeding. If I sat in the ER with a bloody nose for seven hours, I might also visit the vending machine.
You see, during these episodes of bleeding I feel fine and would get hungry, and so I might eat something as long as the bleeding is a little on the slow side.
I have to take all unexpected bleeding very seriously for the rest of my life. I have had many nosebleeds that have led me to the ER because I could not get it to stop.
One other reason the ER is a place to be for nosebleeds caused by ITP is that my platelets could be so low that I would need to be admitted. Another reason is that the blood could be coming from my brain and not just my nose.
So you see, a nosebleed can be a reason to go to the ER.
Peggy Wicker
Lawndale

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