We should support fair trade everywhere

This is in response to the Dec. 5 letter "Our Economy Will Sink If We Keep Buying Foreign-Made Goods." Cynthia Spielman cites American purchases of consumer goods made in foreign countries as the culprit behind our limping economy and blames big business for moving manufacturing plants overseas.

Well-trained marketers have stimulated our blind appetite for cheap consumer goods, which empowers corporations to move to locations where they can strip the natural resources and labor far away from prying eyes and American sense of fair play. These overseas factories employ child labor, dangerous working conditions and what some say amounts to slavery.

Can we all become experts at the origins and moral values of the companies whose systems we support through our purchases? One method to cut to the quick of fairness is to purchase "certified fair trade" products (see Ten Thousand Villages in Squirrel Hill for samples). This assures a decent wage to laborers in foreign countries. If we supported fair trade through our purchases and demanded an expansion of certified fair trade (not to be confused with free trade, which turned out to be freedom to oppress and profit), American labor might again become competitive in the world market.

We can't have it both ways. It must either be cheap, brutal and ultimately destructive or cost a little more and be fair, giving us time to plan for a sane future.

When labor unions scream about their own jobs without concern for the livelihood of others in a similar human condition, their moral indignation does not ring authentic. Rather than resent the workers in Mexico or China, perhaps the time has come for labor unions to promote international solidarity.

DIANNE BURNHAM
Churchill

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CCAC bashing

I was shocked to read that the Post-Gazette chose to highlight Community College of Allegheny County's relocation costs for recent hires as a front-page story ("CCAC Executives' Moves Cost $48,000," Dec. 5). This clearly isn't "CCAC-gate." The relocation costs are less than 50 cents per student.

The CCAC leadership, including the county chief executive, the administration and the board, is determined to make CCAC a nationally recognized leader in the important area of work-force development. The two named recruits came from progressive institutions in progressive states with growing high-tech work forces. With extraordinary recruitment efforts, they moved to Pittsburgh, the only major metropolitan area with more death than birth.

A worthy headline on CCAC might read: "CCAC's more than 80,000 students represent a larger student body than Pitt, Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne combined." Another story might read, "CCAC vocational program graduates make more than the average four-year liberal arts graduate at graduation."

We have very serious, chronic problems facing our region. This region represents less than 1 percent of the GNP, which means that 99 percent of the ideas and talent reside outside Western Pennsylvania. Enlightened readers will applaud recent hires and recognize that relocation is an appropriate reimbursable expense.

Our region needs more than the Post-Gazette bashing of CCAC over needed recruitment expenses. I hope future stories might include one of the above-mentioned headlines.

GEORGE FECHTER
CCAC Trustee
CEO, Soffer Organization
Wilkins

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Talent costs money

In regard to the Dec. 5 article "CCAC Executives' Moves Cost $48,000": Apparently noncorporate Pittsburgh has yet to wake up to the simple fact that to attract top-drawer executive talent, it is often necessary to cover a simple item such as moving expenses. The hue and cry over the past month or so regarding relocation packages for such new hires as Community College of Allegheny County's Brian Johnson and Wendy Weiner would be laughable if it weren't so flamingly obvious an admission that many local officials are completely ignorant of what it takes to attract and retain talent these days.

Enough already! Talent costs money, and relocation expenses are a widely accepted part of those costs.

LARRY SLATER
Mt. Lebanon

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Where's the proof?

So Pittsburgh Councilmen William Peduto and Doug Shields and Planned Parenthood's Kim Evert want to create a "buffer zone" around abortion clinics for safety reasons ("City Proposal Sets Limits on Protests at Abortion Clinics," Nov. 30; "Council Gives Nod to Protest Limits," Dec. 8). Some claim that the sidewalk protesters get "in people's faces" or try to shove literature in people's pockets (which the protesters vehemently deny).

Why don't they come up with some proof? Have any criminal charges been filed against anyone? Do you mean to tell me that in this day and age of the ubiquitous video camera, security camera and cell phone camera, they can't come up with some pictorial proof?

Instead they want to suspend everyone's constitutional right to free speech. Why don't they aim their security cameras (and don't tell me there aren't any) at the sidewalk and just file assault charges against the offending individuals (if they can find any)?

TIM M. KILLMEYER
Robinson

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More to their agenda

An interesting aspect to the story of the safety zone proposed for the Planned Parenthood clinic Downtown that Dennis Roddy glossed over in his Dec. 3 article, "Clinic Pickets Must Keep a Distance: New Law Proposed for Abortion Sites," is the leaflets that he mentions protesters distribute.

While I'm not certain what protester Bill Depner's literature entails, I wonder if Mr. Roddy bothered to read the creative works of fiction that protesters frequently try to pass off as facts.

As a board member of the Action Fund of Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania, I've had the opportunity to review samples of what is disseminated; it's often thrust at me as I'm called a murderer on the way in the door. Pamphlets warn women that not only will abortions cause cancer, so will birth control -- lies long debunked by actual science. Don't be fooled -- the agenda of these protesters goes beyond abortion.

No protester outside the Planned Parenthood clinic has ever tried to engage me in any civil conversation. They are belligerent, angry, sometimes violent and full of disinformation and falsehoods. The further they are kept from not only the clinic, but all thinking people, the better.

AMY STEVENSON
Regent Square

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Consumer values

On occasions such as International Human Rights Day, which is tomorrow, rallies are held and many words are spoken, but the value of those words is realized only when they are translated into concerted action. We are at the height of the most important part of the retail year. In the next days and weeks, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and various other holidays will stimulate gift purchasing, grocery purchasing and travel expenditures. Money talks -- socially conscious consumerism allows you to send a message to the corporations about whether their business practices align with your values. I recommend the following four steps for socially conscious consumerism.

1. Educate yourself about the social impact of the businesses you patronize. Research their labor relations both domestically and internationally, as well as their impact on the environment and the contributions to their communities.

2. Base your buying decisions on how well the company aligns with what is important to you.

3. Communicate to the companies you choose to patronize that their positive efforts in these areas have been a factor in your decision to patronize their business. If you decide to stop patronizing businesses because of their social impact, write them and let them know.

4. Enlist others who share your commitment so that you can leverage the impact of socially conscious consumerism.

This season you can let how you buy be as important as what you buy. This is a practice we all can participate in and one we can train our children to adopt. Billions are spent in advertising every year to encourage you to buy; very little is spent encouraging value-based buying. Instead of just looking for financial values, let's look for the more meaningful and enduring values in our purchasing decisions. Let's make a difference on a daily basis.

M. GAYLE MOSS
President
NAACP Pittsburgh
Hill District

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Let's applaud these dedicated schoolteachers

Congratulations to all the teachers, including my son, who have acquired a certificate from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards ("58 Teachers From State Earn National Certification," Dec. 1). Nearly half of them teach in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

The city of Pittsburgh should be proud of these individuals. This is a great accomplishment. I have seen firsthand how much work and effort has to go into qualifying for this certification. I watched my son spend many hours and months going through the process necessary to achieve this goal.

We are always ready to criticize our public school system and blame the teachers for its problems. This group helps to exemplify the dedication and effort that goes into being an educator. They are doing their part to improve our schools. Are you?

CARL J. VITTI
Stanton Heights