On lobbying reform, I am the Republican leadership's point man

Regarding the March 1 Post-Gazette article by Maeve Reston, "Santorum No Longer in Forefront of Efforts to Revamp Lobbying": I'd like to set the record straight.

I disagree with the headline and the entire tone of the article. When Sen. Bill Frist asked me to lead the Republican lobbying reform effort, the goal was to bring Democrats and Republicans together on a bill that we could all agree on. The Senate rules apply to members of both parties and reform can and should be done in a bipartisan manner. So I hosted a working group that included a truly bipartisan group of senators such as John McCain, Barack Obama, Christopher Dodd, Russ Feingold and Trent Lott. And we reached agreement on a number of important principles, which, as the article reported, were adopted by the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday.

Standard procedure in the Senate is that bills move through committees and then to the Senate floor -- it makes the process smoother and more bipartisan and the bill more likely to pass. But it does not, in any way, remove me from the process. Although this is not the "Santorum Lobbying Reform Bill," I will continue to be the Republican leadership's point man on this issue. And I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that the Senate does the right thing from an ethics point of view.

In addition, the article referred to my "personal charity." I do not have a personal charity. The reference was an allusion to Operation Good Neighbor, a charitable organization that I founded in 2000. Since then, I have had no control over its direction. My involvement is limited to being honorary chairman of the board -- a board that includes former Philadelphia mayor W. Wilson Goode, a prominent Democrat -- and lending my name to fund-raising events. That's it.

U.S. SEN. RICK SANTORUM
Washington, D.C.

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10 percent challenge

Here is a challenge for a city still flush with hometown pride.

What if only 10 percent of the estimated 250,000 Downtown Super Bowl celebrants mustered the same passion and commitment to ending the nightmare in Iraq as honoring men who run their heads into each other?

What if only 10 percent of the people proficient at rattling off Ben Roethlisberger's statistics knew the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni?

What if only 10 percent of the money spent on black and gold paraphernalia was contributed to city organizations working on peace and justice issues?

What if only 10 percent of the time spent by TV stations rehashing Steeler minutiae was spent highlighting peoples' creative actions to end this war?

What if only 10 percent of the water cooler conversations preoccupied with Jerome's future was redirected to concern for friends and neighbors being sent off to slaughter and be slaughtered in Baghdad?

On Saturday, March 18 at 1 p.m. on the corner of Penn and Highland avenues, Pittsburghers will gather on the third anniversary of our invasion and occupation to proclaim that we still say no to war. If a crowd only 10 percent the size of the Steelers Downtown celebration comes to East Liberty, the world would really see a city of champions. What if?

ALBERT PETRARCA
Highland Park

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Open our minds

After reading Eleanor Chute and Gabrielle Banks' Feb. 22 article "Upper St. Clair Fight Similar to Others," I wondered what all the fuss was. I went to the official Web site of the International Baccalaureate Organization and found it not to be as anti-American or as anti-Christian as I was led to believe by the Upper St. Clair board members who voted against it. The program's mission statement says: "The International Baccalaureate Organization aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect."

I just finished studying abroad on the Semester at Sea program offered by the University of Pittsburgh, where I am a junior. I find myself wondering: How ignorant our we going to let ourselves (as Americans) get?

I take particular interest in the "intercultural understanding and respect" part of the IB mission statement. I interacted with Chinese students who knew more about my government than I do -- and I went through the normal "pro-American" public schools. I barely could tell the Chinese students the names of their government leaders. It was quite embarrassing.

We need to educate our children. I don't have any yet, but when I do, I want them to understand other cultures and not be as ignorant as I am.

DAVID HARVITZ
Oakland

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Smokescreen

Your Feb. 27 editorial in praise of draconian smoking bans was disappointing, but hardly unexpected ("A Dying Tradition: In the Land of Pubs, Smokers Told to Butt Out"). Commenting on England's ban on smoking in public places, it relied on the usual mix of ambiguous statistics, fearmongering and an appeal to our lesser instincts to legislate behaviors that we find annoying or offensive.

Should one wish to exercise one's right to eat, drink and work in a non-smoking environment, there are now many places to do so. The current system in regard to private businesses allows for choice, which is generally held to be a good thing.

I've yet to see troops sweeping the streets, rounding up anti-smokers and forcing them to eat, drink and work in the smoky dens of vice that otherwise would, presumably, be models of healthy behavior once the filthy smokers took their unnatural vice outside.

As for increased health insurance: perhaps we ought to consider some other risky, tremendously costly groups. If nonsmokers should not have to subsidize costs "for those who choose to endanger their health," then who should subsidize the costs for overweight Americans who choose to endanger their health through diabetes, heart disease and other chronic, potentially fatal and certainly expensive illnesses? Or for those who engage in high-risk activities like skiing or mountain climbing?

ERIK SCHUCKERS
North Side

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Fix the jail

Being a concerned parent of an inmate at the Allegheny County Jail, I have some concerns regarding the Jan. 30 editorial "Jailhouse Rocked."

If employees would jeopardize their personal careers with alleged drug distribution, how little do they care about an inmate's well being? A number of individuals currently incarcerated due to drug offenses are in need of treatment. How can they begin a new "clean" life if employees are supplying drugs?

Then there's an issue of health. Two families have already filed negligence suits in 2005 due to the death of loved ones. Do we become less human upon incarceration where we have to settle for substandard health care? Not all inmates housed at the Allegheny County Jail have been proved guilty. Even still, are they not entitled to humane treatment? It escapes me how a system to monitor individuals more closely is having such a breakdown while at the same time exhibiting a disregard for human worth and dignity.

In my opinion an outside panel should complete an investigation. The problem has yet to be corrected internally. Now is time to go outside of the system to seek a remedy.

LAURA L. NEVELS
East Hills

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Non planning

Keith Maiden is concerned about traffic on Carson Street if a slot casino opens at Station Square ("Carson Street Is Already a Traffic Nightmare," March 2 letters). The folks who approved the Waterfront complex should have thought of that, too.

How can you plan a beautiful shopping experience like The Waterfront and not make adequate provisions for entering and leaving? There was always a bottleneck around the Homestead Grays Bridge. And having one lane in each direction on the Amity Street access was never enough.

Now the bridge is being repaired (long overdue) and traffic there reduced to two lanes. Amity Street became even more clogged. And because some Tom-Fools try to beat the trains that cross it, the officials were forced to close Amity to exiting traffic ("Railroad Crossing Closes to Traffic Exiting Waterfront," Feb. 17).

Where are our "city planners"? Where are the Zoning Boards that allow this to happen? So, Homestead will eventually get some tax revenue, but what happens when stores go belly-up because ordinary citizens like me refuse to spend 20 minutes getting out after I've made my $20 purchase? Talk about horse and buggy planning for the 21st century!

b>W. LEE HICKS
Regent Square

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War is hell. Fighting hidden insurgents must be even worse

I'm a Korean combat veteran. It's been more than half a century since I was in combat, and the memory of that is something you carry to your grave. The terror involved and knowing that any moment your life can end is almost unbearable. To know what your enemy looks like, what he is wearing and where he is helps considerably. At least you have a fighting chance.

But to not know what they look like, what they are wearing, what they will use, and when they wall strike is complete insanity. How anyone can exist under those conditions is beyond me.

I read recently that over a third of our returning troops need psychiatric help ("35 Percent of Returning Troops Sought Mental Health Aid," March 1). I can't understand why the percentage is so low.

ELI R. CHABASSOL
Bridgeville