The PG has given no good reason to oppose Hayden

The editorial opposing the nomination of Gen. Michael Hayden to be director of the CIA ("The CIA's General," May 9) requires a response on two points.

The editorial states that Gen. Hayden was previously director of the National Security Agency responsible for the surveillance of American citizens "without the court orders required to make it legal." As the PG editorial board well knows, no court has ever ruled the surveillance program to be illegal and its legality is a matter of dispute among so-called legal scholars. The PG needs to be more careful about making such categorical statements.

Also, Gen. Hayden's nomination is opposed by the PG because "the post should be occupied, as it has through most of the CIA's history, by a civilian." It is disingenuous of the PG to make that statement without mentioning that three Democratic presidents since World War II (that's out of five) have had military personnel serving in that position. If we have had problems in the past with that situation (which we haven't), the PG should point that out to its reading public to support its opposition to a military officer serving in that position. If not, omit that as a reason to oppose the nomination.

JACK MENNIS
Hampton

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The situation here

I read with interest the May 11 letter from Megan Vargo of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh's Department for Social Advocacy and Convening ("Our Great Nation Cannot Turn Its Back on Those in Need") regarding illegal immigrants. I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and now live in San Jose, Calif. I read the Post-Gazette every day to keep in touch.

I have no problem with people coming here to work and take care of their families; I do have a problem with those who come here for welfare and medical and other services at cost to taxpayers, who get jobs under the table, who have three forged ID cards, who collect welfare for three, who have no license or insurance and, if they get stopped, don't show up for a hearing but just get a new ID with a new name and start all over again.

Police in this city don't even bother to stop them anymore because it's a waste of time. They do, however, stop the American because he will pay his fine and move on.

If the Catholic Church, to which I belong, is so concerned, why doesn't the church let them go to Catholic schools free of charge and treat them at Catholic hospitals free of charge, instead of asking the government to pay these costs? The church wants help for all these people as long as someone else pays the bills. The American taxpayer is tired of paying for lunch without getting to eat.

JOSEPH ADRAGNA
San Jose, Calif.

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We're to blame

Flash: New Delhi, India, a city with an average income probably around $100 a month, has a clean, energy-efficient rail transit system ... 40 miles long, on time and cheap.

Flash: Pittsburgh, with dreams of grandeur, refuses to do likewise and still waits for something it'll probably never get: Maglev. Why not build what we can afford, what Cleveland had almost a hundred years ago -- a good internal rail system to serve all our people? Why crucify ourselves on a cross of oil, when we know how to solve this problem for our city?

People scream that they are being ripped off by the oil companies, but they continue to buy the gasoline. If they would design their cities efficiently with easy biking and walking and with good surface mass transit, they could leave the driving to someone else and tell the oil companies what to do with their oil. Not only that, but we could throw some of our strange bedfellows out of bed, like the Iranians, the Iraqis, the Saudis, the Nigerians, the Venezuelans ... all of whom we have chosen to make ourselves dependent on. We could control our own fate instead of having it controlled by revolutionary countries across the ocean. Think about it. We have our fate in our own hands, but we cry that someone is manipulating us.

Think about it: We could effectively double our gasoline supply overnight if we would all drive hybrid vehicles. We are the ones to blame. The fault, dear Brutus, lies in ourselves, not in our stars.

DONALD L. GIBBON
Point Breeze

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Raise the gas tax

It seems to me that the complaining about high gas prices is inappropriate. If we are going to reduce our dependency on imported oil, the best way to accomplish that is through higher gas prices.

A price of $3 a gallon results in a little reduction of consumption, but $4 a gallon would be a much better incentive. If Congress wants to do something useful, I would suggest increasing the tax on gasoline by about a dollar a gallon, perhaps in stages over a year.

It would really be helpful if the increased revenue were used to reduce the deficit instead of creating more ways for Congress to spend money, but that might be asking too much.

I don't admire the European economy much, but the Europeans have had this right for many years, with good results. It also wouldn't hurt to extract some of our own oil without unduly hurting the feelings of a few reindeer.

ROBERT F. PATTON
Upper St. Clair

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Proud of Phipps

I recently had an out-of-town guest who had never been to Pittsburgh. We went to many attractions, but the one that got the highest marks was Phipps Conservatory. The day we were there it was crowded and my guest remarked on the diversity of people who were enjoying the beautiful flowers.

There were name-tagged members of a garden club who were asking meaningful questions; a group of ladies wearing purple hats and red dresses or vice versa (my guest had never seen anything like that before); volunteers pushing older people in wheelchairs; children who had poured out of several school buses as we were entering; young parents with children; older couples, some with grandchildren; a group of people using sign language. Our docent told us that many people are being married at Phipps Conservatory.

We ate lunch in the cafe and beside us sat two young men, who had book bags and seemed to be students, speaking Spanish. In a corner a long table had been set up and men in business suits and ties were having a meeting with briefcases opened and papers spread on the table along with the remains of lunch. We nodded and smiled at a young Asian couple with a baby who sat on the other side of us.

I felt great pride that Pittsburgh has a building like Phipps Conservatory that can attract so many people and be a source of pleasure and relaxation for visitors and residents alike.

MARY ELLEN LEIGH
South Side

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Remain vigilant

For months, the community of Upper St. Clair has been torn over whether to maintain the controversial International Baccalaureate program. The school board's recent agreement to a limited reinstatement of the program ("USC Restores Contested Program," April 25) has given the community a wonderful opportunity to evaluate what went wrong in recent months and to learn from the mistakes that have been made.

For years, attendance at school board meetings has lagged. Except for the periods of controversy surrounding high school coaching issues, only a handful of residents were present as important decisions were being made. The contentious meetings relating to the IB program have reignited the community's interest in its leadership, and residents have once again paid close attention to the decisions made by their duly elected officials.

Attendance at meetings has skyrocketed since the controversy began, and the audience has been representative of the entire community -- from schoolchildren to retired residents. The community would be well-served to continue the impressive display of vigilance it has demonstrated in recent months.

An old adage claims that "decisions are made by those who show up," and here's hoping that both the public and the school board remain interested in a healthy, civilized public discourse.

SAM HORNAK
Upper St. Clair

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Hey, Uncle Sam, while you're at it, help me update my directory

Regarding the recently revealed phone surveillance program ("U.S. Forms Phone Call Database: Millions of Domestic Telephone Records Collected in Secret," May 12), I am thinking about asking the government to give me a list of all the numbers I called so I can update my Rolodex.

Sometimes, when I receive a call from someone and am not in, and I return the call, I forget to enter the number on my Rolodex. I don't want the government to give me a list of the numbers of those who called me, because most are people or outfits that are requesting money.

Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for you. This would be a very modest request because the information has already been obtained by the government.

NATHAN HERSHEY
Squirrel Hill

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