Let's put the Westinghouse move into perspective

While it is disappointing to Monroeville and other eastern communities that Westinghouse Electric Co. has decided to move its headquarters to Cranberry ("Westinghouse Center Goes to Cranberry," March 21), I don't foresee the doom and gloom that some are predicting.

Sure, the headquarters will be gone and the business taxes that go along with that. And some local businesses, like restaurants, will lose their lunch business, and hotels will lose some business. But do we really believe that all the Westinghouse employees who live in Monroeville or the surrounding communities will pack up the family and move north? I don't believe that will happen.

My neighbor is a Westinghouse employee, and I would hate to see him and his family leave. I live in the Irwin area and I drive to North Fayette every day. I would gladly trade that trip for one to Cranberry. The commute from the east to Cranberry would involve a straight shot up the turnpike.

I think the real sadness involved with this move is the continuing spread of urban sprawl. How easy it is for a company like Westinghouse to move from one large office complex that already exists to a brand new sprawling complex that needs to be built, with no regard to what it leaves in its wake. What will happen to the buildings in Monroeville that Westinghouse leaves behind? How long will they sit vacant? And, of course, to build this new complex, 80-plus acres of woods will be removed from Cranberry forever.

That, I think, is the sad part of this whole story -- that and the strange glee one area of our region expresses at the obvious expense of another.

MICHAEL GROSS
Manor

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Pirates off our list

Sorry, Pirates, I won't be attending any of your games this year. I've never been a smoker, but my wife is, and I will not come to PNC Park without her ("You're Out, Smokers: Pirates to Enforce No-Smoking Policy Everywhere at PNC Park," March 20). It's a shame, really, as this year's team holds so much promise.

It looks as though my wife and I will be spending our entertainment dollars outside of Allegheny County from now on. You hear that, County Council? You are not our parents, and we don't appreciate you trying to run our lives as though you are.

My parents are alive and well, including my mother, who has been smoking for almost 60 years. County Council members claim the county's anti-smoking ordinance is intended to protect the health of employees, but that is a lie, and every one of them knows it. They are not the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and they are not qualified to regulate workplace safety.

Anyone who owns property has a right to control how it is used, within the bounds of what is legal. Smoking is legal (unlike, say, prostitution) and anyone with even a whiff of intellectual honesty and a passing familiarity with the U.S. Constitution would admit that people have the freedom to act as they choose, even when it is not in their long-term best interest.

The free market can and should be the forum that resolves this issue.

JAY SILLA
Elliott

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Bush's monster

President Bush is trapped in a war of his own making. He created the rationale for the invasion of Iraq and has, over the last four years, constantly found ways to rationalize our continued involvement.

As many of us warned four years ago this week, this war would not go well and it would end badly. Just how badly can be seen in stark statistical details. Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, innocent of all crimes except the worst one -- being Iraqi -- are now dead. Nearly 2 million of them are now displaced from their homes, living as refugees in tents and horrible conditions.

More than 3,000 American servicemen and -women are now dead, and more than 24,000 have been maimed or wounded in combat. The taxpayers have invested more than $400 billion -- about $9 billion a month as of this year -- in what can be described charitably as a waste. The people of Iraq have less electricity, less health care and far less security than they did before the invasion, even while living under Saddam Hussein's tyranny.

President Bush is trapped in his war, and we as a nation are trapped along with him. Happy fourth anniversary.

JOSEPH BUTE
Pine

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PG's plan of hope

Regarding the articulate, cogent and refreshing lead editorial on Wednesday morning ("Iraq Plus 4," March 21): Your words about exiting Iraq plus the concurrent "summit strategy" plus the impact on 2008 elections were superb.

This imagined presidential speech is a total package that provides a rational and positive piece of forward thinking, not only for the Middle East but also for the economic and moral strength of the United States.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin once said, "The future belongs to those who give it the greatest hope." Your editorial offers a piece of that much-needed hope.

BRIAN BAUKNIGHT
Senior Minister
Christ United Methodist Church
Bethel Park

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Unhealthy system

The Walter Reed hospital scandal has highlighted the health-care needs of the military and our veterans.

On the other hand we have millions of children -- and adults who care for them -- with no health care whatsoever and deepening poverty levels.

This was recently highlighted when a young boy died because of bacteria from an infected tooth, after he had tried in vain to get preventive care. It seems to me these scandals are related and reflect how we "do" health care in this country. There can be no stronger argument for a national health program than demonstrating the failures of the one we have. Too many people are falling through the cracks.

We need one national health system. Separate systems are a recipe for failure. Nor should we want our military served by a separate system but by the same one that all of us would use. This has the added benefit of allowing us to see our soldiers when they come home in need of care. As it stands now they are invisible, and there are thousands of them. I believe such a system would result in better care.

Americans pay the most for health care in the world, yet receive substandard care when compared to what is available in other first-world nations, and those nations have national systems.

We can get far more for less. It is not only in our own self-interest, it is the moral thing to do.

GARY E. KAMINSKI
Elizabeth Township

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Now, it's our turn

So keeping the Penguins here and building a new arena are priorities. I just wonder what importance our politicians put on such issues as homelessness, school closings, out-of-control gas prices, joblessness, child abuse and neglect, people literally having to decide whether to heat their homes or buy food or struggling to pay property taxes, people without hospitalization, youth and crime issues, and I could go on.

It is truly unfortunate that our elected politicians spent all this time and were so visible when it came to a new arena (and keeping a sports team here), but what really matters to people is ignored.

Believe me, everyone is not a Penguins fan. Everyone is not a Mario Lemieux fan. Everyone does not like hockey or have the desire to attend a game, and everyone is not in favor of a new arena.

So, politicians, what are you going to do for all your other nonarena, non-Penguins constituents?

JANET LOUISE MARTIN
East Liberty

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The casino appeals are ridiculous

The losing casino license applicants are truly grabbing at straws as they do their best to ridicule the business model and financial performance of Don Barden's casino enterprise, not to mention the embarrassment they bring upon themselves by attempting to ruin Mr. Barden's good name and reputation ("Both Losing Slots Bidders File Appeals With Court," March 3).

The argument made for the appeal of Don Barden's license makes reference to the performance of his casino in Gary, Ind. This, we are led to believe, is an indicator of the eventual performance of a slots casino in Pittsburgh. An assertion like this would be similar to comparing the Pittsburgh Pirates to the New York Yankees. Any Pirates fan will tell you this comparison is laughable.

Mr. Barden's plan makes sense, first and foremost, because his location is the most accessible. In fact, and ironically enough, the only way slots would not provide the anticipated returns in Pittsburgh is if one of the two appellants were to gain control of the license. The undeniable aggravation of traffic jams would ensure that the over-55 crowd, the targeted market for slot machines, would stay away. And what would Station Square look like when potential table games, and the hundreds of additional vehicles, add to the gridlock?

These appeals offer no evidence or proof that the state Gaming Control Board made an unwise decision. Meanwhile, millions of dollars will be lost to this region as these appeals drag on.

The state Supreme Court has more important cases to hear than one as silly as this.

A.R. KLINE
Lincoln Place

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