Let's appreciate all that Western Pa. offers

I couldn't help but agree with Robert Isenberg: Many Western Pennsylvanians do indeed have a generally negative view of their surroundings ("The Granola Factor," April 15 Forum). Rather than celebrate and embrace the wonderful things we have around here, many people tend to wish they were somewhere else.

I've now lived in eight different towns and cities in my life, most in the Eastern part of the United States, some in the Midwest. It never ceases to amaze me that no matter where I go, the residents always complain about their own area. The grass is always supposedly greener somewhere else. Maybe that's the case sometimes, but not always. So, let me tell you a little something from an outsider's perspective: Western Pennsylvania is something special.

Let's think about it for a minute. We have wonderful outdoor amenities here: mountains, streams, wildlife and their related recreational activities. We're also blessed with incredible cultural facilities such as the Benedum Center, Heinz Hall, the Carnegie Science Center and the regional history museum. Last, but certainly not least, we're lucky to have not one, not two, but three major league sports teams.

I'm very happy to be here. We need to appreciate what we have and stop obsessing over what we don't have.

CHRIS SCHULTZ
Shaler

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Litter demoralizes

On April 15, the Post-Gazette ran two articles about the appearance of the city of Pittsburgh. A news article dealt with the problem of graffiti ("Police Total Tagger's Cost") and a Forum piece extolled the area as a possible destination of eco-tourists ("The Granola Factor"). Both pieces highlight excellent programs being undertaken to improve the looks of our city.

This city, however, still suffers from a terrible litter problem that is ugly, embarrassing and demoralizing. Having traveled in most of the lower 48 states, I am struck by two observations.

First, Pittsburgh is one of the most naturally beautiful and culturally rich cities in the country. Second, we have a huge litter problem. The considerable cleanup done last summer in preparation for the big influx of visitors for baseball's All-Star Game seems to have disappeared under new piles of plastic, glass, paper, tires and junk alongside nearly every road in town.

As an individual, I recycle, contain my trash and spend time picking up other people's litter. But I call upon the city of Pittsburgh and the county of Allegheny to put human and financial resources into the effort.

Individuals can and must do a lot, but we need help. Litter shows a lack of caring for our city and our neighborhoods. It is demoralizing that people seem to think so little of our town that they just throw their trash along its streets and in its green areas. We can do better than this. If we're to be a first-class city, we have to clean up our act and look as proud as we feel.

BETTY LUFF
Sewickley

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To reverse this trend

New census statistics show further population decline for the Pittsburgh metro area ("Lack of Immigrants Fuels Population Decline," April 5). This should be of no surprise to anyone. To be fair many problems can be attributed to the state.

While most states have progressed, we are still debating the sale of beer in grocery stores. Funding of schools through real estate taxes is a major impediment toward growth. Funding should be distributed equally through the state. Although some people may find this area folksy and quaint, many people view this region as a backwater.

This is an area where the infrastructure is crumbling around us and real estate taxes are forcing residents from their homes, but we are building another sports venue. Since 2000, the Las Vegas metro area has had one of the highest job growths in the United States and has attracted 400,000 new residents. Furthermore, Las Vegas was rated the fourth-lowest for taxes in the country. People are not just moving there for recreational opportunities and the sunshine; it is the low taxes.

The Pittsburgh region, on the other hand, has lost more residents than any area (except New Orleans) since 2000 and has very slow job growth. Job growth and taxes are important factors in where people decide to live, and until this state and region figure this out there will be more population loss in the next census.

JEFF SKUNDRICH
West Deer

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Toxins and health

Finally I have a term for myself from Teresa Heinz Kerry's Forum article "Toxic Women" (April 15).

I am a one-year uterine cancer survivor, a cancer that primarily strikes obese, older, diabetic women or those who have a genetic predisposition for it. I have none of these characteristics and now have no reproductive system and have heightened anxiety, sleeping problems and a decade of hormone replacement therapy and menopausal symptoms.

My girlfriends, (other toxic women) who are around age 40, have lost thyroids and breasts, and my surgeon says she is doing more of my type of surgeries every year. As Mrs. Heinz Kerry states, "The chemicals used to make many of the products we use each day are never tested to determine if they are harmful to human health."

For the sake of generations to come, we must question "the counsel of those who tell us that we must fill our world with poisonous chemicals." We toxic women want answers.

MARGOT CALLAHAN
Mount Washington

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Bush survival tricks

I read with utter amazement the piece by Borzou Daragahi ("Surviving Iraq: What It Took to Get the Story and Live to Tell It," April 15 Forum).

He mentioned his initial subterfuge to escape from imprisonment and even death. He stated that, "Sometimes I went beyond the truth to survive ... Anything to get the story and get out alive." Our current administration has surpassed "beyond the truth," which led us into this war, and now it continues to "go beyond the truth" to keep us in this ill-fated endeavor.

Our elected representatives are supposed to be "impartial and balanced" for the welfare of our country. Are they? Why are so few women and men fighting in Iraq while many others are not obligated to help? If our politicians really had the interests of men and women and their families at heart they would institute the "draft" to help all of us.

Mr. Daragahi stated, "My time in Iraq had started so promisingly"; so did our invasion of that sovereign nation. "[The Kurds] showered us with candy, flowers and hugs," he stated.

Now we are showered with death. Likewise, the Bush administration is showered with the death of our brave men and women and the loss of support of the majority of Americans. Iraq unraveled before our eyes.

"We were oblivious," Mr. Daragahi says, and Iraqis with "no electricity, no security, unfair detentions" asked, "Where is the freedom ... where is the democracy?"

Eventually, Mr. Daragahi, during his stay in Iraq, came up with more survival tricks ... so did our esteemed White House. Mr. Daragahi survived! What next, Mr. President?

M.J. SHANSHALA
Warren, Pa.

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For a better mental health system, society must provide the resources

The tragedy in Blacksburg, Va., has once again brought mental illness into the spotlight. When else do you hear about it, except as the reason for such tragedies? Many will ask why this person's pathology wasn't detected sooner. Why didn't the "system" do something?

People with this potential are everywhere, but it doesn't seem worthy of attention until it hits close to home. As a result of Blacksburg, we all feel less secure and we want the "system" to ferret out these potentially dangerous people, and remove them from society, before they hurt someone.

The mental health system that you are counting on to identify and "fix" these people has become increasingly exhausted. It is a thankless profession, which is noticed only at times like these. Legislators don't champion it, because, for the most part, the mentally ill don't vote. This is not a cause celebre -- at least not until someone gets hurt.

In my 20-plus years working in the mental health system, I have watched it diminish to a system that begs for the scraps of state and federal budgets. And not only do we not get the scraps, we are told that we are going to get less with each passing year.

Events like the one at Virginia Tech never truly open anyone's eyes. There's the obligatory sympathy from the powers that be, and promises that things will change, but they don't change.

Mental health professionals, the people who deal with the people you don't want to deal with, are grossly underpaid and are leaving the field like rats from a sinking ship. The mental health system needs to be appreciated for the work it does. Mental health professionals need to be paid more for the implicit hazard of their jobs. Only then might the system stabilize and more effectively accomplish what society expects of it.

WILLIAM B. MILNE
Versailles

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