Murder meant to instill terror is a special crime

I would like to thank the Post-Gazette for the thoughtful editorial "Hateful Crime: Murder is Murder -- With No Distinctions" (May 21).

The editorial raised some good points, but I must ultimately disagree with the end conclusion. While all Americans -- men and women, black and white, gay and straight -- should be treated equally under the law, the same cannot be said for crimes. While it would certainly be easy to simply say that one murder is as awful and should be treated the same as any other murder, the facts do not bear this out.

When a young man is viciously beaten and left to die in the cold and isolation of an October night in Wyoming simply because he is gay, that crime has ramifications far beyond its own awful brutality.

Hate crimes by their very nature aim to instill terror within an entire community. While one person may be left with the physical wounds and scars of an attack, similar people from across a community, state or even country are left to wonder if they could be next.

Hate crimes are about isolating, silencing and making people cower in the corners. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act is a good bill and should be signed into law.

IAN S. THOMPSON
Baden

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Hate is hate

I have been reading the Post-Gazette off and on for about 40 years. Most of the time I don't agree with your views, but I do on the May 21 editorial "Hateful Crime."

I can't seem to find the difference between murder. Why is there a difference between the murder of a white, a minority or a homosexual person? If they were all murdered by the same person, why should one be treated any differently than the other two?

In my opinion they are all the same. Hate is hate, and should be handled according.

ROBERT TIMM
Mt. Lebanon

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Food fundamentals

I have a suggestion that I would like to voice concerning the May 15 article ("Pitt Plans $1 Billion Update") about Pitt's plans to modernize buildings and add new facilities.

I believe it is a wonderful idea. But I was wondering why the university won't consider building and adding to its many fine programs a culinary arts program so students can pursue a dual degree in both nutrition and culinary arts.

Working with the hospitals here, programs could be specialized to individual health concerns and specific menus for different food needs. The area is diverse with many cultures and all kinds of cooking could be taught.

The culinary arts would be a great thing to offer at the university.

LINDA GIBSON
Wilkinsburg

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Dowd for all

I've read a number of comments, in the Post-Gazette ("Lawrenceville Lost," May 23 letters) and on local blogs, suggesting that Patrick Dowd's City Council victory over Len Bodack Jr. is a victory for Highland Park over Lawrenceville, and a victory for college-educated rich people over working-class Pittsburghers. As a Lawrenceville resident with an average income and no college degree, I have a few things to say about that.

First, Len Bodack does not live in Lawrenceville. He lives in Stanton Heights, a community that is economically more similar to Highland Park than to Lawrenceville. So the idea that he is "one of us" is ridiculous. Yes, a handful of well-connected Lawrencevillers have had an open line of communication with Mr. Bodack; but for the rest of us, the only time we've heard from him was when he was seeking re-election.

It's true that Mr. Bodack won a lot of the vote in Lawrenceville -- but don't forget, he has decades of name recognition (due to his father's accomplishments) working in his favor. In a neighborhood with so many long-term residents, this advantage can be almost insurmountable.

Despite the complaints of those who are upset that their patron is leaving council, I am confident that the majority of Lawrencevillers will find, as I have, that Patrick Dowd is very approachable and will focus on Pittsburgh as a whole, instead of using his position to benefit his inner circle of associates.

JERRY MALONEY
Lawrenceville

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We all win

I write in response to Justin Ceoffe's May 23 letter "Lawrenceville Lost." No, Mr. Ceoffe, District 7 won. We got someone who talked with voters, all voters, in person and often. He showed up to debate an incumbent who consistently "had other appointments."

So we all win because we have elected someone who is wise enough to represent us all. The voters, including those in Lawrenceville, have spoken.

LYNNE FLAVIN
Lawrenceville

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Mental health parity

After talking to individuals in the state offices and with individuals in the insurance industry, I believe it is time that the public understands the disparity in insurance co-payments between physical and mental health. The co-payments for seeing a psychiatrist can be 2.5 times greater than other medical doctors

I believe, there is no difference between physical health and mental health to the point that there is a difference in co-payments. Neurologist, dermatologist and psychiatrist are, first, all medical doctors before specializing in their individual fields. Co-payments for their services, therefore, should be the same.

Insurance plans are making a difference between two groups of individuals because of the classification of their illnesses. This is a bias and prejudicial stance, separating one group from anyone.

The insurance companies are not saving money by having these differences. The mental health individual who can't afford this difference in co-payments will end up in the hospital to get the care that he or she was not able to get. This will cost the insurance company more in the long run.

This also advances the stigma of those individuals with mental heath.

RAYMOND L. REITMEYER
Clairton

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Libraries give life

Homewood Library. How strange that I would read about it twice in one day.

First, I read the May 13 article " 'Literary Healing' Refocuses Area Hit Hard by Violence," about the Celebration of Reading at the Homewood branch of Carnegie Library. The event featured the writer Kelly Starling Lyons, a Pittsburgh native. Based on her childhood of reading voraciously but never seeing "books of young people who looked like her," she decided to fill the void and write children's books about black families.

That same day, I picked up "An American Childhood" by Annie Dillard to share with a granddaughter. Annie Doak Dillard developed her wonderful mind reading books from the Homewood Library, the closest to her house on Richland Lane. Her mother drove her there every two weeks for years until she could drive herself. "I only very rarely saw another white person there," she wrote. Every year she checked out "The Field Book of Ponds and Streams" and was amazed how many people had read it since her last time when there were no ponds or streams in Homewood.

Think also of a young August Wilson, who left school and gave himself an education in the Carnegie Library. His plays reflect years in libraries as well as time spent on the Hill.

The message for all children: Read. Read. Read.

CAROLYN WILSON
O'Hara

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Conneaut Lake Park: think big and try again

I was saddened to read that Conneaut Lake Park will be closed this summer ("Historic Amusement Park Won't Open This Year," May 23). My family has enjoyed a yearly summer trip to the charming lakeside park and adjacent campground for the past few summers.

With Kennywood charging $31 a person, Conneaut offered a cheaper alternative -- and was just as enjoyable for my young sons. What I cannot understand is how they continued to plunge themselves into debt without much of a plan to make money. Instead of pinning their hopes on benefactors and the sales of $5 commemorative coins, why don't they think big and turn to corporate sponsors?

Why not contact PPG to have them help refurbish the classic Blue Streak and give them sponsorship rights? Or have Heinz sponsor the ballroom or food booths? Isn't there a Wal-Mart in Meadville right on the way to the park they could contact as a "benefactor"? It's a shame they couldn't "think big" to raise $100,000 from the corporate world so that this summer institution could remain open. Good luck next year.

CATHY ZANG
Shaler