Transportation cutoff threatens triple whammy

The June 20 editorial, "Ride to Wisdom: The Legislature Needs to Fund Transport to Jobs," hit the nail on the head. Building a world-class workforce encompasses many facets, including the means to get to work. The absence of transportation works against a mobile, flexible workforce that can navigate work, training and child care -- all in different locations.

In the absence of state action, many Job Access and Reverse Commute transportation projects will end. The JARC program, coordinated by the Access-to-Work Interagency Cooperative, involves 12 organizations that join forces to get people to work in seven of our 10 counties. Projects include van services, small on-call buses in rural areas, specialized public-transit routes, the airport corridor's shuttle services and late-night service. Nearly 7,500 employers are made accessible to people who need these services.

JARC serves more than 2,900 area riders daily and provides more than 1 million trips a year that connect passengers to public transit. If the state doesn't provide match funding for JARC programs, we'll suffer a triple whammy: fewer people able to get to work and the potential for losing $4 million in federal funds, increasing per-person transit costs due to fewer riders and new public assistance expenditures.

Bottom line: JARC is key to moving our workforce, and it's funding is in jeopardy unless the Legislature acts. Let's keep moving.

RON PAINTER
Three Rivers Workforce
Investment Board
Downtown

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Duquesne pride

As chairman of the 50th reunion committee of the Duquesne High School class of 1957, 1 think current students at my alma mater should know that they still have a chance for a successful life after leaving Duquesne High. Good high schools produce people who do more than play sports in high school. Knowledgeable adults graduate every year from high schools and become active and productive members of society.

In 1957, there were 282 members in my graduating class. Our committee knows that at least 60 of our classmates have died. Of the 222 still living, at least 104 will show up at the reunion from all over the country. Most of us are now grandparents and active baby-sitters.

Our class graduated great athletes and all-around "average" responsible citizens. One class member still holds several basketball records at Carnegie Mellon University when it was Carnegie Tech. Some great baseball and football players were in our class also. Some of us became nurses, teachers, military officers, small business owners, administrators, engineers, ministers, doctors, college professors -- you name it, probably someone in our class did it.

Duquesne, Pa., the former "City of Steel" where Andrew Carnegie built his first steel mill, was and will always be a great city to all of us who lived there. For all of us who graduated from its school system over the years, we all were proud to say we graduated from good old Duquesne High.

EUGENE J. BUJDOS
Lincoln Place

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Trust promotions

It takes a unique individual to dedicate his or her life to public service. Those qualities that comprise an outstanding police detective, sergeant or commander must be even more rare. As citizens, we trust public officials to make the right decisions regarding promotions though we may not know exactly what criteria go into making these decisions.

George Trosky has been in the Pittsburgh Police Bureau for 30 years. Police Chief Nate Harper and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl both have confidence in him.

Officer Trosky's personal history includes good times and bad times; the question is, however, whose doesn't? Moreover, does his history mean that he can't be an effective police commander? For most lay people, it's impossible to competently answer these questions.

Fortunately, there are trusted public officials who are qualified to make these kinds of decisions, officials who take their jobs of protecting Pittsburghers very seriously.

If he has managed to do his job well over the past 30 years (and judging by his 15 commendation letters and three appearances as "Officer of the Month," an impartial observer may surmise that he has) then he deserves this promotion because he's the best person for the job.

CARA BALDARI
South Oakland

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Fearmonger Kelly

I am writing in response to a June 10 column by Jack Kelly, "Blind to the Threat." I noticed how Mr. Kelly always goes for overkill. According to Mr. Kelly, it seems there is a terrorist hiding under every bed in America. Most Americans know very little about Muslim culture and faith.

A handful of extremists have twisted Islam, actually a peaceful religion, into something it is not and given it a bad name. On a casual basis, I have known a Muslim gentleman who is a professor at a local college. He is a scholarly, esteemed and likeable person who is a pleasure to talk to.

Before you criticize an entire group of people, Mr. Kelly, you should get to know some of them on a personal level. When you write an article like yours, you only inspire bigotry, hatred and fear; those are things America already has too much of.

ROBERT McKAY
Grove City

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Billboard litter

Apparently, the New Jersey-based Outdoor Advertising Co. has found its "expert witness." The esteemed Charles R. Taylor, John A. Murphy professor of marketing at Villanova University, finds Ruth Ann Dailey's critical columns on the Monroeville billboard saga to be "misleading."

In his June 21 letter ("Litter? Far from It"), Prof. Taylor lecturers us on how billboards "provide value to multiple constituencies including consumers and local businesses." He claims public opinion polls prove 80 percent believe billboards are useful and create jobs.

One wonders if any of those polls were conducted in Monroeville. Has Prof. Taylor ever been in Monroeville? Has he ever gazed upon the billboard jungle of business Route 22?

Ms. Dailey cited "cynical back-room dealing" and "a lack of honesty" in describing Monroeville council's actions so far ("Billboards Are Everybody's Business," June 11). She pointed out that despite rejection by the Monroeville Planning Commission and the zoning board, council seems eager to rewrite the zoning regulations allowing the advertising company to erect giant billboards on the tree- lined Parkway East.

The eminent Prof. Taylor chose to ignore that history and describes billboard opponents as only " a minority." One wonders why Prof. Taylor suddenly jumped into this 15-month-old local battle.

ADAM LYNCH
Monroeville