School strike features adults out of control

During the course of the past couple of weeks, I have communicated with a countless number of parents. There was clearly one common thread in each and every one of these conversations. The Seneca Valley School District dispute, which started nearly 18 months ago when the last teachers contract expired, has gotten uglier and uglier with each passing day and has divided the community in a way that will only have long-term, extremely destructive, repercussions ("Teacher Strike Goes on at Seneca Valley," Oct. 24).

All of us have a common goal. We want to educate our kids in a healthy, safe, positive environment, free of hostility and malice, and an environment of which we feel proud to be a part. The insulting tones, disparaging remarks, finger pointing and outright propaganda that both sides are spouting is an extremely poor reflection on our close-knit community. With each passing day and each insult that is leaked to the media, we lose sight of what we all agree must be our first priority, the welfare of our children.

The fact that grown, intelligent adults cannot settle a dispute over money over the course of 18 months is a poor example for our kids. However, much worse than that is the example we are setting for dealing with each other as human beings.

We, as parents, are not pro-teacher nor are we pro-school board. We simply want both sides to cease and desist from the ugly behavior that has been exhibited so that we can all, once again, claim to be pro-children.

KEN DASH
Cranberry

---

Wrong priorities

I will not get into whether or not teachers should walk picket lines or cross them. However, when one teacher elects to cross the Seneca Valley picket line to coach football, it says volumes about priorities ("Coach Planning to Cross Picket Line," Oct. 15).

The coach said that, if it was not football season, he would not cross. It was further noted that he was only coaching, not teaching. Coaching football is obviously more important to him than educating the students.

Parents of football players should stand together with the other parents. If everyone sticks together, maybe they can get the kids back into the classrooms faster. If all of these games continue, what will they learn from us?

PETER BALFE
Brookline

---

Be fair, legislators

Regarding "School Strikes Revive Calls to Ban Them" (Oct. 21): I have three questions for the chief sponsors of measures to outlaw teachers strikes. These sponsors are state Reps. Bob Bastian, R-Somerset, and Todd Rock, R-Franklin, with supporter state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry.

No. 1, Rep. Bastian: Would you also be willing to write a constitutional amendment calling for a statewide referendum on any legislative pay raises?

No. 2, Rep. Rock: Would you also ban any legislative pay raises and have local school board members and their solicitors who do not bargain in good faith add two days' pay for teachers on strike?

No. 3, for Rep. Metcalf: Would you also be willing to support numbers 1 and 2 above?

BOB ZITELLI
Kennedy

---

Transit trouble

Deal with the crack addict trying to bum a ride. Deal with the drunk who doesn't know where he is going. Deal with the "recovering addicts" itching to get to the methadone clinic with their fake pass because they sold their free one on the street to get drug money.

Deal with the senile old person who has nobody to tell them they need to change their Depends. Deal with the mentally challenged panhandler who, if he hasn't urinated in his pants before he gets on, will undoubtedly do it while he's sitting in one of your seats.

Deal with the individuals with Tourette's syndrome. Deal with the mentally handicapped. Deal with the physically handicapped. Deal with the large groups of disrespectful teenagers. Deal with the disrespectful adults. Deal with the dishonorable people who will always try to beat the fare because we rely on the "honor system" to collect our fares.

Deal with the motorists who break every traffic law not to get "stuck" behind the bus. Deal with the pedestrians who jaywalk in front of a moving 20-ton vehicle while looking you in the eye and flipping you off.

Deal with my job for one day. Then, come and ask me if I think I earn every penny of compensation I receive from the Port Authority.

GARY EVANS
Pleasant Hills

---

W.Va. litter crew

In response to Barb Riedl ("Trashing Our World," Oct. 22 letters), it is nice to know that some people are trying to make a difference, while others have an attitude that they have the right to do what they please.

West Virginia takes the brunt of many backwoods jokes, but it is taking a realistic approach to the littering problem. It is using inmates to do the litter pickup and weeding, according to an article in the Oct. 18 Wheeling News-Register.

Pennsylvania should do the same thing. I also think that using welfare recipients for litter pickup in exchange for their monthly check is a win-win situation for the whole state. Of course West Virginia is not using hardened criminals for this work. This is good policy and it frees up our highly paid road crews for more technical work.

I also think some of our white-collar criminals should be used this way. This would be their community service.

THOMAS WORRALL
Turtle Creek

---

About our libraries

Eileen Colianni's "Raves" article ("I Love Libraries, Especially Mine," Oct. 26) extolled the merits of the Carnegie library in Oakmont. Knowing that library myself, I agree that it is an example of all that can be done to make our libraries inviting and useful to the public.

The Oakmont library has a floor plan that is identical with many of our libraries in this city, most of which are of the same vintage, but are not updated in the same way as Oakmont.

These days I personally use the Mount Washington library, and while it functions well, I often compare my surroundings with what they could be if the renovations in effect at Oakmont were adopted in Mount Washington and other neighborhood libraries.

We need to preserve our heritage in these century-old structures and provide them with the same amenities that are in Oakmont. In my opinion, this can be done more economically than rebuilding brand new structures, which is under consideration in some of our neighborhoods.

NICHOLAS MASKALICK
Mt. Washington

---

Foolish priorities

Talk about "penny wise and pound foolish": The Republicans take the cake. They can't afford a few billion for child health care, but they can squander trillions for a senseless war. And in that debacle they waste billions trusting private companies to do work the troops formerly did.

Locally, they browbeat the mayor of Pittsburgh over the "misuse' of a vehicle and turn a blind eye to the misuse of billions in Iraq. Where's the efficiency that privatization is supposed to provide?

Epic humbug.

ROBERT SVITEK
Harmarville

---

Modern 'torture' is not always morally wrong

The crux of Stuart Herrington's argument ("Two Problems With Torture," Sunday Forum, Oct. 21) is that it is morally wrong in all cases to "torture" a "defenseless" individual in your custody regardless of how evil that person is and how evil his intentions may be.

Yet, Mr. Herrington proceeds to devote the majority of his column/argument to telling us that using torture is ineffective. Arguing ineffectiveness in the case of torture (and in the case of the death penalty, being a deterrent for potential murderers) tells me that the opponents of torture (and the death penalty) believe that they cannot win on moral grounds alone.

I have no doubt that Mr. Herrington would oppose the use of torture on moral grounds alone (as would opponents of the death penalty if asked to assume its deterrence effect). So let's not hear or read any more about "ineffectiveness", which certainly cannot be shown to be true in every case and, therefore, should not be used as an argument.

On the issue of morality, Supreme Court Justice Jackson said in 1949 that the Constitution is not a suicide pact that would prevent us from protecting our way of life. Similarly, holier than thou moral invocations also should not lead to a suicide pact for thousands of Americans (and perhaps more). When torture is being discussed, remember that we are not talking about the traditional/historical forms of torture (about which I withhold judgment) but, rather, things such as sleep deprivation, lights on 24 hours a day and waterboarding, which works on the mind, not the body.

My, how terrible those things are for the likes of Khalid Sheik Mohammed.

JACK MENNIS
Hampton

---