I am writing about the Post-Gazette's praise of the Pittsburgh school board's attempts to extend the superintendent's contract ("Option Year: Roosevelt Is Worth Locking Up in a New Contract," Sept. 29 editorial).

While Superintendent Mark Roosevelt deserves kudos for obtaining funding for the Pittsburgh Promise and positioning the district for a grant from the Gates Foundation, citing his appearance with Michelle Obama at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts as a reason to extend his contract is dubious.

CAPA was an outstanding school years before Mr. Roosevelt's arrival. Additionally, while highlighting positive aspects of the reform process is commendable, refusing to acknowledge missteps (the Kaplan curriculum, Community Education Partners and the district's failure to meet most of its own PSSA goals are just a few) is unfair to our children.

Although the district made adequate yearly progress, it was in only one of three grade bands and only because of a new state mandate that measures performance through growth models. Signing an extension is premature and ties the people's hands regarding the superintendent's accountability while doing nothing to prevent his departure for another position.

We are not critics of Mark Roosevelt ("City School Board Scrambles to Hold Onto Roosevelt," Sept. 28). We are parents practicing due diligence by asking the hard questions.

KATHY FINE
Highland Park

The writer is a founder of Parents United for Responsible Educational Reform (www.purereform.com).

I am deeply saddened to learn of the closings of branches of the Carnegie Library ("Library System Trims 5 Branches Across City," Oct. 7). Although I feel great despondency in regards to the closings, the demise of the Beechview Library is particularly upsetting.

Why is an area that is already struggling economically being targeted? The library is an absolute necessity for Beechview. It has always been a thriving community resource for children and seniors, many of whom have no access to computers other than the ones at the library.

In the summer, the library has been a safe refuge for the children with the summer reading programs and other activities.

As much as the city has poured money into casinos, sports arenas and stadiums, perhaps it can re-evaluate its priorities and focus as much time and energy into coming up with some solutions to keeping a few libraries open. It's only the future of our children that is at stake.

JUDITH MAGGIO
Dormont

Picture a country with a viable constitution that defines the roles of the branches of government: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. Assume that the elected executive (president), who has sworn to uphold the constitution, does something that causes the legislature to censure him and inform the president to stop his actions that are considered illegal under the constitution.

When the president persists and actually goes to a foreign power and asks for its assistance in continuing the illegal activity, the supreme court then orders him to stop. When he continues his activity and orders the army to help him, the generals insist that they cannot obey his orders, because both the congress and the supreme court have said that his activities are illegal.

The final straw is when the president brings in foreign troops and has them helping him in his illegal activities. Congress, with the blessings of the supreme court, votes to remove him from office and appoints the next person in line, as defined by the constitution, to take the office of president until the next scheduled election in a few months.

This is exactly what happened in Honduras. Somehow the news media would rather ignore the rule of law and call this a coup. It may appease the left, but it is not the truth.

JIM CANNON
Mt. Lebanon

I had to laugh when I read the article "Fresh Air, Fresh Perspective" (Oct. 7) about drying clothes on -- what else -- a clothes line! I guess for me it's been something that never went out of style. Yes, I remember learning to hang wash from my mother, and there were always loads upon loads of wash. My mother was quite petite -- a shade over 5 feet and never over 110 pounds -- but she had no trouble carrying those baskets!

When I was 13 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a radical mastectomy and many rounds of radiation. Looking back, I think that's when we got a clothes dryer, as my dad pulled the four kids together for a major realignment of the household chores that would provide relief for my mother.

My mother was one of the lucky ones -- she lived another 24 years -- and I know that hanging laundry again was something that helped her recover physically and mentally. Breast cancer patients now often go to physical therapists to teach them range-of-motion exercises and spiritual renewal. I can remember my mother telling me that hanging clothes was the best exercise, and who can argue that the fresh air on a good drying day isn't its own spiritual reward?

I know my mother felt blessed. How do I know? Four years ago I had the same surgery, along with chemo and radiation. Like my mother, I count myself as one of the lucky ones, and I rejoice every time I hang wash for my own family.

BARBARA DALY DANKO
Regent Square

My mother who, unlike me, actually took a statistics class in college, was fond of saying to us while we were growing up, "There are lies, damn lies and statistics." The recent article by Margi Shrum on line-drying clothes offered this tidbit from the Department of Energy's designated spokesperson: "Clothes drying, both gas and electric, uses about 3 percent of all energy used in homes." While this is technically accurate, it leaves the wrong impression.

Laundry dried at a Laundromat or at your multifamily housing complex's shared unit does not show up in this statistic, because it is commercial energy consumption. Looking at the average, instead of the median, household energy consumed by a dryer may leave people with an inadequate impression of how much energy can actually be saved, were we to move toward wider adoption of the clothesline.

In Italy, only about 3 or 4 percent of households own a dryer. Project Laundry List believes, from anecdotal evidence, that the vast majority of families can see a 10 to 20 percent savings on their electric bill by going cold turkey and setting up a clothesline. Speaking of cold, make sure you turn your washing machine dial to the low temperature setting, as this will also save you a tremendous amount of energy.

ALEXANDER P. LEE
Executive Director, Project Laundry List
Concord, N.H.

U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan has again placed her office into political controversy by mulling a run for political office next year against U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire. If Ms. Buchanan is truly contemplating a political career, then she must step down from her current position.

Under the Bush administration, the U.S. Attorney's Office came under well-deserved scrutiny due to what appeared to be politically motivated prosecutions and dismissals of prosecutors who refused to tow the Republican party line. One need look no further for an example of this national embarrassment than the local U.S. Attorney's Office and the unsuccessful prosecution of Dr. Cyril Wecht in a case so weak that it never should have seen the inside of a courtroom.

After months of testimony, the Wecht case ended in a mistrial. After this, many local and national leaders, including Jim Roddey, the current chair of the Republican Party, and I, joined in a bipartisan plea to urge Ms. Buchanan to refrain from further prosecution of Dr. Wecht.

However, Ms. Buchanan turned away from the lack of evidence and instead chose to spend more taxpayer dollars in a quixotic crusade which included an unsuccessful attempt at a retrial and a defiant, almost condescending, withdrawal of the remaining, anemic charges

Through her actions in the unsuccessful prosecution of Dr. Wecht, Ms. Buchanan unfortunately contributed to the deterioration of an office which must always remain above and beyond any and all political reproach.

The evidence would certainly suggest that Ms. Buchanan's political ambitions are nothing new and she should therefore resign immediately in order to allow the office of U.S. attorney to regain its political independence.

JIM BURN
Chair, Allegheny County Democratic Committee
Downtown

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