After reading the Oct. 10 article "Pitt Will Oppose City Fee on Students," I had to laugh when reading the statement of Paul Supowitz, vice chancellor for governmental relations, saying: "We really do feel that we contribute more than we take in terms of services."

Really? Well, just recalling the past 12 months alone, vice chancellor, University of Pittsburgh students have been seen rioting -- or "celebrating," as they call it in Oakland -- six different times. Following the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup, twice during the G-20, Barack Obama's election and -- believe it or not -- the Philadelphia Phillies World Series victory.

The last event, the G-20, resulted in numerous arrests of students despite the large leeway given to voice their opinions for hours in Schenley Plaza.

After each of these above-mentioned events, every local television station starts its newscasts with footage of Pitt students engaging in a local "running of the bulls," if you will: stampeding down the middle of Fifth and Forbes avenues, with no regard for any law or vehicle standing in their way. Window smashing and bus stop-vandalizing are always part of the "festivities."

After every "celebration," we see the same old story from Pitt students and Witold Walczak of the American Civil Liberties Union: Pitt students were unfairly treated by the police, despite their best efforts to stave off property damage, injuries to officers and the protection of citizens.

Maybe the Pitt brass should review the egregious conduct of their student body -- as well as the cost to the community -- before they make an assessment on their contributions toward the city of Pittsburgh.

FRANCESCO ROSATO JR.
Brookline

Let it go

After reading about the protesters' interruption of Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato's announcement for the governor's race ("Onorato Makes It Official," Oct. 7), I'd like to offer a few words for the protesters.

Dan Onorato did not oppress your right of expression during the G-20 summit, nor did he physically arrest you. What gives you the right to hassle him?

I'm really sorry you got arrested for protesting during the G-20, but you need to understand that only the real trouble makers will get punished. Our district attorney is quite capable of making that happen. The summit is over, the world's leaders are gone. Can't we just put this thing to bed and get on with our lives?

One last thing. I worked in Oakland for both the summit and the Super Bowl and I feel compelled to say to the students that this time around, you should be proud of yourselves. All in all, you did great, and I'm proud of you. Get over this stuff, Pittsburgh -- the holidays are coming!

RONALD ROMPALA
Carrick

Tax the vacant land

A desperate need of Pittsburgh to obtain more revenues from any feasible source has impelled Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to propose new city fees on tax-exempt educational and medical institutions ("Tax-Exempts Not Happy with City Plan to Bolster Pension Fund," Sept. 23). A payment would be required for each college student and for each hospital admission. These fees would penalize and therefore discourage use of the city's resources.

Pittsburgh's principal taxable asset is the high value of its land as a regional center with many residents and users. A preferable fee would be on owners of vacant lots and of lots that contain unoccupied or decrepit buildings. Many of these lots have absentee owners. The proposed fee would be a strong incentive for them to sell to developers.

Many owners of vacant lots and decrepit buildings retain the properties for future appreciation of their value because of insufficient taxation of the land. A more general and effective revenue source, therefore, would be a higher tax rate on land than on buildings.

Until 2001, Pittsburgh benefited from this differential property tax. The lower tax on buildings stimulated their construction and improvement. The higher tax rate on land minimized the number of vacant and underdeveloped lots.

HERBERT BARRY III
Oakland

Economic woes

It boils down to basic "supply and demand"! I am extremely annoyed at the so-called "economic and financial experts" who say we are getting out of this recession (depression). Let's face it: If they really knew what they were doing, we wouldn't be in this position in the first place!

With the $10 trillion-plus loss in net worth and millions of jobs, the American consumer has less money to spend, so he or she will do just that -- spend less! It's as simple as that! You can't get blood out of a turnip.You can print as much money as you want, Mr. Obama. You can borrow from China by the trillions, you can raise interest rates on credit cards from 29 percent to even 100 percent, you can raise health insurance, auto insurance, consumer prices and everything else for that matter -- even federal, state and local taxes as much as you want! It doesn't really matter, because the economy will just tank even further because consumers will have even less money to spend, which will mean more job losses, and the economy will just feed itself into depression, if we aren't already there!

The "cash for clunkers" program artificially stimulated the car market, as did the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home sales, doing nothing more than moving next year's sales up to today in an attempt to try and 'jimmy rig' a spiraling situation to where we would like to see it be -- rather than letting the basic principles of supply and demand automatically correct the problems as they should be.

DAVID J. PLATEK
Ross

Unjustified action

How can the people of this city justify closing a library?

The city of Pittsburgh says it wants to attract people to live in the city and then they do not support city services. We can spend millions on showcasing for a day the city and permit libraries to close. Where is all the revenue the city was going to get from the legalized gambling?

To close the West End Library that has served this city for over a hundred years is unacceptable! The West End Library is the only library in the western area of the city that is accessible to all of the western communities by public transportation. But then, the West End, like Hazelwood, is a poorer community. Those residents cannot afford Barnes & Noble or Borders book stores and some not even Half-Price Book stores. What about the children in these communities and the unemployed who need access to the computers?

We can build new libraries on the North Side of Pittsburgh and forget the people in the western section of the city. Again, the West End of Pittsburgh is the forgotten area of the city. We don't count.

Very disappointed.

NORENE M. BEATTY
Oakwood

Obama's prize

If you have any old, unopened boxes of "Cracker Jack" lying around, check them out, there may be a Nobel Peace Prize in one ("Could the Award Be a Millstone?" Oct. 10).

JACK CROYLE
Mt. Lebanon

Health-care reform is a women's issue

As the health care reform debate continues, there is one issue that cannot be ignored: The current health-care system takes a particular toll on women.

Women pay more for coverage because they require more preventative care, and as such are forced to pay higher deductibles. This price gap is especially high for women in the age group most likely to bear children. Indeed, women aged 15 to 44 spend 68 percent more on health care than their male counterparts in the same age group.

Under the current system, pregnant mothers can be denied health-care coverage altogether, potentially causing not only adverse health outcomes for the mother but also for the child.

However, the health-care bills moving through Congress would fix these disparities between men and women. Insurance rates could no longer be based on sex, which is a common practice today in most states. Additionally, co-pays would be eliminated for necessary preventative care, and all states would need to provide some affordable coverage to pregnant women.

So although a shared sacrifice might be necessary for health-care reform to finally pass, it seems a little price to pay to ensure that all women receive the equality in health care they so desperately need. After all, the health of our next generation is dependent upon the health of its mothers.

JEN JOHNS
Shadyside

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