I am writing in response to the Feb. 26 Perspectives piece "The Y Is Misguided" questioning the Downtown YMCA's plans to open a new facility in the U.S. Steel building.
The YMCA's mission, simply put, is to provide programs and services for children, adults and seniors that will help build a healthier, stronger community. Funds raised through the YMCA Strong Communities Campaign are used to provide financial assistance to low-income individuals and families and those temporarily unable to afford the cost of membership. For many, the Y is a safe haven and a place where they can receive support while they work to get back on their feet.
As part of a national YMCA initiative, we developed two programs geared toward children, ASAP: After School with Activate Pittsburgh and TAP: Teens with Activate Pittsburgh. These programs promote and enhance healthy lifestyles for children and teens by providing health literacy and physical activity and help them develop a lifelong commitment to a healthy lifestyle. There are 37 programs currently operating at sites throughout the city -- in the past three years alone, we positively affected the lives of more than 5,000 students.
The U.S. Steel facility will be more convenient for members, including our senior citizen members, who rely on public transportation. It will provide greater access to health and wellness programs for thousands of people, not just professionals, who work and live in the city.
The Y recently announced plans for a new facility in the Hill District, and we hope to expand even further to reach more people and improve more lives. We are proud to carry on the Y's tradition of service to the Pittsburgh community.
FRANK T. GUADAGNINO
Chair
Downtown YMCA Board of Managers
Downtown
I vigorously disagree with the Feb. 26 Perspectives piece "The Y Is Misguided." The authors are both misinformed about services the YMCA offers to the community and incorrect in thinking that it does not belong in an office building.
The YMCA's values are: caring, honesty, respect and responsibility. Bringing those values to Downtown is a positive. Don't we all deserve a "state of the art" facility? The YMCA offers day care and after-school care for children, providing them with a safe, healthy, fun way to spend time. It has been teaching swimming for 100 years. The one I use provides supervised homework time as well as swim team and other activities in the after-school program. It gives teenagers a chance to learn leadership skills. As a teenager, I was a volunteer swim teacher, which was a positive experience for both myself and the kids I taught.
The Y also offers social and exercise opportunities for seniors. The authors are right: We are overweight, leading to greater health-care costs. It's sensible to provide the opportunity for a lunchtime workout to the Downtown community. The Y is a nonprofit and thus affordable for all income levels.
The Y's mission isn't to feed the homeless. There are several very effective organizations already doing so. If we are to foster a sense of community Downtown, in addition to housing and a grocery store, a YMCA is a necessity.
It seems as if the article by the owners of the Downtown Athletic Club, using phraseology such as "selling adult fitness memberships," is just a case of sour grapes.
JENNIFER JOHNSTON
Observatory Hill
I found the recent "Monopoly Money" series (Jan. 27-30) on the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board state store system to be informative, although the ensuing debate has been predictable. However, I am particularly disappointed that there has been little discussion of the availability of alcohol to minors.
Opponents of privatization maintain that the state-operated PLCB stores provide a more reliable barrier to liquor and wine access than a privately owned store. The facts do not fully support this assertion. In 2006, the PLCB published a report concluding that 12th-grade students in Pennsylvania have a higher instance of drinking than their peers nationally. This suggests that privately owned liquor stores are doing a better job of curtailing underage drinking than the system in Pennsylvania.
To be fair, the same report concluded that the PLCB administers several effective education and prevention programs to reduce underage drinking among younger Pennsylvanians. While this is very good news, it underscores an important question in this debate: Could the PLCB be more effective if it were not serving two masters? Perhaps there is a benefit to selling the PLCB stores beyond consumer convenience.
When the state Legislature conducts hearings on the PLCB privatization this summer, I hope there is as strong a commitment to supporting effective underage drinking programs as there is for making wine and liquor sales more convenient.
SEAN FOGARTY
Greenfield
The proposal of a Squirrel Hill Tunnel bypass is categorically outrageous ("Would Toll Lanes Unclog Parkway East?" Feb. 28)! It's laughable! We wouldn't even be talking of this outrageous proposal if the Pennsylvania State Police would do their jobs and enforce the minimum speed limit inside the tunnels. There is a minimum 40 mph speed limit.
The Pennsylvania State Police are all too happy to spend time and money chasing speeders. They apparently love it. They constantly lie in wait, hidden along the highway, and spring into action when anyone dares go over the speed limit. They should be just as zealous in apprehending those who "crawl" through the many tunnels around Pittsburgh, particularly during rush hours. The state police could probably cite these illegal slow movers on foot.
Why are the Pennsylvania State Police opposed to citing slow-moving traffic in the tunnels? It's illegal, just as speeding is illegal. There are maximum and minimum speed limits.
If a driver can't negotiate one of the many tunnels in this area at the appropriate legal speed, his or her license should be suspended or, better yet, revoked. It's a dangerous practice to drive 40 to 50 mph under the posted speed limit on a highway.
PHILIP E. RETENAUER
Greenfield
Pennsylvania Turnpike Chief Executive Officer Joe Brimmeier's idea to add elevated lanes to alleviate congestion at the Squirrel Hill Tunnel is nothing short of inspired ("Would Toll Lanes Unclog Parkway East?" Feb. 28). Let the market, the individual driver, choose with his wallet. Make the new lanes E-ZPass-only and every commuter in Murrysville will sign up.
And here's the sweetener to make those lanes function brilliantly for everyone. Be sure to include free access to replace the existing eastbound Squirrel Hill on-ramp and the westbound Edgewood-Swissvale on-ramps.
The insane and obsolete combined ramp at Squirrel Hill is the real eastbound choke point. Provide a grade-separated on-ramp, and the battle is close to won. The two on-ramps on the Braddock Avenue side of the hill dump a lot of traffic onto the parkway all at once, causing big problems for the westbound side.
Bottom line? Make sure the new lanes start west of the existing Squirrel Hill junction, and east of the Braddock Avenue interchange. Google maps make it look like four miles, tops. Simpler and faster traffic flow will result.
MARTIN E. SWARTZ
Park Place
Thank you, Judge John A. Zottola, for making the right decision in recommendation of a jail sentence for Twanda Carlisle ("Judge Sends Ex-Councilwoman to Prison," Feb. 28).
Her apology was too little, much too late. Any sentence less severe would have sent a wrong message.
She can do volunteer work upon her release from prison; also being a model prisoner will encourage others to follow her lead.
Twanda Carlisle now can begin her corporal works of mercy.
PAT SWIECONEK
Beechview
My husband and I call ourselves "failed Republicans."
We remember when the party stood for pragmatic things like smaller government, less debt, less tax and less interference in personal private choice. Gone, gone, it's all gone.
Now it seems like both parties race toward debt. And now my husband and I will vote for either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Mr. Obama has the edge, mostly because of the Clinton baggage.
We have relatives in the South and even friends nearby who are blinded by the Clinton years. There is no reasoning with them. They are stuck in the mind-set of hate, as I hate to revisit that. How can we get anything done stuck in this mind-set?
Remember when parties both used to reach across the aisle and work together for the common good? Remember? Does anybody still remember?
MARY CIESAR
Mt. Lebanon
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First Published: March 7, 2008, 5:00 a.m.
