Editor, Times-Union: The United States Senate is beginning to debate a bill that would ban partial-birth abortion. In partial birth abortion, a baby is partially delivered, feet first up to the head, scissors are thrust into the base of the baby's skull, the brains are suctioned out, the skull collapses, then the rest of the body is delivered. Because pro-abortion senators are afraid that the bill will pass, they are trying to tack on an amendment that would gut the bill of any meaning. Their hook is that it would save the lives of endangered mothers. I need to have this question answered - Why not save both lives by performing a C-section - if the life and health of a mother is truly at risk? Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., has asked why this bill is being brought up now at a time when the country is looking at a poor economy and a possible war in Iraq. My question is, "Why has this bill not been debated earlier, so that many innocent lives could have been saved?"
I realize, of course, that our senators have been very hard at work. They have spent many precious hours, for example, preventing President Bush from exercising his duty under the Constitution to appoint candidates to the U.S. Court of Appeals. The "problem" with these highly qualified candidates? The men and women Bush has nominated not only have excellent credentials but also have character and integrity. Is that the problem? Miguel Estrada has impeccable credentials, but is Hispanic. Is that a problem? (One has to wonder!) Estrada is believed to be pro-life. And that is definitely a problem - at least for those politicians who love to preach tolerance but are intolerant of the millions of Americans whose views differ from their own! They are determined to block Estrada's appointment among others. They are willing to pass a so-called ban on partial-birth abortions, only because with any one of several amendments attached, it would have no teeth. So it is America's problem. Until we stop killing our helpless children - both unborn and partially born - I, for one, cannot sing or pray "God Bless America." Instead, I pray, "God, help America!"
Faith Bausch Winona Lake via e-mail
No Scores
Editor, Times-Union: I picked up my Times-Union Monday evening and went immediately to the sports section to check on details of sectional basketball final results. There were interesting pictures and accounts of Triton's win and Valley's loss on the first page, as there should have been - great efforts by local teams in championship games.
However, wasn't there a sectional held at WCHS? I would much have preferred the Tigers had won, but they didn't - that happens sometimes. But the game itself, which I witnessed, was a classic, hard-fought, well-played double overtime between two state-ranked teams. Does it become a non-event just because no circulation-area team is involved?
If WCHS is willing to host the tournament, shouldn't the Times-Union be willing to cover it, regardless of teams involved in the championship? (Not a large spread, perhaps, but at least a paragraph or two and a box score).
Then, upon looking further, I could not find a single score from other sectionals around the state. Having been involved and interested in basketball for a lifetime, it hurts me to see the extent to which the state tournament - once a uniquely Hoosier event with no equal throughout the United States - has fallen.
Newspaper coverage is only one of the many reasons this has taken place, and undoubtedly only a secondary reason, but a little more coverage would certainly please those of us still interested in a great tradition.
Tom Sittler Silver Lake via e-mail Editor's Note: Due to a power outage in our building, the Associated Press wire was not working from Saturday morning until late Sunday evening so we did not get the sectional scores from around the state. We were unable to access the scores, and, therefore, could not put them in the newspaper. The Times-Union apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused.
No Recess
Editor, Times-Union: Attention: All parents of third-graders -
I am a concerned parent with a child in third grade at Pierceton Elementary School, and I would like to tell you how your child's recess works (on the third-grade level only).
Your child only gets one 30-minute break in an eight-hour day. However, your child only gets this recess if he/she gets a grade of "B" or higher. If they don't receive above a "B" in class, then they must stay in on their only recess time to correct all missed problems. Therefore, if it takes your child the whole 30 minutes to complete their corrections, then he/she will not receive a recess for that day. I feel very strongly about this. This needs to stop.
Children need this play time to get fresh air, exercise and to build friendships. Just ask your third-grader how long it has been since he/she has gone outside for recess? You may be surprised to hear the reply. The only way to get your child's recess time back is to make arrangements with the teacher and find out why, and what you need to do to stop this punishment. Stand up for your child's rights - they need recess.
Rocky Bays Warsaw
Thanks To Valley Team
Editor, Times-Union: Thank you, Tippecanoe Valley Boy's Basketball team, for a great season. We enjoyed watching you all play.
It was great entertainment. Most of your games were nail-biters, keeping us on the edge of our seats until the very end. You had a great season.
We will miss Trey and Casey and wish them the best in their college careers. We are looking forward to seeing the rest of you play next year. Congratulations on a great season, players and coaches.
Steve and Vicki Sutton via e-mail
Beaman Home In Need
Editor, Times-Union: My service sorority, Delta Theta Tau, recently heard about a specific need concerning the Beaman Home. They desperately need two new computers. For those who don't know what Beaman Home does, it is a shelter for abused women and their children. This computer will assist them with grant writing, networking with other shelters and providing various services to those who seek shelter at this Home. Delta Theta Tau is a not-for-profit group of 15 women who have pledged themselves to service. We have raised $500 for Beaman Home to put toward the cost of a computer, but this is not enough. Perhaps an individual, group or business reading this letter will also feel the call to give what they can (or match our gift) so that together we can help Beaman Home with this unique need. If you have questions about this need, please contact Mary Cundiff, the Beaman Home program panager, at 267-7701.
Becky White Recording Secretary Delta Theta Tau Warsaw
Agenda
Editor, Times-Union: In Nazi Germany, which was a federal republic when Hitler took over, the first thing to go was the independence of the federal status of the states of Germany. Then all police functions were concentrated in Hitler's government under the Gestapo. In Soviet Russia, all police functions were centralized in the KGB. Similarly, in Red China, Vietnam and all communist and otherwise tyrannical governments, police powers are centralized under the control of the "total state." This centralization of all coercive power under the total state also reminds us of the agenda of the U.N. to acquire control of all the military forces of the world as well as the power to levy taxes directly on the citizens of the United States (all in the interest of world peace, of course, under some U.N. dictator, unconstrained by our Constitution and responsible to nobody but the international power elite). To show how good men, as perhaps "useful idiots," can support such an agenda, President Kennedy's State Department in 1961 in State Department. Doc. 7277 proposed giving control of U.S. armed forces to the U.N.
In our country, the move to bring all federal police and security functions under a Homeland Security Agency was approved by Congress and the Senate. (This follows along with a program of many years which has federalized hundreds of crimes versus only three which the Constitution grants power to the federal government.) Sept. 11 was not the reason for proposing this agency, but rather the excuse, since it was already the recommendation of the Hart-Rudman Commission on Jan. 31, 2001. The rationale for the agency is the threat of terrorism and the presumed efficiency of a central administration. I have to acknowledge that there could be efficiency, for in the history of police work, the efficiency of the KGB was unrivaled. However, in the recent Washington-area sniper episode, cooperation of the multiple police agencies involved worked very well.
So is there an agenda in gaining centralized absolute power? In 1953 Rowan Gaither, president of the Ford Foundation, admitted to Norman Dodd of the Reece Committee investigating the tax-free foundations, that they were working under a directive which read, "So to change the economic and political structure of the United States that it can be comfortably merged with Soviet Russia." And he said their instructions came from the White House.
If we could count on purely patriotic motives of government officials, as opposed to acquiring power for its own sake, centralized control would be a desirable goal. Unfortunately, a fallen human nature and the lessons of history give us no reason to place unlimited trust in government. As Thomas Jefferson said, "In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution." And also, "I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion."
D. William Hilton Lawrenceburg
Student Speaks Out
Editor, Times-Union: I am one of the accused students that many of you probably read about in the "Web Woes" article Wednesday and I am writing this letter in regards to the way I was treated during my interrogation March 4. I believe the WCHS administration mistreated me during my questioning. I made only one post in which I stuck up for Tiger Basketball and was completely relevant to the topic, containing no vulgarity or obscenity. I had nothing to do with the obscene posts, yet I was taken out of class at approximately 12:30 and was not allowed out of the office until approximately 2:40. In addition to being harassed, intimidated and lied to, I was also robbed of valuable class time in missing my most important calculus lecture of the year.
While the administration was questioning me, they asked what I knew about the situation. I cooperated with them as much as possible, but not reading many of the posts that were made later in the period made it hard. They continued to ask me what else I knew, and when I would say that I had told them everything I knew, they would harass me to try and get me to admit to stuff that I didn't do. They also told me that the other suspects blamed me for making the obscene posts and that I could be expelled for this when the entire time the other two boys claimed each post. After every post was read out loud to the two of them, there was not one post that remained unclaimed. I was both lied to and deceived by the Warsaw administration.
These administrators are supposed to be role models for high school kids, but what kind of role model lies to and intimidates their underlings? I missed over two hours of class because I was being interrogated. I find it hard to accept the fact that if a student were to miss this much class time due to skipping, they would be punished with a Friday school; however, it is all right for me to miss a substantial amount of class time because the administration felt the need to interrogate me in an intimidating manner after the offending students had already confessed. I believe the way the administrators handled this issue was in a very unprofessional manner, one that would not be tolerated in any workplace other than Warsaw Community HIgh School.
Kyle Burnett Warsaw
Thanks To KABS
Editor, Times-Union: I have been using KABS Bus service on a regular basis since November of 2001. It has afforded me an independence that would otherwise be unavailable to me. For those with disabilities, and those without independent means of transport, KABS provides an invaluable service to this community. While understandably not always possible, the staff endeavors to accommodate all transportation requests; providing door-to-door service and wheelchair assistance, all at a nominal fee. On behalf of myself, and I'm sure many others in the community, I would like to say thank you to the staff and management of KABS for this service.
