Letters to the Editors

Remember how women struggled to win the vote

In 1920, after a 72-year struggle, women in the United States won the right to vote. As noted by Carrie Chapman Catt, founder of the League of Women Voters, "Young suffragists who helped forge the last links of that chain were not born when it began; old suffragists who helped forge the first links were dead when it ended."

Today is Women's Equality Day, and we celebrate the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment. It is a day to recall and honor the courage of the women who did not give up the effort, despite the indignities and insults heaped upon them and often upon their husbands and families, all because they dared to demand a basic right to a voice in government. Antisuffragists said equal political rights threatened the sanctity of the home and family. Suffragist Alice Paul's activism led to imprisonment in both England and the United States.

The deciding vote, ratifying the 19th Amendment, was cast by a 24-year-old Tennessee state legislator, Harry Burn. His mother, a suffragist, had said to him, "Don't forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt." Legend has it that Burns had to climb out a window to escape from the opposition. After 1920, in a backlash to reform, it took until 1980 for women to vote in equal proportion to men.

As we approach the 2002 elections it is vitally important for women and men to do what is required in order to cast informed votes. And as we celebrate that women are welcomed at the polls, remember that in another step toward equality and fairness, since 1974 men have been welcomed to membership in the League of Women Voters.
-- Dianne Wheatley-Giliotti, president, League of Women Voters of North Pinellas County; and Mary Berglund, president, League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area

ERA is long overdue

The right to vote is the only uncontestable U.S. constitutional right now accorded the majority of American people -- the women! That's scandalous. It's the 21st century, and equality is the byword of our nation. It's time to perfect our finest document. When the fine men of our country tussled over the Constitution, they left women out because at the time women were seen as chattel or possessions. Neither the 14th Amendment nor Florida's own Constitution, last revised in 1998, can be relied upon to uphold women's legal rights to equal treatment under the law. No law can, except an Equal Rights Amendment:

"Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex."

Simple justice, long overdue.

Begun in 1848, the surge for women's rights reached a peak in 1972 to 1982, when the ERA was approved by Congress and sent out to the states for ratification. All but three of the required states did so. Fifteen are unratified today. Shamefully, Florida is one.

Inequities are based in economics. It was the insurance industry and companies with a vested interest in a low-paid pool of workers that did in the ERA by 1982. Their claims seem silly today: We have had "women in the military" and "unisex toilets" for some time, yet the world still spins on its axis.

Any argument that prevents full equality for all in this democracy is a specious one. The ERA levels the playing field for males as well as females. Three ERA Resolutions are in Congress now, sporting more than 250 signatures, and only three more states' ratifications are needed! It is time to perfect our wondrous Constitution and unleash the talents and energies of all people, working together to forge a civilized society. Watch Florida's economy grow once women and men have full equality guaranteed by the ERA!
-- Sandy Oestreich, Florida Coordinator of the ERA Campaign Network, North Redington Beach

Class-size amendment too costly

Re: Bush runs a risk opposing the class-size amendment, by Steve Bousquet, Aug. 17.

Jeb Bush is exactly right in opposing this amendment because he knows there is no way that Florida taxpayers can support a $27-billion increase in taxes. Sen. Kendrick Meek and the NAACP have not offered any suggestions on how they can raise the money to support their amendment. Just because Meek doesn't want his child to attend large classes in the public schools is no reason the whole state of Florida should go "bust" just to appease him.

Having been a teacher, I feel a class size of 30 students is acceptable as long as there is discipline in the classroom to prevent disruption. My suggestion is to place in every classroom surveillance cameras, which are monitored by "enforcers" in the principal's office. When a child is determined to be unruly, the enforcer is sent to the classroom to remove the child. If a child knows he/she is on camera, I think you will see a different behavior pattern. Instead of spending all this money on class size, give the teachers the raises they so desperately need and deserve. Thank you, Jeb, for having common sense.
-- Liz Hagan, Clearwater

Give Pinellas students an equal chance

Re: School Board wavers on new honors points policy, Aug. 21.

Speaking as one of the concerned parents of a Palm Harbor freshman and an East Lake junior, I would just like to call a few points to the attention of the Pinellas County School Board.

First of all, the honors students who attended the meeting not only were passionate, but also were excellent speakers, and they should be commended. They stood up there in front of cameras and adults and were not intimidated. Why? Well, because they believed they had something to say, and they needed the School Board to hear it. They were not campaigning for bigger lockers or better lunches, they were lobbying for their futures!

Unfortunately, I think a lot of what these young adults, our future leaders, were saying, went right over the head of superintendent Howard Hinesley. He was so determined to state not once, but twice that he was not in favor of the retroactive quality points being allowed, that he had a deaf ear to what was really being said. He went on to imply that these quality points were being offered to classes such as Guitar IV and other "fluff" classes and that we should have fewer quality points offered. Well, let me tell you, Dr. Hinesley, these kids who stood so bravely in front of you do not have time to take such classes anyway. These are the kids going to a sport after school, then rushing home to do homework for the honors classes, then heading off to a part-time job. They are striving to be successful adults and you want to take away something they have already worked so hard to achieve!

Fortunately, for all of us, School Board member Linda Lerner saw what was happening and took a stand to say that this was wrong and that it needed more attention. Much more discussion should have taken place before such an important policy was adopted. Is the School Board in such a hurry? Common sense says that you can't teach a class and give credit to one while not giving credit to those who have taken the same class, same curriculum, just a few short months before. When something is as emphatically wrong as this policy, I'm surprised, especially during an election year, that more of the board did not speak up.

Please support our students and let Pinellas school students have the same chance for success that is available in neighboring communities.
Risa Demers, Oldsmar

Rules for promoting events

First it was the Super Bowl concert in St. Petersburg that failed to pay the city thousands of dollars in services provided as well as the charity of intent. Then it was the Jeep Fest that again failed to pay the city for thousands of more dollars in services and even stiffed another local charity. Now comes the "Shaq Fiasc," as in fiasco.

The promoter never had a firm commitment from NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal, nor a signed contract. Once again, the residents of Tampa Bay are ripped off, and this time kids who hoped for the best got the worst.

As a 25-year promoter, let me lay out the rules of the land:

1. No event should ever be allowed to be promoted and presented without signed contracts that are verified and confirmed by all parties.

2. All city services and facility rentals should be paid in full in advance.

3. A cash bond should be required and mandatory insurance should be demanded.

4. All radio stations, TV stations and newspapers should confirm with the featured attraction, that all is "a go."

5. A financial statement and affidavit should be required, reviewed and investigated thoroughly before any event is given a "green light."

Now, with all this said, I hope the upcoming St. Petersburg Grand Prix is put through the wringer before the race, rather than being a loser that crashes and burns.
-- Richard Unger, Sarasota

Disclosure for charity events

Re: Shaq a no-show at Tampa events, Aug. 19.

The issue shouldn't be about whether Shaquille O'Neal was a no-show or not. The issue is how much, or what percentage of the revenues, the charity received. I suspect that the "stars" and the promoters take the lion's share of the proceeds. Celebrity events for charity should include public disclosure about who gets how much.
-- Bill Northrop, North Redington Beach

A charity found a champion

We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Billy Ray Hobley of the Harlem Globetrotters in your Sports section on Aug. 2. Many of your readers may not be aware of Billy Ray's connection to St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area or what a good man he was.

Billy Ray Hobley was a member of the world-renowned Harlem Globetrotters where he enjoyed a long and very successful career as a player and trainer. He was known as the "Super Trotter," an extraordinary athlete noted for his wonderful smile and sense of humor. We met Billy Ray at the peak of his career almost a decade ago after a terrible disappointment similar to the one experienced recently in Tampa (where Shaquille O'Neal did not show up for a fundraiser). In our case, a well-known and very popular TV star failed to show for an anti-drug program at Jordan Park. To our dismay, we found ourselves with hundreds of children who could ill-afford another disappointment in their lives and a community thoroughly embarrassed over their mistreatment. It was shortly thereafter that Billy Ray and the Globetrotters entered our lives and made us forget our great disappointment.

Every year thereafter until his retirement, Billy Ray Hobley found time in his excruciating worldwide travel schedule to hold a basketball clinic for disadvantaged children in St. Petersburg and Tampa. The clinic would be timed when the 'Trotters were coming to town. Billy Ray would always relish the opportunity to arrange for tickets and backstage VIP treatment for our youths.

All of us who participated in Billy Ray's clinics will never forget the look of awe on the faces of these children as he, dressed in his gleaming Globetrotter uniform, would go through his repertoire of magical ball-handling tricks. Nor will we ever forget the look on their faces as Billy Ray would remind them of their great worth to God and to all of us. For these children, poverty took a vacation every year when Billy Ray and the Globetrotters were in town.

We hope that Tampa will find a champion the way we found Billy Ray Hobley and the Harlem Globetrotters.
-- Arnold Andrews, Watson Haynes, Bob Neri, Askia Aquil, Catholic Charities, St. Petersburg

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