Giveaway stunt offers picture of an ailing society
Published September 17, 2003
Re: Stunt leaves 12 injured, Sept. 14.
The photo in your newspaper on Sunday, showing a young woman being assaulted between two greedy men, was a graphic illustration of one of the major reasons that American society is in such a terrible state. These men, obviously well-fed and with adequate clothing, felt it appropriate to physically abuse another human being in the pursuit of a very small amount of money.
What goes through the minds of people like this? Is there a feeling in the hearts of these two men that they are more important, more deserving, than anyone else around them? Do their actions reflect the feelings of a majority of us? I, of course, have no answers to these questions. I do think that we need to look inside and consider whether or not this is the kind of society we want to create and live in every day.
-- Susan Kane, St. Petersburg
Find a better way to donate
Re: "Money Man" takes no blame, Sept. 15.
I urge Kevin Shelton to reconsider his role in the injuries and mess left after flinging $10,000 in $2 bills from a BayWalk balcony. While I admire his whimsical spirit of generosity, he should find a more appropriate outlet for his donations. There are many agencies in St. Petersburg that could use his $10,000 to feed, house and educate the "vagrants" who filled the courtyard. Instead of encouraging greed and violence, Shelton should spread his love, spirituality and money with dignity and responsibility. As to BayWalk, which allowed this event to take place, I suggest that the management theory of using curfews and dress codes to protect us from children wearing their caps sideways should also protect customers from having their arms broken while trying to get from the parking structure to Muvico.
-- Diane Drutowski, St. Petersburg
A bid for publicity
Re: Money Man won't be back, Sept. 16.
The Money Man was using money to feed a sick ego. Any person with an ounce of brains should have known that people would have been injured by throwing money out into a crowd. If the Money Man really wanted to do something for people, he would have given the money to a charity of some sort.
No - he wanted publicity. He was willing to pit man, woman and child against one another to feed his ego. But the Money Man is not all to blame here. The greed of people who would endanger themselves for a few undeserved dollars is to blame also.
If the Money Man wanted to do something good, he would pay the bills of all these injured people he was responsible for getting hurt.
-- Donald F. Kelly, St. Petersburg
Ego-trip in a fancy package
Re: "Money Man" takes no blame.
Kevin Shelton, the "Money Man" who created a spectacle of himself by throwing $2 bills at a mob would like to convince the general public that he is a benevolent guy who just wants to share his financial success with others. He wants to "spread the love."
His particular form of philanthropy involves positioning himself like a rock star in the center of a publicized event and tossing crumbs. The scene at BayWalk last week was disgusting and transparent. Arms raised in triumph, small bills covering his body, the Money Man worked the crowd like Mick Jagger.
Of course Mick Jagger is talented, charismatic, and doesn't need to throw money to get attention, so there are some differences.
Nobody benefited from Shelton's show, in fact some people got hurt in the frenzy to scoop up his chump change. Such power he held. I'm sure he impressed himself. Shelton is a marketing success. He's managed to package his enormous ego-trip into a charity wrapper, and some people are actually buying it.
-- Jim Kenefick, St. Petersburg
Worthy causes are easy to find
If Kevin Shelton truly wants to help "create a world of hope and joy" by giving away his money, he need only look to the pages of the St. Petersburg Times or other local news publications for inspiration.
In the very same Times section reporting on the BayWalk mob scene caused by Shelton's cash free-for-all last Saturday, there also was a smaller, less sensational news item about the Hernando County Boys & Girls Club's plan to close because it has run out of money. How ironic.
-- E. Moses, St. Petersburg
Greed at the executive level
Re: How many millions should this man make? Sept. 12.
This is another blatant example of greed rearing one of its many heads. Boards of directors, supposedly custodians of millions of shareholders' investments, vote again to give another CEO an outrageous bonus and salary. The conspiracy factor of it seems to be that if one board pays excessive bonuses, the CEO and/or COO of the next company should share in the largess voted to the previous recipient in a round of yearly raises and bonuses that are making a joke of responsibility and moral character.
They act as though the companies are theirs to do with as they please. The NYSE CEO's primary responsibility is the care and welfare of the stock exchange system, a system that has not been well regulated or controlled, to say the least. In the best interests of the New York Stock Exchange and the United States, he has an obligation to refuse such gross generosity from the high-handed board of directors, unless his greed now exceeds theirs.
-- Art Moore, Pinellas Park
A right to write
Re: Workers' private e-mail is just that, Sept. 12.
I got my morning chuckle reading the St. Petersburg Times' front page last Friday, when I learned that the Times was refused the right to obtain e-mail written by Clearwater city employees.
"A defeat for First Amendment advocates," you intone grandly. Well, here's to my First Amendment rights! I'm a city employee and I'm writing you this e-mail in celebration of the protection of my freedom of speech. Oh, but don't worry. I'm on my break.
-- Travis Ann Sherman, St. Petersburg
Taking Big Brother's side
Re: Workers private e-mail is just that.
Is the pursuit of a story enough to get the Times on the side of Big Brother?
First, the article never makes clear the compelling public interest in these e-mails other to show that they were indeed not city-related business. To top it all off, one of these two used a city-paid cell phone to discuss personal business. Pity the poor city employee who uses city equipment to call home and find out what's for dinner.
Second, by its informal nature, e-mail is much closer to a phone conversation than a written document, say on city letterhead. Should city employees be required to log all of their phone conversations? Should they be recorded? Is this what the public records law intended? What kind of a work environment would this create, and who in their right mind would want to work in such an environment knowing that anyone with an agenda could start sifting through these "public records"?
Third, since when was the First Amendment about the right to snoop?
If the Times is pursuing a legitimate story that these two city employees violated the public trust, its reporters are going to have to do some real investigating rather than hope that a court will force the employees to incriminate themselves. Or is the right against self-incrimination as dispensable as the right to privacy in the name of a story?
-- Eric H. Burns, Palm Harbor
Reimbursement distortions
Re: A different GI bill, editorial, Sept. 12.
You have done your readers a disservice by perpetuating the myth that Marine Staff Sgt. Bill Murwin is getting billed $8.10 for his food while being hospitalized for his war injury. As stated in the second paragraph of your editorial, the law requires soldiers to "reimburse the government their $8.10 daily food allowance while in a military hospital because they are being fed for free." Once more, ". . . they are being fed for free."
What qualms, I wonder, would you have if this soldier had broken his leg in a skiing accident? His per diem food allowance would have to be refunded in that case as well. The $8.10 in question here is an allowance above his normal pay that is not needed if he is hospitalized. Any other argument that our soldiers are not getting paid enough should be treated as a separate issue.
Certainly, the extenuating circumstances, being what they are, should allow for an expunction of this debt. Sgt. Murwin has already given more than we should expect. However, the incorrect statements made by Rep. C.W. Bill Young (". . . we're asking them to pay $8.10 a day for their food") and your editorial (". . . to find enough money to cover the cost of hospital meals for wounded soldiers") should not go unchallenged.
-- Andrew J. Stier, Palm Harbor
Don't make light of fainting goats
Re: Down on the farm, Sept. 8.
I was disappointed to read the article written by Nicholas Spangler regarding fainting goats. It is unfortunate the article was written more about how we can effectively use the pain and discomfort of these animals for our entertainment rather than the effects the pain and discomfort has on the animals themselves.
Fainting goat syndrome is known as myotonia or in layman's terms, muscle cramps. The goats do not actually faint. They remain fully conscious. Although lasting only a few seconds, muscle cramping severe enough to cause immobility is not without a lot of discomfort. One could relate it somewhat to getting a "charlie horse."
As a survival mechanism, goats, like many other animals, do not exhibit pain in a way we are likely to relate to. We can only give them the benefit of the doubt. Goats are easily stressed and actually seem to have a lower threshold for pain, more comparable to that of horses.
I was asked by a reporter a few years ago to help her write an article about fainting goats. When I explained what it was and what effect it had on the goats, she decided to find another subject. This is a genetic mutation that I don't feel should be perpetuated or encouraged for any reason. As for this condition making them good meat goats, there are hardier, more genetically sound breeds available for this.
I think if we are going to expose animals in this light, then there should be equal time given to the consequences not only to the animals but also to what we are saying about our own humanity.
-- Gayle A. Burrell, DVM, Holiday
Share your opinions
Letters for publication should be addressed to Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. They can be sent by fax to 727 893-8675 or by e-mail to letters@sptimes.com (no attachments, please).
They should be brief and must include the writer's name, address and phone number.
Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length. We regret that not all letters can be published.
