Today's Letters: Consider going to a parliamentary system

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published October 22, 2007

Presidential campaign 

When Woodrow Wilson was a professor of government at Princeton University, he suggested that the United States consider restructuring our government to a parliamentary system similar to the one in Britain. Under that system, each district holds an election for a member of Parliament, the campaign lasts 30 days and the majority party selects the prime minister.

After observing the current political situation here, where the candidates have spent millions campaigning for an election that is still more than a year away, I find our system ludicrous.

How many families that lack medical insurance could be covered by the money spent on these campaigns? How do our foreign neighbors perceive the situation when our "leading political candidates" spend millions of dollars and endless time sniping at each other?

Is it not time to revisit Woodrow Wilson's suggestion?

Jack Perlman, Palm Harbor

79,999,999 boomers to go Oct. 16, story

Social Security scare story

This article is just the latest in a long series of such releases that attempt to convince the public that the Social Security system is in danger of imminent collapse. The Social Security trustees have also written along the same line, but we must also note that four of the six trustees are political appointees of the president.

I would like to quote an excerpt from an article by the late Molly Ivins, "Is this America? Dollar docket, Social Security" (the Progressive Populist, Jan. 1-15, 2005):

"According to the Congressional Budget Office, using a more realistic model [than that of the Social Security Administration], the trust fund will run out in 2052, and even then it will cover 81 percent of the promised benefits."

I realize that it is difficult to make predictions years into the future, but I think that it is important to note that even after the trust fund is depleted, the income stream will still cover 81 percent of projected benefits with no changes in the system.

J. Robert Cels, Dunedin

Public funds aid software used for porn Oct. 16, story

Not with our money

Just as the University of South Florida "paused" before deciding that providing funding to a company connected to the pornography industry "met their criteria" for institutional support, the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County are entitled to "pause" and consider whether to continue funding the USF project that is subsidizing this company.

Critics are mistaken to argue that this is an issue of free speech or that those who foot the bill have no valid right to pass judgment on the companies being supported with public dollars. If USF wishes to seek direct financial support from the city and county, it must be accountable to us.

And if Ron Casto, the head of the technology incubator foundation, is merely "proud" to have a porn-based company on the USF campus under his watch, then perhaps our tax dollars, not to mention the substantial campus resources afforded the incubator, belong elsewhere.

Tina Trent, Ruskin

Laptops with contractor data are stolen Oct. 16, story

A serious breach

This article appeared on Page 4A. Many readers probably missed it. It was one paragraph long and told of two laptops being stolen from a Transportation Security Administration private contractor.

The laptops contained personal identification data for 3,930 commercial drivers who transport hazardous materials, data that could be used to create 3,930 sets of fake credentials to permit access to our ports, possibly with truckloads of hazardous materials.

So much for the effectiveness of private contractors (although our government employees lose these computers as well). Why was this information on a laptop? Why wasn't it encrypted? Why wasn't this story in a more prominent location in the Times?

Hal Freedman, St. Petersburg

School integration is not the answer Oct. 11, Bill Maxwell column

The value of integration

I usually agree with Bill Maxwell on issues, but I urge him to reconsider his column denying the importance of school integration. The practice of bringing together black and white schoolchildren is largely based on the ground-breaking research of the great Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal and his thorough study of racism in America. He found that to overcome ingrained racism, society must start with the young. In the public schools, white and black children could learn to see one another as individuals, not as negative stereotypes. I was one of many teachers in the vanguard in the '60s and '70s.

The results were positive. In a short time, black students were elected to student government offices, as well as white students. Students who could barely communicate with one another or with teachers, now could.

The books of Jonathan Kozol demonstrate the huge disparity in schools nationwide between all-black and all-white schools. Even if local governments pledge to spend equal amounts of tax money on each, affluent parents will always supply additional financial support to enrich their neighborhood school programs. Black parents in poorer neighborhoods cannot hope to compete.

Inequalities that have flourished for hundreds of years cannot be erased in a few decades. Imagine the anguish of teachers who dedicated themselves to making integration work, as we watch schools again segregate black from white!

Ann Cook, Tampa

Scientific icon sets off furor Oct. 19, story

DNA and deceit

James Watson is not an icon. For his entire adult years he has carried the prestige and honor of the discovery of DNA. It is and always has been a blatant fraud but is consistent with his scathing remarks about women and minorities.

Rosalind Franklin of England was the scientist who had discovered DNA. Franklin's unpublished data and crucial photograph of DNA had already been seen by her competitor at the Cambridge University (England) laboratory. Watson moved ahead without acknowledging Rosalind Franklin, who died of ovarian cancer at the age of 37.

Rosalind Franklin's story is powerful, all but denied by James Watson. His arrogance and latent apologies die at the pedestal of truth and recognition for the originator of DNA discoveries.

Dr. C.S. Westerhof, New Port Richey

Small scale greening

A lot of time and energy are being spent on the large climate change issues when there are a significant number of small climate change issues that should also be addressed. For example:

Plastic bags: In Europe they charge money if you need a bag to carry your groceries, and most people bring reusable bags to the store. Bringing your own bag alleviates the need for energy, oil and waste disposal. Why doesn't Florida pass a law on charging for bags? The state could use the income from this to set up more expensive climate change programs.

Plastic water bottles: They fill our landfills and require massive amounts of oil and energy to produce. Let's charge a deposit fee and recycle those returned for the deposit. Also promote refillable water containers and refill stations to decrease the disposable water bottle.

Ideally, the above should be done voluntarily by consumers, but that has not happened in significant quantity to affect our pollution or energy usage. Whenever I go shopping, I am the only person I see with a reusable bag for my groceries.

Michael Logan, St. Petersburg

[Last modified October 21, 2007, 20:45:38]