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October 23, 2000

Editorials
Liberty for the youth
The most telling public testimony on the St. Petersburg juvenile curfew proposal last week came from pro-curfew resident Paul Dickens, who equated a curfew for minors with the pet leash law. "People should keep dogs on a leash. Why? Because they bite people," he said.

Times Recommends
Sheldon for education
The job of elected education commissioner will disappear in two years, but those two years could be crucial to the future of Florida's public schools. On Election Day, voters will decide whether the state's last elected education commissioner should be a figurehead for the governor or an aggressive advocate for Florida's school children.

Clark for state House
John Wayne Clark is a reasonable voice for ordinary citizens disaffected by the big-money political system. His commitment to the environment and openness to public school reform reflect the conservative values that draw residents to the rural but growing neighborhoods of east Hillsborough County.

Letters
Vote against amendment on high-speed rail
The Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers is a nonprofit organization of private citizens who favor the improvement of rail transportation as a partial solution to overcrowded highways and as a way to enhance the convenience and enjoyment of travel throughout Florida.  

Perspective
Taking jobs, alienating customers
For weeks Americans have been told that the outsourcing of high-tech jobs is good for our economy. So said Greg Mankiw, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers in a recent report signed by President Bush. So, too, writes Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in articles praising the rise of call centers in India used for everything from making airline reservations and reading medical X-ray films to providing tech support for American computer firms.

Philip Gailey: Democrats fall off campaign finance reform wagon
Well, what do you know. Soft money is back, and it's making hypocrites of all those Democrats who fervently championed the McCain-Feingold campaign reform law, not to mention those Republicans who objected to the law's restrictions on issue advocacy.

Bill Maxwell: Who is for the farm worker?
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is touting legislation to improve the lives of Florida's 300,000-plus farm workers, who endure institutional and systemic injustices each day in our fields and groves and their personal lives.

Robyn E. Blumner: For some defendants, an American gulag
In Bernard Malamud's masterpiece The Fixer, inmate Yakov Bok was subjected to psychological torture in a Soviet gulag through the humiliations of constant shackling and repeated strip searches.