Copyright 2000 Star Tribune
Star Tribune
(Minneapolis, MN)
October 4, 2000, Wednesday, Metro Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 18A
LENGTH: 1029 words
HEADLINE:
Letters from readers
BODY:
Health coverage, maybe
Given our piecemeal health care system, I
wholeheartedly support extending health insurance to the domestic partners of
state employees. However, the debate overlooks a much more important question:
Why should health insurance have anything to do with marital status, sexual
preference or employment?
Hinging health
coverage on unrelated social factors has resulted in 42.6 million uninsured
Americans, many of whom are children _ too young to marry well or pursue a job
with a great benefits package.
_ Andrea Cutting, St. Paul.
.
Rod Grams and his son
Sen. Rod
Grams has eloquently asked for our understanding in the matter of his son's
behavior (Star Tribune, Sept. 30). I sincerely believe we owe him this. For it
is indeed, as the senator stated, a situation that many professionals have yet
to explain and he certainly can't.
But as I give my sympathy and
understanding I ask this: That Grams, his party, and his Senate caucus be more
willing to recognize that there are other Americans in lesser circumstances than
the senator and I who find themselves in situations similar to the senator's.
And I would like to have the senator and his party extend the same sympathy and
understanding to these people.
_ Americo Del Calzo, Minneapolis.
.
If Sen. Grams were your average
politician I would agree that the media has no business publicizing his son's
crimes beyond normal court reporting. However, Grams has made his career by
moralizing and preaching family values. For whatever reason, his prescription
for family values has not worked in his own family and voters should know that.
_ RuthAlice Anderson, Portland, Ore., formerly of Lengby, Minn.
.
I sympathize with Sen. Grams
over his son's troubles. What's disturbing is not that a kid from a broken home
has trouble with the law, but that his influential father handles the problem by
blaming the media and letting Chief Deputy Peter Beberg take the fall. This is
not the right lesson to teach your son, Mr. Grams, and not the way a responsible
parent should act.
_ David E Romm, Minneapolis.
.
Standing behind Grams
In
this difficult time, with his son Morgan, we are keeping Sen. Rod Grams and his
family in our prayers. We will not let these personal matters keep us from
returning him to the U.S. Senate this November.
We remember it was the Grams
$500-per-child tax credit that returned dollars to families.
We remember it was Grams who initiated the
return of trucks to Prairie and Trout Lake portages to enable all citizens to
enjoy the Boundary Waters once again. We remember it was Grams who stood up in
support of family recreation with his opposition of the snowmobile ban in
national parks and requested a longer comment period for the Voyageurs National
Park Management Plan. Grams has always been a champion of multiple recreational
uses of our public lands.
We remember it
was Grams who requested a field hearing of the Forest & Public Land
Management Subcommittee in Grand Rapids to hear the concerns of Northern
Minnesotans about forest jobs, the Boundary Waters blowdown and overall
management of our national forests.
And,
it is Grams who has our best interests in mind with the Grams Social Security
Lockbox, which ensures that the Social Security surplus is not used for any
purpose other than retirement security. His voluntary plan for private
investment of some of these funds gives control to the people.
Rod Grams has stood for all Minnesotans
over the past six years. Northern Minnesotans are here for him now.
_
Nancy McReady, Ely, Minn.
.
Air wars
Hooray for Sun Country! At last someone
has made a commitment to the Twin Cities and gone head to head against Northwest
Airlines (Star Tribune, Sept. 26). We Minnesotans have seemed to accept a
passive position in Northwest's Fortress Hub. The name alone, "Fortress Hub,"
should be enough to put us on guard. Minnesota Nice doesn't have to mean
Minnesota Stupid.
_ Lisa Mueller, Robbinsdale.
.
Violence in Israel
After President
Clinton's exhaustive attempts to further the Middle East peace process, the
White House releases a "regret" statement on Ariel Sharon's showboating and
desecration of the Temple Mount shrine in Jerusalem. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright went a little further, calling Sharon's outrageous activity
"provocative."
More must come from our
government if any credibility is to be given their efforts in the Mideast.
Israeli leaders including Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu must condemn
Sharon's behavior if there is to be any hope in the near term.
_ Ronald
Ohmann, Clearwater, Minn.
.
As an
American Jew, I am deeply saddened and ashamed by recent events at Temple Mount
in Jerusalem. It is time for the violence to stop. I urge all American Jews who
give money to the Jewish Federation that they insist their donations be
earmarked for local use and not sent to Israel. Until both sides can come to a
peaceful agreement our financial contributions should not fuel their flames.
Whether these conflicts are political, religious or racist in nature, God is
crying.
_ Andrew Morantz, St. Louis Park.
.
Does your
infant hear?
I was excited to read Sept.
29 that Minnesota will step up screening of newborns for inherited disorders.
Not mentioned was this: Most babies in Minnesota are not being screened for the
most common birth defect _ a hearing impairment.
Every year in the United States, 12,000
children (or one in 300) are born deaf or with a hearing loss. In fact, hearing
impairment in newborns occurs more often than all other health problems
identified at birth, including PKU, sickle-cell and hypothyroidism. Most
children with the problem, though, aren't spotted until age 2 or 3, when they've
failed to start talking.
Many states
require newborn hearing screening; Minnesota does not. I urge
every parent of a newborn to request a hearing screening before your child
leaves the hospital.
_ Julee L. Sylvester, director of public relations
and marketing, Sight & Hearing Association, St. Paul.
LOAD-DATE: October 4, 2000
