Copyright 2000 Gannett Company, Inc.
USA TODAY
April 10, 2000, Monday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 26A
LENGTH: 513 words
HEADLINE:
'Brockovich' more than just form
BODY:
The
"va-va-voom" of Erin Brockovich may have been "all
anyone can talk
about" in high school locker rooms, but the packed
theater just up the
street from USA TODAY's offices in Northern
Virginia, where I saw the movie,
reacted to something else ("Just
barely dressed for on-the-job success,"
Cover Story, Life, Tuesday).
I doubt that the moviegoers were
celebrating star Julia Roberts'
cleavage when they cheered as Erin
Brockovich offered a glass
of toxic water to the polluters' lawyers. Nor,
was the standing
ovation at the end of the movie in appreciation of her
glorious
gams.
The cheers and applause were endorsements of
triumph of an individual
in a meaningful cause against enormous odds, the
least of which
was the petty picking about her converging hemlines.
The movie resonates because substance wins over form. For a paper
striving to be recognized as the USA's paper of record, your focus
on
Erin Brockovich's form, rather than substance, indicates
you've a
ways to go.
Ralph Hoar
Arlington, Va.
Prevent hearing loss
Newborn hearing
screening programs, in which all infants are tested
for hearing
loss before leaving the hospital, are necessary. It
is important that
parents and pediatricians know that screening
only newborns, however, is not
sufficient ("A hearing test is
urged for every newborn," Life, Tuesday).
Significant hearing loss in both ears is not detectable until
after the newborn period and is therefore missed in newborn screening.
Many babies who fail newborn screening may not be brought in for
their
follow-up appointment. And for some children, hearing loss
is acquired as a
result of illness: most commonly, chronic ear
infections.
Pediatricians, then, must assume the responsibility to identify
hearing loss in children. Technology now exists that allows children
under 3 years of age to be screened in doctor's offices.
Studies
by The Children's Health Fund, funded by EduCap Inc. of
McLean, Va., have
shown that this new technology -- "otoacoustic
emission (OAE) -- is both
highly effective and time-saving.
All parents should urge their
doctors to provide this new screening.
Without such screening in pediatric
primary care, many infants
and young children with hearing loss will
continue to be missed.
Effective hearing screening in newborns and
toddlers could eliminate
thousands of preventable tragedies.
Irwin Redlener, M.D., president
The Children's Health
Fund
New York, N.Y.
Honor in Confederacy
To
remove the "Stars and Bars" from the South Carolina Statehouse
would
dishonor all those who served honorably under that banner,
especially the
65,000 black Confederate soldiers, 13,000 of whom
served in combat. Some
were slaves, and some were free, but they
all fought for the Confederacy.
The historical truth about the role of blacks in the Confederacy
is readily available, including on the Internet. I hope the historically
ignorant and politically correct will take the time to find out.
John Toler
San Antonio, Texas
LOAD-DATE: April 10, 2000
