Copyright 2000 The Hartford Courant Company
THE
HARTFORD COURANT
August 25, 2000 Friday, STATEWIDE
SECTION: EDITORIAL; Pg. A14
LENGTH: 776 words
HEADLINE:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
BODY:
Twain Fest Not What It
Used To Be
I agree with Bill Hosley [letter, Aug. 12, "Twain Days Have
Lost Their Charm"]. Mark Twain Days 2000 was just a noisy, nothing carnival.
The first Mark Twain Days had class and charm and made a statement.
There was a lady in vintage dress reading poetry, soldiers in army tents
and other army equipment, woodcarving and children playing games of that era.
Soft, gentle music also was played all around.
The event had everything
Mark Twain would have enjoyed.
Adele K. Siegal
West Hartford
Death To All
Cop Killers
State Supreme Court Chief
Justice Francis M. McDonald Jr. was absolutely right when he said that the
court's decision to spare the life of the man who killed state Trooper Russell
Bagshaw will leave police officers in need of protection [Connecticut section,
Aug. 19, "Cop Killer To Remain Spared"].
Mr. Bagshaw will not rest in
peace, nor will his family. Terry Johnson has been allowed to live. Even though
he's not free, this is not justice by any means.
I believe, as the
president of the state police union Robert Veach does, that anyone convicted of
killing a police officer in the line of duty should receive an automatic death
sentence.
Justice has not been accomplished in the case of Mr. Johnson.
Gloria R. Ensign
Hartford
White Supremacist Show Has
Its Followers
As I read the Aug. 19 Courant, I saw that "White
Revolution," a public access cable TV show, is coming [Page 1, "White
Supremacist Show Will Air In Seven Towns"].
I salute those who brought
this program to Connecticut and the stations that will air it. I'm sure they
will have a long road ahead of them in bringing this show to light. I turn on
the television set and see BET (Black Entertainment Television). So now let's
have WET (white educational television).
My hope is that this program
will be aired in every market in Connecticut. Our children need to know that
they should not feel guilty for being white.
David L. Sweeney
Newington
Birds, Stadium
Can Coexist
The state
and United Technologies Corp. propose to develop 700 acres in East Hartford that
two endangered species of birds use for nesting [Page 1, Aug. 15, "Rare Birds In
Path Of UConn Stadium; Environmental Finding Poses Challenge But Is Unlikely To
Derail Project"].
If the birds were bald eagles, there is no question
that voters who associate the bald eagle with patriotism would protest.
Grasshopper sparrows and upland plovers, equally endangered, should be
treated with the same level of concern.
The state could protect these
birds and still build a stadium on 75 of these 700 acres, preserving the rest as
habitat for these endangered species. The state's Endangered Species Act says
that the commissioner may acquire essential habitat for conservation of
endangered species by gift, purchase, condemnation or any other method.
Replacing this area with 150 acres that is miles away is little help for
a species that needs about 325 acres to breed.
Birds often nest in the
very same place where they were born. Even a yellow brick road to Enfield from
East Hartford may not save these birds that already have fewer than five nesting
sites in the state.
Carol R. Lemmon
Branford
Contraceptive Coverage Essential To Health
It
is a sad day when someone like Lila Arzua [Other Opinion, Aug. 14, "Why Cover
Contraceptives If They Limit Women's Choices"] suggests that
having health maintenance organizations and employers cover prescription
contraceptives would actually limit women's choices.
One can only hope that her column was meant as sarcasm.
Fertility control is the most important aspect of women's health.
Forcing health insurance companies to cover
contraceptives can only benefit women's health.
Women
should not be made to feel guilty that their demand for coverage of oral
contraceptives, which women take for a plethora of health
needs, could increase the cost of health care coverage.
Penile implants
were covered before mammograms. Many HMOs, moreover, will cover the impotence
drug Viagra but not birth control.
Condoms, although effective, are far
behind oral contraceptives, IUDs, Norplant and Depo-Provera as
the birth control devices of choice for women in long-term monogamous
relationships.
I don't know many people who aren't worth an extra $21.40
per year, Ms. Arzua's estimated cost to employers of covering
contraceptives.
But if a company with 100 employees
can't afford an extra $2,140 each year, I find it hard to believe it can afford
those employees. Similarly, a company with 1,000 employees should be able to
cough up $21,400.
Jennifer E. Cooper
Pine Plains, N.Y.
LOAD-DATE: August 25, 2000
