Letters to the Editor

Realities of teen sex

EDITOR: The recent coverage by The Press Democrat of the tragically high teen pregnancy rate in Southwest Santa Rosa exposes a challenge to which our community must respond. It is clear that this is an issue magnified by lower socioeconomic status, both in its incidence and in its ability to perpetuate social inequity. Many teens are already having sex, and the first line of defense is always to advocate for abstinence.

As an experienced pediatrician, I care for and treat many teens, and I help supervise a busy teen clinic at Kaiser Permanente. All health-care providers who work with teens know the realities of teen sex, their ability to make thoughtful decisions and the importance of provider-patient confidentiality. The greater challenge is to allow teens seamless access to this care.

School-based health clinics, like the one at Elsie Allen High School, remove the perceived barriers of cost, confidentiality and transportation that many teens cannot overcome. There are more than 1,300 such clinics in the United States, but only about 25 percent offer contraceptives on site. The fear that offering these services will increase sexual activity and sexually transmitted diseases has been proven wrong. In the identified "hot spot" for teen pregnancy of southwest Santa Rosa, our community must move forward in providing contraceptive services at the accessible and confidential Elsie Allen clinic.

DR. ARI HAUPTMAN

Santa Rosa

EDITOR: Before us again are arrayed the forces of evil; they pretend charity while yielding the sickle of infamy. With a stroke of self-serving arrogance they have severed the mortal life of our sister Terri Schiavo from our midst, but the harvest of these grim reapers will be the haunting memory of injustice. May she rest in peace and may God have mercy on her soul.

LAWRENCE R. WIESNER

Sonoma County Pro-Life Council, Santa Rosa

EDITOR: In his March 26 "Close to Home" column, Ray Parnay stated the American university is a Marxist strong hold. Many Republicans are still looking under their beds for evil communists. None of the college professors I know are communists, but many say they are labeled as such. They teach people how to think, and thinking appears difficult for many, especially many American voters. Some of us never learn this necessary survival technique.

To quote Parnay, "Sadly, too many people tend to be complacent to the point of apathy." How true. Apathy helped us get into the mess we find our nation. Instead of worrying about communists and college professors, he should be worried that "religious" Republicans have bankrupted our country, taken over all three branches of government and are pushing a conservative agenda that is destroying our freedom. He should worry that America is now involved in an unnecessary war costing thousands of American and Iraqi lives. He should worry that character assassination and a lack of integrity dominate political Washington and the news media. He should worry about the lack of balance in the political community.

There are plenty of things to worry about other than communists.

DAVE SILVA

Santa Rosa

EDITOR: I am compelled to agree with Robert Aherne's inquiry (letters, March 31). The New York Times seems to enjoy this new sport of Catholic bashing. For all of you who think that Maureen Dowd's March 29 column is an isolated occurrence, maybe one should look at some of last month's news.

Some of you may remember an article published in the New York press that was in circulation when Pope John Paul II was in the hospital in Rome. The article was entitled, "The 52 funniest things about the upcoming death of the Pope." For non-Catholics, that is not highly offensive. To Catholics, it is.

When will the New York Times stop running these hurtful articles? Hopefully soon, because, as Aherne said, more and more Catholics are becoming aware of this, and they will be very angry.

DANNY KAMBUR

Petaluma

EDITOR: Almost two years ago, I watched a report on television just after Baghdad fell. A soldier said he knew safety conditions in the city were improved because children were riding their bikes again. If being able to walk or bike is a measure of relative safety, do we see the irony that here in our cities we do not feel safe biking and walking?

In reference to The Press Democrat story of a possible speed trap on Summerfield Road, consider this example. In a distance of one mile where the speed limit is 40 mph, the additional time between someone going 40 mph or 50 mph is only 18 seconds. As a civilized society, how can we rationalize that 18 seconds is worth the risk of injury or death? A speed limit of 40 mph is intimidating and reduces the mobility of children, elders and the disabled. Is this the price we want to pay for the 18-second savings?

I am also very bothered by the way speed limits are adjusted. A judge can declare the limit constitutes a speed trap, or if enough people unlawfully exceed the speed limit, this is a basis for upping the limit. Unfortunately, to lower the speed limit there seems to be only one way it happens. Enough people have to be injured or killed. What a crazy system that rewards law breakers and penalizes the innocent.

TIBURCIO GONZALEZ

Sebastopol

EDITOR: George Will's column in the March 31 paper looks like a workable solution to the 53,000 pages of IRS regulations. Some blame the IRS. Maybe the agency has something to do with it in respect to framing the laws, but the real culprits are the members of the House of Representatives, who make the laws. The IRS merely enforces them.

A simpler, self-correcting solution would be to have members of the House do their own income taxes, with no help from their friends, spouses, or teen-age children. They would then learn firsthand the ridiculous and time-consuming, ambiguous accounting contortions the law requires. However, this would rely on their personal integrity, which in numerous cases, may be lacking. It would also be opposed by the accountants, who earn their living doing other people's income taxes. The bottom line, illustrating the drag on the economy, is that it takes in excess of $700 for a small business to submit $100 to the IRS.

And the California Franchise Tax Board regulations are worse.

LAWRENCE SHAPIRO

Sebastopol