Letters to the editor: Oct. 4, 2009

Here are letters to the editor for Daily News editions of Oct. 4, 2009:

Letter of the Day: A number of ways to look at it

Editor, Daily News:

Nice guest article by L.C. Goldman the other day, “Age is only a number, right?”

My two sons planned a wonderful party for my 85th birthday.

The invitation: “You are invited to the 46th anniversary of our dad’s 39th birth.”

Thirty-nine guests in attendance.

— Fred Marvin

Naples

Feast of feelings

Editor, Daily News:

To all the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) members in the world:

Just what do you eat? No meat, no fish — did you forget shrimp, lobster, crabs, clams, oysters?

Or don’t they have feelings? How do you decide?

My very favorite meat is venison (that’s right, Bambi). Dove, quail and turkey are also good. Yum!

What’s the difference between the fish, deer, cattle, pigs, chickens, etc., that we put to death to provide sustenance for our population? How about all those veggies? Don’t they have feelings?

But, you don’t have to worry about us “hunters/killers.” The Texas cougars (aka Florida panthers) have eaten all our wild hogs; the quail, dove and snipe have also disappeared, and almost all our deer and wild turkeys — give it a few years and they will all be gone. Don’t mess with Mother Nature.

It’s a free country (remember); you should be allowed to do what you believe in — and so should I and everyone else. Enough said.

Excuse me now, I am ready for a dinner of my favorite crustaceans — stone crabs — and my favorite meat.

— Jan Brock

Ochopee

The intent is the thing

Editor, Daily News:

I believe that the majority of local residents favor cameras to stop the serious problem of red-light running, and I certainly do as my wife was killed on Livingston Road by a driver who, according to witnesses, exceeded 45 mph and ran the light more than 10 seconds after it changed.

I also participated in a video created to convince legislators that we need a red-light camera law in Florida.

However, I am very upset regarding how this program is being implemented in Collier County. The primary focus and controversy outlined in the Daily News has centered on right-on-red violations. Petty issues such as: Did the driver stop on the white line? Did the driver make a rolling stop?

This does not address the safety issue. How much harm to life is there in a car entering an intersection at 5 mph after probably checking traffic flow versus someone blowing through a red light at 50 mph?

This emphasis on right-on-red is going to turn the public against the program and will certainly provide ammunition to those at the state level who are blocking a state law by saying the cameras are just a money-making scheme.

Please restrict the program to the purpose for which it was intended; i.e., saving lives by stopping red-light running.

— James Cavanagh

Naples

Be aware and be healthy

Editor, Daily News:

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and as a dietitian I think we should focus on the healthy lifestyle and dietary changes that can reduce women’s risk of breast cancer and increase chances of survival.

A new analysis by European researchers predicts that obesity will become the leading cause of cancer in women in Western countries within the next decade. University of Manchester researchers believe excess weight leads to higher estrogen levels, which promotes cancer-cell growth.

But studies show that a vegetarian diet can help shed pounds and may decrease the incidence of breast cancer. A low-fat, plant-based diet can also help women with breast cancer greatly reduce their risk of recurrence.

For more information about how a healthy diet can help fight cancer, visit www.CancerProject.org.

— Krista Haynes, R.D.

Washington, D.C.

Staff dietitian, The Cancer Project

‘A threat to their work?’

Editor, Daily News:

Thanks, Sandy Parker, for your excellent letter from the League of Women Voters on Tuesday.

While it is refreshing to see that the Collier County School Board has taken positive steps toward transparency by deciding to televise some subcommittee meetings, there is more that should be done to communicate with the public.

The School Board’s positive responses make one wonder why the Education Subcommittee balks at the same level of openness and transparency. Is their work too important to have out in the open? Is there something they do not want the public to know?

Do they consider the public as a threat to their work? Don’t they realize that televised transparency can only help get their message get out to the parents and taxpayers who have critical interest in their work?

Perhaps the School Board should resolve to have the Education Subcommittee’s meetings televised. Since the Education Subcommittee deals with curriculum and instruction issues, it would be logical that their meetings have as much transparency as others, or even more.

This committee deals with the bread and butter of education; keeping it in the dark may turn the bread a bit moldy and the butter a bit rancid.

Is there something to hide? What about it, Collier County School Board?

— John Snyder

Naples

For the long run

Editor, Daily News:

Today more than 160,000 Floridians live in nursing homes or similar long-term care settings, and many are unaware of their rights and the resources available to protect and defend them.

Every October, Florida’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program partners with the office of the governor to secure a gubernatorial proclamation of Residents’ Rights Month. The occasion calls attention to the fundamental rights of Florida’s frailest elders to be treated with dignity and respect, and to have a say in decisions affecting their care.

Long-term care residents have state-mandated rights, including fair and courteous treatment, privacy, voting and control over financial matters.

The ombudsman program is a government-funded resource available to help defend residents’ rights and ensure their safety and well-being. Sadly, a volunteer ombudsman is sometimes the only visitor or voice a nursing home or assisted-living facility resident has.

As Florida celebrates Residents’ Rights Month, I encourage community members to visit someone they know in an assisted-living facility, volunteer in a nursing home, participate in a Residents’ Rights Month event (see our online calendar: http://ombudsman.myflorida.com/RRmonth.php for events in your area) or inquire about volunteering with the ombudsman program. Our parents, grandparents, veterans, former doctors and teachers need to know they have not been forgotten.

For information on Florida’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program, please call (800) 831-0404 or visit us at our Web site: http://ombudsman.myflorida.com. We can improve the lives of these citizens who have given so much to us. It’s time to give back.

— Brian Lee

Tallahassee

Long-term care ombudsman,

Department of Elder Affairs