Letters policy
We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime
telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity.
Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois
62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com
A BROTHER LOST, NOW FOUND
Every now and then I pick up a copy of Illinois Times to get
a different perspective on things. I, for one, believe it is good
for a community the size of Springfield to have an alternative
source of news and views, so I am not an Illinois Times basher.
However, over the years, I have found a few news stories in which
reporters engaged in “yellow journalism.” Sadly, such
was the case when I read Bruce Rushton’s alleged news article
“Cocaine and Abel” in the Sept. 29 issue. It doesn’t take a journalism major to
figure out that Joe Zappa wasn’t the real focus of
Rushton’s article or that he gave one rip about people who
made some serious mistakes and were honestly trying to turn things
around. No, this article was a sensational attempt to somehow
discredit a sitting judge who has turned out to be one of the
finest judges we have had serve in Sangamon County. Without any
regard to the Zappa family, truth was once again sacrificed for
sensationalism. Joe Zappa’s troubles with the law took
place over seven years ago and are not any big secret, as they have
been reported on before. What Rushton failed to do, however, was to
take into account that individuals like Joe Zappa can make peace
with their past, avail themselves of God’s grace and
experience freedom from addictions and compulsive behaviors, and
actually become good employees, sons, brothers, husbands, and
fathers. That’s something that Joe Zappa has managed to do
for quite a few years now. I know because I have witnessed it. I
have personally consulted with him on many occasions and ask him the
tough questions: Do you love your wife? Are you taking care of your
daughter? Are you working hard? Paying your bills? Are you staying
straight? Working things out with your family? Yes, I care enough about
my friend to hold him accountable. What Rushton also failed to report was that
Joe Zappa went to school while he was an unemployed construction
worker and was trained in the dangerous work of removing asbestos,
and worked removing this material, and that he had the right
qualifications for the [state] position and that he applied for the
job and got it because he was qualified, without any assistance
from his brother, and that younger brother Joe probably has more
Democratic leanings than his older brother.
Would Rushton be satisfied if Joe Zappa were
homeless, out of work, and unable to support himself or his family?
I wouldn’t have minded this piece so
much had it appeared in an opinion section, but to try and pawn
this off as a worthwhile and accurate news piece is just plain
dishonest. Nicholas J. Stojakovich Springfield
WHAT WOULD GANDHI DO?
Harish G. Bhatt is commemorating the birth,
life, and philosophy of Mohandas Gandhi by working to raise
awareness of Gandhi’s “principles of nonviolence,
truth, and love for all beings” [R.L. Nave, “We need
Gandhi now,” Sept. 29]. That sounds like a noble undertaking
— until you consider a letter he sent to Illinois Times a few
weeks ago. Then the whole thing stinks of hypocrisy. Bhatt is the person who thinks it’s
wrong to jail and punish two teenage boys for their involvement in
what he called “a stupid mistake” [see
“Letters,” Sept. 15]. That mistake was the brutal beating to near-death, apparently with grotesque
ease, of Monsignor Eugene Costa. According to Bhatt, these delinquents
gave Costa the “lesson of his life.” So much for
nonviolence. Who knows? Maybe if these kids had murdered
Costa, Bhatt would have wanted to give them medals. Jack Duffy Springfield
RESEARCH SUPPORTS SCHOOL’S MISSION
Thank you for publishing the extensive story
by Jane Adrian about research under way at the Southern Illinois
University School of Medicine [“The SIU explorers,”
Sept. 29]. While many know this medical school for the
education of caring physicians or the medical care provided to
thousands of patients, our researchers and growing research efforts
can go overlooked. Our mission to help the people of central and
southern Illinois with their health-care needs must include
advancing medical knowledge through research so there are better
treatments available for the future. Having a vibrant research community here at
SIU also helps us train the next generation of physicians, whose
traits must include lifelong habits of scholarship and
self-education. J. Kevin Dorsey, M.D., Ph.D. Dean and Provost SIU School of Medicine
WRONG FOCUS FOR HEALTH CARE
Some people might have been impressed with
the article on local medical researchers titled “The SIU
explorers.” I wasn’t. An infusion of $25 million for
the local economy and lots of hope, but little results, and totally
the wrong focus for health care — that’s how I see it. The more the word gets out that drugs
don’t heal (only treat the symptoms) and may involve very
serious side effects, the more the rhetoric (advertising) heats up
that they are trying really hard and could discover major
breakthroughs if only they had more money. The good news is that there are already
solutions for a large part of the health problems in America. The
bad news for the drug companies is that it doesn’t involve
drugs, so “big medicine” (drug companies, hospitals,
and doctors) isn’t eager to publicize this, and actually
dismisses it as not being scientific enough. A natural whole-food
vegan/vegetarian diet, cutting out junk food, and lots of exercise
have been shown to give the results that drugs only hope to do. You’ll have to do your own research on
this because you won’t hear about it in the medical journals
or from your doctor. They are too busy submitting grant
applications, hoping to get rich with a drug patent.
Bill Wellington Springfield
HARDLY FAIR AND BALANCED
Fox News Network on Sept. 27 ran a criticism
of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-Louisiana, concerning the use of
the National Guard to survey the destruction of his home. Wonder
how U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, surveyed the destruction
of one of his three homes? Probably during a fly-by [as a passenger
on] Air Force One. Perhaps Lott can get a Halliburton connection to
rebuild his home so President George W. Bush may sit on his front
porch. S.R. Ziller Divernon
RESPECT DIFFERENT VIEWS ON CREATION
I have read yet another diatribe on how
evolution should be the only factually accepted science and how
intelligent design or creationism are just superstitious nonsense
or mythology and should never be accepted [“Letters,”
Oct. 6]. Now let’s hear from the rational side. I consider myself a man of faith [and] a
rational human being. I thoroughly accept the evidence presented
regarding the true age of the planet and of the thousands of
prehistoric species that have existed on the planet long before the
first human beings appeared. However, I also choose to believe in
the existence of God. Many say that you can’t have both: You
must either be a “rational” scientific thinker or a
superstitious zealot. [They ask] how can you accept both science
and God?
First of all, science doesn’t explain
everything. Scientific study and achievement has given us wonderful
discoveries as the genetic code, DNA, microbiology, etc. However,
science has never been able to explain why sentience and
intelligence only occur in one species. Sure, one can credit brain size and
chromosomes, but it still doesn’t answer the all-important
“why?”
True rational thought accepts that not
everything can be explained. This is a big universe and there are
so many things that are outside of our reasoning or ability to
explain. It’s true, you can’t prove the existence of
God, but you can’t disprove it either. A rational thinker
would just leave this as currently unexplained, but that’s
not to say we won’t be able to grasp these concepts in the
future. So I’m asking both sides to just leave
this alone. Creationists: Stop trying to rewrite science and
turning blind eyes to evidence right in front of you. Evolutionists:
Just because you can’t experience something with your five
senses, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. There are many
different viewpoints in the world and accept that no one viewpoint
is completely right or completely wrong. It’s the only
“rational” thing to do. Steve Marley Springfield
This article appears in Oct 6-12, 2005.
