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address, and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256,
Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com.
PROSTITUTION TIMES TEN
Fletcher Farrar’s recent column (“Going
to the Johns,” IT, Aug. 21-27) highlights the issue we face due to prostitution
activity in our neighborhood. Over the last four months, 19 prostitutes and
one “john” have been arrested in Springfield. Thirteen of the
prostitutes were picked up in the Enos Park area, which is not a very
positive image for such a unique and historical neighborhood. However,
since for every prostitute there are typically 10 times as many
“johns,” that means there are still a large number of men
soliciting sexual activity from other women. In addition, Springfield ranks
in the top ten cities in Illinois for almost every type of sexually
transmitted disease. Put those facts together and you have a lot of
husbands, fathers, brothers, and next-door neighbors infected with STDs.
Is there a solution to this problem? Most certainly,
but it will require new priorities and a new emphasis on reducing the
demand side of the problem. We must start with more sting operations to get
the “johns.” Once arrested, they must have to pay substantially
larger fines then they do now, their vehicles must be confiscated, and
let’s make sure the public knows who gets arrested in prostitution
stings!
The Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Association is
committed to supporting our neighborhood police officers, the city, and
P.O.R.A., a non-profit agency providing support to help keep prostitutes
off the street. However, these and other groups, including more
neighborhood associations, must elevate their level of commitment to
eliminate this scourge on our city. We can start by emphasizing how
prostitution has such a negative impact on all of us, whether it’s
public health, the relationship between prostitution and drugs, devaluation
of our homes, and the negative impact on the image of our city. This
problem affects all of us! Ten times as many “johns” as
prostitutes requires ten times the commitment and energy to resolve the
problem!
Steve Combs, president
Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Association
Springfield
SENIOR FOOD ENDANGERED
Senior Nutrition
Centers in Illinois are at risk of closing. My local center
hasn’t had a budget increase in over 10 years while the cost of food,
gasoline and utilities have gone through the roof. What will the shut-ins
do if the centers are no longer able to provide their home-delivered meals?
Please use whatever influence you might have in your community to
help the nutrition centers in your area. There is no more basic a
need than food.
Keather Thompson
Enfield, Ill.
A NATIVE VISITS FROM SAN ANTONIO
I was in Springfield last week from San Antonio. My
81-year-old mother still lives on Cummins in the nice neighborhood where I
grew up in a wonderful clean nice blue-collar neighborhood in a clean town
with a good amount of integrity.
My plans to move back to Springfield have been
scrapped with no chance of changing my mind. Because in my lifetime,
Springfield will continue it’s nosedive. I love Springfield and I
guess that is why I’m so mad. Over the years, I have watched
Springfield gradually fall apart. Large areas are blighted and there are
trashy people who could care less. Let alone the idiot governor. You
sure got that right (See “Blago’s war on Springfield,” IT, Aug. 14-20).
I was not aware of moving the Department of
Transportation traffic safety division. Why would you move140 jobs out of a
capital city? You don’t take state business out of a capital, you
bring it in.
This is a dead historic town where people just
stop to see things and leave. Thank God that the National Park Service took
over the Lincoln Home area. Maybe in future years the Lincoln Home
area will see the rest of our historic town follow through with more
investment. All this history and no investment for tourists, plus letting
the community fall apart.
Can we make sure this dunce of a governor will in the
long run pay for making things worse than they already are? San Antonio,
where I live, has the Alamo, and tourists flock here because Texas invests
money into its history and tourist industry.
Every time I see other cities working hard to keep
their town in top shape to promote the history, I think that Springfield
could have been doing the same thing.
This is really sad, but this is also the first time I
realized someone cared.
Harold T. Bartlett
San Antonio, Texas
PETA PLAYS THE CANCER CARD
This is a response to Steve Marley’s letter in
your Aug. 14 edition that attacked PETA for pointing out some nutritional
facts. The letter writer seems to think one can eat meat without worrying
about health issues. He could not be further from the truth.
The top causes of death in this country are heart
disease, cancer, and stroke. All are heavily related to eating meat. Vegan
diets maximize the foods that help us fight cancer—fiber-packed
grains and beans and phytochemical-packed fruits and vegetables—and
minimize the foods that cause cancer. Combine these two factors, according
to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and the scientific
evidence is clear: “Vegetarians are about 40 percent less likely to
get cancer than nonvegetarians, regardless of other risks, such as smoking,
body size, and socioeconomic status.”
One study compared cancer rates of vegetarians and
meat-eaters in 34,000 Americans. The results showed those who avoided meat,
fish, and poultry had dramatically lower rates of prostate, ovarian, and
colon cancer, compared to meat-eaters.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell, arguably the foremost
epidemiological researcher alive today, argues that animal proteins are the
prime carcinogens in meat and dairy products. Dr. Campbell says, “No
chemical carcinogen is nearly so important in causing human cancer as
animal protein.”
If we are naturally omnivores like Steve Marley
claims, then why do vegans live longer and healthier? Why do vegans have
cholesterol levels half that of meat eaters? Why are most primates
herbivores in the wild?
Ryne Poelker
Petersburg
This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2008.
