Another ally in JoePa's corner

Another ally in JoePa's corner

Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour last week told the Inquirer Editorial Board that she saw no evidence of an athletic culture problem, contradicting the university-commissioned Freeh report in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal. Barbour went even further to say it's "a mischaracterization that there was a problem with Penn State's culture" ("Penn St. athletic director is pro-Joe," May 20). Inexplicably, the Penn State trustees have allowed, even promoted, that mischaracterization, costing the university millions, soiling reputations, and driving alumni by the thousands to Penn State's defense.

That is why the group Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship supports Graham Spanier's defamation suit against Louis Freeh, his law firm, and the university.

We continue to question why the Penn State trustees remain far more defensive of the Freeh report and its source materials than they are of the institution they have been charged to protect.

Maribeth Roman Schmidt, Gwynedd Valley, Mschmidt@ps4rs.org

Wouldn't trade it

Three of my brothers and I graduated from the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades from the mid-1950s through 1967, and it is difficult to express the gratitude we have for the man, Isaiah Vansant Williamson, who endowed the school ("College of Hard Work," May 18). He knew the value of a good education, and his philanthropy established a school that has flourished long after his death.

Education is the true gift that keeps on giving. Many grads send gifts to Williamson every year to pay forward the gift that was given to them.

In Williamson's words, "When I fully understood the talent I possessed, I regarded it as a crowning of power, not for self, and I consecrated it to him who gave it to me to uplift the man and boy next to me as far as I could reach."

A book written by his friend, John Wanamaker, titled The Life of Isaiah V. Williamson, portrays how truly selfless this great man was. He walked the same streets of Philadelphia that many walk today.

Any gifts sent to Williamson will be put to good use.

George J. Pitonyak, Kitty Hawk, N.C.

Observance would risk dishonoring the fallen

Try as I might, I am unable to agree with Chris Lombardi's suggestion that we honor war protesters on Memorial Day ("Honoring vets who turned against war," May 22). I agree that society should have a place for those who honorably voiced their disagreement with national war policies, but confusing Memorial Day with that effort would seem to dishonor the fallen, and I cannot countenance that.

Ben LaGarde, Glenmoore, blagarde2@gmail.com

Bracing for battle makes streets less safe

Rather than ban any weapons, as U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) contended last week, President Obama is trying to reduce police armaments from those that would be appropriate for an occupying army to those of a domestic police force trying to keep the peace ("Toomey to Obama: Don't ban police arms," May 22). The president and millions of citizens believe that when the police in Missouri responded to unrest and demonstrations over the shooting of the unarmed young man in August, they made the situation much worse by arriving looking as though they were ready to fight heavily armed Iraqi insurgents.

Richmond L. Gardner, Horsham, rlg3526@ix.netcom.comtopic

Where's the beef? Not invited to the picnic

Whatever happened to the good old days when the worst things we had to fear on Memorial Day were traffic jams and indigestion?

This year, it's all about food poisoning by the nasty E. coli, salmonella, and listeria bugs lurking in hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets at millions of backyard barbecues.

The federal meat and poultry hotline's advice is to grill meat and chicken products longer and hotter. They fail to caution that high-temperature grilling forms lots of cancer-causing compounds, -raising the question of whether we really need to choose between food poisoning and cancer.

Luckily, enterprising food manufacturers and processors have met this challenge head-on by developing a great variety of healthful, delicious, and convenient plant-based veggie burgers, veggie dogs, and soy nuggets. These wholesome foods don't harbor nasty bugs or cancer-causing compounds. They don't even carry cholesterol, saturated fats, drugs, or pesticides.

This holiday, it's at least possible to stay safe at the barbecue.

Paul Dickinson, Philadelphia

Room at Kimmel Center for sizzle and culture

Bravo to Peter Dobrin for sharply but fairly calling out the Kimmel Center's leadership for their failure to offer Philadelphians the full range of top classical music programming ("Kimmel arts center missing the point," May 19). It's frustrating to learn that a $60,000 shortfall is what killed the visiting orchestra series that once brought in the likes of the Vienna Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. By my calculations, adding about $1 to a ticket to The Lion King could easily have made up the difference. It seems Dobrin is correct when he concludes that this was a problem that Kimmel chief Anne Ewers really didn't want to solve.

Andrew Quint, Philadelphia, arquint@comcast.net