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Letters, faxes, and e-mail
Friday, August 26, 2005
English must remain our official language

In commenting on Richard Gonzales' commentary on monolingualism ("Americans can't be monolingual," Aug. 17), it cannot be stressed enough that in order for our nation to remain strong, the use of English as our official national language must be maintained.

I am for Americans learning many languages, especially Chinese and Arabic, for today's world. I myself have in the past studied Spanish, French, Italian, Latin and Lingala, an African language of the Congo/Zaire. Living in a country that is bilingual creates many problems and weakens, rather than strengthens, the unity and universal effectiveness of that nation.

I recall traveling with a friend of mine in Belgium, a bilingual country using French and Flemish, a dialect of Dutch. While visiting Brussels, we stopped at a kiosk and asked a question in French. The person listened and answered in Flemish.

On another occasion, my wife and I were visiting Canada, another bilingual country. We stopped in a store in Montreal and asked the price of an article in English. The sales clerk responded in French.

So, while it is good that Americans study foreign languages, for many obvious reasons, anyone coming to the United States legally or illegally should have to learn English. If "we must learn to respect the languages of our foreign friends and foes," they must do likewise if they wish to live here.

JOHN T. CRETARO

Mobile

Return of the 'mad cow' scare

On Monday the U.S. Department of Agriculture acknowledged more than 1,000 violations of "mad cow" disease regulations by U.S. meat plants since January 2004.

Mad cow disease, also known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a degeneration of brain tissue leading to erratic behavior and death. It is transmitted through feeding of infected brain and spinal tissues to other cows. Human consumption of infected beef leads to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a deadly dementia frequently confused with Alzheimer's disease that affects millions.

Federal safety measures, including the 1997 ban on feeding potentially infected cow body parts to other cows, have lacked adequate enforcement. Through its reluctance to institute an adequate testing program for diseased cattle, the USDA has failed to assess the true magnitude of the threat.

The latest disclosure further un dermines consumer confidence in the safety of our nation's meat supply. It provides one more reason to replace beef in our diet with a veggie burger or one of the other meat alternatives in the frozen food section of our neighborhood supermarket.

MARVIN WOODMONT

Mobile

Ready to teach, but stopped by roadblocks

I have a bachelor of arts degree in nonfiction writing from a fully accredited university. I, however, do not have my teacher certification.

I came to Alabama in the hopes of getting an alternate master's in education, but after I already enrolled, I was informed that my degree from Pace University was inadequate and that I would need to take 30 credits of additional undergraduate courses before even being considered for the masters program.

I chose not to do this, but I'm writing because I believe that I'm an example of teaching competence in spite of University of South Alabama's opinion to the contrary.

Let my explain.

--My degree is in nonfiction writing, one of the critical need areas in Alabama.

--I substituted in another state for two years. I was called every day, sometimes two and three times a day. I covered all subjects at all grade levels.

--All the principals I worked for were pleased with my performance and asked for me by name when they needed a substitute.

I'm currently unemployed. The other day, I attended a substitute-teacher orientation for the Mobile County Public School System. I'm in my early 50s and still need to work full time. I love to teach and know I'm good at it.

I would be content to be a non-certified substitute, but with gasoline being over $2.50 per gallon (among other rising costs of living), what incentive do I have to work for the Mobile County Public School System at $43 per day, which is about half the poverty level for two people in Alabama?

I'm open to suggestions.

GEOFF KINGBERG

Mobile


Area juvenile programs successful

I read with interest the recent article advising that the Department of Youth Services has a 70 percent recidivism or repeat offender rate, over a two-year term ("Study: More than 70 percent of juvenile detention kids return within 2 years," Aug. 5).

I wish to point out that this does not mean that a youth has necessarily committed a new offense, but may have been returned to DYS for a violation of probation (usually for curfew violation and usually from a rural county without local treatment programs). This is not the fault of Walter Wood, the DYS administrator.

Without taking away from District Attorney John Tyson's many contributions to the reduction of delinquency in our county, many local treatment programs were created and operated by the Juvenile Court of Mobile County which are unique and have proven to be extremely effective in this area. Altogether, they are producing less than a 20 percent rate of recidivism over a two-year period.

Our court learned early that it was better to treat the juvenile and his family in the community when possible. To do this we created 1) family counseling; 2) substance abuse treatment; 3) trauma prevention clinic; 4) a 7 p.m. curfew while most courts require only a 10 p.m. curfew (and ours is backed up with nightly random house calls, with police assistance and many other programs).

Most important, the Camp Martin Boot Camp and the G.R.O.W.T.H. (Girls Reaching Their Womanhood Through Healing) program operated by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Mobile maintain a 25 to 30 percent return rate over a two-year outlook. Also many of the graduates of these programs go on to college, get a GED or enter military service.

I believe the Juvenile Court of Mobile County has for many years been one of the best in the nation and has an unparalleled recidivism rate. I am hopeful that the county's legislators, County Commission, City Council, mayor and the citizens will continue to support these programs.

JOHN F. BUTLER

Retired Juvenile Court Judge

Mobile