READERS WRITE

Johnson should be commended

Regarding “Funds would act as tuition discount for rich” (@issue, Feb. 12) by Ann Abramowitz, state Sen. Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) is to be commended for his groundbreaking legislation that will offer $5,000 vouchers to parents who wish to move their children from public to private school. Johnson’s legislation will make private tuition affordable for the vast majority of families that want their children to have the choice of which school they attend. Those families who cannot afford anything above what the voucher will provide will likely receive some level of financial aid from the schools they wish to attend. In fact, the voucher is most beneficial to middle-class families that feel that they earn too much to receive financial aid, but too little to afford tuition. At our school, a $5,000 voucher will cover 45 percent of our approximately $11,000 tuition.

Every family, regardless of its personal income, should receive the proposed voucher benefit. The competition for tuition dollars will stimulate excellence in public and private schools alike.

Rabbi DAVID KAPENSTEIN

Rabbi Kapenstein is executive director of Torah Day School in Atlanta.

FDA bill an affront to intelligence

Regarding “Should Georgia limit liability for drug companies” (@issue, Feb. 3): The governor wants Food and Drug Administration approval to shield manufacturers from liability to victims of defective products and medicines. Is it just me, or do others also recognize the contradiction between this proposed bill and the truth about the FDA? The FDA is a broken agency. A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report details a four-year study proving inadequate review procedures for approval of medical devices.

A few weeks ago, some FDA doctors and scientists broke rank and sent a letter to the presidential transition team noting FDA managers responsible for regulating devices “have ignored the law and ordered physicians and scientists to assess medical devices employing unsound evaluation methods.” And the FDA is suspected of ineptness in the Georgia peanut plant salmonella debacle. This bill is malignant, illogical and an affront to the intelligence of Georgia citizens. Call your state legislators and tell them to “vote no” on the bill.

Dr. RODERICK EDMOND

Edmond is a medical doctor, attorney and managing partner at an Atlanta plaintiffs’ law firm.

Doctor showed poor judgment

Jim Wooten’s column “Octuplets and all children deserve better” (@issue, Feb. 8) is right on the mark. To implant six embryos in an unemployed single mother of six not only opposes ethical and medical infertility treatment guidelines, but represents a poor standard of medical judgment. No reputable fertility specialist would have agreed to replace that many embryos.

Responsible fertility doctors follow guidelines set forth by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), something the physician in the Nadya Suleman story failed to do. Every patient —- infertile or otherwise —- needs to be evaluated to determine the best course of treatment. In cases like that of Suleman, the right treatment may be no treatment at all. Her doctor’s irresponsible actions give good centers a bad name.

While Suleman chose to bring children into the world for selfish reasons, her doctor is also to blame. He should have recognized that the patient was unfit to care for additional children and should have refused services.

Dr. ANDREW TOLEDO

Toledo is medical director of Reproductive Biology Associates in Atlanta.

Misbehavior big nuisance in public schools

As a public school teacher for 14 years, Eric Johnson hit the nail on the head in his opinion column regarding school vouchers, although not in the way I’m sure he intended (“Proposal gives parents control,” @issue, Feb. 4). He stated that students who transfer to another school and their parents “would have to sign a contract that the child would not create behavior problems at that school.”

If all students and parents had to sign and abide by a similar contract at their neighborhood school, student achievement and test scores would greatly improve. Why should only “chosen” schools be assured of appropriate student behavior? I resent the time taken away from instruction by students who are clearly not there to learn. My heart breaks for the hard-working students who sit in my classes daily and have their time wasted when I must address misbehavior.

MINDEE DUNAGAN

Dunagan is a seventh-grade math teacher at Oglethorpe County Middle School.

BASEBALL AND STEROIDS

There’s a clear, simple answer to the problem

Major League Baseball is an absolute joke. The Major League Baseball Players Association and Commissioner Bud Selig have no interest in stopping steroid use; steroids mean 60-home-run seasons and 100-mph fastballs, which bring fans to the stadium and TV, which makes them money.

If they wanted to stop steroid use, it would be simple. Mandatorily test every player every week all year. If they test positive, they are banned for one year without pay. If they test positive a second time, they are permanently banned. Anything other than that clear, simple policy is an insult to sports fans.

ADAM CORDER

Roswell

Responses to Mike Luckovich cartoon, @issue, Feb. 13.

Hammerin’ Hank still towers over cheaters

Mike Luckovich hit it out of the park with his cartoon portraying the diminutive, steroid-fattened “heroes” of today’s game looking up at the titan that is Hank Aaron. I find it disheartening to continue explaining the ethical lapses of my son’s diamond heroes to him. Luckily, he has mostly gravitated toward men whose character is on par with their talent, such as John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Derek Jeter. Still, I wonder if these men are a dying breed in our national pastime.

I love baseball too much to ever turn my back on it. Instead, I constantly remind myself that for every Bonds, Clemens, A-Rod and McGwire, there was a Jackie Robinson, a Sandy Koufax, a Lou Gehrig or Cal Ripken Jr. who played the game with as much integrity as skill. And yes, a Hank Aaron, who stands head and shoulders above every player who ever believed skill is ensconced in a syringe.

TOMMY HOUSWORTH

Decatur

Just what is in Luckovich’s pen these days?

As many long balls as Mike Luckovich is hitting these days with his funnies, one wonders what he has been shooting up with!

VICTOR PAVAMANI

Snellville

 MIKE LUCKOVICH / Staff
Editorial cartoon published Feb. 13, 2009, contrasting Hank Aaron to more recent home run hitters.