READERS WRITE

First responsibility must be our safety

While Atlanta’s mayor and City Council spar over budget issues and a fierce desire by the mayor for an increase in property taxes, public safety may be at risk. Forced furloughs of firefighters and police run parallel with the mayor’s earnest efforts to cut back city services everywhere. But in times of such economic uncertainty, the best choice for decreased spending may not be to cut protective services.

Atlanta has a history of supporting a skilled, proficient, professional fire department that boasts an excellent reputation for integrity and efficiency. Now, however, forced furloughs without pay, cuts in overtime and having fewer first responders on firetrucks and at the scene of emergencies mean more people are at risk, including the firefighters. It could be argued that the protection of our residents is the first responsibility of government and all else is a bonus.

DIANNE WISNER

Atlanta

Can you imagine Celestine’s response?

Even though Emory states it is keeping the initials CL in the renaming of Emory Crawford Long Hospital, for native Atlantans Emory University Hospital Midtown doesn’t sound quite the same (“Emory hospital tweaks its name,” Business, Feb. 14).

I am glad several dear, deceased friends and relatives who retired from Crawford Long are no longer around to see the name change. And given the late Celestine Sibley’s devotion to her beloved city, one has to wonder what this week’s AJC column would have been?

DAVID J. STEWART

Stewart, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is a former Smyrna resident.

Catch up on care

The time has come for the United States to join the rest of the civilized world in ensuring health care for its citizens. Not only would this be intrinsically valuable, but the cost of health care is intimately bound up with the question of economic recovery.

DAVID GABLE

Atlanta

Term limits needed for greedy politicians

Sad to say, most politicians are cut from the same cloth. No matter the legislation up for a vote, they all spout bipartisanship unless they don’t get their way. Unfortunately, through the years I have become quite jaded where politics are concerned. Of politicians, 99.9 percent just want to be re-elected and rake in the perks they have voted for themselves, and the electorate continues to let them do so. I will be out on the street, placard in hand, campaigning for the first politician (R or D) who manages to get term limits through the House and Senate.

SUZANNE PRICE

Stone Mountain

Time with kids can be good medicine

We have a lot to be depressed about these days. As we consider losses to our investment holdings, rising unemployment, international violence, food contamination … the list of bad news seems endless. But I have rediscovered a great antidepressant. Children.

Children are not naturally bitter or depressed. Just watch young children run, skip, hop and dance alongside some more somber adults and you cannot help but feel better. As you talk with children, their fresh, innocent perspective on the world around them is always refreshing and often hilarious.

Spending time with children is great therapy for adults because it helps us rediscover a joyful part of ourselves. It is also great for the children, if we make the children our top priority. And what priority is higher than children? Perhaps these hard times can help us to get our priorities straight.

BILL FOKES

Braselton