For the past six years, our family has participated in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day. We have walked in 13 of these 60-mile events and have raised more than $175,000 to find a cure for this dreaded disease.
Recently, Susan G. Komen for the Cure made a decision to cut its funding to Planned Parenthood. This decision enraged and disappointed thousands of people.
I share these feelings. To further complicate a politically charged issue, Komen did not handle the announcement effectively.
Since the public outcry, Komen has reversed its decision. Karen Handel, a key proponent for eliminating support to Planned Parenthood, has resigned from her post at Komen. Clearly, the organization recognizes the tremendous harm it has caused to its reputation and credibility.
So with all these missteps, you may be surprised to learn that I still stand firmly behind Susan G. Komen. I have two very important reasons: One is my husband, the other my daughter. My husband was diagnosed with male breast cancer six years ago. My 28-year-old daughter was diagnosed this past summer.
The life-saving treatments my husband received, the medication he still takes, the identification of a genetic predisposition, the diagnostic screening that detected my daughter’s breast cancer at its earliest stage, the nipple-sparing reconstruction that allows her to look in a mirror without crying, the education, the support and the tremendous network of advocates are all a direct result of Komen’s efforts and funding.
Yes, there are other breast cancer organizations that do valuable work. And, yes, Planned Parenthood also provides essential services to women. But it is Komen that pioneered large-scale breast cancer fundraising. It is Komen that took a topic of shame from the darkest corners and brought it to the forefront.
It is Komen that has helped fund nearly all medical advancements in the fight against breast cancer. I truly believe it will be Komen that will be at the heart of that elusive cure.
I sincerely hope Komen will find a way to make this right. They have begun to take the right steps, but they will have much more to do to repair the damage. I wish the answer was easy, but we all know it is not. Sadly, we live in a divided society. In the meantime, I am respectfully asking for you not to turn your backs on this organization. We need this cure.
At a time when our world is faced with so many challenges and choices, we all sometimes struggle to know what is best. I have struggled deeply with this latest turn of events. The only thing I know without question is that my beloved husband and daughter are alive today because of the good works of Susan G. Komen.
Kathy Giller
Akron
Police make the city safe
I believe we are completely missing the mark on police protection. The only way to make any city desirable is to make it safe. It is ludicrous to wonder how else to make Akron or any other city a place where people will want to live.
The very essence of attracting people to a city to live and raise their children is safety. There is only one way to do this: a top-notch police force to ensure that a community will be free or somewhat free of crime and violence.
One perfect example is what happened to Rolling Acres and the surrounding business district. I recently peered into the front doors to the mall. I was sickened by what has happened to a once-thriving retail mecca.
Are we really so ignorant that we are not addressing this major piece of economic recovery? Why is it that the people can see this, yet the people in charge keep decimating our police force? It is time to take back our communities now, or totally submit to thugs and undesirables.
John Ricchiuto
Munroe Falls
Tressel at UA, the right choice
After reading Don Hillenbrand’s Feb. 8 reaction (“Triumph for expediency”) to the Feb. 5 column supporting the University of Akron’s hiring of Jim Tressel (“Jim Tressel and the Vision thing”), I find Hillenbrand’s rhetoric to be demagoguery.
Tressel’s behavior in Columbus put him at fault, for which he is accountable. However, Hillenbrand says Tressel is “disgraced” and “unworthy of any future trust, in any capacity,” while calling his actions “cowardly and self-serving.” That’s vitriolic.
Hillenbrand continues with demeaning, below-the-belt personal attacks on Tressel. Then he adds groundless, if not paranoid, accusations against University of Akron President Luis Proenza to sully the column’s support of Tressel’s hiring.
I, too, have read the paper for over 30 years, and I can attest that it has made its fair share of criticisms against the University of Akron. I know of no time when the university denied access to the newspaper as a result.
University supporters, including this alumnus, are confident that Tressel will produce worthy, positive results for the students. He will prove to be a great return on investment for the university and region. Tressel is a talented, genuine and caring human being, and no amount of Hillenbrand’s Kool-Aid will contaminate that reality.
Welcome to the world of ideas and ideals, Jim Tressel. Welcome to the University of Akron.
David T. Culp
Akron
Neither a business nor a household
More and more what seems to be unfolding is a presidential race pitting a successful businessman against whom, a community activist out of his league?
Many Americans believe that it is a no-brainer that the government is best served using a businessperson’s mind-set. One other model often cited is to think of Washington in terms of running a household.
I don’t agree with either viewpoint. What it comes down to is that we want our tax money not to be frittered away. We want a well-oiled economy. I say Washington is neither a business nor a household – and certainly not an extension of capitalism.
Businesses exist for only one purpose: to make money. That products and services are provided, that wealth is “trickled down” to workers, that the worker’s general welfare is accommodated — these are secondary outcomes. When push comes to shove, making as much money as possible outweighs everything.
To a society, precisely the opposite is true. Products and services, wealth distribution and the general well-being of the people are everything.
In the household, we may cry out for freedom and independence. Without enough money, we have neither. It is incumbent upon each of us to budget what we have. We are all controlled by our access to money — which for the great middle class means having a well-paying job.
When running Washington is thought of in terms of a business or household, we invite trouble. A business or household mentality looks to streamline operations or tighten the budget.
What is true — counter to intuition — is that in tough times, government should spend and should employ as many people as possible. This is how best to serve the people.
When government roles are trimmed in the name of good business practice or managing a household budget, where do the jettisoned people go? Where do they find jobs in a private sector that is making billions without any apparent need to add to payrolls?
I can’t imagine a multimillionaire business owner capable of a community activist’s mind-set; that is, being able to comprehend the needs or aspirations of the working class. Apparently, in this race, many of the businessman’s supporters, many struggling to better their lives, blame big government and wonder what went wrong.
Bill Bogdan
Canton
Thank you from the Mancini family
On behalf of the family and legions of friends of Frank Mancini, we would like to thank the many citizens of Akron and Summit County for their overwhelming support following his death.
Thanks to the Akron Police Department, the Cuyahoga Falls Police Department and the Honor Guard for all their support during calling hours and the memorial service.
We deeply appreciate the brothers and sisters in law enforcement who turned out in such great number to honor the procession as it passed. It was a sight we will never forget, and it was a fitting tribute to a man who was seriously injured in the line of duty but never forsaken by his brethren in the law enforcement community. Special thanks to the Rev. Robert Denton and Deacon Phil Kamlowsky for their words of comfort and kindness.
Frank Mancini will be remembered for his positive nature, his great good humor and his courage.
The family would also like to extend its heartfelt thanks for all the news media coverage, in particular Beacon Journal photographer Phil Masturzo for the riveting images he presented.
Once again, we wish to extend our thanks for a heartfelt farewell for a great man.
Beth McGarry
Tallmadge
