Will the district recreate Schenley's value?

The PG's analogy to leaving the family home in the June 22 editorial on Schenley High School ("Decide Now") does not capture the scope of our loss ("School Board Votes to Close Schenley Building," June 26). A more apt one is the closure of a productive mill in a functioning town.

We know mills are sometimes too expensive to refurbish. But we also know no closure is free. Costs will be borne by the community.

Schenley's existence as an excellent urban public school was never just about the building. It was also about the diverse, creative community around it and, ultimately, about the nature of our local democracy and how we value each other. Even if necessary, the sacrifice of one of Pittsburgh's anchoring institutions will have significant consequences.

One outcome to avoid is a further decline in trust in the Pittsburgh Public Schools' leadership. When the mills closed, communities were abandoned and didn't receive the reinvestment they needed to regenerate themselves. We know the result. With the decision to close Schenley, the school system and the community will need to work hard to recreate its unique value to Pittsburgh. Given the desire for savings, I worry this will not happen.

Nonetheless, I hope that the school system will cultivate community trust by involving the community in the co-creation of "Schenley II." We have the opportunity to design an exceptional 21st-century public high school and forge a more perfect local democracy at the same time. Pittsburgh's promise must include an excellent secondary education for all in a community that works well together.

KENNETH S. THOMPSON
Shadyside

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The public is fed up

A response to the June 24 letter "Port Authority Union Members Need to Get Real": The management of the Port Authority knows how to enrage the taxpayers of Allegheny County while pulling the wool over our eyes.

We read in the paper that in order to keep service, the union has to give back and passengers have to suffer with less service. Well let's see ... We have already dealt with deep service cuts, and the union has gone through two layoffs; we also have had a fare increase, and all the while we read about a new hire at the authority making $91,200 and a team of lobbyists earning a combined $400,000.

Yet the authority comes back at the union and passengers saying we have to give up. I say as taxpayers we all stand up to this overpaid, overstaffed, greedy management and tell them, "Enough!"

Do not assume the authority cares about us, the taxpayer. It is time we stand up to them and insist they give back!

SUE SCANLON
West Mifflin

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Lauding 'liberal'

It seems typical of some of your columnists and letter writers to label everyone with whom they politically disagree as "liberal," as if liberal were a dirty word to be avoided at any cost. These people also attack the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama because he is too "liberal."

These same individuals are probably enjoying the benefits of Social Security, Medicare, a company or school pension, had a livable wage, were educated in a public school and/or a public university and had their savings accounts ensured by the federal government. Today they eat healthy food, take inspected medicines and are protected with a host of civil liberties. These were all provided by "liberals" like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson and the Kennedys. If these conservative proponents do not like these blessings, then I would suggest they give them back!

Barack Obama has said, "I will never forget that the only reason I am standing here today is because somebody, somewhere stood up for me when it was risky."

Now it is his turn and ours to stand up and be counted. This election is indeed one that can change the country and the world. The economy is in a shambles; the gulf between the rich and the middle class and poor has never been greater; gasoline prices have risen to obscene levels, while Big Oil enjoys record windfall profits; we are in a war in Iraq without end; our national debt is almost beyond comprehension; our civil liberties are under constant attack, and our moral standing in the world has never been lower.

John McCain would continue the policies of national bankruptcy!

ROBERT D. ARBUCKLE
Apollo

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Reconnecting people

Thank you for covering our Community Impact Project presentation ("Group Wants to Save Cultural Landmarks in Poorer Areas," June 26). I'd like to clarify that the project uses preservation as a vehicle for community revitalization. Identifying and preserving landmarks is important, but the goal here is much broader: helping communities to reconnect with their neighborhoods and empowering them to have a "say" in planning and development.

We will collect data on all structures in a neighborhood -- condition, use, occupancy and architectural and historical significance. Further, we will tap into the collective memory of a community to gather the cultural significance of places, including stores, parks, residences and so forth, to learn about what's important to the people who live there and who have lived there over the many years and decades. This information, the hard data as well as stories, interviews and family photos, will be collected in a multimedia, "wiki"-style database available to anyone with Internet access to learn from and enjoy. It also will be a tool for identifying development opportunities. We think that the subjective value in a neighborhood is just as important as the objective.

And there's a housing rehab and job training component that will give people the chance to earn middle-class incomes and purchase and improve homes. There's an immediate and projected long-term job shortage in the preservation trades -- carpentry, plastering, masonry, etc. And almost two-thirds of all houses in Pittsburgh are 50 years old or more. So there is a great need for both. We think the project presents an exciting opportunity for revitalizing our neighborhoods.

STEVEN PAUL
Executive Director
Preservation Pittsburgh
Downtown

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Hijacking our rebate

I just wanted to extend a hearty thank you to all of the school districts including mine, North Hills, that raised the millage rates on our property taxes this year, resulting in the theft of the gaming tax rebate that was meant for the property tax owner and not for the school districts.

The net effect of the rebate less the property tax increase amounts to not even being able to purchase one gallon of gas a month. In other words, it is less than $4 a month.

This is yet another reason why we have to get away from property taxes as the form to fund the never-ending gluttony that is public education.

BOB BOSCIA
Ross

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We can't ignore the reality of HIV infection

We commend the Post Gazette for drawing attention to the increasingly alarming problem of HIV infections in our youth by printing the Washington Post article "Second-Wave AIDS Epidemic Feared" (June 29). Tragically, already we are seeing the "second wave" in the Pittsburgh region.

In fiscal year 2006-2007, the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force tested 117 young men aged 18-24 and, of those tested, 4.5 percent were found to be HIV positive. To the average person, this may seem like a small percentage, but the Centers for Disease Control defines a disease as an epidemic when it reaches 4 percent of a population. Furthermore, PATF's HIV-positivity rate for this age group is comparable to rates in urban centers like New York City. We, as Pittsburghers, can no longer afford to ignore HIV/AIDS.

If we are truly to protect our children's health and secure our future, we must focus on the reality -- not the morality -- of the situation. Many young people are sexually active and "abstinence only" education simply doesn't work. We must arm our youth with correct information and effective strategies for protecting themselves. PATF, the Positive Clinic at Allegheny General Hospital, the Pittsburgh AIDS Center for Treatment at UPMC and the Persad Center Inc., which are the largest AIDS service/treatment providers in the region, are reaching out to our youth through special events, HIV testing initiatives and educational programs, but this is not enough.

Let's face it, adolescents and young adults often believe they are invincible. If we are to have any hope of stemming the rising-tide of HIV infections in our young people, the entire community, including families, schools, churches and youth organizations, must make HIV prevention a top priority.

KATHI BOYLE
Executive Director
Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force
East Liberty

The letter was signed also by Betty Hill, executive director, Persad Center; Mary Gallagher, clinic manager, Positive Clinic, Allegheny General Hospital; and Michelle Akers, administrative director, PACT Clinic, UPMC.

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