The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 70

THE PALM BEACH POST WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1991 (0 111 IHi' Anti-Semitism still exists in post-Communist Russia or those who question why Jews still flee the Soviet Union, there is a simple explanation. We don have to look any farther than the United States to see that anti-Semitism exists in democracies. There has been a fierce resurgence of anti-Semitism led by the notorious Russian organization, Pamyat. The Russian Orthodox church, as it regains power and influence, is also a source Jill Our reward for not finishing the job ho would order a cease-fire when you have the enemy on the run, have not secured all major objectives and have Norman Schwarzkopf; otherwise, he would have permitted him to wrap everything up into a neat package. Consequently, President Bush is now playing hide-and-seek with Iraq, searching for nuclear weapons.

Evidently Mr. Bush didn't learn anything from Gen. Douglas MacArthur's surrender of Japan. Ernest Kovarik Boynton Beach not relieved the enemy of their weapons and major fire power? Who? Our commander-in-chief, George Herbert Walker Bush. Was he ill-advised by Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney or Gen.

Colin Powell? I believe the president was jealous of Gen. annuities in Executive Life Insurance of New York. Althnnirh the namps arp similar, their status is not As 1 rt 11 (Un PAlifAMtiA AimnnM mm tin able to Dav 81 cents on a dollar if the sale eoes through. It's time the president quit worrying about the rest of the world and started looking out for us. Mark Collins Lake Worth Don't blame test scores on holidays In reference to a letter writer's complaint that Palm Beach County schools have had three days off in the past three weeks: Schools are in session for 180 days.

So these holidays are made up throughout the year. If only we could so easily blame holidays for low test scores. There is no quick fix for this problem. It will take hard work and dedication by teachers, parents and the students themselves. The sooner we realize we have to tackle this problem together, the more quickly we can improve education in general not just test scores.

Stephanie M. Field West Palm Beach Shake sense into Fire-Rescue chief The recent article noting Fire-Rescue Administrator Herman Brice's discomfort at County Commissioner Mary McCarty's critique of his performance galls me. There's plenty to criticize. I am glad someone is pressuring Mr. Brice because he is bleeding taxpayers to death.

What we need is someone who wants to be a fire chief with less administration, not someone who just renames a few chiefs to say he is "right-sizing" the program. Karen Lundberg Lake Worth Don't force cable on condo dwellers Our condo association has told us that if 51 percent of the owners vote for cable television, then it will be mandatory for the remaining 49 percent to subscribe. Those owners who object to the cable contract feel that this will infringe upon their right to choose. This issue cable television was never considered a common element. Some support public television, and this is their choice.

Owners who do not desire cable television do not wish to subsidize those who have it. Further, there are some unit owners who have sight and hearing impairments. Some are financially unable to add this unwanted and unnecessary expense. It is also not fair to the seasonal residents and rental property owners. We feel that the regular stations serve our needs.

Forcing us to accept and pay for cable television is an invasion of our right to do as we wish within our homes. Jean Robbins Sophia Jacobson Rose Kushner West Palm Beach No money left in the hat for Israel Our education system is falling apart. High school graduates don't have the minimum skills needed to On the other hand, the New York company was taken over by the New York Insurance Department to its assets and at the same time stated that the company was solvent. The officials took this action to prevent "a run on the bank" when word of of anti-Semitism. Sjnce the U.S.

pledged to help Israel with the resettlement of Soviet Jews, rather than allowing their migration here, Israel has a right to expect us to keep our promise. was there no complaint when President Bush forgave loans of millions of dollars to Egypt for its limited cooperation during the Persian Gulf War? Why was there no hue and cry when Syria was allowed to gobble up Lebanon because of its so-called support of the Americans in the Gulf War? Why doesn't anyone question what else President Bush promised Syria? Why? Because once again anti-Semitism rears its ugly head. Israel is the Jewish homeland, and what better way to express anti-Semitism than to question any U.S. help to Israel? Loretta Rick Boynton Beach AIDS testing just makes sense I cannot understand the argument for not having some kind of testing for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. They say we won't be able to find everyone who is HIV-positive, so let's do nothing.

The people against testing always bring up the extreme case or the anecdotal argument. If there were tests for new patients in hospitals or doctor's offices, we could at the very least get a on this killer. This battle is being fought on front, and that is to find a cure. For myself, as devastating as it might be, I would want to know if I had AIDS in order to protect my family and seek early treatment. iTyri were unmarried, the least I could do would be to jadjust my lifestyle in order to save another human being.

Thomas R. Hurd 1 Fort Pierce President Bush, what about us? I George Bush is the first president I can remember who puts more effort into foreip affairs than domestic problems. i Millions of Americans are out of work and can't fiiidCjobs. Thirty million Americans can't afford health insurance, risking financial ruin with a major illness. Americans are getting further behind just trying to make ends meet.

tne California company collapse became known. -Executive Life of New York and the New York Insurance Department expect the company to meet all its obligations in full. It is unfortunate that your paper did not take the, time or make the effort to explain the difference between the two companies. Many of your readers '-had to be unnecessarily alarmed by the article. Dennis J.

Scully' Boynton Beach survive in the real world. The number of Americans living below the poverty line is growing. Unemployment is high. But let's pull $10 billion out of our proverbial hat for Israel. We don't have the money to take care of ourselves.

Mr. Bush may not be perfect, but at least he was down here on earth when he was considering the loan guarantee for Israel. This does not make the U.S. anti-Semitic. Angle Cheatham North Palm Beach Fix The Acreage's water problems The South Florida Water Management District says The Acreage must live with its water problems.

I have lived in The Acreage for 13 years, and we have never had water problems until recent years after a million-dollar back-pumping station was installed to pump out water from The Acreage. We are not a water catchment area. If we are, why has the county allowed the land to be developed? When we had fewer homes, there were no problems. Now there are more homes and more septic tanks, and we have a higher water table. Couldn't this be a health hazard? I can't let my children outside to play because of the standing water.

Who knows what's in that water besides the snakes and mosquitoes? Perhaps someone's runoff from their septic tank. Emllie Wilson West Palm Beach (The Acreage) Article may have unnerved readers Your article in the Business section on Executive Life Insurance Co. of California did an extreme disservice to the many readers who have policies or Write Us The Palm Beach Post welcomes letters from readers. Please keep them short, 150 words maximum. Letters are subject to editing.

Letters must include the writer's name, address and daytime telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters may be sent by fax to (407) 820-4728 or mailed to: Letters to the Editor The Palm Beach Post P.O. Box 24700 West Palm Beach, FL 33416-4700 Budget cuts by governor are ruining our schools We all saw this coming, yet the governor did nothing. It's worse InOw, and he still poes nothing.

Restaurant BETTY S. CORBETT If nd DAVID N. SMITH In an open letter, Gov. Lawton hiles recently announced that he ill deal with the latest budget icfrtage as he did the last one, by ltting back on education financ-ig. Then he said "Please let me now what you think." Very well, pernor.

Is pleased to announce that ocal Forum we are Let's review the facts. Last year, $23 million had to be from the Palm Beach County tool District's budget due to shortages. Then we had to NOW OPEN "right-sized," it is just plain wrong. Putting off the problem until next year would be unforgivable. A child's education cannot be put off a year without permanent damage.

Excuses aren't acceptable. It isn't enough to say "people aren't asking for tax increases yet." The problem is state leaders who won't lead. Teachers and other people worked hard to elect the governor because we believed he would lead this state to a solid future. We must have money Lawton Chiles is the governor. We expect leadership from him, and so far we are very disappointed.

First, the governor must acknowledge that this is an emergency and call a special session to vote emergency appropriations to get us through this year without further education cuts. If this requires a temporary increase in taxes, then do it. This would only be a short-term solution, but frankly we are tired of hearing the governor put down past efforts at financing education as "patch jobs." When something is deflating as rapidly as our schools are, a patch job is better than nothing. Second, during the regular session, he must replace our outmoded tax system with one that can and will reliably provide enough revenue to finance education and build Florida's future. The business community, through efforts like the Crossroads report, is showing how we can increase revenues while reducing reliance on the regressive property tax.

All it will take is the leadership and the political will to do it. Governor's responsible That's what needs to be done. As teachers are held accountable for teaching, so the governor shall be held accountable for his response to this crisis. And, we intend to keep strict accounts. Betty S.

Corbett is Classroom Teachers Association president, and David N. Smith is CTA executive director. They wrote this article for The Palm Beach Post. 7 begin this year by cutting an additional 8 percent from the school budget. On top of that, teachers are being forced to give back a 9 percent raise promised for this vear.

That Writing Enhancement Program in the high schools. More kids in classrooms. Running on empty It is true that there is still much wasted administrative spending in our school system as there is in every large governmental operation (probably even in the Governor's Office). We are working to eliminate such non-essential spending. But even if we succeed in wringing out every last dollar, our classrooms still will be underfinanced and overcrowded.

And while cuts in the state work force seem to be largely illusory, our county's schools have 200 fewer teachers than last year to teach 5,000 more students. And now the governor tells us to cut another $15 million. This budget crisis didn't sneak up on us. It has been building for some time. Because of the steadily escalating demands on our schools and teachers (including recent mandates like the ridiculous ESOL requirements that the governor approved), as well as our steady population growth and the past two years of budget shortages, our schools are now running on empty.

In last year's session, we all saw this coming. Yet the governor did nothing to prevent it. Now it's getting worse, and the governor still does nothing. Deal with it now It's fine to talk about "rightsizing," but cramming more kids into already crowded classrooms is "wrong-sizing." And a school without counseors or librarians isn't for our nd Season 42 Smith is $80 million in two years. thing In return When the governor cut state Serving the Palm Beaches "A West Palm Beach Institution" 2511 South Dixie Highway West Palm Beach; FL fncies by 5 percent, he rewarded jm for their efforts by giving rri back half the money they cut jrse as they pleased.

When we were forced to cut more, we got nothing back, result of all those cuts, we now ie: fl Many schools without guid-h counselors. Some school libraries with-ilibrarians. No middle school sports Et The end of the successful.