Letters to the Editor

Growth's hardships

For far too long, we have been fed much gibberish by our representatives, especially those on Charleston City Council, on pre-planning for control of growth in the area, especially for protecting the environment and wetlands. Here they go again, gobbling up what was left of our fast disappearing urban areas. Now, they have expanded into rural areas, or what was known as the country.

Added to this are the developments already annexed, which are adjacent to the property to be bought and annexed by the city.

Along Bee's Ferry Road, between Savannah Highway and S.C. Highway 61, there must be some 25 subdivisions and numerous homes.

Who knows how many families are living there? The infrastructure is terrible and the traffic is impenetrable.

Where do we go from here? Heaven help us if we encounter another catastrophe such as Hurricane Hugo. People in this area couldn't even get out of their subdivisions to an evacuation route.

How many of us have seen thousands of acres of lush, beautiful forests, open spaces and wetlands before they were torn up, ravaged and flattened, and then seen those areas again after they have been replaced by acres of asphalt and concrete? Can City Council members explain the rationale for this ravenous action?

In addition to the hardships on the land and on humans, how about all the misplaced wildlife, most of which were injured or killed, or run out of their environment?

GEORGE E. CERCOPELY Sr.

Cabrill Drive

Valenti denied

Parole was again denied following a Jan. 2 hearing for Richard R. Valenti, who abducted and then murdered my daughter, Sherri Jan Clark, 14, and Alexis Latimer, 13, by hanging them, and watching them struggle and lose their lives. He then buried the girls on Folly Beach.

The tri-county area and Lowcountry once again helped stop a parole.

I would like to thank the many businesses, professionals, friends and those I may never meet, who took petitions and signed them, and who sent e-mails and letters to oppose a parole.

Thank you to Teri Porcel of the Ninth Circuit Solicitor's Office, Easter LaRoache and Barbara Binion of the Charleston County Sheriff's Department, Cpl. Fred Bouie of Crimestoppers, and Ed Ott and Andy York. Thanks to John Fili for the many petitions he printed for us. The Post and Courier and WCBD-TV and WCIV-TV were also very helpful.

We have many caring, supportive people who are always willing to help a good cause. May you always be blessed.

Janice Clark

Netherfield Drive

Summerville

Vote them out

Watching the recent presidential primaries and campaign rhetoric has just been a continuation of the status quo. Nearly all the candidates insist they will make changes, but the majority have not defined those changes. Our elected officials just do not seem to get the public's message about major issues. They will continue down the same old paths, so long as they are re-elected.

If we really want change, we, the electorate, have to make the changes. We need to vote all incumbents out of office, regardless of their position. In six years, we could have a completely new government at all levels.

If the newly elected politicians continue doing the same old pandering to special interests, we should keep voting them out until they get the message that they work for us — we do not work for them.

KEVIN G. FOULOIS

Fairington Drive

Summerville

Was it newsworthy?

The Post and Courier's manner of reporting the Dec. 7 incident at the Bishop England/Porter Gaud basketball game concerns me. Three students are accused of assaulting another student. Such behavior is unacceptable and, indeed, needs to be addressed seriously by the authorities.

What I cannot understand, however, is why you felt it newsworthy to report that the three students are football players and that one of them is the principal's son. Such details are irrelevant to the incident and are damaging to the innocent. The football team is not responsible for what happened that night. And why single out the principal's son? Do you, as a matter of course, report the parents' occupation when youths do something wrong? If so, why?

JOSEPH A. DUCHESNEAU

Hidden Lakes Drive

Mount Pleasant

Immigration issue

You can quickly tell a person's position on our current immigration dilemma by noting whether they use the "illegal aliens" designation or the "undocumented workers" label. The real sticking point for me and many others is not what you call them, but what you intend to do about those 12 million people reportedly working in this country without benefit of legal status.

The current crop of presidential candidates all seem to focus on border control as a first step. That is fine.

We should remember, however, that the 19 terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks entered this country legally.

Most people don't seem to mind workers from other countries coming here and doing jobs that "Americans won't do." Americans always have admired hard workers, and many of us cannot understand why our government cannot devise a system to let them work here legally.

Sens. McCain and Graham lost my future votes when they jumped on board with Sen. Ted Kennedy to propose future citizenship for workers already here as a way to solve the problem.

If we did this, I would assume these new American citizens would no longer want to do the jobs "Americans won't do," and we would need to import more workers (legally or otherwise) to perform those tasks. Unless we are planning on establishing a permanent under-class of citizens, we are right back where we started. So what exactly did we accomplish, except to donate 12 million new voters to the Democratic Party, and further Latinize our culture?

Mexican workers have been coming across our southern border to work for more than 50 years, and now suddenly it's a problem. The problem started with a few do-gooders, who want to reward these nice, hard-working people with rights and benefits, which they were previously content to live without. U.S. citizenship is a wonderful gift many people all over the world would love to have, but it should not be granted without very careful consideration, or simply as a reward for hard work.

As to the "undocumented workers" label, perhaps we can start referring to drug dealers as "unlicensed pharmaceutical distributers," since illegal seems to be such a nasty word.

A.D. HEATHCOCK

Palisades Drive

Mount Pleasant

I-526 opposition

It is interesting and very possibly misleading that the two black people you chose to quote answering the question, "Do you think it would be helpful or hurtful to extend I-526 across Johns and James Islands?" gave the possible extension an affirmative response.

Bill Saunders, possibly the Lowcountry's most outstanding living African American civil rights advocate, has spoken passionately and cogently against the proposed I-526 extension.

Speaking as a native, I've yet to meet anyone with family roots in the Lowcountry Sea Islands, black or white, who is for the proposed I-526 extension.

David Mikell

Four Paws Path

Johns Island

Students inspire

I am writing in response to the Jan. 8 article in the Local and State section of the newspaper titled "USC junior brings message home."

I am amazed at the work these nine USC students are doing. They are really making a difference. By going to middle school classrooms throughout South Carolina, they are spreading the word to students about how important education is and how it all begins right now.

I would like to congratulate all the college students participating in this great cause. They have inspired students, such as Samia Anderson, age 13, a student at Alice Birney, and me, a seventh grade student at Buist Academy, to work hard in our studies.

They also have encouraged me to participate in extracurricular and community service activities and convinced me that my hard work will pay off in the future. If you have not read this article, I encourage you to do so, especially if you are a student in middle or high school.

Miller Hiers

Edenvale Road

Johns Island

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