LETTERS: APA should yield to Texas board, Levy discloses little and more

Voluntary group should yield to board

Regarding "Psychologists' group backs sanctions in torture claim" [News, July 11]: I do not approve of the alleged abusive tactics of Dr. James Mitchell, and I was not a supporter of the policies of the Bush-Cheney administration. Nevertheless, they authorized what they thought was correct for the protection of the United States. Their agencies hired Mitchell and others to carry out their policies, which were aimed at gathering information that might protect us. Their abusive tactics were both wrong and ineffective.

It is up to the Texas State Licensing Board to decide what to do with Mitchell. Since Mitchell is not a member of the American Psychological Association, he did not vote for specific APA representatives as they drafted their ethical principles.

Why would we support APA ethical sanctions against Mitchell without his having representation in the APA? It is unwise to allow the thinking of a membership organization, no matter how well meaning, to intrude on the deliberations of a state licensing board.

Howard Kassinove, Dix Hills

Editor's note: The writer is a professor of psychology at Hofstra University.

A tree grows in Long Beach

I read that a 67-foot spruce in Wyoming was selected to be the Christmas tree at the Capitol this year ["Christmas tree selected," World & Nation briefs, July 11].

I really don't understand why every year, trees are cut and transported to various places for adornment when a tree could have been planted in these places years ago which would have eventually grown to the sizes of the trees that are being cut.

New York City's Rockefeller Center is a great example. If they had planted a spruce when it was built, imagine how beautiful it would be now. I'm proud to say that my city's fathers purchased real trees. They may not be 67-feet tall now, but someday they will be.

Gloria Febrizio, Long Beach

Misuse of funds not specific to firehouse

Why is anybody surprised about what's going on at the Coram firehouse ["Feeling the heat," News, July 9]?

Misuse of funds and nepotism are rampant all over, not just there. Can anyone tell me why a volunteer firehouse requires a bar?

Joseph Zaccaro, Coram

I'm a 21-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department. I work in a very busy firehouse in Brooklyn. We have a TV and a broken-down pool table. That's it.

A tiki bar in a firehouse? Just another example of our tax dollars "hard" at work.

John Curcio, West Sayville