LETTERS: Cancer map, immigrant debate and more

Map is important tool in breast cancer fight

A recent article quoted Geri Barish, president of 1 in 9: The Long Island Breast Cancer Coalition, as saying she worried that the map could be "opening up a big can of worms" because the causes of cancer are so complicated. "If they are going to give you definite information - like if you lived at this particular site you developed that cancer - that is one thing," she said. "But if they can't, boy, are they leaving you with a lot of 'what ifs.' "

As the founder of the West Islip mapping project, I feel that knowledge is power, and the public has the right to know if they are living near a toxic waste site or a contaminated area. This knowledge is another tool in the fight against breast cancer and possibly other cancers as well. Researchers could then do a more in-depth study addressing residential history, genetic history and other pertinent information. I applaud our elected officials for pursuing this for so many years and never giving up.

Lorraine Pace

Bay Shore

Editor's note: The writer is co-president of Breast Cancer Help, Inc.

Groups work to create social justice for all

I applaud ERASE Racism president Elaine Gross for expressing herself so eloquently about the Draconian Arizona immigration legislation, and especially for describing the harmful ramifications this legislation will create for people of all races .

We are not living in a post-racial world, as Gross says, but we can still work together to create one. There are efforts afoot on Long Island to foster a movement centered on healing and creating positive social change and social justice across racial boundaries. For example, with the support of the Hagedorn Foundation, Common Ground, a multicultural-multiracial think tank of kindred spirits, has been established. It is through the powerful connections and coalitions that these movements and their supporters create that true change can and will occur. And that is our hope for the future of Long Island and the United States.

Cathy Carballeira

Port Jefferson Station

Editor's note: The writer is past president of the National Association of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Social Workers.

America was built by legal immigrants

I am tired of pro-amnesty, pro-illegal alien supporters like a recent letter writer "Rational approach needed for illegals," Letters, May 12], who constantly tell me that this nation was built by immigrants as a basis to justify their call for amnesty for illegal aliens in America.

Yes, immigrants played a big part in the building of America but they were legal immigrants. The claim that America was built by immigrants is no justification for anyone to break our immigration laws, or for us to accept 15 million lawbreaking illegal aliens via an amnesty.

What about all the people around the world who - unlike Mexico - do not share a common border with us and who are patiently waiting for the call to immigrate to America legally? Why should illegal aliens be afforded a position at the head of the line?

Is it too much to expect that foreigners who seek a better life in America obey our liberal immigration laws, like so many of those immigrants who "built America" did in the past? I think not.

James H. Wood

North Babylon

Proposed legislation won't stop bullying

Once again we are attempting to criminalize an area where parents need to do their jobs . Kids have been bullied for eons, and no new legislative tactic is going to change that. Here's a novel idea: Parents need to teach their kids to stand up for themselves. Bullies are cowards, and they pick on children who will not fight back. As a father of two school-age boys, I empathize with families who have experienced bullying. However, if their children never stand up for themselves, all the laws in the world will not keep bullies at bay. You don't have to teach your children violence, but you do have to teach them strength - a strength of character that no law against bullying will ever provide for them, but a strong parent or teacher can.

Raheim Smith

Middle Island

Taylor should stay in Hall of Fame

One's past achievements should not be erased by one's present mistakes. In "Reviving the question of fame - and infamy" , former NFL linebacker Ralph Cindrich says Lawrence Taylor should be removed from the Pro Football Hall of Fame if he is convicted of rape.

I disagree. Taylor was enshrined in the Hall of Fame for his greatness as a football player, not for his personal life choices. Many will agree that Taylor is not to be considered a good role model for young athletes. However, he does teach a valuable lesson to our youth: Make the right choices because you never know the consequences you may face.

Tony Stricklin

Freeport

Memo to Albany: We need action, not words

In a few months when elections are closer, our state legislators will be telling us how important we are to them and how they go over the top to represent us. I don't know about others, but I am tired of being lied to by the people who claim to represent me. The only thing we get from Albany is words; no action.

The budget they are supposedly working on is more than six weeks late. We, the taxpayers, will have to shell out more money for taxes because schools and other organizations that rely on state money to function will have to borrow money to keep operating.

Deadlines mean nothing to our elected officials. We have lost federal funds because of infighting. The state deficit is getting larger by the day because of the inactivity and inability of politicians.

If I did not make deadlines at work, I would be fired. If I did not pay my taxes on time, I would be fined by the state. If our politicians are incapable of making the decisions necessary to run the state, then they should get out of the way and allow someone else, who has the courage to make the hard decisions, run the state the way it should be run.

Roger Kaufmann

East Northport