St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 24

10B ST. LOUIS POST- DISPATCH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 199' It: THE POST-DISPATCH PLATFORM I KNOW THAT MY RETIREMENT WILL MAKE NO DIFFERENCE IN ITS CARDINAL PRINCIPLES, THAT IT WILL ALWAYS FIGHT FOR PROGRESS AND REFORM, NEVER TOLERATE INJUSTICE OR CORRUPTION, ALWAYS FIGHT DEMAGOGUES OF ALL PARTIES, NEVER BELONG TO ANY PARTY, ALWAYS OPPOSE PRIVILEGED CLASSES AND PUBLIC PLUNDERERS, NEVER LACK SYMPATHY WITH THE POOR, ALWAYS REMAIN DEVOTED TO THE PUBLIC WELFARE, NEVER BE SATISFIED WITH MERELY PRINTING NEWS, ALWAYS BE DRASTICALLY INDEPENDENT, NEVER BE AFRAID TO ATTACK WRONG, WHETHER BY PREDATORY PLUTOCRACY OR PREDATORY POVERTY. April 10, 1907 JOSEPH PULITZER Founded by JOSEPH PULITZER December 12, 1878 JOSEPH PULITZER, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1878-1911 JOSEPH PULITZER, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1912-1955 JOSEPH PULITZER EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1955-1986, CHAIRMAN 1979-1993 MICHAEL E. PULITZER, CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT NICHOLAS G. PENNIMAN IV, PUBLISHER WILLIAM F.

WOO, EDITOR FOSTER DAVIS, MANAGING EDITOR EDWARD A. HIGGINS, EDITOR OF THE EDITORIAL PAGE 900 North Tucker Boulevard 63101 (314) 340-8000 EDITORIALS TV SPOTS VUTHW FKUL, MD An Oxford Home Remedy Ben SargentAustin American-Statesman LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE Supreme Court case to determine if single-family zoning laws violate the federal Fair Housing Act. Financial self-sufficiency is one of the principles behind Oxford Houses. That principle has governed roughly 500 houses nationwide. For Missouri, the principle means no tax dollars are needed to support these addicts.

Rather, the residents pay their own living expenses, as well as the cost of starting up the home. Each state received $100,000 grants to set up revolving funds for Oxford Houses. Missouri reports that its 35 Oxford Homes have borrowed $151,000 from the fund and, as of the beginning of this year, had repaid more than $119,000. There is one other advantage to this program. It caters to families with children.

One such home here, is designed exclusively for women and children. Three others accommodate women and the rest are for men. Oxford Houses usually are situated in middle-class neighborhoods. This is done by design. The reason is to give the residents stable environments, which can aid in their recovery.

Much of the fear that residents raise about Oxford Houses is unfounded. The proof lies in the fact that the homes have opened quietly in St. Louis and St. Louis County with nary a complaint. City officials should try to find a way to allay neighborhood fears.

People seeking to recover from alcohol and substance abuse deserve better. Over the years, several Missouri communities have approved mental health property taxes to finance expanded services for abusers of alcohol and drugs. The taxes are in place in St. Louis city, Jefferson County and 10 other counties. All have taxed themselves 9 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation.

Given the generally positive public response to alcohol and drug-prevention programs that cost money, if is surprising that some would oppose programs that cost taxpayers virtually nothing. One such program is Oxford House, a group-home system that gives recovering alcoholics and drug abusers the support they need to work toward a new start in life. Yet the good work of this low-key program is being undermined by the not-in-my-neighborhood crowd. Missouri already has 36 Oxford Houses, including 16 in the St. Louis area.

But an effort to open two more here, one in the Central West End and another in the West End, is being hurt by residents who fear the worst. In response to residential opposition, St. Louis is trying to force the homes to abide by zoning restrictions. The homes accommodate a dozen or so residents, whereas the neighborhoods in which the homes are situated are zoned for single-family occupancy. The fate of the homes may rest with a U.S.

Health Reform, One Step At A Time I was pleased to read that President Bill Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala plan to propose a pared plan for health-care overhaul. I too believe in facing reality. If Congress refuses to tackle a major overhaul, then let's begin by taking small steps. The very first step should deal with those harsh and terrible words, "pre-existing condition." I can't understand how or why such conditions were ever approved or allowed in the first place. Surely it is both cruel and immoral to teU anyone who is already suffering from some illness that he or she cannot buy health insurance.

Of course, people like Rush Limbaugh proclaim loudly, "Everyone in America has access to health care." Perhaps this is true, but the question remains at what cost? Today Voters Are Boss When queried at a press briefingd" about a statement Hillary Clinton had once made regarding her fi- nancial dealings, White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers jj'J affirmed: "That statement is no longer operative." Translation: "She didn't mean what she said when she said it, but she got Vi caught, so just drop it." Oil The other side of the political fence is no stranger to The would-be senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, uj Oliver North, set the standard by which all doublespeak should be judged while testifying before the Iran-Contra tribunal. Asked about the veracity of statement he'd made under oath, North confirmed' that some of the things he's said had been "at variance with the truth." Tony Johnson St. Louis Hooters Controversy Concerning the recent articles about Hooters and its soon-to-open restaurant on Lindbergh in South County, I am a frequent patron of Hooters on Manchester Road. Each time I go there during lunch I see women eating sometimes other women (no men). In the evenings, when I have taken my family there, I see other families.

My family was treated with respect and probably IKn given better service than most restaurants that we have been As to the uniforms the waitress-i es wear, I have seen more scantily dressed women and teens at area malls. Are we going to close mallslf. because patrons dress risque? -z'' The neighbors don't like the restaurant near their homes. What i about the previous tenants of thatu'aij. building? Most of them were full-liquor bars.

Why would there be concern over the opening of this restaurant ai now? They have been in the build-; ing stage for at least a month. A sign above the shuttered building u. has advertised the coming of the 'nv. restaurant for at least two monthsjim Why must politicians wait until the last minute before making waves? Joseph Hertz Fenton mtvv Stop Election Ads L-t We could solve our campaign fi-, nance problems, political action -committee money influence and tiresome media bombardment at election time by outlawing all polit; ical radio and TV advertisements. ilf The amount of money being iut spent in national, state and local campaigns continues to escalate.

7. Raising that money has become ArVP the key to winning an election, ne-; 1(-' It is safe to predict that a lot of St. Louisans will think about voting today but for one reason or another decide not to bother. Others may want to vote but find they can't get to the polls. Election experts predict that between one out of three and one out of two registered voters will cast ballots in Missouri and Illinois today.

This weak showing could tie the lowest turnout years of 1986 and 1990, which were the worst since 1942. That is too bad because the people who vote are the real political bosses. They are the people who make the decisions for all of us on the one day that counts, Election Day. I They are the people who will choose Missouri's pext U.S. senator and Missouri's next auditor.

They vill pick half of the state's senators and all 163 nembers of the Missouri House. In Illinois, they will ick a governor, a lieutenant governor, a secretary if state, an attorney general, a comptroller and a treasurer. They will name the Legislature. And in both states they will decide several important ballot propositions. The polls are open in Missouri and Illinois from 6 a.m.

to 7 p.m. There are 13 hours today for people to find a few minutes to fulfill their contract with the American political process and to decide on issues that will affect them for years to come. If people don't vote, what right do they have to complain later? What's more, politicians respect voters because they need voters. Few people give money to politicians. But registered voters are people the politicians cannot afford to ignore.

Voters are what makes a healthy democracy work. If you don't vote, you aren't a player as far as politicians are concerned. By choosing not to go to the polls, you make yourself marginal, someone who doesn't count. If you are registered to vote, act in your own interest. Vote.

Running Scared Washington Post, and I am familiar with "Dilbert" via the Denver Post and also through ClariNet's on-line service that features "Dilbert." I was not particularly fond of "Wizard of Id," and I certainly found absolutely no redeeming value in "Donald Duck." If I had to choose strips I would drop from the paper, I would drop "Sylvia," "Brenda Starr," "Andy Capp" (which repeats identical, unfunny gags on a regular basis) "Gasoline Alley" or "Spider Man." One possible solution to the problem of which comic to drop is to add new comics near "Doones-bury" or in another section. Gregory Perron St. Louis Is this some cruel hoax? Surely it can't be true that someone would even consider removing "The Wizard of Id!" Obviously, there has been a horrible mistake that will be rectified immediately. We want "The Wizard of Id" back! Dorothy and Bob Voss Belleville Sex For Teens Here is my reply to Mona Char-en's 23 column, "If Sex Education Worked, Teen Pregnancies Should Have If urging abstinence worked, there would be no teen pregnancies. Max E.

Mulkey Winchester Bravo to Mona Charen for her Oct. 23 column, "If Sex Education Worked, Teen Pregnancies Should Have Declined." Condom-based safe-sex education has truly failed. This can be seen by the rate of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. There is nothing wrong with giving teen-agers the facts about human reproduction, sexually transmitted diseases and contraception. But the way this information is presented in many sex-education curriculums actually encourages sexual activity and promiscuity, as do the media, movies, TV and advertisements.

Albeit simplistic, the basic approach teen-agers are taught with regard to smoking, using alcohol and drugs is to just say no. This is in stark contrast to the approach many teens are taught in regard to sexual activity just' use a condom. There needs to be more emphasis on abstinence. Certainly, not all teens are ever going to be abstinent, but the ideal of postponing sexual activity should be held up as the gold standard. Marilyn M.

Billingsly M.D. St. Louis Simply Speaking I enjoyed the Oct. 22 Everyday section article about doublespeak. It's incredible that such deliberate obfuscation has permeated the "physical freeways" of bureaucracy! While the feature was light-hearted and interesting, conspicuous by their absence were contributions from the current center of the doublespeak universe, the Clinton White House.

Just two examples: When confronted with a yesno question about allegations that he'd used Arkansas state troopers to procure paramours, President Bill Clinton said: "That's outrageous I haven't done anything wrong." If true, it's indeed "outrageous" that a man would go to such extravagant lengths to cheat on his wife, but calling it so is not a denial. So, too, it is not a denial to claim to "have done nothing wrong." It is only indicative of the polarity of one's moral compass. I Couch potatoes, rejoice. You may have been right all along; your fantasies may indeed be reality. Kenneth Cooper, the guru author of "Aerobics," now says that exercise kills, something that Mr.

and Ms. Idaho have long suspected. So what's next? that carrots and spinach cause cancer? I Mr. Cooper is an unlikely candidate for born-again lassitude; he was advocating aerobics long before Jane Fonda discovered leotards. But Mr.

Cooper says he has been struck by the number of serious exercisers, especially runners, who have died untimely deaths or have been struck at an early age by life-threatening diseases. He thinks it's due to those mysterious "free radicals" no, not William Kunstler released during intense exercise. These same nasty "free radicals," or unstable oxygen molecules, are also blamed for wrinkles and other curses of "older" skin. They've become the perfect, all-purpose, '90s villains, kind of like the "germs" of last century. The solution, says Mr.

Cooper, is to cut back the exercise and take vitamins, particularly anti-oxi-dants. In other words: Walk, don't run. Well, Mr. Cooper is hardly the first to suggest that extremism is no virtue and the best course is moderation in all things. The golden mean and the happy medium have long been the recommendation of philosophers of both the armchair and sofa varieties.

The only surprise is that it took so long for Mr. Cooper to catch up. A Genuine Invitation To Join NATO We know that an individual without insurance can lose every cent he or she has and even face future garnishments in the event of an accident or illness. This isn't right; it isn't fair and; it could happen to any of us. We can't be sure that any employment or health insurance plan is completely secure.

I don't think we can put all the blame on Congress for the healthcare reform fiasco. The people need to rise up and say: "Let's end this disgraceful practice of allowing insurance companies to exclude those who may be ill or who may have been ill 20 years ago." Whatever it takes, let's eradicate forever those harsh and cruel words, "pre-existing conditions." We must put pressure on Congress, and we should do it now. Sue Pratt Kirkwood Comic Relief While humor is certainly subjective, please allow me to thank the Post-Dispatch for its recent deletion of the comic strips "The Wizard of Id" and "Donald Duck." Before the paper's addition of "Non Sequitur" and "Dilbert," I had been resigned to reading these fresh and witty strips in the Kansas City Star and other papers when possible. While "Dilbert" satirizes the struggle of the common man in corporate America, "Non Sequitur" often pokes fun at the professions causing most of the discontent in this country: lawyers, politicians and doctors. These newly added strips relate to current issues in American culture and offer the reader a chance to enjoy a more sophisticated comic relief than was offered by the deleted strips.

While I understand how seriously we readers take the comics, this most recent change is certainly a delightful addition to an already enjoyable Everyday section notwithstanding the fact that I think my horoscope, as published, is one day off. Aaron Staebell St. Louis I am writing in response to the Nov. 3 letters about the new comic strips. Unlike the letters, I welcome the addition of "Dilbert" and "Non Sequitur" to the comics page.

When I lived in Virginia, "Non Sequitur" was featured jj the vermind the candidate qualifications. --v Then the public is force fed each n.v ad over and over. By the time Election Day arrives, all the candi- lhrj dates look like fools because of mud-slinging, and the voters feel like neither candidate deserves their vote. The country had many elections before radio and television, so we know that electronic media are not necessary for an election. Candidates have abused the media.

Most of the ads slam the opponent and provide no information about the candidate's qualifications. The price of advertising prevents many honest, intelligent people from seeking office because mm. and why" of NATO membership and to defer on "when." In deference to Russian concerns, Mr. Clinton would also work to make the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, of which Russia is a member, a more viable organization. The danger with Mr.

Clinton, of course, is that he won't back up this initiative with real commitment. If he's serious, he should reconsider his decision not to attend the CSCE summit in Budapest this winter. Clearly, Korea, Haiti and the Middle East have absorbed much of the president's attention recently, but Europe, especially Russia and Eastern Europe, must remain an enduring concern. Ronald Reagan's Last Gift Ronald Reagan has done the country a great favor by announcing he has been diagnosed as in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. His decision to reveal his condition in the hope it will raise awareness of a disease that afflicts 4 million Americans is a generous public act.

And it's one the Reagans have made before. The former president did not hide the details of his other ailments: his colon cancer or his prostate surgery. When Nancy Reagan had breast cancer, she, too, was forthright about her operation. Still, this time is different. For one, the Reagans are now private citizens with no obligation to disclose such personal details.

For another, Alzheimer's has no cure. It would have been understandable if Mr. Reagan had wanted to begin the journey that will lead him "into the sunset" of his life in privacy. He is to be commended for deciding instead to reach out. If NATO is to survive, it must define its mission as a guarantor of European security.

And if it is to be an effective guarantor of European security, it must expand its membership to include the nations of Eastern Europe. Otherwise NATO, whose membership and structure remain rooted in the divisions of the Cold War, will inevitably become extinct. Early on, the Clinton administration recognized NATO's fundamental dilemma and pioneered the Partnership for Peace, a vehicle for military cooperation with Eastern Europe. This partnership, though, was and is obviously a transitional arrangement. It was kept purposefully vague for two reasons: to allay the anxieties of NATO members reluctant to assume responsibility for the security of potentially volatile Eastern European countries; and to reassure a Russia fearful of former satellites in alliance with former adversaries.

Those are understandable motives, yet they impede the development of an organization that reflects new European realities. As long as NATO remains paralyzed by the past, it will blunder in the present, as the collapse of Yugoslavia so tragically illustrated. To its credit, the Clinton administration is aware of the partnership's severe limitations and is working to end them. President Bill Clinton wants NATO to develop specific guidelines a road map for admission. Such a step is an essential, though hardly the only, ingredient in integrating Eastern Europe.

Realistically, only three Eastern European nations are likely to be in an economic and political position to join NATO before the turn of the century: Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, all three with strong historical and cultural ties to Western Europe. In deference to European hesitation, Mr. Clinton 4s willing, at least for awhile, to emphasize the "how they are unwilling or unable to sei themselves to special interests. Think about it. Wouldn't it be worth a try? Susan Cuddihe7Br Manchester We want to know what our readf ers think.

Mail your opinions to Letters From The People, St. id unci. cnarrn mm lunrrn i urw- er St. Louis, Mo. 63101, or fax them to (314) 340-3139.

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