Letters to the Editor Sunday, March 19

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Base international order on rule of law

We need a rules-based international order.
Are people in the United States and elsewhere condemned to live in a world where nations launch wars of aggression at the whims of their rulers?
That question comes to mind when one thinks about the Putin regime’s military invasion and occupation of Ukraine.
That Russian invasion and occupation – repeatedly condemned as a violation of international law by an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations, plus the UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice – has reduced many of Ukraine’s cities and towns to rubble and has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians.
Russian military forces have deliberately targeted Ukraine’s civilian population, destroying schools, hospitals, and residential districts.
Human rights organizations have reported widespread torture, rape, and murder of civilians by Russian military forces – all war crimes under international law.
In short, Putin’s war lacks legal or moral justification.
It is a war of aggression and, as his proclaimed annexation of about 20% of Ukraine clearly shows us, it is also an imperialist war.
As the Biden administration has argued, the world needs a rules-based international order – not a world of marauding military forces armed with the latest weaponry, in which might makes right.
In a civilized world, the law of force should give way to the force of law.
Let us work toward that new and better world.
Lawrence Wittner
Albany

Educate Americans in civic responsibility

The local section of the March 13 Gazette contained an article (“’We the people’ need to preserve town sites on national register,”) about two historic structures in our area.
One, the Niskayuna Grange Hall, first served as the Rosedale School, a “common school.”
In describing the school, the article defines the common school movement in terms that every elected official should be required to write out 100 times before taking office:
“The ‘Common School’ movement in the19th century was established to address the integral need for an educated citizenry in a republican nation.
In order to survive and thrive, a republic required civic virtue and civic participation which was enabled by widespread basic education.’”
Perhaps if the people in the fantasy wing of the Republican Party — including elected officials such as Elise Stefanik and Marjorie Taylor Green, and their followers in the population who get their entertainment (but certainly not genuine information) from the Fox network — had received that basic education in civic responsibility, we’d have a government capable of addressing such fundamental problems as climate change, social inequity and inadequate medical care.
George Woodzell
Rotterdam

Thank you to all who helped during storm

Instead of finding fault, let us show appreciation to the countless men and women who worked to keep us safe during the March 14 snowstorm.
Snowplow operators, utility workers, police and fire, EMTs, medical centers and stores that opened to serve our needs and yes, the paper/mail was delivered too.
Let us remember those people who helped neighbors and took responsibility for keeping their sidewalks clean. Thank you. Now let’s enjoy Spring!
James Lechowicz
Schenectady

Trump owes Warren apology over banking regs

It’s time for former President Trump to apologize to Sen. Elizabeth Warren for making fun of her expertise in banking and finance.
The repeal of regulations under the Dodd-Frank have led directly to at least one bank failure.
President Trump called the Dodd-Frank regulations “crippling.”
It turns out that President Trump was wrong, and that Sen. Warren was right.
Christine Root
Ballston Spa

We shouldn’t sacrifice water for business

I was saddened as I read the article, (“House GOP votes to overturn Biden water rules,”) in the March 10 Gazette — saddened because the leadership of our country is so shortsighted as to exchange protecting water for protecting business interests.
House Republicans are claiming that Biden’s protections for thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways are an “environmental overreach and burden to business.”
This is unbelievable in the face of how the climate is causing a tremendous upheaval in our water cycle. Pollution has also destroyed millions of gallons of clean water.
Bottling water is depleting aquifers at alarming rates.
We desperately need to conserve every drop of water. All the water there is is all the water there is. We can’t manufacture water.
Our native peoples have been trying desperately to tell us that “water is life.”
In some places, like in North Dakota, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe put their lives on the line as water protectors.
I would hope that Congress would follow suit.
Linda Neil, CSJ
Schenectady

Flavor bans work to cut kids’ tobacco use

The March 13 Gazette article, (“Dake, local politicians weary of menthol, flavored tobacco ban,”) reiterates unfounded concerns that a prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco products will increase youth access to these products.
As a leader in public health in New York, I can tell you that the public health community is wary of the spread of misinformation related to prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco products.
I provide these facts:
In 2009, New York City enacted a partial ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products, allowing the continued sale of flavored e-cigarettes and menthol cigarettes. Even without a comprehensive ban in place, data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey show that New York City teens had 37% lower odds of ever trying flavored tobacco products and 28% lower odds of every using tobacco products in 2013 compared to 2010.
The percent of New York City teens who reported ever using flavored tobacco products or any tobacco products declined significantly after the policy was implemented (from 19.6% in 2010 to 15.6% in 2013; a 20% decline).
Prior to the statewide flavor ban in Massachusetts, counties with greater restrictions on flavored tobacco products demonstrated greater decreases in cigarette use, with the largest decreases among adolescents. Greater flavored tobacco product restrictions were also associated with reductions in the likelihood of e-cigarette use.
Tobacco retailers and decision-makers can conjecture all they want, but it doesn’t change the bottom line: Evidence shows that tobacco flavor bans work to reduce youth tobacco use.
Brett Harris
Albany
The writer is president of the New York State Public Health Association.

Photo brought back memories of thrill

The photo on the front page of your March 9 issue, labeled “Low Rider,” brought back similar memories from my youth in the mid 1970’s.
The only difference was we weren’t zipping down main roads and posing for the local newspaper. We were zipping down back streets trying to get home from the trails without the local cops impounding our minibikes, The times are a changing.
Tom Pasko
Schenectady

Screen for colorectal cancer at lower age

Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States, but there has been improvement.
Since 2005, deaths have dropped nearly 3% per year. However, the decreases are mainly among those ages 50 and older. It’s a different story for people younger than age 50.
Deaths from colorectal cancer have risen in the United States by 1.2% each year from 2005 to 2020 among people younger than 50. More than one in ten new cases occur in people younger than age 50.
Because of these alarming trends, the recommended age to start colorectal cancer screening was lowered from age 50 to 45.
Getting screened regularly and at the right age can save lives. Screening tests can find growths that can be removed before they turn into cancer. Screening tests can also find colorectal cancer early when treatment may work best.
When found early, people have an excellent chance of surviving the disease.
The Cancer Services Program (CSP) of Fulton, Montgomery, and Schenectady Counties offers free colorectal cancer screening to New Yorkers ages 45 and older without health insurance. Screening can be done at home. The CSP uses a stool-based screening test that gets mailed to a lab. If cancer treatment is needed, help is available for clients to enroll in the Medicaid Cancer Treatment Program.
If you are 45 or older, ask your healthcare provider about colorectal cancer screening. If you are uninsured or don’t have a healthcare provider, call the CSP at 518-841-3726.
Patricia Myers
Florida (formerly from Glen)

Put more national news in print version

I know that print newspapers are in trouble, but does it really cost that much more to print two additional pages of national news?
I could see if you wanted to add a couple pages of human interest stories in digital format only, but national news?
Is this The Gazette’s way of trying to discourage physical subscriptions and push everyone to a digital subscription? As hard as it is to believe, there are still people who do not have internet access or simply prefer a physical paper. It allows a method of reading the paper that the digital version does not.
Angela Marczewski
Niskayuna

Smiling kids helped soften blow of storm

Heart happy thank you for Erica Miller’s picture (“Regional Y launches fundraising drive,”) on The Gazette March 14 Local Section front page.
The 4-and 5-year-old class from the Malta Y is the best way to make a smile come to the face, especially on the scary snow day in the Northeast. It made me forget about the impending doom of possible power outages and missed appointments and who knows what?
Seriously, I love seeing the sweet and happy faces filled with the joy of childhood. Congratulations to their families, the teachers and the Y program. I wish all the best for your fundraising. The song choice is a personal favorite of mine.
Good choice, Gazette.
Theresa Rickard
Schenectady

Fix weekend papers and lower the price

I’d like to second the opinion of Anne Fringo’s March 15 letter, (“Consider readers who prefer print version,”) I used to get my paper delivered, then was told that needed to stop and my paper was mailed.
The problem was if there was no mail delivery, no paper. Plus I was getting “old” news. I canceled my subscription and now drive to get my paper.
My issue is, it is $2.25 Monday through Friday ($11.25) then it is $3 for Saturday and Sunday. The only difference between Saturday and Sunday papers are the comics and one additional crossword puzzle. I find that absolutely appalling.
Every other section on Sunday is exactly the same as Saturday, including the inserts. Do away with the Sunday sections and the inserts on Saturday and go back to $2.25 on Saturday.
Tammy Lawyer
Central Bridge

Birdhouse design fun, even long distance

Two times before COVID-19 struck, my now 14-year-old grandson, who lives in St. Paul, Minn., and I built and decorated birdhouses for the Ballston Spa Birdhouse Program while he visited us here.
This spring he will not be visiting us, but when he heard the program was being reinstated, he eagerly asked if he could help create another birdhouse long distance. I immediately agreed and we have begun planning and carrying out an original bipartisan, trans-generational design. It may even have a Ukrainian theme, making it international as well.
I want other families to know that given our current (pardon the pun) electronic interconnectedness, participation in the Ballston Spa Birdhouse Program can be an opportunity for lots of fun, even across wide distances.
Forman Phillips
Ballston Spa

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Categories: Letters to the Editor, Opinion