An ALS victim who donated her body to science; race and President Obama; the plight of 16 laid-off janitors in Century City
A life’s gift
Re “In death, a promise for the future,” Aug. 29
Thomas Curwen’s feature article absolutely captivated me. The subject was heart-wrenching, but I was moved even more by Curwen’s ability to juxtapose the practical and real world of ALS, death and giving and the less-definable space of suffering, hope and future. Thank you for sharing with us this woman’s powerful and significant life — and death — and promise.
Nancy Strow Sheley
Long Beach
What a treat to see a positive article about donating one’s body to science on the front page of The Times.
I donated my body to the UCLA Donated Body Program a few years ago. I’m following the tradition of my grandmother, mother and aunt, who did it in Germany.
When I mention to friends here that I donated my body, all I get is a blank stare. I guess people are not aware of the program, a fact I hope your article will change.
Hilde Hakl
Burbank
Your treatment of the ravages of this horrific disease showed a knowledge and compassion few today could summon, and your mastery of the storytelling craft was just stunning.
The research needed to unravel the mystery of this dread disease has never been so beautifully and carefully articulated. Those involved owe you a sincere debt of gratitude; the rest of us are awed.
John Winthrop
Cayucos, Calif.
I knew someone who died from Lou Gehrig’s disease in the 1980s, and I saw firsthand the devastation as he became a shadow of a person — first losing his ability to walk, then to eat, then to talk, then to move, then to breathe, then to even communicate with his eyes.
My friend was locked in his body, trapped in a hospital room, a machine breathing for him, without the ability to communicate. I recall thinking that with all the research money, scientists would soon unlock the key to this horrible disease.
However, it is 25 years later and there are still people like Elizabeth Uyehara whose lives end at the hand of ALS.
Nancy Wurtzel
Westlake Village
Race and the president
Re “Race matters,” Opinion, Aug. 27
Does race matter? The question is to whom does it matter, where and when.
If a person needs a good auto mechanic — and one is black and the other white, and one is better than the other — the person will choose the better mechanic regardless of race. At a beach party attended mostly by one racial group, if another racial group shows up, race might matter.
For those to whom race matters, the real question is, do they matter. After all, nobody chooses his race.
Robert S. Rodgers
Culver City
Race matters, just not the way the writer put it. President Obama went on “The View” to talk to the American electorate, not to champion his blackness.
The article would have been much more useful and relevant if it had discussed the effect of the racist vitriol being spewed out across America through cable TV and talk radio, and, like a virus, infecting and affecting race relations across the land.
It is easy to criticize the president. Everybody is doing it. It would be far more courageous for black commentators to speak to the dangers of the rhetoric of hate.
Mary Ann Greene
Culver City
The fact that a big criticism of Obama’s appearance on “The View” was that he “demeaned the office” demonstrates that far from botching up a discussion of race, he did not expose himself to the usual racial politicking of a well-oiled right-wing smear machine.
Discussion of race by this first black president, whether intended or not, will always be a trap requiring time and energy from which to extricate himself. He’s got bigger fish to fry.
As far as Obama missing an opportunity for a “teachable moment,” Erin Aubry Kaplan appears to have missed the forest for the trees. The Obama presidency is one of the most teachable moments in recent American history.
Eugene Sison
San Dimas
Race, much like marriage equality for “all,” will continue to be a hot-button issue as long as we focus on our differences instead of celebrating our similarities.
I wholeheartedly disagree with Kaplan that “President Obama botched it again.” To the contrary, I think that he struck just the right tone.
Morgan McBain
Venice
After reading this — and countless other — columns by Kaplan, I truly wonder if anything other than race matters to her.
Todd Terres
Camarillo
16 laid-off janitors
Re “Treating people like garbage,” Opinion, Aug. 28
Tim Rutten expresses noble sentiments describing the plight of 16 janitors dismissed from their Century Plaza employment. It is unfortunate that these people, through no fault of their own, find themselves out of work.
Perhaps they have a union fund to tide them over. Oh, I forgot, the union is the SEIU. But that’s another story.
The real story here is that no business operating with a union contract has any obligation to its employees beyond the terms of its contract with that union. That’s free enterprise, and as disheartening as the circumstances may be, especially in this particular situation, that’s the way it is.
Louis H. Nevell
Los Angeles
I can sympathize with the 16 low-income workers who were laid off. But what exactly is Rutten complaining about?
Is he advocating that businesses should keep people on the payroll even when there is no work to support their presence? Why doesn’t he hire three or four redundant house cleaners for his house?
Is he actually claiming that these workers are any different from the hundreds of thousands of other unemployed people?
Sam Pro
Chatsworth
We object to Rutten’s portrayal of our company.
First, ABM Janitorial Services takes these issues very seriously, and we understand their importance to workers and customers alike. We maintain fully appropriate staffing at Century Plaza, as we do elsewhere, to ensure that job requirements are fulfilled at high-quality standards.
The entire janitorial staff working under this contract is union-represented and fully covered by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that was concluded in 2008. That agreement provides local janitors with higher wages, improved access to family healthcare and other benefits.
We will continue to communicate with the union and remain wholly committed to maintaining a constructive dialogue in the mutual best interests of employees and customers alike.
Jim Altieri
Los Angeles
The writer is vice president of ABM Janitorial Services.
Drugs, a doctor and abuse
Re “Families want answers from their sons’ doctor,” Aug. 30
Notwithstanding the merited blame should this doctor be found guilty, let’s not entirely ignore the degree of contributory culpability on those abusing medication.
The profiled were not children. Didn’t they know the risks associated with their actions, know the devil they tempted and the potential consequences of their imprudent choices? Should their parents only blame this doctor? What about the teachers, what about the friends, and what about themselves?
Who can control another’s foolish choices when it’s unknown where they occur, and when — and even then?
Michael E. White
Burbank
How many more drug overdoses and deaths are needed to revoke this doctor’s license?
I’m sick of doctors blaming the patients and their families for misusing narcotics.
Doctors have a responsibility to assess their patients thoroughly and monitor their usage when prescribing controlled substances.
Nicole Gaynor
Pacific Palisades
