May 24–31, 2001

mailbag

Letters to the Editor

by the Readers

At What Price?

Matthew George is indeed correct when he wrote in last week’s Mailbag ("One Token Over the Line") that it is "simply ludicrous" for the Board of Education to cite the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution in defense of charging students to ride SEPTA to get to school. But that is not the school board’s position; it is SEPTA’s. The School District believes that Philadelphia students who ride SEPTA now pay too much to get to school, even with the $2.50 subsidy we are providing students each week for tokens.

Alexia More
Executive Director, Office of Communications, School District of Philadelphia

Lily Oh Lily

(Re: Slant, "Lucky Lily," Roberta Spivek, May 17)

I’d like to thank Roberta Spivek for her article "Lucky Lily." She writes, "Most of the 7 billion chickens and turkeys eaten annually in the United States are crammed into sheds with 10,000 to 50,000 other birds, on floors so full of droppings some birds are blinded by ammonia." It is almost impossible for us to even conceive of all of this suffering, yet somehow it is very rare that facts like these are revealed to the public. The average American is responsible for the deaths of more than 20 birds per year, yet we rarely think about the suffering animals endure in factory farms. Many people still believe that the animals they eat lived decent lives on beautiful family farms. In fact the majority of these animals never see the sun until the day they are slaughtered. It is important that people like Spivek keep us reminded so that we can make informed choices about our eating habits.

Daniel Elstein
Haverford College

I want to thank you for including the wonderful [article] called "Lucky Lily." I’m glad the City Paper is willing to show sides of life that aren’t human-chauvinistic. Thank you

Clifford Hritz
Philadelphia

Roberta Spivek’s story about the rescued chicken was wonderful. While living in Delaware I rescued a "broiler" chicken who fell off a truck on his way to slaughter. I found him with a bloodied beak, hunched over on the side of the road in the pouring rain. After learning to feed him baby cereal through a tube, I discovered his unique personality, his friendliness and desire to sit in anyone’s lap!

I’ve been a vegetarian/vegan for 17 years now, and am convinced that most people would never eat animal flesh if only they had an opportunity to "meet their meat." When we think of animals as products before we consider that they have personalities, indifference is all too easy. I hope Ms. Spivek’s story will inspire your readers to reconsider their lifestyle choices, for the sake of all the Lilys still in need of rescue.

Jill Howard Church
Peachtree City, Georgia

The Cult Grows

Thank you so much for printing Chris Ware’s Rusty Brown comic strip! I love it and will be sure to pick up a City Paper each week, not just for its superior reporting, but also for Ware’s comic.

Julia Steiman
Huntingdon Valley