Letters to the Editor

by the Readers

Stewing Over Stu

I enjoyed the hilarious news-breaking scoop about the handwringing over at the Daily News about whether Stu Bykofsky would continue to write his dusty gossip column ["Byko Bye Bye?," Deborah Bolling, Media, July 10, 2003]. Will Stu be able to move on to bigger and better things? More to the point, will Editor Zack Stalberg permit him to make the move? And will Byko ever win his Pulitzer? Decisions, decisions.

Of course, there's a simple monosyllabic answer to Bykofsky's quandary: Quit.

Why wait around for someone to make a decision for you? Besides, Byko, if you truly want to write important stories with some credibility, clearly the Philadelphia Daily News is not the place to do it. And after 31 years in the same place, you're way overdue to move on. Of course, those 31 years that Byko has under his belt may account for the paper's management's reluctance to accommodate him in his request, despite his years of service. I mean, Stalberg is probably thinking, and correctly so, "Where the hell is Stu going to go?" Nowhere.

So, relax, Byko, and accept reality. You've hit your peak and, to paraphrase Stalberg, it's a perfect match. That may be a left-handed compliment but it's a compliment nevertheless.

Pat Brubaker
Via E-mail

Picture Unperfect

After all the AIDS deaths in the gay population one would think that they had grown nauseous at the thought of more provocative disease-producing behavior, but it always appears encouraged in all the wrong public venues -- like your cover ["Over The Edge," Sam Adams, July 10, 2003] of a provocative, apparently naked gay male lounging in bed, after sex, right? We're tired of being reminded of how little we all did to find a cure and then see that, basking in the new treatments, they can all relax and come out for all the same sex variations that they have so uncreatively invented. Please offer future covers designed to show the genuine creative side that gays have -- not sex-related -- for everyone's benefit. After all, as many are quite happy to remind us, those days are gone, along with many good people.

Beatrice Bright
Via E-mail

Bones of Contention

Although there are no bodies currently buried under the new National Constitution Center ["Don't Tread on Me," Deborah Bolling, July 10, 2003], according to a National Park Service archivist, the remains that were unearthed during excavation prior to construction were that of European Americans. How does one determine the race of human remains when there is no genetic code specific to blacks, whites, Asians, etc.? PBS recently aired an enlightening series where students of different races examined samples of their DNA and found that there was no way you can tell the race of a person by just looking at his or her DNA. So, how can archivists be certain that none of the remains unearthed were those of George Washington's slaves?

Shawna Henry
Philadelphia

Deborah Bolling responds:

An expert on skeletons and human anatomy, known as a human osteologist, examined the bodies found beneath the new National Constitution Center and determined the race of the remains based on physical characteristics, like the distance between eye sockets.