Letters to the Editor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
‘Grown-Up Beverage Now a Staple Among Teenagers’
Americans are already subjected to enough conflicting health advice without hearing bogus claims that caffeine is an addictive drug [“Grown-Up Beverage Now a Staple Among Teenagers,” Bonnie Shnayerson, New York, October 21, 2004].
I experience baseball “withdrawal” symptoms every October, but post-World-Series-Disorder shouldn’t be a recognized medical condition. Besides, a well-regarded 1999 study in the journal Pharmacological Review demonstrated that one to three cups of coffee a day has no effect on the part of the brain responsible for addiction.
Roland Griffiths, the researcher responsible for this assault on common sense, isn’t exactly a reliable source. The director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse has already rebutted his claim that caffeine is a “psychoactive drug.” And Mr. Griffiths’s earlier caffeine “addiction” study involved just seven human subjects – including himself and a family member.
Mr. Griffiths’s conclusion brings to mind the silly image of cash-strapped coffee addicts robbing convenience stores to get their next latte “fix.” If the definition of addiction continues to be stretched to its breaking point, it won’t be long before our children need prescription drugs to break their peanut-butter-sandwich “habits.”
DAVID MARTOSKO
Director of Research Center for Consumer Freedom
Washington, D.C.
The UFT President Writes
Let me set the record straight, and let’s give credit where credit is due.
While the United Federation of Teachers has a number of serious issues with the Department of Education, overall the Bloomberg administration has made real strides in improving security in our schools, particularly in the high schools it has targeted under its Impact program.
Meanwhile, we are working with the administration to resolve the other issues that divide us and to reach agreement on a new contract that will meet the needs of the city, the teachers and the children.
RANDI WEINGARTEN
President United Federation of Teachers
Manhattan
Libertarians Win a Hearing
Thank you immensely for reporting on Michael Badnarik and the situation concerning the Arizona State University third presidential debate [“Libertarians Win a Hearing in Debate Case,” Josh Gerstein, Page 1, October 11, 2004].
The press silence has been deafening on this subject. It seems to me to be genuine news, and I really appreciate that your paper reported it.
It’s sad that you are in such a minority to have done so. Keep up the good work.
WILLIAM FAUSEK
Hot Springs, Ark.
‘The Sinclair Precedent’
I am so happy to have your newspaper as a counterweight to the arrogant New York Times. Recently, I listened, with rising gorge, to an interview on the Public Broadcasting Service of Seymour Hersh, promoting his new book, “Chain of Command” [“The Sinclair Precedent,” Editorial, October 21, 2004].
The entire interview was little more than a scurrilous attack on the Bush administration and the American military and a blatant propaganda piece for Senator Kerry.
Anyone familiar with Mr. Hersh’s famous exposes, based on his less-than-famous phantom sources, need hardly be told how vehement were his attacks.
In this, he was ably abetted by his PBS host, Leonard Volpe, who happily chimed in whenever the tireless Mr. Hersh flagged in his assault.
In addition, PBS is offering free copies of the Hersh book to listeners who make a tax-deductible contribution to the station. And this was only the latest in PBS’s lop-sided, liberal reporting on the administration, the war, and the presidential campaign.
The Kerry camp has successfully cowed the Sinclair group and prevented the airing of the full monty on Senator Kerry’s propagandizing against the Vietnam War. Part of their strategy for so doing was based on Sinclair’s free access (as that of all broadcasters) to the airways.
I doubt that there is much merit to this argument. In any event, however, the administration and the public at large should demand more balanced reporting from a broadcaster that not only receives the same free access but is also supported by government subsidies and the tax deductibility of the contributions it receives from listeners and others.
As a taxpayer, I am outraged by the consistently left-wing taint of the PBS broadcasts. The station should lose its tax-sheltered status unless it assumes a more balanced and even-handed approach in its broadcasts.
HENRY SHERMAN
Manhattan
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