Letters to the Editor

by the Readers

One Token Over the Line

(Re: News, "Tokens of Appreciation," Walidah Imarisha, May 10)

I applaud the Philadelphia Student Union and their quest to lower the cost of school tokens. I realize that $9 a pack may seem like nothing for many readers, but I can remember as a Philadelphia public school student that often my parents couldn’t afford to give me token money and that I had to scrape together some cash from whatever leftover birthday money and meager job savings I had. I imagine that thousands of Philadelphia students are in similar predicaments every week. Lowering the price of school tokens to $5 a pack could mean a savings of around $150 a year per student. Again, this may not sound like a lot, but to a low-income family this could make a world of difference, and remember that many families have more than one student in school.

The school board invoking the Equal Protection clause in defense of their policy is simply ludicrous. The price of tokens would be reduced for all students. And last time I checked, the school district still offered students free or reduced-price lunches through a subsidized school lunch program. Granted, this is a federally funded program, but the principle is the same. If the school district can make sure that every student who can’t afford a lunch every day can get one, isn’t it equally important to make sure that kids who can’t afford to get to school can do that too?

Matthew George
Olney

Fresh Air

You know, some shit is more tolerable than other shit. Just keep the air freshener handy when City Paper endorses Lynne Abraham, for instance, and we’re all breathing okay. However, the scent of bias in a [May 10] Gale article cannot be cut by the best stuff that Martha Stewart could come up with: "Another recent salvo at Talmadge was lobbed by Maureen Faulkner, widow of slain Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, killed 19 years ago by Mumia Abu-Jamal."

Hello? Can somebody open a window?

Worldwide protest in the case of Abu-Jamal is going on because no one knows for sure who murdered officer Daniel Faulkner. What is known is that, based on transcripts of the trial and eyewitness reports of the crime scene and defense lawyers’ briefs, much evidence was not heard, and witnesses were coerced into giving false testimony.

BTW: I love your paper. You have great writers with whom I disagree at times, but talent is talent and I am addicted to your paper. Great job. Peace to you all.

Barbara Jean Hope
Philadelphia

Have Some Pride

(Re: Icepack, A.D. Amorosi, May 10)

(1) The group that is organizing and planning the annual gay pride festival at Penn’s Landing festival pier is PHILLY PRIDE PRESENTS; they have not been called "Diversity of Pride" since January of 2000.

(2) Yes, someone will always complain about a new location, but not all. Woody’s is a major sponsor of our Pride Day event. Others have already registered floats in the parade.

(3) Our pride parade kicks off in the gayborhood and proceeds east and north to our festival, which is from noon to 6 p.m. We always have our official after-parties in the gayborhood; we encourage all of our attendees to go back and party in the gayborhood where the businesses support the LGBT community all year long. We will not promote or support any after-party that is in an establishment that has a gay day, one day a week or one day a year, because our festival is near them and they want to make the gay buck.

Franny Price
Philly Pride Presents, Inc.