March 4-10, 2004

mailbag

Letters to the Editor

by the Readers

For Whom the Bell Curve Tolls

I do not know who puts (or put) together the column "The Bell Curve" but it is extraordinarily funny. I get a lot of belly laughs out of it. But there is a very serious downside to the column. After reading ["The Bell Curve," Feb. 26, 2004], I needed to be rushed to the nearest ER ASAP. The doctor there diagnosed me as having "busted gut via "The Bell Curve' column." He informed me that I have not been the first to be diagnosed as such. In fact, he is on a mission to find out who puts (or put) together the column. He wants to thank him/her/them for unwittingly sending him a lot of unexpected business. He was going to move to Florida to practice but he has since changed his mind. Because of my diagnosis, I was very disappointed to hear this. Doc said there wasn't much he could do for me. I said, "But, but, but --" He said, "Hey, man, it's your gut, not your butt. You're very lucky." As for me, it took me exactly minus 3 seconds to decide NOT to sue City Paper.

Michael Dunn
Via E-mail

Fur Flies Over Zinman

I read ["A Dull-Edged Sword," Toby Zinman, Feb. 26, 2004] after having seen Thaddeus Phillips' play, and I was not amused. That Zinman did not like the play and that I did is not the point. My point is that whatever Zinman indulged in was not a theater review.

I completely fail to see the relevance of Zinman's first paragraph to what purports to be a theater review: "Of course if you are coming from Morocco and you're carrying a book called Extreme Islam you would have to be a small child or a Martian to be surprised at the guard's suspicion." For me to point out that successful terrorists generally do not tend, say, to carry that kind of book would be equally irrelevant to a theater review but might help point out that Zinman's piece is more about Zinman than about the play. And things don't go any better.

The next paragraph's "Thaddeus Phillips [] was, surprisingly, surprised" and "Whether he was scared or indignant or outraged as well is never revealed" leave one wondering whether Zinman might be a lost psychologist, but the remarks still do not say anything about the play. The third sentence, "The play has the flat affect of a person determined to make no judgments about what he sees and may not understand," is about the play, but does Zinman's judgment on whether such determination is good or bad from a theater viewpoint go without saying?

Zinman seems to have coherence on the mind "[the play] lacks thematic coherence." However, why this should be the case is not explained other than, "It's obvious that this show means to say something about terrorism, but I can't figure out what." As for myself, I think the play was a lot less about terrorism than about our own institutions.

So, what about the play? Not being a theater reviewer and only a theatergoer, I will just say that I have seen all of Phillips' shows but one, and I expect to see his next plays as well as the one I missed.

Alain Schremmer
Via E-mail

Fall Up to Kensington

Please tell Mr. Mark Sherman to come into Kensington and start renovating----he's going to make a fortune ["Falling Up," Amy L. Webb, Feb. 26, 2004].

Kensington is starting to gentrify, and Kensington Avenue needs a complete overhaul. Houses now can be bought cheaply, and there are even big four-bedroom places available. We would like to see a community center put someplace. There are no meeting places for those of us planning events for Kensington.

Barbara Tarvydas
Via E-mail

Hail Gale

Many thanks for the insightful article ["Haiti: A Weighty Issue," Gale Warning, Daryl Gale, Feb. 26, 2004] regarding the human consequences of the precarious political situation in Haiti and the dangers of overlooking the humanitarian aspects of the crisis.

Amnesty International believes that rebel leaders have the responsibility to respect human rights and ensure that humanitarian groups have access to provide needed assistance.

However, a number of rebel leaders have abysmal human rights records, raising serious concern about levels of violence, as well as the humanitarian situation, in the areas under their control. Ultimately, any political settlement must be grounded in the rule of law, and in the Haitian Constitution, if all parties involved in the conflict are truly committed to finding a peaceful and lasting solution.

In addition, planning for potential mass exodus from Haiti must include human rights protections. We are deeply concerned by reports that the U.S. government is considering setting up a camp at its military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold Haitians fleeing unrest. The U.S. established a similar detention center in response to the mass movement out of Haiti following the 1991 coup, where innocent Haitians were held behind barbed wire and were subjected to inadequate screening procedures for asylum claims. This time around, we urge the U.S. government to make human rights and the protection of refugees the basis of contingency planning for possible mass outflows from Haiti.

As rebel forces under dubious leadership expand their control in Haiti, and the population of conflicted areas is cut off from supplies of food and medicines, Haitians will have legitimate reason to seek protection outside Haiti. Haiti's neighbors -- including the U.S. -- have a moral obligation to protect these refugees.

Mary T. Shaw

Philadelphia Area Coordinator
Amnesty International USA

More Barnes

The fiction that the Barnes Foundation is not welcome in Lower Merion is a constant theme of those who wish to remove Dr. Barnes' collection from its home to create a tourist attraction in Philadelphia ["Thy Will Be Done," Deborah Bolling, Dec. 4, 2004]. This is simply not true. The real story is one that is being fought out in every area of our lives as we try to decide as a civilization what is important and what is not. Money has been offered to move the paintings to a high-profile area where more people can see the work, thus changing forever the experience of seeing the work in its place. What is this experience now? For a person of limited means, this entails taking a train or bus to Merion, walking a block, in the case of the bus, or five blocks in the case of the train, through quiet streets lined with trees, some of which have been around for over a hundred years, into a 14-acre estate that has been carefully planted with woody ornamentals, roses, lilacs and many specimen trees. One can stroll through these gardens, visit an outdoor house where Mrs. Barnes spent contemplative time, and breathe in the air of another era. Then you can see the work that Dr. Barnes collected, shown the way he thought it should be displayed. There won't be more than 100 people in the rooms while you are there, and sometimes you will be alone in a room with priceless art. Just you, alone, with the space to think about all this beauty and intelligence. That is Dr. Barnes' gift to us. I won't describe the alternative experience because you have had it in every museum at a blockbuster exhibit. I believe it will be people like you or me who make the final decision about the fate of the Barnes. The foundations, which are proposing to finance this change, believe they are serving the public good. If there was a will to keep the foundation as it was intended to be there would be a solution found to do so. Those who believe treasures like this should be preserved must speak out. We can sit by and let our world become one giant Disney attraction, one after another or we can make a stand for quality. It's up to us. I am reminded of a quote from Ahab's Wife by Sena Jetere Naslund: "That's the way it is in life. You let go of what is beautiful and unique. You pursue something new and don't even know that the wind of your own running is a thief."

Nancy Herman
Via E-mail

Swell Mel

There is no other way to portray extreme suffering except to show it the way it was ["The Gospel Truth?," Cindy Fuchs, Feb. 26, 2004]. It is amazing that other violent movies don't bother people but this one does.

Also, who cares if Jewish people are upset? They (not the Chinese, not the Africans, etc.) demanded that Jesus be crucified.

We should no more let the Jews off the hook than African-Americans let our country off the hook about slavery.

IT HAPPENED and in both instances the truth should be told in an honest fashion as Mel did.

Mel has a lot of courage and insight into things.

Barbara Burke
Philadelphia