I was amused to read Dave Barry’s column (Aug. 29) that described a training course he and other journalists attended to help them deal with dangerous situations they might encounter at the political conventions and the Olympics. Here’s a follow-up that’s equally amusing: According to a friend who had press credentials for the Democratic convention, some of the journalists who received terrorism defense training had been issued kits that they were told to keep close at hand. But when they arrived at the convention, security personnel confiscated many of the items out of those kits, including flashlights, as potentially dangerous. And at the Republican convention in the Big Apple, apples were among the items barred from Madison Square Garden because they might be used as projectiles. Entertaining as it is, all this sounds to me a whole lot more like pseudosecurity than security.
CAROLINE HERZENBERG / Chicago
Zell and charity
Although I am no fan of Sam Zell, the letter quoting him as disparaging business support for civic institutions (In-box, Aug. 29) was a cheap shot and just plain wrong.
What Zell said is that he thought it was wrong to use corporate money to give to charities (often to promote the greater glory of the executives running the corporation). Instead, it is up to the corporate owners–the shareholders–to make charitable contributions of their own choosing with their corporate dividends. This is as it should be.
The writer’s reference to Millennium Park is ironic, since Zell and his wife gave $1 million to help build the park, and his partner’s widow gave $15 million for the Lurie Gardens.
CODY ENGLE / Chicago
No place like ‘Home’
I was despondent over the demise of Leah Eskin’s “Sum of the Parts” column some months ago. However, I must tell you that she has won me over anew with her “Home on the Range.” Not only is her writing fresh, original and wonderful, but the recipes are pretty good too!
NANCY FRANKEL / Northbrook
History lesson
I have just read a Chicago History Magazine article, “Monuments to a Lost Nation,” which discussed Native Americans in the early history of Chicago. It also discussed the controversy of the Tribune’s “Injun Summer” cartoon.
I am one of those who love the cartoon, and think it shows the nostalgia of Indian Summer days gone by. I don’t think it is slighting or demeaning to Indians. I remember loving reading the cartoon when it was in the paper last and look forward to rereading it in October.
I am a librarian and think we cannot or should not censor the great stories from the past, even if they do have the prejudice of the day.
JULIE A. ROBERTS / Streamwood
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Injun Summer” is no longer printed in the Magazine. Reprints are sold at the Tribune Store, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611, for $4.95, or $10 by mail.
The doofus factor
I hope Gerry Howard of Barrington (In-Box, Aug. 8) remembers the old “sticks and stones” adage and continues to be the doofus that Terry Sullivan’s essay (“Life in the Fastidious Lane,” July 4) dubbed him and others who take precautions in public restrooms.
A research physician told me that more E. coli bacteria are found on the door handles of bathrooms than on the toilet seats. He recommended using your elbow to push levers on paper towel dispensers, using the towels to turn off water faucets and, of course, using a towel to open the bathroom door.
Best of all, he said, would be for all doors to open outward, so one could push them with a shoulder. I am a doofus, too, and proud of it. Also healthier.
RUTH MARION TOBIAS / Lincolnwood
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