Letters 4/13/06

April 12, 2006

Death at the Whiting
Regarding Liz Parmenter-Turec’s letter of last week, does she realize how many Whiting Hotel residents commit suicide (hanging themselves, drug overdoses, etc)? This happens so often, the merchants no longer blink an eye when the Fire Department comes racing down Front Street. There’s an ambulance at the Whiting at least once a week.
Mrs. Parmenter-Turec’s father wasn’t the only one that ended his life there last year, and her choice to personalize the situation and publicly identify her father as the specific person Ms. Morse was referring to seems presumptuous and disrespectful to her father’s privacy, not to mention his dignity.
I agree with Ms. Morse; get the Whiting out of downtown Traverse City; it doesn’t belong there. The fact that the residents of the Whiting are our uncles, fathers, brothers, and sisters is totally irrelevant to the fact that the Whiting is ridiculously out of place between two trendy shops on Front Street. Perhaps there would be less suicides at that hotel if the residents had some privacy during their down-and-out times and could get on their feet without being embarrassed, kicked out of shops, stared at, ridiculed, pitied and placed in a location where they are subjected to “judgment and disdain they too often receive.” This could be what is pushing these poor souls over the edge.
  One more comment: Word about all the free food programs offered by the churches in Traverse City is spreading quickly among the vagrant population in Kalkaska, Muskegon, Flint and Lansing. The homeless are heading to TC to take advantage of the free meals.
  Does Traverse City have the resources (shelter, employment, police power) to deal with this growing vagrant situation? If you feed them, they will come!

Erin Galloway • Kalkaska

No problem at Whiting
I am disheartened that someone could write such a hateful, uncaring letter about the residents of the Whiting Hotel.  I have lived in Traverse City since 1970 and I have not seen the “offenses“ described by Ms. Morse (re: Letters 3/23)/  
I shop downtown and have never been offended by any persons outside the Whiting Hotel.  I am offended by Ms. Morse‘s comments.

Nancy Olewinski • TC

Father was a friend
I would like to apologize to Liz Parmenter-Turek for her misunderstanding my intentions about the Whiting Hotel letter.  I did not mean for her to personalize this situation, as the Whiting’s location has nothing to do with her father having stayed there. 
I loved her father as a friend during the 15 years that I knew him; his friends all miss him, we still mourn his death as he left a void in our lives.    
Many of Kevin’s friends did what we could to ease his sorrows while he was living homelessly, as I am sure Liz also did. However I feel that he would have preferred not to have his stay at the Whiting publicized, as he had a lot of pride. 
Perhaps other residents of the hotel feel the same way and would appreciate a more private setting during their transitional times.  For this reason, I do believe that the Whiting situation should be moved to a more private location so the residents are not subjected to the mistreatment which they sometimes receive by the general public in the downtown area.
    
   Vita Morse • TC 

Condom critique
In response to the letter from Jim Carruthers (4/6) – I guess the only comment that comes to mind is “wow.”  I am not sure who the “we” is that continues to promote the “safe sex”  myth, but the facts are quite different from the 99% efficacy figures he cites.    
As a youth worker who has spent a great deal of time in serious research of the FACTS, I was pleased to see the comment that so offended Mr. Carruthers:  “Mr. Coates‘ statement that condoms don’t always work and not everyone has one,” is quite accurate – and here are the FACTS for any reader who is interested.
Studies show that condom use is only marginally effective in preventing pregnancy, let alone sexually transmitted diseases.  A recent study from Indiana University-Bloomington showed that 30-40% of college age men didn’t use condoms correctly, and that 13% slipped off during use. Studies have shown consistently that condoms have a 2-15% failure rate (CDC Prevention Bulletin) and  that pregnancy occurs as much as 30% of the time during the first year of use for those beginning to be sexually active.
Further, one reason condoms fail in preventing the transfer of AIDS is that latex condoms have tiny intrinsic holes called “voids.” Sperm is larger than the holes, but the AIDS virus is 50 times smaller than these tiny holes which makes it easy for the virus to pass through [source: Dr. C. M. Roland, editor of Rubber Chemistry and Technology]. 
A study by the University of Texas analyzed the results of 11 different studies that had tracked the effectiveness of condoms to prevent transmission of the AIDS virus. The average condom failure rate in the 11 studies for preventing transmission of the AIDS virus was 31%.  
Further, STDs are frequently passed through “skin to skin” contact even when condoms are used. This can happen because the bacterial or viral germs that cause many serious STDs (such as human papillomavirus, chlamydia, herpes, and syphilis) do not infect just one place on your body. They may infect anywhere in the male or female genital areas.  
And a few more facts to consider:
12 million people get a new STD each year!
33,000 people get a new STD every day and 22,000 of them are 15 to 24 years old!
25% of high school students will be infected with an STD before graduation! 
And finally, my favorite story – During a recent gathering of physicians and epidemiologists gathered for a seminar – some 200 professional people were in the lecture hall and were asked the following question. “How many of you would have sex using a condom for protection with someone known to have HIV/AIDS”... and not a single hand was raised. The only clear fact is that there is no such thing as safe sex, unless we and our kids wait to have sex in marriage with someone who has also waited! Kudos for your comments! Kids shouldn’t be having sex!
  
Matt Davis • Leland