Your Letters: Sunday

Nobel prize a shock

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to our president was a shock. Only two previous presidents received the award while in office: Theodore Roosevelt (1906), a Republican, who brokered the end of a war between Japan and Russia, and T. Woodrow Wilson (1919), a Democrat, whose work led to the League of Nations. Both men had incredible careers.

What are the accomplishments of President Obama?

•He has not reigned in the profligate spending by our government. Just the opposite.

•He has failed to give us any sort of immigration reform.

•He has not given us a thoughtful, workable plan for health care.

•He has not defused the nuclear threats from either North Korea or Iran.

•He has not resolved the conflicts in either Iraq or Afghanistan, and he not brought us closer to peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Apparently, the only bases used by the Norwegian Nobel committee members for their witless choice were some idealistic remarks spoken by Obama. If that is the case, the Obama speech writers should be given the Nobel Prize for literature.

Guy Gravill Middleburg

Top health care

We have the best health system in the world. Doctors’ appointments the same day or at your convenience 24/7.

Top hospitals (private rooms, etc.) with the best specialists, at your convenience 24/7. The latest and best prescription drugs. Insurance that covers all costs (no premedical conditions). Available to members of Congress, certain political people,

This isn’t health care

A friend received an e-mail titled, “Women must have real health insurance reform now.” She forwarded it to me, commenting, “Insurance reform? Who’s drinking the (i)nsurance compan(ies)’ Kool- Aid? Health insurance reform is another name for a gigantic taxpayer donation to the health care insurance corporations like the taxpayer donation to the too-big-to-fail financial institutions.”

We disagree. We need single-payer health care, which is what the National Organization for Women has been advocating for since 1993 when NOW passed a national resolution supporting it.

I, like many people, am a victim and survivor of our broken health care system. I had to fight with my and my twin sister’s insurance companies to reverse a denial of transplant donor coverage in order for me to have a bone marrow transplant. Then we dealt with 30 companies rejecting me for health insurance coverage for a pre-existing condition. And whenever we refill my son’s asthma medication, the pharmacist fights with coordinating two health insurance companies to get them to fill the prescription because one requires generic and the other requires a brand name medication.

This isn’t health care. This is the Kool-Aid that the insurance companies are feeding us. Let’s get rid of it in Pennsylvania and in the U.S. Pass HB 1660/SB 400 in the state and HR 676 in Congress so that we can have comprehensive single-payer coverage for all.

Joanne Tosti-Vasey Bellefonte

The writer is president of Pennsylvania NOW Inc.

Officials really care

Centre Region public officials are to be commended for responding in a responsible fashion to the residents of Arnold Addison Court, a high-rise apartment building for seniors and people with disabilities on Beaver Avenue.

Recent events raised concerns about our safety in the event of a fire. A Fire Safety Committee was formed and floor fire wardens were designated for each of the eight floors. The committee then contacted pertinent officials in the Centre Region.

Our concerns were addressed quickly. A meeting was held with personnel from Addison Court, the Centre Region Council of Governments, Alpha Fire Department, and the State College planning office, codes office and Borough Council. Two training sessions for the floor fire wardens were held. On Oct. 20 interested residents were shown how effective sprinkler systems are and allowed to practice the proper use of hand-held fire extinguishers.

Centre Region residents are fortunate to have officials who really care about the concerns of residents and are willing to take time to find solutions to problems brought to their attention.

Carol Ames State College

The writer is co-chair with Joel Solkoff of the Arnold Addison Court Fire Safety Committee