Battered men need help, too

Editor:

It's good to see people raising money for battered women and children ("Run/Walk Raises $10K for Midway," Dec. 6.). But what about battered men and their children? The article didn't mention whether the Midway Shelter helps male victims and their children.

Harvard Medical School just announced a study showing half of heterosexual domestic violence is reciprocal and women initiate most reciprocal and non-reciprocal violence (www.patienteducation center.org).

Men are less likely to report it, which makes crime data unreliable; but sociological research consistently shows women initiate domestic violence at least as often as men, and that men suffer one-third of injuries, as Cal State University Professor Martin Fiebert shows in his online bibliography at www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/ assault.htm.

I work with men who have been stabbed, cut with glass, had their teeth knocked out with ashtrays, etc., by wives or girlfriends.

They are ignored and stigmatized and still have no outreach and few services, while their children suffer long-term damage by the exposure and are more likely to commit the same violence as adults.

We can't end this cycle by ignoring half of it. That's why a global coalition of concerned experts has formed to combat this politically driven problem. Their Web site is at www.nfvlrc.org.

-Marc E. Angelucci, Esq.

President, Los Angeles chapter,

National Coalition of Free Men

Greening Alameda

Editor:

I have been reading and listening to all the concern about "global warming" and "green living," etc. We now recycle, reuse and compost everything. People seem to want to be part of the process but often are at a loss to find a meaningful project that will have real impact on the problem.

As I've listened, I heard them talk about the loss of forests in less-developed countries and how trees/forests are really the "lungs" of the world. Trees take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen, not to mention cooling shade with their leaves and stabilizing land with their roots. Some even produce flowers to cheer the soul and fruit to feed the hungry.

Less-developed countries could stop deforesting their countries, but developed countries could help more by re-foresting their cities and towns.

Many towns and homeowners treat trees as a decorative accessory, a necessary evil, a nuisance, etc., and change them like wallpaper, or cut them down freely and without any concern for the effect on the environment.

But in fact, trees are enjoyed by everyone, both visitors and residents, for their beauty and shade. Trees enhance the value of a property by thousands of dollars. A tree-lined street enhances the neighborhood ambience and the value of the homes on it. What is not to like?

The trees on private land are just as important as those on public land. Homeowners come and go (but) trees are there for everyone.

So why do we continue to treat them like replaceable, movable partitions? It takes 15 to 20 years to make a good tree.

Why are they cut down with such abandon, merely because one generation decides they are the wrong size or the wrong color or are in the way of something?

Our shopping streets could have beautiful shady walks if our stewards thought of trees as a beautiful accessory, and not a civic nuisance, and took the long view of how we want our town to look.

"Alameda" is a Spanish word for a tree-lined walk. Where did we lose the way?

Alameda has no local code requiring a permit to cut down a mature tree on private land, as do all of the neighboring communities around here. Alameda is the only town with overhead wiring, owned by its own power company, which scars the streetscape, and requires maiming and butchering trees at the expense of the environment, so more electricity can be delivered.

Look at the aerial map of Alameda, and you will find that most Alameda backyards have been denuded of trees and replaced with dwelling units. If we want to reduce global warming, does this make sense?

If Alameda residents want to do one significant thing to minimize global warming, they can start right now by having more respect for trees.

Ask the City Council to pass an ordinance requiring a permit before any mature tree on private land is cut down or damaged.

Ask the City Council and Alameda Power and Telecom to make trees a priority by undergrounding the overhead wires that deface our streetscapes and deform the trees.

Even a small step by one small town will make an improvement.

-Susan Jeffries

Stark says no to Bush's health care veto

Editor:

It's not yet Christmas, but President Bush is already behaving like the Grinch. He refuses to spend $35 billion to provide health care to 10 million children even as he asks for nearly $200 billion more his failed war in Iraq.

All I want for Christmas is a few more brave Republicans in Congress.

With their help and the support of a united Democratic Caucus, we'll overturn the president's veto and take American health care in a new direction.

Extending the Children's Health Insurance Program is an important and substantial first step toward health care for all our children.

-Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA)

Chairman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee

Where have the paperboys gone?

Editor:

Whatever happened to the bicycle boys? Daily and bi-weekly newspapers are now being delivered in the early morning hours via automobiles.

I have seen pricey SUVs used for this task.

How does the price of fuel and emissions equate with the added cost of manufacturing these paper products, which themselves create an even greater amount of pollutant?

-Tim Mahon