Breast cancer is
devastating to women,especially blacks
Too close to home is all I think of in learning of the death of another one of my nearest and dearest friends from breast cancer. The latest victim entered the hospital in July and is dead less than six weeks from initial presentation. Of six of us who hung together in high school, three are dead of breast cancer.
When I completed medical school in 1975, the numbers for breast cancer had not reached one in 10 women, as it is today; nor were we doing hormonal, DNA and other tumor-type testing to better specify the type of cancer.
Breast cancer is the leading killer of women, especially blacks, who have a lower incidence of the disease but a higher death rate from it. This is related to factors including genetics, socio-economic status, etc. The bottom line is early detection with self exams and mammograms correlates with a better outcome.
We need to get real about Triple Negative Breast Cancer ó an aggressive tumor that does not have markers for hormones progesterone and estrogen nor Her2/neu and is considered a subgroup of basal-type breast cancers. If diagnosed at later stages, it is more likely to spread and recur.
Women need to have routine breast screening exams, particularly those with family histories of the disease and those of color. Get over our hang ups with the “Tuskegee Experiment.” Triple Negative victims, especially those of color, need to volunteer for drug test protocols so we can find things that will work. Catastrophic Disease Relief Funds need to be established in each state.
Women need to be proactive and give more to the Triple Negative Foundation or Susan G. Komen Foundation. If each woman over 21 gave $100, that would give us at least $5 billion for research. It’s about us, and we need to invest in ourselves and in our lives.
ó Dr. Ada Fisher
Salisbury
City does little for Hill Street blues
I read the front page of the Aug. 30 paper (“Mill Hill: Has neighborhood become an afterthought?”) with a smirk on my face. When I was married and moved to Hill Street, my husband had been living in his mill house there for about five years. About the second year of our marriage, I asked him to move; this was not a good place to be ó hence my first letter, “Hill Street Blues.”
The mill hill was already becoming home to a transient population. As the folks who had worked in the Cone Mill all their life were dying off, retiring etc., the mill houses were falling into the hands of slum landlords. They were rented out virtually maintenance free, and, of course, the renters did not mow grass, paint, feed their animals, much less spay or neuter.
My husband and I now have four houses and one lot on Hill Street bought in self-defense because the city of Salisbury allowed the mill hill to become drug-infested, with all of the other goodies that come with people who go from place to place for different reasons.
They are just now beginning to enforce codes that should have been on the books years ago, when the first rental sign went out.
What bothers me most is that, for all the work we have done and the change we made in this neighborhood, not one person, mayor, manager, police chief, not one commissioner over the 13-and-a-half years I have lived here has come by and said thank you.
Most of the time we felt like a thorn in their side. They have only been consistent in one department ó namely, the tax office. No problem raising taxes over every home improvement.
I have no idea why there would be a sudden interest in the mill hill now, and I do agree with the lad regarding the traffic. I can’t tell you the last time I sat on the front porch. There doesn’t seem to be a speed limit on the hill or Boundary/ Martin Luther King Blvd. Salisbury politicians like to cut down trees and chase away wildlife to bring more traffic, more apartments and more strip malls, allowing the small town community to be forgotten.
ó Terie Brown
Salisbury
Enforce existing dog-breeder laws
Regarding Megan Cook’s piece, “Puppy mill legislation on hold until General Assembly reconvenes” (Aug. 30 Post):
All dog owners are subject to standards of care called for in the N.C. Animal Welfare Statute and in Rowan County, “Sec. 5-41 Cruelty to Animals-Animal Abandonment” ordinance. These are very thorough and well written.
Existing law is why Virginia Thornton was prosecuted in Wayne County (for animal cruelty after officers seized 283 dogs on her property). There is no need for additional legislation.
SB 460, the breeder licensing bill discussed, was intended to be a step in the Humane Society of the United States’ strategy of “incremental legislation” to eliminate all pure bred animal breeding and to eventually cripple agribusiness, dictating a vegan diet to all of America. They see North Carolina as a trophy state because of our strong agriculture economy and the American Kennel Club, which is now headquartered in Raleigh.
Please know that the Humane Society of the United States is in no way affiliated with your local Humane Society. The national group is the largest and most powerful radical animal rights organization in the country. It uses its millions to lobby for its own agenda, and not to run shelters, as their misleading ad campaigns would have you believe.
Sen. Andrew Brock did vote “No” on SB 460; however, with a wink and a smile to the animal rights activists, he agreed to have his “No” vote paired with absentee Senator Stevens’ “Yes” vote, and his vote went uncounted. Senator Brock, you were not elected and sent to Raleigh to cast benign, symbolic votes, we need your votes to count!
ó E.P. Ratledge
Spencer
Leash law on cats came as a surprise
Leash law for cats! I’m 62 years old and have never heard of such a thing and have never seen a cat on a leash.
I recently found out of such a law. I had three different occasions in the last weeks with Animal Control. My neighbor got traps from Animal Control and put food in the traps next to a 6-foot fence in my back yard. Naturally the smell of food attracted my cats. I spent $26 twice and $32 to get three cats out of the pound, plus a $25 ticket for not having them on a leash.
All the cats had rabies shots, were neutered and had tags around their necks. Animal Control throws them in with sick and feral cats. Now I have three that got distemper and died from being put in there with sick animals. All the people had to do was look at their tags and call me. I’ve lived here 18 years and never had a problem before.
I don’t think the neighbor should be able to entice the cats over the fence. Mrs. Beaver with the Humane Society has helped a lot with the vet, but unfortunately too late.
I can walk down most any street around where I live and see cats lying in people’s yards and under their cars, and they’re not on a leash.
People get very attached to their animals, whether it be dogs, cats or whatever. I know we have to have Animal Control, but that’s why we have a tag with a number. I hope Animal Control can do a little better on checking tags. It has caused a lot of sorrow and anger in my home.
ó C.E. Hudson
Rockwell
President places value on education
The letter stating concern about what our president will say to the school children of our country (“Don’t ignore parental choice,” Aug. 5) is the saddest letter to the editor I remember reading.
Has our country fallen so far from our values that we have no faith in our president and the value he places on our children and the time they invest in school?
The White House Web page clearly states:
“At noon on Tuesday, Sept. 8, the president will be welcoming America’s students back to school ó after all, sometimes they need a little extra motivation after a glorious summer. The president has spoken often about the responsibility parents have for their children and their education …, but in this message he’ll urge students to take personal responsibility for their own education, to set goals, and to not only stay in school but make the most of it.”
Imagine how exciting it is for children to have their president speak directly to them about school and their responsibilities to themselves and to others.
ó Sue Davis
Salisbury
Mixed response on proposed gun law
This ia an update on responses received from our elected officials concerning the bill House Resolution 45 ó Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sales Act of 2009.
In March, I wrote to each of our congressional representatives in Washington and also to Gov. Beverly Perdue requesting them to state their position on HR45.
To date, seven answers have been received.
Rep. G.K. Butterfield supported HR45. In his view, this bill legislates responsible gun control.
Four of our congresspeople absolutely would not support HR45. These are Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan and Reps. Howard Coble and Larry Kissell. Each of their answers was strongly anti-HR45.
The last two answers of the seven were noncommittal. Governor Perdue sent a rote answer about staying in touch with N.C. citizens. She made no statement about her position on the bill. Rep. Mel Watt was the other noncommittal respondent.
I must publicly say “Shame on Mel Watt!” and give him the proverbial finger wag! Mel Watt is on the Judiciary Committee and has had ample time to form and state a position on HR45. Pro or con gun control, Rowan voters need to know.
ó Irene Dalton
Salisbury