28 The QUEE NS Courier • FEBRUARY 21, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com editorial THE QUEENS Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 website: www.queenscourier.com e-mail:[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Entire Contents Copyright 2013 by The Queens Courier All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE QUEENS COURIER. The publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Errors must be reported to THE QUEENS COURIER within five days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. Schneps Communications assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold The Quens Courier and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement. letters Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Bob Brennan Tonia N. Cimino Amy Amato-Sanchez Nirmal Singh Wayne Robins Graziella Zerilli Stephen Reina Ron Torina, Jennifer Decio, Cheryl Gallagher Melisa Chan, Alexa Altman, Terence Cullen Cristabelle Tumola, Maggie Hayes, Angy Altamirano Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni Cristabelle Tumola Bill Krese Jan DiGeronimo Louise Cavaliere Celeste Alamin Maria Valencia Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Publisher & E ditor Co-Publisher Associate Publisher Editor-In-Chief VP, Events, Web & Social Media Art Director Copy Editor Assistant to Publisher Assistant Art Director Artists Staff Reporters Contributing Reporters Web Editor Editorial Cartoonist Director, Business Developm ent Senior Acc ount Executive Classified Manager Controller President & CEO Vice President Work together President Barack Obama spoke about many issues during his State of the Union address, and all of them are very important. Congress and the president need to work together on all of the matters, ranging from balancing the budget to ending the recession, reducing unemployment and improving education, gun control, immigration reform and foreign policy. As he said, everyone does not agree on everything, but that there must be a compromise from all sides to make things improve and work better. The American people expect that their government will work for them and that those who were elected, the Congress and the President, will do precisely that. Our nation is the greatest in the world, despite all of its difficulties, and we will eventually climb out of this tough economic recession. Let us never forget that. John Amato Fresh Meadows Hatred must end I am greatly saddened and distressed to read another gay man has been murdered. This now brings the total to three in the city and two have been in Queens. I find it sad that these men were killed because they were searching for someone to love and paid the price with their lives. We may or may not agree with a person’s sexual lifestyle but killing that person is just heinous. I applaud Councilmember Danny Dromm for his press conference calling for awareness of these crimes against the gay community and urging those in that community to exercise caution when dating online. This hate has to stop and those responsible must be brought to justice. In addition, our youth must be taught that we must not judge others and act out of hate or they will be judged in a court of law. No one deserves to die because of who they want to be with. Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Glen Oaks Village More to the story As a letter carrier and local union president of Long Island City Branch 357 representing over 250 active and retired workers and thier families, I was quite concerned that the article written in the February 14 Courier did not include three very important facts. First, over 80% of the losses sustained by the USPS are the result of a pre-funding requirement mandated by a lame-duck Congress in 2006 that requires the USPS to pay $5.5 billion per year for future retirees’ health benefits for 75 years from now. No business in the WORLD, private or otherwise, has such a burden. This was done at a time when the USPS was showing a surplus and could afford to put away for a rainy day. Second, it’s shortsighted to believe that everyone uses email for all of their bills and correspondences. In many parts rural parts of the country, they do not have cellular service or Internet, and the letter carriers are their only link to the outside world. In those communities, 100% of the people need their mail six days a week. Lastly, while mentioning the letter from Meng to the postmaster general, you should have alerted your readers that there are three bills in the House and the Senate that are trying to enact useful postal reform that will not only keep the delivery of mail six days a week, they also serve to strengthen the USPS and keep the only universal delivery service in the United States. They are H.R. 30, H.R. 630 and S. 316. I would also like to announce that on March 24, letter carriers from every neighborhood in every state will be out there for a day of action to let the American people know the whole truth about what they can do to save six day delivery. We will be out there with our friends, families, co-workers and patrons from the communities we work in to do everything we can to save Saturday delivery. The postmaster general is going against the will of Congress by the announcement of five day delivery, and they will be voting on the appropriation on March 27 to continue the six day delivery requirement that has been successfully signed into law for more than 30 years. If you want more information go to http:// deliveringforamerica.com/ to see what you can do to help. David Van Aken President, Branch 357 National Association of Letter Carriers LIC BACK TO WORK Bravo to getting back on track, and getting people back to work. The owners of Madelaine Chocolate, the largest Queens small business with about 450 employees, were presented with a check last week in the amount of $250,000 from National Grid. The Rockaway Beach company suffered excessive damage from Sandy, leaving some workers out of a job since October. The grant will go toward getting at least one leg of the Madelaine factory producing chocolate again and the staff back to work for Halloween candy. And though, as co-owner Jorge Farber said, it’s “a long, long road that is ahead of us,” this is an important first step in returning Queens to a sense of normalcy. Small business is the backbone of our borough. Getting as many as possible back up and running in the wake of the superstorm, as well as getting families back to their homes, is what we should be working towards nearly four months after Sandy wreaked her havoc. Kudos, too, to National Grid. This is the first of several grants it will give to companies in its flood zone that suffered severe damage from the storm. National Grid president Ken Daly said the power company has a $30 million fund, with roughly 100 companies applied. The amount of grant money will vary based on the company. “For many, many years, they’ve Madelaine been supporting us as a company,” Daly said. “Today, it’s really our opportunity to return that support and help them get back up and running.” This is what makes our country so great – businesses big and small working together for the good of their workers. A SAD LOSS We were very saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Lou Parajos, our former editor-in-chief. An accomplished writer and editor, he spent decades at the Daily News, working his way up from the basement to the managing editor’s chair. In his years at The Courier, he nurtured and groomed many reporters, including this one. I learned much from him. He was a mentor, a coach, and above all, a friend. We shared countless laughs and innumerable storylines. He was always there for me, offering advice, teaching, helping. May you rest in peace and enjoy a Guinness, my friend.
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