18 The Courier SUN • may 9, 2013 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com editorial letters sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Bob Brennan Tonia N. Cimino Amy Amato-Sanchez Nirmal Singh Graziella Zerilli Stephen Reina Ron Torina, Jennifer Decio, Cheryl Gallagher Melisa Chan, Terence Cullen, Cristabelle Tumola Maggie Hayes, Angy Altamirano Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni Cristabelle Tumola Bill Krese Jan DiGeronimo Maria Romero Warren Susman Celeste Alamin Maria Valencia Daphne Fortunate Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Publisher & E ditor Co-Publisher Associate Publisher Editor-In-Chief VP, Events, Web & Social Media Art Director Assistant to Publisher Assistant Art Director Artists Staff Reporters Contributing Reporters Web Editor Editorial Cartoonist Director, Business Developm ent Events Manager Senior Acc ount Executive Classified Manager Controller Office Manager President & CEO Vice President Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 Sales fax: 718-631-3498 website: www.couriersun.com e-mail:editorial@queenscourier.com ads@queenscourier.com queenscourier@queenscourier.com Entire Contents Copyright 2013 by The Courier Sun All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN 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. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE COURIER SUN. 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 COURIER SUN within five days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. VIctoria Media Services 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 Courier SUN 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. Don’t cut from libraries The city’s executive budget has been released. It proposes a cut to Queens Library of $29.6 million, part of a proposed cut to libraries citywide of $100 million. If that proposal were to become reality, the impact on library service hours and the number of job layoffs are unthinkable. Our representatives in City Hall and the City Council value libraries. They have demonstrated it in the past. Nevertheless, the proposed cut is enormous. Elected officials have limited revenue resources and tough choices to make. It is up to the people of Queens to show the City Council and City Hall that library hours and library jobs are critical to this city. Libraries in Queens urgently need your help. Go to www.savequeenslibrary.org. You will be able to sign our electronic petition and send an email to your elected representatives. Or, stop in to any library and sign the paper petition or write a postcard. Speak up for Queens Library! Tens of millions of our neighbors use free library resources or attend free library programs. They enjoy quiet reading time, sharpen their skills for their next big job, use the computers, prepare for an important exam for work or school, find out more about a health condition or email a friend far away. To do that, libraries must remain open for service at least five days a week or more. As we speak with our elected officials, we will also be talking about how critical a stable funding stream is for libraries in the future. We need to be able to better plan for the library services you need from year to year and be assured of being able to buy books for the shelves. For now, I hope I can count on everyone to speak up for Queens Library. Go to www. savequeenslibrary.org on your computer or smartphone, or stop at the library and sign the petition. You need your library. Right now, your library needs you. Thomas W. Galante, President and CEO, Queens Library Mixed martial arts good for NY “Pols push for mixed martial arts in New York” (Terrence McCullen, May 2) is great news. Mixed martial arts is a rapidly growing sport already legal in other states. It rivals both wrestling and boxing in fans and attendance for events. Why should we miss out on the jobs, economic growth and new tax revenues? If Governor Andrew Cuomo, State Senate Leader Dean Skelos, State Assemby Spekaer Sheldon Silver and members of the State Legislature can not work out their differences on issues of the day, send them to the octagon. Ditto for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and members of the City Council, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu. They can settle their disagreements on the mat! That would be one sporting event voters would pay top dollar to see! Larry Penner B ig brother watches There is little doubt that we are being bamboozled by our professional politicians. We continue to have faith in our rulers despite their betrayals, the squandering of the loot they steal and the unsustainable debt they have created. After each crisis, whether it be a natural disaster, a mass shooter, or a terrorist attack, we implore our politicians to increase their intrusions, wealth confiscations and their police state with the plea “anything to keep us safe.” How much liberty do we have to sacrifice to facilitate the illusion of safety and prosperity? Everything we possess and do in our daily lives is already regulated, licensed, and taxed by the government because we have been conditioned to believe that the job of the government is to keep us safe. Once the government decides that its role is to keep us safe, whether economically or physically, it can only do so by limiting or taking away our liberties. Everything from our consumption of soft drinks to our contributions to retirement accounts is monitored. President Barack Obama’s 2014 budget would limit tax-preferred retirement savings because “some wealthy individuals are able to accumulate many millions of dollars in these accounts, substantially more than is needed to fund reasonable levels of retirement savings.” It seems unreasonably wealthy retirees are a menace to society. In 2008 the people of Massachusetts voted 70 percent to 30 percent against repealing the state income tax. I can’t help wondering who would vote against being able to keep more of his own earnings. In an effort to further please their constituents, Governor Duvall Patrick and the legislature now want to raise taxes even more. Ed Konecnik Flushing DON’T FORGET THE GOOD News broke last week that Father Donald J. Harrington, longtime president of St. John’s University, will be stepping down effective July 31. Harrington, who took over at St. John’s in 1989, has been embroiled in a series of investigations by both federal authorities and the university’s board of trustees. Federal complaints allege he received lavish gifts from Cecilia Chang, a former St. John’s dean who was charged with stealing money from the school, but committed suicide during her trial. Though the last year of Harrington’s tenure was marred, it should not overshadow the fact that he served the university for nearly 24 years. A statement by the board of trustees expounds his service: “the tenure of Father Harrington as president has been a period of unrivaled growth, expansion and achievement for our University. He has been a transformative leader who guided this institution, nurtured its community, cultivated excellence and generated unprecedented levels of enthusiasm and support.” Even Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, a St. John’s alumnus, recognized all Harrington has done for the school and its students: “Farther Harrington transformed St. John’s from a really good university to a great one. As an alumnus of its law school, I’ve witnessed with pride as Father Harrington strengthened St. John’s academically and physically with new facilities and buildings, while holding fast to the Vincentian mission that has drawn so many of the University’s alumni to public service.” So as his days as St. John’s president come to a close, let us reflect on the good – the growth of the University, the quality of its students and its commitment to excellence. GOT HIM Our children are our greatest asset–and one brave soul helped the NYPD make the streets of South Ozone Park safe for kids again. We want to both thank and congratulate the tipster who recognized Lee Samuel and called Crime Stoppers. Samuel, 25, was taken into custody and charged in connection with the sexual assaults on two little girls. According to reports, he has active warrants out for his arrest and a rap sheet with 17 priors, including two sex offenses. Our hope now is that Samuel can get the help he so desperately needs–and that parents in the area can rest easy knowing a perv is off the streets.
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