Letters to the Editor | March 13, 2023

The Phillies have once again played a significant role in the history of women in professional baseball. With the signing of Sarah Edwards as a minor league batting coach, they have become the first team to place a woman on the field as a coach. Edwards becomes the latest woman to make history as a member of the Phillies organization. In 1946, the Phillies signed Edith Houghton, a former women’s professional baseball player, as a full-time scout, making her the first woman in major league history ever to hold such a position. Houghton served through 1952, her territory being Philadelphia, its suburbs, and South Jersey. The Phillies also made history as the employer of one of the big league’s first female executives. Working for the team from 1916 to 1943, first as secretary, then vice president and treasurer, Mae Mallon Nugent became part-owner and served as a full-time baseball executive longer than any woman ever had.

Rich Westcott, baseball author and Phillies historian, Springfield

In a recent letter to the editor, the writer decided to apply “a little math” to the case of the striking graduate students at Temple University. With some twisted logic, he finds that they are actually making $90 per hour and adequately compensated. The flaw in the argument is the assumption that the 20 hours the students spend in the classroom or lab is the only time that they are working. This is a common assumption about teachers. Why not apply the same logic to other professions? Don’t judges, trial lawyers, and prosecutors only work when they are in a courtroom? Are firefighters only working when they are fighting a fire? How about the police? They are only on the job when shooting it out with bandits or arresting someone, right? Surgeons? Operating room only. Nurses? When they are frantically running up and down the hall they are just out for a little exercise. Pick your favorite profession. The Temple grad students have a case and deserve to be treated fairly.

Frank A. Smith, West Chester

. . .

I write in response to a recent letter to the editor complaining that Temple grad students should be satisfied with their current earnings of $19,500. In the “real world,” facts matter. While these grad students work a 20-hour week, those hours include class time, office hours for students, grading examinations, and prep time. I taught, and for every one hour of class, a competent teacher must put in two to four hours of prep time. In the real world, a teaching assistant puts in more time than the 20 hours for which they are paid. And while health-care costs and tuition reimbursements are real and beneficial, you can’t eat them or spend them. Who can pay rent and eat, let alone raise a family (that includes $7,000-plus for dependent health care), on $19,500? That is a poverty wage. A TA at Penn makes $38,000, at Princeton $40,000, at Penn State $24,822. Meanwhile, Temple’s president makes over $1 million in base pay and deferred compensation, all of which is consumable. It is time employers stopped balancing their budgets on the backs of workers.

Bruce E. Endy, Wynnewood

Gov. Josh Shapiro recently outlined his first budget proposal. He mentioned raising the qualification income bracket to $45,000 from $35,000 for the homeowner/rent rebate program. For homeowners, that’s like putting a Band-Aid on something that requires financial surgery. Stop paying your property taxes and see who really owns your house and property. They’ll boot you out quickly. Yes, even senior citizens. Over two decades ago, the STOP campaign (Stop Taxing Our Properties) proposed legislation that would eliminate all property taxes on primary residences in Pennsylvania. It would have raised the sales tax from 6% to 7%, which they’ve since done. It also would have raised the earned income tax and the realty transfer tax by 1%. State senators voted to initiate a feasibility study on the proposal, and the results came back: 100% doable. Of course, they didn’t do anything. Now, let’s look 10 years down the road, when Social Security and Medicare are expected to go belly-up. Without having income to pay the cursed property taxes, seniors will be fighting for space under one of Pennsylvania’s bridges. There’s been proposals to freeze property taxes for seniors, but that will not suffice. Property taxes must be eliminated on primary residences. If your legislators refuse to keep you in your homes, then vote them out.

Rich Saporito, West Mifflin

While legislators and policymakers may be pleased with the new governor’s budget, advocates in the childcare community like me are incensed. Keeping the level of public support where we’ve been (actually less than last year’s CARES funds) says to early childhood educators and the families they serve that they are mere babysitters, even though ages birth to 5 are when crucial brain development occurs. Childcare providers have the training, experience, and talent for nurturing and inspiring little ones. They work in demanding jobs with long hours. When hourly wages average $12.35, staff are forced to leave the industry for better-paying jobs. There’s been a staffing shortage for years that accelerated during the pandemic, forcing providers to close classrooms or shut their doors. Families who cannot find childcare are forced to give up jobs to stay home with their kids. Worst of all, when children do not have the social and preliteracy preparation provided by quality childcare, they start their K-12 journey behind and sometimes never catch up. VIPs in the state legislature may be facing easier budget negotiations, but this comes on the backs of early childhood educators and cheats young children and their families.

Eleanor Levie, Philadelphia

Fox News complains that the Dominion lawsuit uses misinformation and distortion and tramples on free speech and freedom of the press. That defense is laughable, coming from a company for which distortion and misinformation have been its stock in trade for decades. Free speech does not include the freedom to slander, libel, defame, or incite lawlessness. Had Fox News acted responsibly and honestly, it would not be facing the suit. It chose to act irresponsibly and dishonestly to give its viewers what they craved, whether true or false, helpful or harmful. Politicians and others decrying “the swamp,” while remaining allegiant to Fox News, ignore the fact that the network is a place where integrity, honesty, and decency go to die. The news channel contributed to the spate of second-rate politicians for whom truth is the enemy and lies and liars are friends. Fox News cared about profits and was willing to sacrifice truth to cling to its viewers. Hiding behind the First Amendment shield are con men on par with the weavers of the emperor’s new clothes.

Stewart Speck, Ardmore, speckstewart@gmail.com

The Inquirer article on the Philadelphia Parking Authority getting raves for towing cars without license plates was enlightening, to say the least. It is good the PPA is finally getting some positive feedback, but let us not stop here. For example, the last I heard was that the city has a backlog of about 34,000 cars on its abandoned cars list. Calling 311 at this point and reporting an abandoned car is a joke. You can almost hear the laughter on the other end of the line. Why, then, not transfer this responsibility to PPA? If it’s even half as zealous enforcing abandoned car statutes as it is at writing parking tickets, then it shouldn’t take long to see a decrease in that pathetic 34,000 figure. If you’ve ever had an abandoned car in front of your property, you know what a challenge it presents. If implemented correctly, using PPA for this purpose has the potential to be a game changer. Any mayoral candidates listening?

John Waterford, Philadelphia

The School District knew for several years there was an asbestos problem at Building 21 and did nothing about it. How dare it risk the health of the children and staff? That is unconscionable and might reach the level of criminal neglect. For 36 years, I taught in two Philadelphia schools. I trusted that my students and I were safe. Maybe that trust was misplaced. Some schools are cancer clusters. What is the cause? Is the School District doing a good job protecting its students and staff? Is it even doing an adequate job?

Sheryl Kalick, Philadelphia

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