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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 17, 2009

Hijacked At The Pump

If big oil can't make it on crude oil, they make it on refining. The last time oil hit a low of $34 a barrel we paid $1.59 a gallon for regular. Now we're hijacked at the pump at $1.93. Part of the stimulus package should be an excess profit tax on big oil to finance infrastructure.

JOHN R. VLASEK

Riverview

Hold Elections April 15

I think we should hold presidential and congressional elections on April 15, tax day, and the president should be sworn in the first week of June.

People would vote based on their pocketbook. They could attend an inaugural that did not seem like 30 degrees below zero. The president could enjoy his new digs for awhile while Congress was out of session.

And the extra months would give ACORN enough time to find and sign up those 500 million workers in the U.S. losing their jobs every month (according to Nancy Pelosi, the third-most powerful person in the United States.) Win-win all around.

CATHY STARNES

Plant City

Visit Doctor, Not ER

I empathize with Steve Otto and his mom for the wait at the Tampa General Hospital's emergency room on a Tuesday afternoon ("I'm Waiting For TGH To Do Better," Feb. 6). Certainly her swollen and ecchymotic arm needed attention.

But the fact is, that was not an emergency. And therein lies the problem. Too many people who seek medical care at emergency rooms across the nation simply do not have an emergency.

What underlies the problem is that they don't have access to a primary care physician to direct them. I can only assume that Mrs. Otto has a primary care physician and wonder why he or she wasn't called at 1:30 p.m. for help. Her physician could have seen her and gotten an X-ray that day, determined if it was an emergency, and then directed her for appropriate care. But TGH, as well as other emergency rooms, is inundated by patients who have neither access to care nor insurance to adequately cover that access, and so they make trips to the emergency rooms.

My patients sometimes complain that they went to the ER but had to wait so long to be seen that they just left. They didn't have to go in the first place.

It's also the voluminous amount of paperwork that has to be completed by nurses and doctors on a patient's chart that interferes with the efficiency of care.

I understand Otto's frustration. I know he's not "anti-medicine." It's just the nature of the beast.

DAVID LUBIN, M.D.

Tampa

Sister's Murder Unsolved

I am the sister of the other girl who was murdered in 1983. Her name is Jessie LaDon Albach. She was 15 years old, and she was Lisa DeCarr's friend.

My sister went missing in June 1983. Her remains were found a few weeks before Lisa's remains were found in 1984. Our family felt Wayne Tomkins should have been charged for her death as well as with Lisa's. I'm happy for Lisa that justice has been served, but sad my sister was swept under the rug.

DENISE YAND

Defuniak Springs

Cost Of School

In response to the letter writer's suggestion to "make the people who have kids in school pay it," (Letters, Feb. 16): Perhaps the letter writer would prefer to live in a world without newspapers, books and computers. I doubt very much that people with children in public schools "sit in plush offices and go home to million-dollar homes," as he states in his letter. Of course, when he went to school, everything only cost a nickel.

SANDY ALLESS

Tampa

Clean Up Track

I just came from my walk around Coleman Middle School's track in South Tampa. One would think the concern addressed about the children and the cell tower would have moved parents to be aware the Coleman track and the adjoining grounds of Dale Mabry Elementary are beginning to look like a Third World country where trash and plastic bottles abound.

The teams that use the areas after school should consider teaching the students responsible behavior by having them pick up trash irresponsible people have left behind. Also, parents could set a good citizen example by pitching in and helping.

My exercise around the track includes a lot of bending and stooping - good for the waistline.

DORIS GUENTHER

Tampa

JOIN DISCUSSION

The Tribune welcomes letters and e-mails from readers. The text should be original and no longer than 150 words. By making a submission, you agree the Tribune may edit the letter for length and clarity, and publish it in any medium.

Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Mail to: P.O. Box 191, Tampa, FL 33601-0191. Or e-mail without attachments: tribletters@tampatrib.com.

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