We've got mail!

Leg Traps Do

Cause Pain

To the editor:

Ralph Brown of Homer City has made a factual error

If you go to www.avma.org and search "leg-hold traps," you can read the veterinarians' position. The paragraph concludes with, "The AVMA considers steel leg-hold traps to be inhumane."

Since technology has evolved to monitor blood pressure in pets more easily, it has been documented that they experience pain in very much the same ways that we do.

I know what it is like to be in severe prolonged pain, and sleeping is often a good strategy for managing it.

Anyone who thinks trapping is humane should try standing around with his own leg in a trap for 36 hours and then give an honest rendition of the experience.

Ronnie Schenkein, DVM

Coudersport

Gambling Takes

Its Toll

To the editor:

Society pours tons of money into the families of people who choose to live their lives irresponsibly, including but not limited to alcoholics and drug addicts.

Gambling addiction is another one we can add to the mix as Pennsylvania moves further into the gambling business, adding slot machines to the legalized horse betting and the ultimate state gambling activity, the Pa. Lottery.

Everyone witnessed the hordes of senior citizens hitting the slots in the Scranton area when legalized slot machines finally came to the state last month. Gamblers lost $1.26 million over the first two days.

That's okay. The middleclass families of the state will pick up the tab with new taxes to cover prescription drugs and new Medicare subsidies that will no doubt come our way.

If you doubt that gambling doesn't cause more problems than it solves, I suggest a visit to the dark sides of Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Timothy G. Haberman

Prospect, Pa

Masons Are

Good People

To the editor:

Freemasonry hardly amounts to the sinister stuff that conspiracy theorists everywhere -- most recently Dan Brown in The DaVinci Code -- would have you believe.

Yes, there are still centuriesold Masonic traditions handed down through the generations, sometimes via entire family trees. This includes the "secret handshakes" and ornate aprons that the Masons are perhaps best known for.

But Freemasonry is about more than rituals and is definitely not about conquering the world, etc., as someone who Googles the Masons might be led to believe.

The core of this organization's tenets has always been about giving back to the community. This is true of the Masons and many other fraternal groups or civic organizations, including Knights of Columbus, Kiwanis and the Elks, many of which are in some way offshoots of Freemasonry.

For that matter, the Shriners, who are best known for Shriners Hospitals for Children, offering specialized pediatric medical care at no charge, are also Masons.

The Masons run the Child Identification Program (CHIP), which provides parents with photo ID cards and other essential law enforcement tools should their children go missing.

These are just a few examples of the good that fraternal and service organizations do: ensuring access to health care for our most vulnerable citizens; giving parents resources to help protect children; supporting medical research; and even organizing blood drives and food drives.

Groups like the Masons continue to play a relevant, integral role in their communities decades and even centuries after they were first founded.

We invite you to find out more about what the Masons do, either by visiting your local Masonic lodge or by simply asking a Mason. You may then realize that all we are is a group of folks who want to do good by the community. As a result, some of that Masonic mystique may fade away.

Ed Gilbert Deputy Grand Master

Masons of New York