Entitled but not a victim

Editor:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- I do not feel like a victim. Yes, I receive Medicare from the government. I also receive Social Security. And, yes, I am entitled to them, because I paid into those programs all my working life.

In fact, for the last 32 years, while self-employed, I paid 15.3 percent of my income into those programs. On top of those payments, I paid income tax, and I am willing to wager that I have paid a far higher percent of my income in taxes than Mitt Romney has.

I am blessed. I have everything I need. I have a  beautiful home, a caring community, loving friends and neighbors, rewarding work and enough money. My only worry is whether I will have any clean air and water if Republicans get control.

My Social Security is guaranteed, while many people's 401K private retirement programs disappeared with the financial collapse. Government assistance is based on the attitude that we are all in this together, but some people don't get it. For instance, I bet Mitt Romney couldn't conceive of living on my income.

Beth Little

Hillsboro

Losing the Gazette would be a tragedy

Editor:

I saw a program on CSPAN 2 telling about a large city that lost its only newspaper.

It made me think seriously about what life would be like without The Charleston Gazette. I don't always agree with all its editorials, but frankly, I think West Virginia would sink into a new dark age without its leading newspaper.

I hope those with controlling interests in The Charleston Gazette will do their best to ensure this paper will continue it's good work in perpetuity. Thank you,

Ron Corbin

Charleston

Coal industry will die without research

Editor:

News reports state that the National Research Center for Coal and Energy at WVU has lost much of its funding. That research facility is the only hope to find a way to burn coal cheaply and cleanly. It is vital that it be fully funded in order to save the coal industry. For this reason, the state of West Virginia should fully fund it, even if it takes a soft-drink tax similar to the one that built the Medical Center at WVU.

Charles Raad

Charleston

Climate change requires action

Editor:

Your editorial concludes, "The coal industry and many West Virginia politicians will brush off all new evidence -- as they've done with previous findings -- but millions of Americans are watching wild weather extremes and deciding it's time to get serious about global warming."

These serious Americans should call their representatives and senators and ask them to support legislation affixing a gradually rising fee on carbon, returning all collected revenues to the public. This legislation will spur the expansion of clean energy, create more jobs than any pipeline or coal mine, and keep carbon emissions down. These serious Americans should also demand that both President Obama and Mitt Romney lay out in detail their plans to combat climate change and stand with science.

D.R. Tucker

Brockton, Mass.

Make sure young receive vaccinations

Editor:

As students are starting a new school year, the West Virginia Association of School Nurses has an important message: Make sure your preteens and teens are up-to-date on their meningococcal vaccinations.

Many are not. Public health officials just released a report showing that although West Virginia's meningococcal vaccination rates have improved, 45 percent of our adolescents have not been vaccinated against meningitis, a rare but serious disease that can kill a child in just one day.

Vaccination is the best way to help prevent the disease. Parents need to make sure their children are vaccinated beginning at age 11 or 12, and health officials also recommend that teens receive a booster dose by age 18 to help protect them during the years they're at greatest risk.

With their children back in school, parents shouldn't delay getting them vaccinated. For adolescents, many activities that go hand-in-hand with school, such as sharing water bottles or eating utensils and kissing, can actually increase their risk of contracting meningitis.

Melanie Kearns

Winfield