ILL WIND: CANCER STUDIES vs. CANCER STORIES IN BELLEVUE

On Thursday April 27, I was invited to an after-tax party. Instead, I went to the Monsignor Malikowski Center in Cheektowaga to hear a New York State Department of Health (DOH) report of a cancer health study done in Bellevue. I think I made the wrong choice.

Surveys of any kind pose difficulties for a variety of reasons, such as the sample employed, the apathy of the recipients and the source of the information used. When people move out or into an area, inclusion becomes an issue. The DOH accepted the fact that there were limiting considerations and that their work wasn’t perfect. The conclusion of the study was that the cancer found was what was expected, compared to a similar group. Of course, if you do a comparison to another area that is infected with cancer, that conclusion isn’t very assuring or significant. Also, I don’t expect any cancer, but that’s me.

I made the scene that night because I lived on Borden Road in Depew at my parents’ house from 1953 to 1968, downwind of the quarry and landfills in Bellevue. Since 1998, I have had cancer three times, having my prostate removed as well as my colon shortened twice. Nonetheless, I still have plenty of colon remaining. However, I do not want any more cancer of any type. My sister Pat also resided at that same home from the late 1950s to 1980 and she was diagnosed and treated for ovarian cancer a few years ago. She’s a survivor but she went through a very difficult time.

When I worked in Rochester a few years ago, I met a gentleman who bought a house 60 miles from here. Before that Frank lived on Franzen near Borden and Losson. His mom died of cancer and his father was diagnosed with prostate cancer some time ago. I’m not sure if he is still alive. Frank also mentioned that many people in the neighborhood have either died from cancer or are currently battling the disease. Many of these victims were very young. On the evening of the health report, I met a woman, now living in that neighborhood, who related more instances of cancer there. My friend Bill mentioned that his cousin died of cancer, and she lived in that same area.

At the meeting, my sister started making a list of more Cheektowagans who have succumbed—it wasn’t small. My mother used to walk out her door and head across the field to get her hair done. She doesn’t do that anymore because her hairdresser died from cancer at a young age, as did her husband. My mother has mentioned others in town who have died from the dreaded disease or who are struggling to overcome it. Spend some time with other people who live in the area and you will hear endless accounts of the same.

My sister felt the same way I did upon hearing of the details of the report and she held nothing back—I was really proud of her. She reminded me of Elaine in the restaurant selling soup on Seinfeld—she got her gumbo and refused to put up with the soup Nazi. The DOH showed up that night doing all it could to be in control, but that didn’t last very long.

It’s an established fact that Bellevue has above normal occurrences of lupus, asthma and autoimmune diseases because of the industry in the area, not to mention cancer. So how can this reassuring report by the DOH be reconciled with all the conflicting facts? I think the answer is quite simple: Flawed, limited and prejudicial surveys are insignificant and meaningless in the face of the documented evidence to the contrary. Perhaps DOH stands for “Don’t Overlook Hallucinogens.”

Robert S. Swiatek

Buffalo

THIS IS BUFFALO HIP-HOP

It’s good to see a well known local magazine like yours stepping up and shedding some positive light on some true musical talent in Buffalo (“This Is Buffalo Hip-Hop,” Artvoice v5n16). Local hip-hop doesn’t get a lot of recognition, or press, unless its negative. A quality article like this in Artvoice will help shed positive light on the local scene, which does get shunned for the most part. The article will hopefully spark more interest going forward and get people to come out to events. I think many people hear of a hip-hop event and immediately think violence, but it’s just not like that. Not to mention many hip-hop fans out there, and there are many, may not even know about the local events going on due to the lack of this kind of press.

DJ Rukkus

Deep Thinka Records

Buffalo

On The Thruway Tolls

In response to the letter sent in by Michael Willet (Artvoice v5n16):

There are numerous things I agree with Michael on: empty promises by politicians, a lack of addressing the real issues and social ills, environmental problems, etc.

However, I strongly disagree with his argument that removing the tolls may be worse for the Western New York area and the majority of his reasoning to back up the continued collection in our area.

Tolls are collected, or are intended to be collected, to help maintain highways. As with many taxes and fees the lines are blurred when it comes to spending that money. How can Michael think the tolls collected here are spent exclusively here? Just north of New York City I-84 is a 71-mile interstate with three travel/rest stops and not one toll. I-84 directly allows commuters from Connecticut and New Jersey to cut through New York State without paying a cent. Remove our toll booths and place one at each end of I-84. That’s the quick and easy answer on how to recoup those lost funds.

Michael refers to two books that state auto drivers are subsidized more than public-run transportation. You can find arguments supporting your viewpoint either way. I Googled to a report by the Thoreau Institute which offers a counter view to the two put forth by Michael as well as other sources that run counter to his argument. According to the institute: “transit subsidies are one hundred times greater than highway subsidies, averaging 50 cents per passenger mile and $2.50 per transit ride. Light-rail subsidies are nearly 250 times greater than highway subsidies” and “the growth in funding has far exceeded the growth in either ridership or fares” in discussing public transportation.

I too would love to see a switch to more use of public transportation, but we have to face facts—there is a very poor extension of public transportation from within Buffalo to the surrounding suburbs. The public transportation within each suburb itself is almost nonexistent. There is transportation; however, the scheduling is not conducive to mass use. Why would a suburban dweller choose to lose an extra one to two hours daily when their commute via auto is one fourth that time? Why would the NFTA extend a wider schedule to the suburbs when ridership is minimal? It’s a catch-22.

How about car pooling? Why not? Even on a part-time basis car pooling would help with the environment. (Don’t blame all the exhaust on autos, either—if you’ve ever been behind a city or school bus, the exhaust spitting out can be nauseating.)

In addition, public transportation within New York City is far more effective than most cities. For commuters who live outside Manhattan that have to pay ferry fees, bridge tolls or thruway tolls—the majority can afford to pay those fees. That is part of their choice to live outside the city.

Greater efficiency within the public transportation and thruway authorities would make our dollars spent work more effectively. I applaud Brian Higgins in particular for every effort he makes to improve the lives of each resident of Western New York.

If you buy into the belief that things will never change, you’re part of the problem. As a community we need to do all we can to develop into an economically thriving center for ourselves, those “selfish baby boomers” and the generations to come.

Mary Burke

Williamsville

THE HOUSE ALWAYS LIES

The lies and obfuscations regarding the no-win Buffalo casino deal continue to flow fast and furiously as Barry Snyder tries to find a new way virtually every day to explain away his being caught with his hand in the community cookie jar. He and his phony corporation have been lying since the beginning of this whole process—from the phony land corporation, to where the gamblers will come from, to how much land they are going to buy, to how much the city will have to pay for the privilege of letting them open their money-draining casino, etc.

Joe Golombek continues to press the Senecas to put everything in writing, which is commendable, but at this time I believe that all parties should be seeking to simply kill this deal. Very tellingly, Snyder is objecting fiercely to the idea that he should putting anything in writing. Come on, folks. What kind of man are you dealing with here? Do you actually trust this guy for a minute? I have maintained all along that this whole thing was built on lies and backroom handshakes between dishonorable people including Pataki and Snyder and passed on to a virtually comatose Mayor Masiello in the guise of a good deal for Buffalo. As Masiello was desperate to accomplish something before he left office, he was the perfect foil.

Well, this deal was nothing to brag about, unless accomplishing the destruction of Buffalo can be listed as a positive. Buffalo Common Council and Mayor Brown: Wake up. Kill this deal before it does what greedy and unconscionable men have set out to do, before Buffalo is pinned to the ground by this foolishness for many years to come. Please, do your duty to protect and defend Buffalo and her citizens and let’s work together to bring meaningful jobs and worthwhile development to our beautiful city. Buffalo can be great once again. This rotten deal is not the answer.

Allen Coniglio

Lockport

CORRECTION: On page 14 of last week’s Artvoice (“Power Failure,” v5n17) we made two boneheaded mistakes in a photo caption. That is Mario Cuomo, not Andrew; and that is not a young Joel Giambra but rather a young Ed Rutkowski, the former Erie County executive. We apologize for the errors.