Psychiatric care given due diligence
I would like to clarify what I said to your reporter Bob Skolnik (“Stabbing suspect to undergo psych evaluation,” May 9), as his interpretation of my comment to him was erroneous.
What I told him was this: If a person comes to our Emergency Department with psych issues, our psych team will be called in to do a complete evaluation. If the evaluation determines that psychiatric care was needed, the patient would be transferred to another facility where inpatient psych care is offered, as Loyola does not offer inpatient psychiatric care. If the evaluation showed that the patient was not in need of psychiatric care, the patient would be released.
My concern is that the way Bob wrote it makes it seem like our ER patients who need psych care are merely released. The truth is that every patient who needs psych care is transferred to a facility where it is available. Only those whose evaluations show no need for psychiatric care are released.
Anne Dillon
Director, Media ServicesLoyola University Health System
Maywood
Student success
On Tuesday, May 8, I was very pleased to attend the Forest Park Middle School’s 2007 National Junior Honor Society Induction and Honor Ceremony. A total of 68 students were honored and inducted.
To be inducted to the National Junior Honor Society a student is required to display service and citizenship. Each must provide a minimum of 10 hours of service to their community. Also, each student must display leadership in the classroom and community. They must also have the scholarship requirement met by having a minimum GPA of 3.5 out of 4.0.
These are high standards for sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Sixty-eight were up to the task and were celebrated. When the program began in 2003 the charter membership numbered less than 20. The number grows each year!
I was dismayed not to find the Forest Park Review on hand to help in the celebration of the future of our community. You write stories of low standardized test scores, which reflect only a small percentage of the school population, yet you don’t jump at a chance to praise those who achieve high standards?
You should come and spend time in the middle school and see the great achievements all the students make and see how the teachers are working with the student’s best interests at heart.
We have dedicated and ultra-professional staff of teachers, support staff and administration at our middle school. Come and experience our future as it learns and grows into fine young adults.
Joe Mullen
Forest Park
On gun control
Those who give statistics on the number of people should know that the defensive use of firearms in this country is numbered between 1.5 and 6 million times a year. The Clinton era anti-gun number was 1.5 million. The conservative estimate is 2.5 million. Guns save lives. www.vcdl.org.
Bruce Jackson
Stafford, Va.
PTO says thanks
The Betsy Ross PTO would like to publicly thank the local businesses and organizations that made generous donations to our Spring Fling Raffle and Fundraiser. They are: Chris Guillen Photography, Geo’s Automotive, Park District of Forest Park, Shanahan’s, Oak Park Jewelers/Mike Ross, McGaffers Inc., Trage Brothers, Ed’s Way, La Maison de BonBon, Forest Park National Bank, Starship Restaurant, Forest Park Main Street, Pampered Chef/Denise Murray, Lake Theater, Village Players, Flavour Cooking School, Illinois Railway Museum, Molly Malone’s, Louie’s Grill, Hemingway Museum, Military and Police Supply, Forest Park Fraternal Order of Police, Healy’s Westside, Erik’s Deli, Zanie’s Comedy Club, Pumpkin Moon, Old Country Buffet, Winberie’s Restaurant, Circle Bowling Lanes, Quitsch Florist, Mrs. Westol, Schauer’s Ace Hardware, Forest Park Firefighter’s Union, Animal Rentals Inc., and the Betsy Ross staff and parent volunteers, as always we appreciate their generosity.
It is wonderful to be supported by our close knit community. They helped make the night a success.
Mary Flanagan, The Betsy Ross PTO
Forest Park
Reunion plans
Looking for classmates from Grant White 1957-1961 for reunion. Helen Woodchick, Larry Biddinger, Lori Kasper, Craig Olsen, Stephen Rhodes, Kathy Cribbs. Please contact John Tricoci at (708) 768-4376.
John Tricoci
Forest Park
Absentee landlords
This is in response to the letter entitled “Resident Fed Up” from the May 9 issue. I have owned a home on the same block of Circle for 11 years and I can assure you that the people who own the homes on the block and live here DO keep their yards very clean. Our lawns are cut and our garbage is cleaned up. I even have cleaned up garbage from the company across the street that does nothing to keep its property clean.
The issue you (and I) have is with the absentee landlords who for some reason that I have never understood, don’t care what happens to their property or who lives there. The building next to me is a perfect example since I have had to call the village twice about pieces of the building falling in front of my door. It makes no sense to me why people who claim they’re investing in property don’t care much about their investment. These landlords (who seem more like slumlords these days) don’t seem to understand overcrowding either.
Using the same example I spoke of earlier, I can count at least six or seven people in a two bedroom apartment next to me when the limit is supposed to be four. This leads me to believe that there is at least a partial link between the problems at Betsy Ross School and this issue of overcrowding. Since I haven’t noticed any new houses or buildings going up around our neighborhood, I am assuming that this growth in kids hanging around has to do with crowded conditions at home.
In conclusion, I’m sure a lot of the homeowners on Circle do not want to be put in a category of being “ghetto” since we are not the issue. Take some time to take a good look at the neighborhood; you would see that the problem homes are not the majority.
Chris Payne
Forest Park
