So which Palin would show up for work?

Sarah Palin's performance at the vice presidential debate was surprisingly competent ("Biden, Palin Spar in Cordial VP Debate," Oct. 3). She in no way resembled the deer-caught-in-the-headlights Sarah who was so roundly mocked and chastised in her previous interviews when she consistently had problems answering the most generic of questions.

This begs the question as to which one would we be getting if she happened to win the office. Obviously she has potential and can be brilliant when properly briefed. But considering the importance of being ready to serve in case of a tragedy, that is too big a risk to take.

We don't need somebody who will be, in fact, learning on the job. That won't get my vote.

BILL SCHWARTZ
Scott

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Inanity with a smile

I have coached and participated in policy debates for eight years -- and Thursday night's VP debate was no policy debate. When an argument is made, a good opponent listens carefully and formulates an argument as a retort to the positions first stated. Maybe Sarah Palin should have been taught this before she went up against Joe Biden.

Sen. Biden spoke on many issues and was passionate, articulate and knowledgeable. Gov. Palin sounded more like a freshman in a high school speech class. She spoke about taxes repeatedly when Mr. Biden was focusing on other issues.

She still doesn't seem to understand what a vice president actually does. However, many Americans felt that she did a good job. Were they listening?

I can't believe that I live in a country where anyone would listen to that and think she won. Then, it occurred to me -- she argued badly, but did so with a pretty smile.

When will Americans wake up and realize that a pretty face will only get you so far -- and that should not be the White House? Being attractive is not going to make up for her lack of experience, her inability to understand fundamental issues like the economy and foreign policy and her horribly anti-woman stance.

I hope that when the polls open, people will vote for who said something intelligent and not who said something while looking nice.

JESSICA DILLON
Dormont

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Her great debate

After all the negative media coverage of Sarah Palin before the debate, the governor "hit it out of the park." She transcended the media and spoke to the people.

Every negative comment by the media was dispelled by her performance.

Oh, by the way, Sen. Joe Biden also attended and was his usual condescending self.

HARRY EDELMAN
Hampton

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Speech mangler

After Thursday night's vice presidential debate, some pundits are now describing Gov. Sarah Palin's speech pattern as "folksy." Puh-lease! It's not "ya," it's "you"; it's not "em," it's "them."

Governor, articulate the "ing" on a verb, instead of saying "fixin', workin', spendin', thinkin'."

As vice president, would she meet with a world leader and say, "Doggone it, Mr. President, I betcha don't want to be addin' more nucular weapons in your country."

We've just had eight years of a president who mangled the English language; do we really need another one?

PHYLLIS GREGOR
Penn Hills

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Confident of beef

As an animal scientist and professor at Penn State University, I know where my beef comes from ("Where's the Beef?" Sept. 21 Forum), and I'm confident we have a very safe and affordable supply of this important protein. Strict and numerous government regulations along with strong industry leadership protect the safety of our beef.

For example, each of the 100 million animals that enter the human food supply annually is closely inspected by veterinarians and trained inspectors. And the inspection system continues throughout the entire process, including careful examination of both raw and fully cooked products.

Plus 100 percent of the country's beef plants have a written food safety plan and must apply one or more additional safety interventions that have been developed, researched and validated by government or university scientists. To me, recalls show the food safety system in this country is working. And the rarity of beef recalls is evidence that our beef supply is safer than ever. Consider we have seen significant decreases from 1996 to 2004, even in light of increased number and sensitivity of tests. The incidence of E. coli-related illnesses has remained at a very low level according to the Centers for Disease Control. Last year, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed lower levels of E. coli in beef, even with triple the testing.

I've got sources for the "good stuff" too -- any Pennsylvania restaurant or grocery store offering beef, because in my experience, it's all safe, wholesome and good for us.

WILLIAM R. HENNING
Emeritus Professor of Animal and Food Science
Penn State University
University Park

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Negligible ANWR

The Sept. 21 "Enough Said" implies that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a good thing. However, the column should be titled "Drilling: Why Bother?" Even though drilling in ANWR would be restricted to a small percentage of the total acreage, the potential yield of 1 million barrels a day is less than 5 percent of the U.S. daily oil consumption of 21 million barrels a day.

The negligible impact of drilling in ANWR can be seen when one realizes that ANWR estimated oil reserves would last less than one year at our current consumption rates. The estimated oil reserves that could be produced by drilling are approximately 5 billion barrels. The U.S. annual consumption is approximately 6.9 billion barrels a year.

If we drilled in ANWR, we would still lean heavily on imported oil and our domestic price would decrease by less than 50 cents a barrel. There are 68 million acres of land in the United States currently leased or designated for oil exploration and production that are not being used, including 9.3 billion barrels of oil in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

We need to allocate our investment dollars toward a long-term strategy of renewable energy resources and not toward single-solution, drill-more-oil strategies that will be burned out in a couple of years. Otherwise, we will be reflecting on why we haven't developed an energy strategy and oil is again at $147 a barrel.

ROBERT MILLER
MEGHAN MILLER
Bethel Park

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Pittsburgh teamwork brings us back

Regarding the Sept. 28 article "Promised Convention Center Boom Hasn't Come": Our steel trade association conducts more than 200 meetings a year around the world. For more than 70 years, our annual steel convention rotated back to Pittsburgh on a regular basis until the mid 1990s, when we outgrew the old convention center and left town for a larger facility.

When Pittsburgh decided to build a new convention center, we were optimistic about the possibility of returning. During our due diligence, we visited convention centers, solicited bids and negotiated with cities from around the country. I can attest to the competitiveness of the industry and the fierce effort every city makes to bring in new business. Although the lack of a large headquarters hotel is a concern, the unique design of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center makes it one of the best facilities in the nation for a technology conference. However, it was the teamwork of VisitPittsburgh and the convention center that secured our commitment to return on a continuing basis.

To emphasize my point, the Materials Science & Technology Conference, and its 4,500 engineers from around the world, is returning to Pittsburgh from today through Oct. 9 for the second time in three years. This event would not be in Pittsburgh without the efforts of Joe McGrath and Craig Davis of VisitPittsburgh working with Mark Leahy and the convention center staff. Their tenacious pursuit of our business has us committed to hold major events at the center in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Although we continue to hold smaller events in other cities, we seek to model Pittsburgh's teamwork approach between the hotels, bureau and center wherever we go.

RON ASHBURN
Executive Director
Association for Iron & Steel Technology
Marshall

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