LETTERS

MISSING EVIDENCE



SOMEONE DIDN’T DO his homework. Your August issue’s article on criminal lawyers [“The Defense Never Rests”] was grossly incomplete without Fred Time. One can only assume that Freddy’s star shines so much brighter than the rest that you are saving him for a special one-on-one piece for a future issue.

Bette Epstein

Dallas



FOR THE FIRST half of my 57 years, my Dallas correspondents were Maury Hughes and Ted Monroe. It is not my policy to accept cases in a jurisdiction where there are adequately prepared local lawyers. Maury and Ted were such. There were very few other qualified criminal lawyers in Dallas.

Now Dallas has an outstanding group of criminal lawyers. Among them are Frank Wright, Frank Jackson and Bruce Anton. I know when I refer a case to any of these gentlemen that it will be handled as well and as conscientiously as I could handle it. I don’t mean that there aren’t others as adequately prepared to try a criminal case, but these three men are, in my opinion, top criminal lawyers.

Percy Foreman

Foreman & DeGeurin

Houston



STRUGGLE AT FORT WORTH STATE SCHOOL



KATHERINE DINSDALE’S article on the Fort Worth State School [“Rights for the Retarded,” September] was interesting and informative. It also infuriated me that there are those crusading to close down this vital, important facility for 482 handicapped youth and adults.

Why in all decency don’t these “crusaders” put those funds and energies into correcting what they perceive to be faults of the school instead of wasting time and money trying to destroy it?

Virginia L. Oldham

Dallas



AS A FORMER employee of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation [TDMHMR], I read Katherine Dinsdale’s article with interest. I was pleased to see her present both sides of the FWSS argument.

The issue of controlling client abuse in state institutions is multifaceted. From my nine years of experience, I can safely say that the administration of TDMHMR facilities is concerned about client abuse. However, they can only take action when the abuse is reported. The good news from FWSS is that 10 times, employees of that facility cared enough about their clients to risk retaliation and alienation from fellow staff members to come forward when things went wrong. The uncovering of client abuse is, for the most part, dependent on employees policing themselves.

A reality that must be considered is that work with the mentally retarded or mentally ill is extremely difficult. The conditions are often unpleasant at best. Staffing ratios are minimal in most cases because there is only so much money available. Direct-care work with the mentally retarded or mentally ill persons is one of the most stressful jobs around. The personal rewards are few, but, fortunately, they make the difference for most TDMHMR employees.

Randy Pennington

Carrollton



KATHERINE DINSDALE’S article was of interest and concern to all those in the Metroplex who serve persons who are mentally retarded. It may help your Dallas readers to know that the article’s report of a movement to close all state institutions for the mentally retarded refers to a position taken by the Texas Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC), not by the Dallas ARC.

The board of directors of the Dallas ARC supports the position that all persons, regardless of their disabilities, are entitled to the option of community living. The board endorses a change in emphasis to small, community-based residential alternatives. We do not, however, support the total phase-out of quality state-operated institutions, because we feel that a broad range of service modalities can best meet individual needs. We strongly advocate quality in residential, educational and all other services and decry any infringement of the rights of persons who are mentally retarded, wherever it might take place-within state schools, in private facilities, at home or in treatment centers.

The quality of treatment for our mentally retarded citizens is of importance to all Texans. We appreciate D Magazine’s focus on this sensitive issue.

Eileen Bruni

Executive Director

Dallas ARC



IN YOUR ARTICLE concerning Fort Worth State School’s current crisis, several references were made to the possibility of community placement for the state school’s clients. While this idea is good in principle, community placement does not guarantee improvement in the client’s programming. Community placement of the mentally retarded without adequate programming is like being placed in the hospital with no medications available.

As a former employee of the state school’s community program, I can verify that clients can continue to have inadequate care in the community. More money, staff and community support are necessary for the adequate care of mentally retarded persons, regardless of their residence.

Angela King

Arlington



AN INDELICATE BALANCE



“Nice Girls Do. Young Girls Do. Most Girls Do” put across a strong message in the August issue of D Magazine. However, on the very next page of this moving article emerges “Making the Grade.” The posture and attitude represented in these photographs are noticeably sexually suggestive, in my opinion.

My complaint is obvious: Poor layout and planning have discredited the sincerity of the meaning of both articles. The articles should not have been arranged back-to-back.

J. Sladek

Dallas



“IRONY: AN ATTITUDE of detached awareness of incongruity…” See also pages 144-147 of the August issue of D,a “fashion spread” portraying 8- or 9-year-old children in provocative, if not sexually explicit, poses. This directly on the heels of a poignant piece by Ruth Miller Fitzgibbons on children bearing children.

Congratulations on a graphic presentation of what I have found to be a major contributor to premature and irresponsible sexual behavior on the part of young people.

Warren W. Buckingham III

Former Director

Dallas Commission on Children and Youth



HOW DISGUSTING YOUR article by Ruth Miller Fitzgibbons on “Nice Girls Do” is! If she would read her own article, she might find a clue as to why we have epidemic proportions of pregnancies and murder in abortion chambers.

How can she say that teen-agers need to know more? They get pregnant because they don’t know enough? They know all about sex; it’s continually thrown at them on TV, in rock music, by teachers and peers. Surely any fool can know that virginity was the norm and teen-age pregnancy uncommon until the past few years. This was the case when sex was not talked about so openly and virginity was considered a virtue. I am only 27, but I can see through this naiveté that holds that the solution is more sex education.

Joyce Bardin

Dallas



RESTAURANT RAVES

PLEASE ALLOW ME to add my “Hear, hear!” to your 9.0 assessment of the French Room in your “Restaurant and Entertainment Guide.” After researching The Adolphus Cookbook, I can verify that the French Room operation represents the highest standards of excellence. The reason for that is worth knowing:

Behind the expertise of manager Michael Hensley and the French Room co-chefs, the two Pascals, stands the authority of consultant master chef Jean Banchet of the well-known Le Francais restaurant in Wheeling, Illinois. It was he who patterned the cuisine selection and presentation style after his own restaurant, then trained the entire staff of Adolphus chefs (seven) at his own place. In his routine monthly visits, Banchet oversees quality control, introduces changes and perfects details down to the last garnish. So, despite any seasonal or executive changes, the French Room remains a class act.

Thank you for an exceptionally good restaurant guide. And, surely, compliments from the chefs!

Joanne Smith

Author

The Adolphus Cookbook

Dallas