“These diseases are caused by exposure to ionizing radiation,” says one reader.

Expand to every children’s hospital in the country

I thought this story sounded familiar [“We’ll always ride with Emilio,” cover story, September 21].

Elizabeth Ireland Lanz

As I kept reading, I realized that I had heard it before from my friend Pam, whose son, like Emilio, had childhood leukemia. She traveled to San Diego to meet Richard to discuss his non-profit organization. She started a similar one in East Lansing, Michigan when she realized so many children were missing medical appointments due to lack of transportation. As bad as it is to wait around for transportation with an ill child, how would you like to do that in the cold too?

I am sorry that Richard’s son did not survive. I am happy to say that Pam’s son is well and is now a Junior in college. Two different parents, two similar illnesses, two different outcomes, but one same response. I hope that “Ride with Emilio” does expand to every children’s hospital in the country. Thanks for highlighting this situation and solution in your cover story.

• Michele Lagoy
• Encanto

These diseases are caused by exposure to ionizing radiation

In the feature article “We’ll Always Ride For Emilio” (September 21, 2017), I was saddened to read about all these young cancer patients around San Diego County.

The article mentions one patient from Carlsbad, CA whose parents took him to North County Health Services with symptoms of lethargy and fever with shortness of breath. NCHS sent them to Rady’s where they learned about six-year-old Anthony Hernandez’s diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic lymphoma.

North County Health Services is where I took my son for dental and medical care. If I were employed there, I would perhaps reexamine some of the procedures mandated by insurance providers and look into the causes of leukemia and lymphoma. These diseases are caused by exposure to ionizing radiation. Chances are, given the age of these patients, that they were exposed in the womb or in their early childhood.

At Mission Mesa Dental on El Camino Real in Oceanside, which is part of the NCHS network, children receive dental x-rays every six months as part of the routine check in procedure. Experts like Dr. Ernest Sternglass and Dr. Helen Caldicott would advise against administering x-rays to children because their cells are rapidly dividing and the radiation from the gamma rays penetrates the skin and actually mutates your DNA. The mutated cells divide and take over and overwhelm the healthy disease fighting cells. Low-level radiation over time is actually worse for you than one large dose. This is why Hiroshima bomb victims survived better than many of the temp workers at nuclear power plants. There is no such thing as a safe dose of radiation. Children are ten times as sensitive as adults and unborn babies are a thousand times as sensitive. Pregnant women have to be cautious about environmental hazards and avoid all radiological procedures.

Had I gone to Rady’s, who knows what the diagnosis might have been. I am sure they mean well, but I just wish there were some alternate treatments for these kids that don’t kill off all their healthy cells along with the diseased cells. Finding a cure would happen sooner if there was a medical environment that made room for differences of opinion. To assume the USA is the best when it comes to healthcare would be dead wrong. Native Americans cured every disease with plants and Chinese have used acupuncture for centuries. But the cure to cancer lies in prevention. Shutting down all the nuclear power plants and weapons factories would eliminate most of it. Using common sense when it comes to medical procedures using radiation might help curb the childhood cancer rate too.

The point of my letter is that the Emilio Nares foundation is in a wonderful position to help a lot of people, even beyond what they are doing now. They have the ages and the addresses of so many children with cancer. With this information, perhaps Richard Nares could partner up with someone who focuses on looking for patterns among the population. Find out where the kids went to school, what they eat, where they were born, where their mothers lived when they were pregnant, and where they lived when their symptoms really took a turn for the worse. You can’t trust the government to be forthcoming with any of that information. These kinds of studies are so valuable and hard to come by. Dr. Joseph Magano and Dr. Chris Busby are two people doing this great work, but they could use some help on the West Coast.

We have entire cities secretly built on top of nuclear weapons factories like World War 2. Niagra Falls, NY and St Louis Missouri come to mind, and that is fact. Not conspiracy. For all we know, the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant has pieces and parts buried right here in Oceanside or Carlsbad. They would never tell anyone. In fact, they would probably create an elaborate ruse to make us think it was moved out of state in the dark of the night. A lame-brained developer would put condos right on top of a buried steam generator if they thought they could get away with it.

So let’s start asking questions from all these passengers. Ask about medical procedures, proximity to nuclear sources. Ask where they were in March and April of 2011 when Fukushima blew. I wish I could ride along and get this information. With this kind of knowledge, think of how many more cancers we could prevent just by raising awareness. After all, the race for a cure must begin at its source.

• Laurel Kaskurs
• Oceanside

Coach Burgess is not Mother Teresa

Re: “Coronado water-polo coach banned from campus,” City Lights, September 21.

I would think that in the interest of journalistic objectivity you would counter balance your article with interviews of a couple of former players and/or player’s family members. There are literally thousands still around Southern California, so it wouldn’t require too much effort to track them down.

Burgess is not Mother Teresa in his approach, no doubt about it. But when you look at the vast successes of his former players, a huge majority of them will credit Burgess for the discipline they needed as teenagers to get to where they are now.

He has decades of teaching and coaching. In sheer numbers alone, there’s bound to be some sour apples. His brash style surely has annoyed a few people along the way. But they a very small minority. Your article certainly painted a different portrait that what is reality.

But reality really isn’t your thing. You do remember the gang rape at the University of Virginia, don’t you?

• Doni Corcoran
• Coronado

Burgess taught the hardest of life lessons

Re: “Coronado water-polo coach banned from campus,” City Lights, September 21.

Recently Coach Burgess, a beloved member of the Coronado School District with over 30 years of devotion to our students and athletes, was accused of abuse by a former student who graduated over five years ago and whom Coach Burgess does not recall meeting. The accusations are serious.

“Coach Burgess has been a fixture in the Coronado community for over three decades.”

The San Diego District Attorney reviewed the evidence and, after reviewing the evidence, did not file a single charge against Coach Burgess or take any further action.

The accusations were also brought to the Coronado School District. The District immediately and illegally suspended Coach Burgess. There was no search for the truth; Coach Burgess was not given an opportunity to defend himself. He remains on suspension and has been given no time frame for his reinstatement.

Coach Burgess has been a fixture in the Coronado community for over three decades. He has gone to extraordinary measures to teach the hardest of life lessons — namely that hard work, accountability, and humility pay off and that the inverse results in less than your full potential. His programs have been a breeding ground for extraordinary people, including three United States Olympians and over twenty Navy SEALs. As a teacher and coach, Coach Burgess has molded and improved the lives of thousands of Coronado students.

We are appalled at the actions of the administrators of the Coronado School District, namely Superintendent Mueller and Assistant Superintendent Beyers, and we demand that they are held accountable for their illegal actions.

This page is a place for the people who have been positively impacted by Coach Burgess to share their stories.

Coach Burgess could use your kind words as he works through obtaining full reinstatement.

Please share and leave your comments on this board.

• “Team We Stand with Randy,” John McCauley and Layne Beaubien
• facebook.com/westandwithrandy

“Rocky Burger’s,” close enough

Dear Reader,

We’re truly disappointed after reading your article in the September 14 issue about the best burgers in San Diego [cover story, “Burgers”].

How could you, in all good conscience, not include Rocky Burger’s [Rocky’s Crown Pub] in Pacific Beach on Ingraham Street? Rocky’s has been known for their burgers for almost 40 years. You really missed it on this one.

• Susi and Woody Porter (natives of Mission Beach and Clairemont, respectively)
• Ramona

Taco Taco, 100 for 1 dollar

On page 42 of the San Diego Reader, September 7, there is an advertisement for Taco Taco, “Home of the .99 cent Fish Taco.”

In case you can’t see the mistake, like most people can’t, it says .99 cents. That is, “point” 99 cents. I won’t give a big lesson on decimals, but most people know that .5 or .50 is one half.

Correct! That’s .5, or 5 tenths, and .50 is 50 one-hundredths. Well, .99 means 99 one-hundredths, which is very close to 100 one-hundredths, which is 1. Therefore, a taco for .99 cents, according to the advertisement, should cost very close to 1 penny. Meaning you should be able to get 10 of them for 10 cents, or 100 of them for 1 dollar (actually, 99 cents).

And I’ll have the salsa verde with them, por favor. Muchas gracias!

• Allen Stanko
• Alpine