Here are the three letters to the editor that were picked as the best during September by the editorial board for The Southern Illinoisan.

Now it's your turn to pick the winning letter and author from the three - the recipient of the monthly Golden Pen Award. Readers of this newspaper and users of our Web site pick the winner each month. The author receives an inscribed gold-colored pen and public recognition of their achievement in a column written by the editor.

The easiest way to vote is online at www.thesouthern.com/goldenpen. It also is possible to vote by mail by noting your favorite letter from this group and sending it to: Editor Gary Metro, The Southern Illinoisan, 710 N. Illinois Ave., Carbondale, IL 62901. Votes will be accepted through Sunday, Oct. 12. The winning letter and author will be recognized before the end of the month.

We deserve better

To the Editor:

A delegation of six members of VFW Post 2605 (Carbondale) attended the recent "town hall meeting" with Veterans Administration Secretary James Peake.

We were concerned about nine unnecessary deaths after surgery at the Marion VA Hospital. As a result of the meeting, we are still concerned.

The secretary assured those present that the responsible officials have been replaced; however, he seemed to have an arrogant attitude toward punishing them, particularly the past director of the hospital, who the VA report found had threatened and intimidated employees and made them fear retribution for reporting malpractices.

When he made a ridiculous comment about it ("We do not do public floggings,") it just made it worse.

It is good that new administrators are now in place, including a nervous new hospital director, and all of them gave assurances that the horrors of the past will not be repeated, but no one provided any specifics. That is the reason we are still concerned.

One bright spot was Sen. Dick Durbin's promise that the Congressional delegation that has done so much to bring the deaths at the Marion hospital to light will stay on top of the situation and will protect employees from retribution.

The bureaucratic shuffling and proposed hiring of qualified surgeons at Marion are steps in the right direction, but the whole culture of the hospital needs to change. Everyone there, from the top down, needs to put the welfare of the patients first. Our veterans deserve nothing less.

David Conrad

Post Commander

VFW Post 2605

Be safe on our roads

To the Editor:

I would like to address this letter to the SIUC administration and students.

School is back in session, and the students and some faculty need to be educated on the dos and don'ts of pedestrian crossings, bicycle and other wheeled vehicle rules and etiquette.

Students step into a crosswalk assuming that all the traffic is aware of their presence and will stop for them. Remember, these drivers are watching other vehicles in addition to you, the pedestrian. Make sure you are seen!

As for the bicyclists, skateboarders and motorized scooter operators, you are not pedestrians. I am not aware of Carbondale's rules for skateboards and motorized scooters, but bicyclists are still supposed to abide by the rules of the road. This includes riding with the traffic, not against it or on the sidewalks; stopping at all stop signs and signal lights and obeying these signals; and using hand signals for turning and stopping.

However, the most frightening are the skateboarders and motorized scooter operators. They zip into the intersection without looking while listening to their MP3 players or talking on their cell phones. You move faster than most drivers are able to react and since you are not on foot, it is up to you to be sure it is safe to proceed.

Everyone is sorry when a pedestrian or bicyclist gets hit by a car. Just remember, it is also your responsibility to make sure it is safe for you to cross the street. The life you save is your own.

Deb Hudson

Murphysboro

Solutions come with a price

To the Editor:

We have failed to adequately fund our mental health system, human services, Department of Natural Resources and pension funds.

SIU and our community colleges must fight to keep adequate funding and often come up short.

Now we want to add on a capital development bill and maybe even universal health care in the near future.

We want all these services and infrastructure, but the fundamental question is are we willing to pay the price?

All state services and infrastructure must be paid for, and the state's source of revenue is taxes. We look to the state as though it has an inexhaustible supply of money. It does not.

No one dislikes taxes more than I do. However, we must exercise self-restraint in asking the state to solve all our problems or we must be willing to pay for the services and infrastructure we demand.

What are we willing to do without? What are we willing to pay for?

Ron Emery

Marion