Letters

LETTERS

People like Sippie Wallace have been overlooked for too long by the musical "establishment" and I feel it's up to papers like the SUN to set things straight.

Dear SUN,

Just a word of correction concerning your last issue.

The song "You Got to Know How" which you quoted as being Bonnie Raitt's was actually written by Sippie Wallace in the '20s. I think it's important that people be aware of the roots of the music they listen to; people like Sippie Wallace have been overlooked for too long by the musical "establishment" and I feel that it's up to papers like the SUN to set things straight. Your error is especially ironic because Bonnie herself has recorded these songs to give Sippie the public exposure she deserves.

Incidentally, Sippie Wallace lives in Flint or whereabouts (I could be wrong) and sings every Sunday in a local church. Her only public appearance in many years was at the A2 Blues and Jazz Festival '72, as you may recall. She made many records in the '20s and her reissued recordings are available on albums (the easiest to get is probably a record called Women In the Blues on the RCA Vintage label). I think that "You Go to Know How" appears on an English album on the Storyville label, but I'm not sure.

At any rate, I encourage people to listen to these tunes and learn a little more about the great music Sippie and others blues women have made and continue to make.

Thanks,

Sarah Brown

Ann Arbor

Astrological birth control sounded great -- 98 percent effective -- but the hang up was that I didn't even know how to calculate when my astrological fertility period was.

Dear SUN,

Sometime in 1971 I happened upon a review of a book that had an article entitled "Astrological Birth Control"; it was included in a book entitled Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain by Sheila Ostrander and Lynn Schroder, Prentice Hall, published in 1970. So I acquired a copy and read that chapter immediately. It sounded great, 98% effective. The hang-up was that I didn't even know how to calculate or even what to calculate to know when my astrological fertility period was. But now there is a book available that explains how, in simple terms. It's called The Natural Birth Control Book, by Art Rosenblum and Leah Jackson, Published by Aquarian Research Foundation.

The book starts out by explaining why the rhythm method does not work. Then it explains why the astrological method alone does not work. It explains that women have the potential to have two ovulations. One is going to happen, no matter what, as part of the natural 28 day cycle and corresponds directly to the menstrual period. This is easy to watch if you know the symptoms. Even if the cycle is irregular (as mine is), if you watch for the symptoms it is easy to see as it is happening, when it is happening. The other ovulation can happen during a period which is related to the time of her birth and relative to the positions of the sun and the moon. I say "can" becuase they have proven that this only happens if conditions are right. I.E., if a woman has an orgasm or merely gets turned on sufficiently during this period she may ovulate.

I cannot tell you how much this book has meant to me. I have a better understanding of myself and of my body functions. The book is very dubious of artificial means of birth control and suggests abstaining during fertile periods. But if you do use a diaphragm or foam, etc., you would find this method a great help because you would know when you needed it and when you didn't. The book even suggests the method for women who have a coil or take the pill because of their percentages of ineffectiveness.

The method has also proven effective for women who were having trouble conceiving. There is a whole chapter devoted to the various astrological times when a woman may conceive a boy or a girl. It also points to times when it would be possible to conceive a child with birth defects. 

I have been using this method for about four months and have learned more about my physical self that I have learned in all my 22 years. I would recommend this book to anyone, even men have much to gain from this book.

This book can be purchased by sending $3 and a written request to Aquarian Research Foundation, c/o Tao Publications, 31 Farnsworth St., Boston, Mass. - 02210

-Ann Hoover

Montgomery, Mich.

We are treated inhumanely at the Forensic Center in Ypsilanti, worse than any prison. We have no therapy and rarely see the doctors.

Dear Sir, This letter is pertaining to the treatment of mental patience as the Forensic Center at the Ypsilanti state hospital. We are treated inhumanely, worse than any prison. We have no therapy and all we have to do all day is play ping-pong and pool. We rarely see the doctors and they never take us out to the yard which is 20 feet by 20 feet. There are people who do have charges but there are also people here who have been found not guilty by reason of insanity. We are handcuffed wherever we go and we are searched when we leave and when we come back from wherever we go. Even if we have no charges. We have only 1 ground card patience for about 150 patients which is ridiculous. We need help to make this place better to live in and that's why I am writing you. Most of the staff smokes dope but when they come to work they and bust us for doing it. If you don't believe me come and check it out for yourselves. You can't miss it, it's the place with the 20-foot high electric fence. Thank you for taking the time for reading my letter.

-Brett Little

Ann Arbor