Editor:

The need to fight for public access to government information has greatly intensified since Sept. 11. The U.S. government spent $6.5 billion last year creating 14 million new classified documents and sealing other information. However, access to government information is crucial for full citizen participation in a democracy.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin recently tried to cover up generous pay raises planned for his highest-paid administrators, while he denied increases for most city workers – nearly 1,700 of whom earn below the federal poverty level. The mayor backed down only after the exposure of the move by The Times-Picayune, whose requests for public records frequently are backed up by litigation.

The federal government tried to hide the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the abuse of detainees in Guantanamo. Databases are taken offline, once-open meetings are closed, and more than 100,000 Homeland Security employees are forced to sign broad “gag” laws or face criminal penalties or loss of their jobs.

A national coalition of concerned citizens is inviting you to celebrate the first national Sunshine Sunday March 13. Visit the Web site (www.sunshineweek.org), become informed, contact your congressman – heck, buy one of those little yellow plastic “Govern in Sunshine” bracelets – and show your support for those hoping to halt the shadow of secrecy threatening to darken our freedom.

S.L. Alexander, Ph.D.aka “Sherry Sunshine”Associate Professor of communications and Louisiana Coordinator of the Sunshine Sunday Committe