Opinion

More letters

The Star's weekly juxtaposition of columns by Molly Ivins and Ann Coulter provides, independent of their politics, abundant examples of what constitutes good writing. And bad. Ivins always has a thesis, which she communicates to the reader early on. She supports that thesis in an organized, logical fashion, with information and quotations that can be verified easily, and sums matters up in a concise conclusion. The voice that emerges from her columns is warm and witty, which suggests Ivins takes her subjects more seriously than she does herself. Coulter, on the other hand, often appears to have begun writing without having first arrived at a clearly-defined topic. Her purpose being to attack and belittle those with whom she disagrees rather than to attract the reader to her position by logic and systematic persuasion. Once the reader moves past the self-important voice, Coulter's columns can be quite entertaining, but for reasons that Coulter could not have intended. Tom Sanders

Tucson

I am writing this letter with deep sadness in my heart, but with gratitude I don't believe I can express in these few words to a wonderful and devoted group of teachers and staff at Carden Christian Academy Central where my son just graduated from the eighth grade. His first year of middle school was spent in public school, where he was bullied. The past two years he has been at Carden, and I cannot tell you the difference it has made in his life. Not only in the amount of genuine love they have given to him and every child, but academically, my son has come up several grade levels. I would like to thank his teacher, Mrs. Diane Buzzell, for that. Also, special thanks to Pastor Gary and Dianna Marquez who got in late last night from taking the eighth-grade class on a four-day trip to Disneyland! Jennifer Baker and family

Tucson

Forty years ago, the University of Arizona Library announced it would sponsor a campus-wide exhibit honoring President John F. Kennedy.

When "The Pictorial Kennedy" opened, it would be the largest exhibit in the history of the University of Arizona, displayed in five buildings, occupying more than 1,000 square feet of display area. JFK's chief White House counsel, Ted Sorenson, toured the show and said he had never seen anything like it. Eventually, the material would be given to the Kennedy Library. I had the privilege of chairing the exhibit, which was based on my own collection of Kennedy material, and as I look back over 40 years, I can only think how extraordinary the UA's achievement was, how it managed to do something that no other school in the U.S. could equal. I live in Northern California now, but my heart will always be in Tucson, firmly rooted in the great tradition that makes Tucson the exceptional city it is. A.J. Buttacavoli

Oakland, Calif.

Our outrage to the war in Iraq is being kept in check by an almost total lack of media coverage. This is because all coverage is being carefully controlled by the current collection of clowns in Washington. The Bush administration is terrified of anything other than the most sanitized publicity. They know that a huge public outcry would result from the wrong kind of news coverage. Our outrage against this war should have begun long ago when the current gaggle of liars seized the power of the presidency and made it a mockery. Our outrage should have doubled when our young people were sent to Iraq on the basis of a monumental lie. Our outrage should have then grown exponentially when we realized that the news we were getting from the Middle East had been substantially cleaned up. Let's have the public outcry that finally ended the mess during the Vietnam era. It is the only sure way of preventing future forays into parts of the world where we have no business. A. Roy Olson

Vietnam veteran, Tucson

Living in Tucson since 1981, I'm intimately familiar with the "Old Pueblo's" summers. I remember college days studying by the pool in January. Or, during the 1980s, we would count how many days we reached 100 degrees in a row and would fry eggs on sidewalks. I still have the pictures to prove it! I remember dealing with the noxious daytime temperatures, watching and praying the big clouds forming would unleash a spectacular lightning storm. Then, going up the Mount Lemmon highway, pulling off at one of the stops overlooking the Tucson Valley to watch the lightning dancing across the city. The heat makes us grumpy, but the "show" makes it worth it, at least to us longtime "desert rats." Margie Wrye

Tucson

Tucsonan Jennifer Allen of the Border Action Network received 30 minutes of national exposure on C-Span recently. Her comments calling people who don't see things from her perspective "racist" shouldn't go unchallenged. She told the interviewer that the need to fill jobs in the U.S. is so great that her organization sanctions illegal immigration. But she never used those words, stating it with such a spin that her statements fell back on the term "economic need." She avoided the words "illegal immigration." With the 20,000,000 illegal immigrants already in this country, will we ever reach a point of saturation? While this organization, and others like it, openly sanction illegal activities, they turn on citizens who are law-abiding and speak out about this law-breaking activity. American citizens witnessing the deterioration of life due to out-of-control illegal immigration see the Jennifer Allens of this world as "the pot calling the kettle black." Jodi Smith

Tucson

I don't get it. Where is the outrage? With more than 1,600 American service men and women dead in Iraq and with a war based on lies and deception, the American media and American people are still mute. Both the media and people should be one voice, calling for some semblance of responsibility from the president. But no, there is nothing. Hardly a day goes by that an American soldier is not killed in this wasteful war and the story buried on an inside page of the paper. Instead, the numbers should be plastered on the front page in the boldest of headlines until the president is compelled to resign or is impeached. I just don't get it and likely never will. Richard Gottlieb

Tucson

In response to the May 25 article "McCain clout on rise after filibuster battle": Such self-grandiosity from Sen. McCain and the nefarious group of 14 "moderate" senators who worked out a compromise deal on the "nuclear option." The fact is if these "moderate" senators, particularly the Republicans, possessed any political courage, they would have simply voted "no" when Sen. Frist brought the "nuclear option" to a vote. As shown in polls, a large percentage of the American people wanted the filibuster rule to stay in place. Polls also reveal that only 33 percent of citizens approve of the way Congress is doing their job. The "nuclear option" deal can be added to all the other reasons why we no longer trust members of Congress. Jackie Dorr

Huachuca City

In response to the May 21 Jim Kiser opinion "McCain bucks GOP, gets respect": Jim Kiser, purposefully, avoids the point. We do have laws against many things, but judges decide these laws to be invalid and/or make law themselves, forcing the masses to take the only course left to them locally or nationally - amend the Constitution. The Democrats in the Senate are complaining that the Republicans are trying to pack the courts with right-wing conservative judges, who they say are out of the mainstream. They, of course, would like to pack the court with left-wing liberal judges, who float in their stream. So, to keep either side from legislating from the bench, amendments to the constitutions, both at the state and federal level, are becoming necessary. Too bad. Irwin Feiles

Tucson

As I write this, I'm listening to the Tucson Police Department's beloved helicopter circling, yet again, over my neighborhood. I'm wondering whether it really is necessary. I know that in other cities, one doesn't hear police helicopters constantly circling, and I think it makes a bad impression on visitors to our city. Will Nelson

Software developer, Tucson

In response to the May 28 article "Taser's president takes 50,000 volts as part of the job": The taser is not new. The spotlight and controversy involving the taser are new. The fact is that the taser is a non-lethal weapon when used on some people, but absolutely lethal when used on others. The modern police officer looks for a weapon that will allow him to control a situation without personally engaging anyone. Rubber bullets, mace and pepper spray are mechanisms employed today. That was not the case in the past. In the past, officers were selected because they had the ability, temperament and courage to exert control over a situation without the employment of deadly force. Those officers were such that if deadly force became necessary, it was employed instinctively. Such an officer made mistakes, but not as many as are made today when these non-lethal mechanisms are employed. John Lyon

Tucson

In response to the May 24 article "City may get faith-based advocate": Like any issue, there will be those who will express horror at the very notion of faith-based collaboration. There will be struggles to accept, and an even greater struggle to compromise. In the challenge of providing solace and comfort to those oppressed by circumstances, models already exist. Some are faith-based and some are secular. The Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Red Cross is a secular example. The question of faith is never surfaced, although many volunteers and staff are people of faith. Their common focus is compassion and humanitarianism. The Tucson Planning Council for the Homeless is another example. Its member organizations are both secular and faith-based. The idea of an instrumentality within city government to act as an encouraging entity to harness the power of the faith community is both timely and awesome! You go, Councilman Leal! Don Blascak

Community volunteer, Tucson

Before I became a teacher, I assumed that a ratio of 22-1 meant that the average class had 22 students. Now I know that the ratio is determined by dividing a school's student body by the number of certified employees, including librarians, instructional coaches and other faculty members who do not teach their own classes. For example, at my small Tucson Unified School District school on the Southwest Side, this year's first-grade classes hovered around 30 students (sometimes one or two more or fewer). This is not unusual, but the general public would never know it from reading the official student-teacher ratio statistics! Martha Welsh Vasquez

TUSD teacher, Vail