elet072209
On the homepage
Sunday's paper
Out There
Scanners
Gas lines
Home | Opinion Exchange | Letters
Readers Write for Wednesday, July 22
Print this story
E-mail this story
Save to del.icio.us
Share on Facebook
Share on Digg
Follow Opinion Exchange on TwitterMore from Letters
GANG INFLUENCE
The Strike Force helped teachers counter it
I was saddened to learn of the Gang Strike Force's troubles because over the years at the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota the Strike Force performed a most valuable service for at least 600 of my students.
Thirty years ago teachers in training did not have to know about gangs in order to be well prepared for their work. Not so today.
The Gang Strike Force would come to my lecture hall with experts who explained the social conditions that made gang membership attractive, how to identify the gang members in one's class by their hand signs and clothing and colors, how gangs were different from organizations such as the Boy Scouts, fraternities and sororities, how members were initiated into gangs, the difficulties of leaving a gang once becoming a member, and what actions teachers could take once a gang member was identified as a student in the class. At end-of-course evaluations, my University of Minnesota students were very positive in their assessments of these lectures.
S. JAY SAMUELS, MINNEAPOLIS
HEALTH CARE REFORM
Yes, but don't burden citizens and economy
I am all for health care reform, especially when it will help 94 percent of nonelderly residents (those not covered by Medicare) and Minnesotan's children who live in poverty. However, there are two things President Obama needs to consider:
First, ensure the new health reform program only applies to U.S. citizens. Second, pay for health care by ending the tax break for employer-provided health benefits, a subsidy that not only artificially pumps up demand for expensive treatments but disproportionately benefits upper-income earners.
American citizens are tired of bearing the burden every time the U.S. government, including Minnesota, needs more money for one project or another. We in Minnesota are out of work, have lost our homes and, more important, our financial system has reduced this state to the lowest level we have seen in many years. Isn't it time Minnesota companies begin hiring people so we can buy more products? Isn't it time we begin building Minnesota up by starting at the TOP, not the bottom?
We want "the American Dream," including jobs, homes, dignity and health care, and we want to restore Minnesota to a prosperous state.
JO ANN ANDERS, SHAKOPEE
DIVE-BOMBING HAWKS?
Here comes the DNR with the final solution
Many questions remain regarding the Case of the Gunned-Down Hawks (front page, July 17). Did the Department of Natural Resources consult with the Raptor Center, Minnesota's internationally renowned program in medical care, rehabilitation and conservation of hawks, eagles and falcons? Did the DNR and the beleaguered family understand that the entire hawk family would be gone within a week, as the young ones were fledged? They couldn't wait one more measly week?
Why did the DNR agent think it reasonable to wait just 30 minutes before shooting the second hawk, after killing its mate? (How quickly would you calm down if your spouse was killed in front of you and your children?) Why was the DNR unable to devise another solution other than its usual MO: killing the animal?
KRISTIN HEIBERG, MINNEAPOLIS
•••
Regarding the DNR officer who used bullets instead of brainpower in Burnsville this week: Why try to trap the wily, anxious protective adult hawks? Get a hard hat and relocate the fledglings. Or, because the young hawks, at six and a half weeks, were nearly out of the nest anyway, why not wait a couple more days until they were gone?
ANN MAXFIELD, EXCELSIOR
THE JACKSON ECLIPSE
Cronkite dies, but the media barely notice
Why is it when Michael Jackson dies, he gets practically an entire newspaper section about him, while when Walter Cronkite dies, only a small article is written? Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America," is an icon, and he will truly be missed.
JULIA STEINCROSS, BLOOMINGTON
BIG BROTHER CARES
More about smokes than foreign policy
Regarding the Des Moines Register editorial "A smokeless service?" (July 18): What astonishes me is why the government is so concerned whether our troops smoke or do not smoke while in combat.
Why are we not instead focusing on finding faster ways to bring these troops home? These soldiers did not volunteer to serve in these countries (maybe some where we should not be). They have made the ultimate sacrifice leaving behind families, friends, spouses and children by doing their duty. They deserve not only our respect but should be held in high esteem for serving our country no matter what their habits are. Maybe we should look again at George Orwell's "1984": Big Brother is still watching you.
JUANITA DUSS, RICHFIELD
Teen drinking
Keep the drinking age debate open and honest
The Washington Post editorial reprinted in the July 15 Star Tribune was a perfect example of the childish reasoning that continues to afflict our national dialogue about underage drinking. A study that showed binge drinking has gotten worse among young women and college students of both genders should not be seized on as a vindication of our current alcohol policy.
The idea that college presidents could somehow stop students from violating a law that no police department has been able to enforce effectively is so out of touch with the reality of teen drinking that it could only have been written by people who haven't been in school since the 21-year-old drinking age took effect.
My classmates at Southwest High School certainly did not have a hard time getting alcohol, and the basement parties where they drank were a lot more dangerous than a local bar. My sophomore year at Middlebury College was overshadowed by the death of Nick Garza, a freshman who fell into a frozen creek after taking 18 shots at a secret party.
Of course, lowering the drinking age wouldn't stop binge drinking altogether. But we should all be able to discuss solutions to this long-term problem without being attacked as "encouraging lawbreaking." Honest debate, like drinking, should never be forced behind closed doors.
WILL BELLAIMEY, MINNEAPOLIS
Recent Letters stories
Letter of the Day: A stark reminder that we the people have work to do - July 22, 2009
Letter of the Day: A stark reminder that we the people have work to do - ED MURPHY, MINNEAPOLIS; EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH More
About Opinion Exchange
Opinion Exchange is produced by the Editorial Department, which is dedicated to hosting the discussion on a range of issues of interest to Star Tribune readers online and in print. In its new format, it's our hope that Opinion Exhange will create a more dynamic dialogue between Star Tribune readers and the Editorial Board. Many individual posts will be written and signed by members of the Editorial Board and will reflect their own opinions. Daily editorials will continue to represent the institutional voice of the newspaper and be researched and written by the Editorial Department, which is independent of the newsroom.
Subscribe to RSS|Learn more about RSS
Do you use Twitter? Follow Opinion Exchange.
Recommended links
Categories
StarTribune.com: Steals + Deals & Classifieds
Learn how to do it right.
Simplify your job search by learning the best way to approach networking, resumes, cover letters, and interviewing.
Tips for getting more for less
Subscribe to the weekly
Win tickets to Vita.mn's "Are You Local?" SXSW Send-off showcase at First Avenue.Vita.mn presents its "Are You Local?" SXSW Send-off showcase featuring Lookbook, Gay Witch Abortion, Peter Wolf Crier, Jeremy Messersmith, Romantica and City On the Make at First Avenue on March 6. |
Comment on this story | Read all 207 comments | Hide reader comments