Letters to the editor for Sunday, May 4

It amazes me to no end the hypocrisy of the left here in Minnesota. With all the news about Al Franken and his tax "troubles," those on the left make up every excuse in the book. They defend to no end. But if this were Norm Coleman, the shrill would be deafening.

I'll vote independent.

MARK DURAND JR., LONG PRAIRIE, MINN.

As are his foes Since the Minnesota Republican Party has spent so much time complaining about how complex the tax system is and how it crushes individual initiative, it ought to be more compassionate toward Al Franken; instead, its officials continue to support Norm Coleman, who has spent his life drawing government paychecks.

JOHN SHERMAN, MOORHEAD, MINN.

Allen Levine's April 27 column on the global food crisis failed to mention what political leaders like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe have done to contribute to this crisis.

When Mugabe took office in 1980, Zimbabwe was known as the "Breadbasket of Africa," supplying food to its own people as well as to other African nations. Because of his policies of land redistribution, very little food is now being produced, Zimbabweans are starving and fleeing the country by the thousands every day, and the annual inflation rate exceeds 100,000 percent.

HEDY HOLMBERG, MINNEAPOLIS

An April 27 front-page article implies that recruiting "heavy hitters" is the new way to develop academic programs, a strategy brought about by changes in the way states fund universities and the scarcity of heavy hitters. While these changes are occurring, growing your own, rather than chasing heavy hitters, is, and has always been, an effective alternative strategy for success.

Baseball provides an analogy. Some teams grow by effective drafting and player development in the minor leagues, others by buying heavy hitters.

In academics, growing your own is done by hiring excellent junior faculty and helping them develop. It requires effective senior leadership who make good strategic decisions and provide a supportive faculty-development environment to implement the strategy. At the University of Minnesota, the ability of the senior leadership to do this varies significantly across academic units. Perhaps an example of inadequate senior leadership at the University of Minnesota has been the lack of strategic attention and development of health informatics over the past 10 years.

So, perhaps the issue is less the development of "recruiting wars" causing changes in the way academic program development is done than it is the ability of senior leadership in academic units to make good long-term strategic decisions and nurture sustainable faculty growth to implement the strategies effectively.

I was surprised that your April 27 article on "doctor nurses" (DNPs) made no mention of physician assistants (PAs). A good portion of the article emphasized that these new DNPs would help to fill the need for additional health care workers that the medical schools were unable to accommodate.

The profession of physician assistant has been providing such health care professionals for over 40 years. PAs provide all of the same medical procedures and services as described for DNPs. They pass a national certification examination developed by the National Commission on Certification of PAs in conjunction with the National Board of Medical Examiners.

IRA ADELMAN, ST. PAUL

I have enjoyed Garrison Keillor since the days of his white suit and red socks -- the early '70s for those without that history. And his Sunday column typically brings out in me (at least) a nod and a chuckle.

But sometimes I wonder if his anger and criticism have gotten the best of him. As a Virginia Tech mom, I found his frustration with the "narcissistic mumbling" of an interviewed student, to the point of wanting to "break his arms," a bit much (Opinion Exchange, April 27).

The students on that campus know very well that those 32 people were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time and the lost lives could just as easily have been theirs. And they miss them terribly.

So Garrison, go easy with your criticism of these young people, and pray that your gap-toothed little girl never has to grow up to be interviewed by a national reporter about something so horrific, and then have her words critiqued by a man who doesn't find them quite good enough.

JUDY PALMER, MINNEAPOLIS

I'm having some alarming thoughts. If Barack Obama couldn't take a stand for America in his church and allowed his pastor to defame his country, and fears a debate with Hillary Clinton without a moderator, what will he do in confrontations with foreign powers or even the opposition party in Congress?

Loyalty to an old friend and mentor was first claimed with regard to his pastor's railing against his country, claiming loyalty as an admirable trait. Hasn't every despot in history had loyal followers? Can we admire them?