Readers Write (Dec. 10): Health insurance, school discipline, prison, bullying, Vikings

Regarding the commentary by Spike Dolomite Ward ("Mr. President, my apologies," Dec. 8): During most of my career I enjoyed the benefits of employer-funded health care.

I had an independent spirit and a willingness to accept the doctrine that hard work will bring life's rewards, including access for me and my family to adequate health care.

If your career is long enough, however, you will eventually hear, "You have been bought out," "We are downsizing," and my most recent, "We have decided to go in a different direction" -- this last one coming on my 62nd birthday.

Suddenly, you are no longer in control of your financial world, if only for a short time.

Your choice is to purchase an insurance policy you cannot really afford, since you are unemployed, or to gamble with all of the assets that you have acquired over the years. It's no wonder that illness is a leading cause of bankruptcy.

Everyone will have a pre-existing condition sooner or later. Life will eventually throw you a curve and turn your financial world upside down. Insurance is for those uncertainties in life.

Some type of universal care for all is necessary. The Obama health care program is not ideal, but it is at least a good-faith effort to ease the burden of many Americans, a burden that is both financial and emotional.

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I want to thank Aaron Benner, a black teacher in St. Paul schools who responded to the Dec. 3 editorial about disruptive students ("An alarming trend in school discipline"). I wholeheartedly agree with his opinion.

It's high time to put the blame where it belongs, and not on the teachers. Black students are far more disruptive than other students.

Many say they're being unfairly picked on because of their race. I hold a master's degree in business administration and am a former research employee at General Mills.

I had always wanted to teach, so I began to substitute teach. I was shocked at what I saw.

I am fed up with individuals who sit on the sidelines blaming teachers for all the woes of education. The real blame lies at the feet of the students themselves and their parents.

KAREN KARGES, MINNEAPOLIS

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The Rev. Mike Tegeder's suggestion that friends and family "go on the cheap" to video conference with an inmate in prison is amazing.

He says it will save time and money and that data show the average cost of a visit to be $500 (Letter of the Day, Dec. 7).

Eight times, once a month, I drove the 400 miles round trip from Buffalo, Minn. Total cost, including lunch and gas, averaged $81.

My friend thanked me profusely and said his other friends declined to visit and only his parents had visited him. The faces of inmates who had visitors are still in my mind. An electronic device will never replace a personal visit.

LEE WALDON, BUFFALO, MINN.

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I felt the need to write after reading about the governor's plan to reduce the rising amount of bullying in schools, coupled with increased activity by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) groups in the schools ("Dayton joins fight on bullying," Nov. 30).

We fought the U.S. Civil War in 1861, and yet Martin Luther King Jr. was still fighting for equality in 1960. Women still are paid less then men despite the women's suffrage movement in the early 1900s.

These revolutions have taken over a century and still haven't fully been accepted, yet the gay and lesbian communities are trying to force change overnight on something many would say is more controversial than race or gender. Is it any surprise that bullying occurs when we try to force change?

If we want to stop bullying, then we should stop fighting political wars in our schools.

MATT FRAME, RAMSEY

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Take Zygi Wilf's millions and the NFL's money and add 30,000 to 40,000 seats to TCF Bank Stadium. Serve cola on Saturdays and beer on Sunday.

Sid Hartman can stay overnight and won't have to leave his seat. There will be money left over to renovate Siebert Field, and it won't cost anyone a dime.

Football should be played outside, as it is in Green Bay. Every home game would give us an advantage.

WAYNE TONSAGER, LAKEVILLE

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If it's due to a lack of revenue, couldn't the team just rewrite the existing contracts for parking and other revenue? What other business says it can't cover its costs and, instead of cutting costs, simply asks the public for a multimillion-dollar financial bailout?

In addition to demanding a bailout under the threat of leaving, the team's owner wants to dictate the terms of the bailout, including the stadium location.

And, finally, why do we so easily swallow these questionable premises and give in to this kind of blackmail?