Safe driving tips
Re: the Nov. 10 letter “Drivers Education 101.”
A recent writer implied that tailgating, flashing lights, and swerving are needed actions to get slow drivers to move.
Last week I was driving on I-10, crawling toward Kino South when a woman in a white car came screaming down the highway, using the emergency lane as her personal expressway. Following her onto the off-ramp, she attempted to use the dirt edge to pass a car trying to merge left. At the light at Kino and Benson Highway … I passed her, as she was waiting with everyone else to turn left.
Point? Unsafe driving didn’t get her ahead, it only caused risk for her and everyone else. While I agree that slow drivers should move right, forcing the issue with risky driving antics isn’t the answer. Plus, check the posted speed limit. I bet the slow driver wasn’t under.
Slow down, listen to your favorite tunes. Breathe. Follow the actual Driving Education 101 rules. Let’s be safe out there.
Jennifer Jones
Downtown
Veteran’s Day
As my father, many before him, and our current women and men of the Greatest Generation dawn into their sunset of veteran services and memorials, does Putin and others, including many right here in our communities espousing authoritarian rule, need to be reminded of what the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month means? Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. I urge all sons and daughters, granddaughters and grandsons of that generation to talk about Veterans Day and why it was to be the war to end all wars.
John (Jay) Van Echo West side
Arizona Humane Society
The Arizona Humane Society is a disgrace. The entire Board of Directors should resign. They have failed in their duties to oversee practices at the organization. Rot starts at the top. I suggest that an ombudsman be appointed. Former Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild is well respected in the community. He would be a good choice.
Susan Stratton East side
The new base salary for University of Arizona president Robert C. Robbins is about $816,000.
Oversight needed for U of A
Re: the Nov. 10 letter “UA incompetence.”
I wholeheartedly agree with this letter in blaming the current financial situation on the leadership failures of Pres. Robbins and CFO Lisa Rulney. But, the claim that Robbins has been playing with taxpayer money misunderstands the State’s actual contribution to financing U of A. In the FY2023 budget, state taxpayer money made up only 15% of UA revenue. The majority of funding comes from tuition (32%) and faculty-raised research dollars (29%). The reality for the last decade has been that the State contributes very little to funding the State’s universities.
This is not to say that Robbins and Rulney haven’t mismanaged U of A. Rather, the low-level of State funding creates an accountability vacuum where taxpayers, the Legislator, and Arizona Board of Regents lack leverage over U of A leadership. In 2008 taxpayer dollars were the largest source of funding for UA (31%). Since, the Legislature has cut State funding for U of A in half. Without greater State contributions to funding UA, leadership will continue to feel little obligation to taxpayers.
Dr. Jeffrey D. Michler,
Associate Professor in the
Department of Agricultural
and Resource Economics Downtown
Listen to what he’s saying
For 50 years the Republicans told you they would overturn Roe v Wade. Nobody took them seriously. When Donald Trump is saying he will use the power of the federal government to go after his enemies, to shut down media outlets he doesn’t like, and use the military to remain in power, you better listen. There will be no one left to stop him since he will pack the courts and government agencies with his yes men. All the guardrails will be gone. As for you Trump supporters, if you think your MAGA hats will protect you, take a look at what happened in Germany with Hitler. Sooner or later, there was nobody left to speak for anyone whom the Reich thought was not quite Nazi enough. This man is really, really dangerous, and you need to take him at him word.
Mary Zimmerman
SaddleBrooke
Danger lurks
We are the cast of a horror movie. In the beginning the villagers are going about their daily business. All are friendly and the atmosphere is calm. Then the camera pans to the grounds of a country club and a monster rises from a green. The members believe in the monster and are not attacked. The monster wants to bring as many believers as he can into the fold. Soon he has a legion of followers that want to share in his power no matter how much revenge he exacts on his perceived foes. Soon the monster has thousands, then tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands, then millions of followers and they revel in his revenge and his future plans for retribution. They want the monster to rule as the villages are destroyed. Then the monster believes his followers are beginning to doubt the true strength of his power and he devours them.
David ben Avram
Marana
Frank Borman
Re: the Nov. 11 article “Apollo astronaut Frank Borman dies at 95.”
As a retired pilot, I read with great interest the story of Frank Borman’s passing, his life, and his deep ties with Tucson. In the article, Mark Kelly writes “I have his helmet he wore on Gemini 7 and the watch he wore on Apollo 8 in my office.” I say to Sen. Kelly, donate these precious items to the Pima Air and Space Museum for all to enjoy, not just the few who may enter your office.
Glenn Brasch
Northwest side
Educating the public
Re: the Nov. 10 letter “Drivers Education 101.”
Sounds as though the writer might be taking advantage of the fact that Tucson streets are no longer patrolled, speed limits are rarely enforced anymore.
Instead of trying to modify the driving habits of the public, the writer should take a look at his own habits, such as: If you are tailgating for an extended period of time, you might have been going way over the speed limit. If you find yourself flashing your lights and blowing your horn, you might have been going way over the speed limit. If you are weaving in and out of traffic as though you are at a raceway, you might be driving way over the speed limit. If you are constantly handing out freeway salutes, you are probably going way over the speed limit.
Not to worry though ... speed limit signs ... who needs ‘em?
Most of us learned courtesy around first grade. Others never will.
David Hatch
Southeast side
Action needed now at U of A
Re: the Nov. 12 article “UA faculty criticize leaders amid money crisis.”
This article gave a bit more detail on the financial meltdown at U of A. When I first read about the Ashford University, I wrote to the paper saying that it appeared U of A did no due diligence prior to the deal being completed and I said President Robbins should be fired. Based on this article, Robbins and the CFO should be terminated for cause. They should not be allowed to resign.
The Arizona Board of Regents chair should be removed by Governor Hobbs. The Board didn’t keep a close enough watch on Robbins’ wheeling and dealing. The fact the athletic department is underwater financially is a huge problem on its own. When Gregg Byrne ran the athletic department, it seemed he raised cash by the truck load. This needs to be looked at as well. Immediate action is needed now.
Bruce Wysocki
Southwest side
Mr. Shapiro editorial
Re: the Nov. 12 article “Reason, not faith, is the cornerstone of secular government.”
On Sunday, Mr. Shapiro warned about new House Speaker Johnson. It sounds as if Secular Humanism is simply his proposed alternate religion. It allowed him to magically hear things that Speaker Johnson did not actually say, and interpret those things to his own advantage. It warned readers to fear another religion, specifically Christianity as a threat to the Secular Humanist dominion. By his own writings, this pretty much defines a religion. Perhaps Mr. Shapiro should study a little history. He would find the founders all knew that the country would only continue through educated men of good faith. Faith provides a higher power and fixed morality. Lack of faith only provides a ruling party and legality. I choose Speaker Johnson over Mr. Shapiro.
William Werris
Marana
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Who needs Broadway?
Who needs Broadway when we have the Arizona Theater Company’s newest production, Scrooge! The Musical, right here in Tucson. The set, costumes, choreography and talent of both the adult and child actors is beyond anything we’ve seen on Broadway. It’s the perfect seasonal message. See it through Dec. 2. After that, it heads to ATC”S second location in the Phoenix, area where it will open in their new venue in Tempe.
Denice Blake Midtown
