UA women’s basketball deserves more attention
We attended the UA women’s basketball game against Santa Clara. There were some nerve-wracking moments, but the Wildcats came through with a great victory.
So when I opened the sports section to read about it, I was greeted by headlines about high school football (with large photos) and the new staff of the UA men’s basketball team.
At the bottom of the page, I found a report on the women’s game — no photos and no individual statistics, as is always done with the men’s games.
If the UA men’s basketball team had won, would the sports headlines feature a high school girl’s soccer game, with no photos of the men in action and no statistics? Just a thought.
We should be extremely proud of the UA women’s team under the leadership of coach Adia Barnes.
Their achievements should not be discounted and relegated to the bottom of the page.
Sandra Katz
Foothills
Happiness means making others feel good
David Fitzsimmon’s mom had it right, along with so many other moms in the world.
“The best thing to want is to feel good about doing good in the world.”
Everyone does this in their own way. We (two retired educators) are proud and happy to be among those who give according to their own unique capacity — to join the children from Rincon Vista Middle School, Salpointe and many others who gave in their own unique way.
Over the past three years, we have enjoyed giving over $680,000 to fund more than 1,250 public school teacher-proposed projects here in Southern Arizona.
Come join us at STEM-CAN.org or create your own unique way in which to join in realizing the basic truth in the phrase, “The way to be happy is to make others so.”
Steve and Diane Uhl
Oro Valley
You want specifics? Let me count them
This is a response to a recent letter about President Trump and what constitutes proper conduct.
The writer seems to believe that Col. Alexander Vindman should be court-martialed because he testified to Congress about how he felt about the Trump-Zelenskiy phone call. Trump pressured Ukraine to open an investigation on Joe Biden or not get military aid. Clearly that’s a gross abuse of executive power. Should Vindman be tried for denouncing it?
He then says the call “clearly shows Trump’s primary concern was earlier Ukrainian government corruption.”
Really! Trump calling people “bad” doesn’t mean they’re corrupt — it just means they’re not doing what he wants, for his own, purely selfish reasons. Surely we all know that, don’t we?
Finally, the writer asks “what specifically is the impeachment issue?” In the Ukraine issue, it’s clearly abuse of power, but there are a number of other criminal acts, most notably, obstruction of justice.
For more info, google “Trump Impeachable Acts.” Happy reading.
David Steinberg
Northwest side
Rampell was wrong about tax cut
In her Nov. 4 column, Catherine Rampell refers to “a wave of factory closures and farming bankruptcies.” What country is she writing about? Venezuela? Certainly not the U.S.A.
Thanks to “tax cuts for the rich,” and deregulation (both of which Rampell decries in her column), and the unleashing of the American can-do spirit, hundreds of thousands of workers are returning to the workforce. Wage gains are healthy, and those gains continue to spread to non-rich corners of the labor force.
Per the Wall Street Journal on Nov. 2, the labor force participation rate is up to 63.3%, which is rising despite baby boomer retirements. The stock market continues to set all-time highs both for the Dow and the S&P 500.
The real threat to our economy is not more tax cuts, but a return to the stultifying, anti-growth policies that the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination espouse.
Lee Fairman
Green Valley
Any way you look at it, Trump overreached
With bipartisan agreement, U.S. foreign policy has been to assist Ukraine in its defense against Putin’s continued military aggression. The congressionally mandated $400 million aid package promised to Ukraine was for this intended purpose.
It’s interesting that the president has not been able to clearly articulate how withholding military aid to an ally would have benefited the United States.
Reframing the president’s actions by calling it “foreign policy” fails to alter the fact that the president was secretively attempting to undermine Congress’ constitutionally mandated appropriation powers for his own personal and political objectives.
This is somewhat reminiscent of the president’s endeavor to work around Congress by declaring a national emergency after Congress refused to finance his wall at the southern border.
Linda Stanley
East side
We never were
a ‘Christian’ nation
Some lament that we are no longer a Christian nation. While we never were a Christian nation according to the Constitution, we used to have compassion for those in need.
Tuesday in Tucson, our government began again an attempt to prosecute a man who had the compassion that Jesus said we need to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus said, “I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink ... I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you took care of me.”
Dr. Scott Warren stands trial for the second time for the crimes just listed. No, this is not a Christian nation. Yes, Jesus was political. See Matthew 25: 31-46.
Ray Omdahl
Green Valley
It’s time to legalize drugs
Jeffrey Bryant’s well-written letter to the editor, published on Nov. 8, on our responsibility for drug violence both north and south of the border hits close to home. There is, however, a solution: with an exception for children, eliminate the criminality for drugs. In other words, take out the profit.
Those who profit from enforcing the unenforceable will resist, but it needs to be done. Both the Cato Institute and the ACLU have called for the legalization of drugs for adults.
Many of our laws are passed to protect us from ourselves . We need to take responsibility for our conduct. The corollary to Darwin’s “survival of the fittest,” is the “un-survival of the unfit.”
Andrew Rutter
Midtown
Finally, a voice of reason on impeachment
Dear Arizona Daily Star,
As an independent voter, let me commend the Star on the publication on Nov. 9 of the letter to the editor by Geoffrey Fox entitled “What exactly are the charges?”
For once, you, the Star, published something significant without a leftist slant. The letter makes it clear that if facing a legal tribunal, the impeachment charges against Trump would be thrown out of court.
Unfortunately, the fairness of the legal tribunal has been bypassed by a rogue Democratic Party. Literally since the first day of his presidency, Trump has been dogged by what have turned out to be frivolous impeachment accusations. The concept of the “loyal opposition” has been replaced by what have become silly attempts of a “resistance” to impeachment at every turn.
Certainly, our democracy, indeed any democracy, cannot flourish in this environment. The continuation of this approach bodes negatively for the future of our democracy. But then, that seems to be the objective of an increasing number.
Roger Sedjo
Oro Valley
Robbins isn’t the right person to lead UA
University of Arizona President Dr. Robert Robbins hired McKinsey & Co. for $14 million+ in a no-bid contract to create a “strategic plan.”
What the hell do we pay him over a million dollars a year for, anyway? Shouldn’t a person who is paid that handsomely be able to develop a strategic plan on his own, without the “help” of a company that has relatively little experience consulting for American universities?
At a time when student tuition and debt keep climbing, this is a tragic example of misaligned priorities. Robert Robbins is not an education leader. He is an over-paid, underperforming “charmer” who’s made a great university weaker. His racist remarks and insensitivity related to Native American students, and his failure to apologize properly, exposed him as unfit to lead any university, much less a world-class school like the University of Arizona.
Patrick Cunningham
Northwest side
