Renewed hope
Re: the Jan. 16 article “Aging helps one gain proper perspective in life and politics.”
Terry Bracy’s opinion piece sharing his perspective on politics and aging was excellent. His advice that “vigilance is crucial, despair is counterproductive” is just what I needed to hear. It gave me renewed hope for our future.
Brian Clymer
Northwest side
Dangerous combination
How did Arizona Republican legislators get so brilliant? They know more than the medical professionals about what the public should or not do in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. In their infinite wisdom, they determined that wearing a mask was unnecessary and declared that any city or town that instituted a mask mandate was violating a new state law.
Their latest display of “we know better than the professionals?” Arizona’s Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 1123 that allows anyone with a concealed weapons permit to take a gun onto college and university campuses, even classrooms and dorms despite the urging of ASU Chief of Police Michael Thompson to reject it. He stated from personal experience students “… students make very poor decisions on a daily basis, sometimes hourly basis,” Thompson said. “Adding guns to an already high-risk environment of alcohol, drugs, overreaction, lack of experience and immaturity is a very dangerous combination.”
From what medical school/police academy did these legislators graduate?
Dave Glicksman
Northwest side
Equity not about lowering standards
Re: the Jan. 31 letter “Ditching ‘equity’ for opportunity.”
I was perturbed to read the letter to the editor equating equity with lowering standards. Equity is not about giving unfair advantages to right past wrongs. Equity is working to help all people thrive. It will require innovation to make lifelong learning available to all. A healthy, educated population is good for business.
As we do the hard work of change, the benefits will be enough police officers, enough nurses and lives that are satisfying and not threatened by others’ success. Tucson will be a city where we enjoy the unique cultures of those who have always been here and those who move here. A city where we value and measure our success in well-being, innovation and sustainability.
Rosemary Bolza
Midtown
Employees quitting their jobs?
Re: the Feb. 2 classified ad “Record-High quits are being driven by ‘too much stress.’”
I read, with interest, the information and statistics in this article regarding why employees are quitting their jobs. It’s a shame that these individuals are leaving jobs because of too much stress , not enough pay and because I did not get along with my boss . It’s a mystery to me how young, healthy adults are paying for food, rent, insurance, health care, car expenses, etc. Could it be that their parents have made it convenient for them to not stay with their jobs? I don’t know the answer to this. All I can say is, why not give the baby boomers a chance to take on the jobs young people are vacating? Seasoned and reliable, baby boomers know the importance of a work ethic.
Mary Jo Swartzberg
SaddleBrooke
Defend early voting
Arizona has long been known nationwide as a model of fair voting using early and mail-in ballots. I have been grateful to be one of many Arizonans who has participated with early and mail-in ballots. We should defend these voting rights and not dismantle them.
And yet GOP State Rep. John Fillmore, who happens to be running for secretary of state, is introducing legislation that would eliminate almost all early voting and absentee ballots as well as require hand counting of ballots within 24 hours of the closing of polls. This would put a tremendous hardship on those of us who live in rural Arizona. We cannot have a secretary of state who seeks to dismantle our voting rights. Are we not the country that says to every citizen: “Your vote counts”? Our voting system does not need to be restricted, it needs to be defended. Let’s make sure our legislators vote this bill down decisively.
Mark Sorensen
Midtown
Equal opportunity
Re: the Jan. 31 letter “Ditching ‘equity’ for opportunity.”
This letter writer’s praise for the Virginia governor and his policy goal shift is off base because of a confusion about the meaning of ‘equity.’ When an institution strives for equity, it is not trying to guarantee equal outcomes; equity has nothing whatever to do with spoon-feeding or changing standards. Defining equity as such is the error in logic commonly employed by conservatives and referred to as the “straw man” — misrepresenting an idea to make it easier to attack.
To install equity is to eliminate obstacles, as the Supreme Court did in its Brown v. Board of Education ruling and as Congress did by passing the Americans with Disabilities Act. No offense intended, but opponents to equity are usually people who have some degree of privilege that they don’t recognize — people born on third base who think they hit a triple.
To create equity is to level the playing field so that all people have equal opportunity.
Jim Christ
East side
Fare-free transit a bargain for taxpayers
Re: the Feb. 2 article “Tucson considers making fare-free transit permanent.”
A better headline for the recent article about potential fare-free public transit would be that the average taxpayer would pay a few dollars a month in order to provide a valuable public service to all residents of Tucson, most especially to the households in Tucson that don’t have access to a car because of costs or other reasons.
In reality, transit fares supply a relatively small portion of the overall public transit budget. And providing all members of our community an affordable option to get to work, school, medical appointments or to stay connected to their family repays itself through a healthier, more educated, and employable population. But as we consider the option of fare-free transit, let’s not get trapped into thinking only in terms of economics — instead maybe we should think of public transit like other public services, like the library, that we provide because they make us a better community.
Colby Henley
Midtown
