Bring Wilder back
During his six-year tenure as director of the University of Arizona’s acclaimed Tumamoc Hill Desert Laboratory, Ben Wilder lifted the program from the doldrums into the spotlight. He revitalized Tumamoc’s research and grant program, inspiring young and older scientists alike. He encouraged international cooperative projects with Mexican universities and Native Nations. He published several keynote books and had others ready to print. He oversaw the Hill’s new vision statement and facility improvement program. He launched an acclaimed speakers’ series and fostered art programs. He improved access and provided educational signs for the Hill’s citizen walkers. He reorganized the Hill’s library and modernized its collections. The Hill’s century-old plant study plot was made famous by some of Wilder’s own mentors such as Raymond Turner and Paul Martin and continued by Wilder himself with his own botanical work. I’m astonished that the world-class UofA would let such a brilliant, capable, and proven director get away. Bring him back!
Bill Broyles
Northwest side
By the people, for the people
At least that’s what I was taught way back when the USA was a genuinely great republic. Seems that it no longer matters what the vast majority of American citizens want. Politics and those that control the levers of power call the shots without regard. As expected, SCOTUS has now officially repealed Roe v. Wade despite the vast majority of people in favor of the longstanding law. Seems our current Supreme Court has decided that there are simply too many “rights” that have been granted to citizens by prior courts and, thanks to their majority, it’s time to return to the way things were in the past.
I have a question for the SCOTUS members that have young daughters. Your daughters have surely been aware of the abortion debates so I wonder, how have you explained to them that they would be expected to carry a pregnancy caused by rape or incest to full-term birth? Just wondering.
Joseph Carpenito
Oro Valley
A Big thanks for PEEP
As a retired preschool teacher, Center for Economic Integrity board member and Grandparent Ambassador I want to thank Pima County, the cities of Tucson, Marana and Oro Valley for their support and leadership in promoting the Pima Early Education Program. This funding makes it possible for children to learn, parents to work and families to build a future.
Becky Duncan
Midtown
Supreme Court
decisions
I think the only way to rid our country of the stench and fear that was smeared on us by the Supreme Court is to flush the Donald Trump branch of the Republican Party (as well as those who are afraid of standing up to them) out of Congress.
Cliff Crutchfield
Northwest side
Independent Redistricting Commission
Tucson far eastside residents wonder why they are in Legislative District 17 along with Saddlebrooke — an hour’s drive away in Pinal County.
In 2000, Arizona voters gave a five-member Independent Redistricting Commission authority to draw the state’s legislative and congressional district maps after each decennial census. State lawmakers chose two Republicans and two Democrats who then chose a chair who is an Independent.
The Commission has principles to guide it: keep communities of interest together; equalize district populations; establish politically competitive districts; strive to keep communities/tribes together, etc.
I think the 2022 lines drawn included some gerrymandering, as in District 17. District 17 voters must scrutinize candidates’ qualifications and then vote in every election. Our first opportunity is the Aug. 2 primary election. Those registered as “no party” can participate in the primary by designating a party ballot; call the Pima County Recorder’s office to request a party ballot.
Carol West
Northeast side
Democrat insurrection
After the Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, which was a constructed abortion right not found in the Constitution, Democrat pro-abortionists launched an insurrection at the Arizona State Capitol. Thousands gathered there and a mob approached the Senate building, pounding on the glass windows and doors. The Senate was in chamber doing late-night legislation. They were evacuated to the basement and could not leave. A prepared and well-trained — unlike the U.S. Capitol Police on Jan. 6 — DPS Swat Team deployed tear gas to disperse the rioters and regain control of the building. An Arizona Peace Officers’ Memorial was defaced. This was tantamount to an insurrection, a la Jan. 6, opposing the Supreme Court’s abortion decision. The Arizona Republican-led Legislature recently passed a 15-week abortion bill, but that will not pacify Democrats’ abortions demands. Arizona law enforcement should prosecute all involved in the June 24 state Capitol Senate building insurrection. Where is the Arizona Daily Star, i.e. Tim Steller and Capitol Media Services Howard Fischer’s condemnation of this?
Langhorne Bilby
Marana
Abortion: A very uncomplicated issue
The abortion issue is uncomplicated: Shall women continue to be treated as property or not? If the answer is no, abortion cannot continue to be a political issue.
Only if the answer is yes can politicians continue to see this as their issue. Beyond treating women as property, unable to make their own decisions about this very personal issue, abortion as a political issue is an unbearable invasion of privacy.
The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is a resounding yes to treating women as property.
G Marie Swanson
Foothills
The other Big Lie
Dear Editor,
Truthfully, I doubt any thinking person is surprised that three of the Supreme Court justices went back on their word. They did testify, each one of them, that precedent was precedent, to be respected as such. They are not to be trusted, they made that clear.
Ginia Desmond
Downtown
Search for water
Re: the June 27 article “Arizona to spend $1B on water search.”
I have a thought regarding recent legislation awaiting the governor’s autograph that would search high and low, hither and thither for potable water that might be available in the next decade. How about not encouraging new housing developments, or not encouraging water-bottling companies like Nèstle to suck “Pure Leaf” from rapidly depleting aquifers — oops, that horse has left the barn! — or maybe trying desalination of the Salt River? Just a thought. I do hope that the $200 million designated for conservation and promotion of water saving will remain intact.
Maureen Metcalfe
North side
What’s to learn from Uvalde?
Editors,
After the mourning at the last Uvalde funeral, perhaps we’ll learn a few things, including about our own roles.
Experts tell us children can’t face an often cruel world without power gained from a strong relationship with a mother or dad. That puts some responsibility on us, the community, to spot a troubled child aging without that power, as in the Texas shootings. This work can save lives and empower kids. But how to do that? It starts with a will to find them, and then to help them. We can do it. We can try. We must.
Ford Burkhart
Midtown
Moral responsibility
First they came for a women’s right to choose
And I did not speak out because I was indifferent.
Then they came to stop contraception
And I did not speak out because I was over the age of childbearing.
Then they came for same-sex marriage
And I did not speak out because I wasn’t gay.
Then they came for interracial marriage
And I did not speak out because I wasn’t in an interracial relationship.
And then they came for my civil liberties
And there was no one left to speak out for me.
All of us have a moral responsibility to protect the civil rights of all people by voting to safeguard those rights or lose them.
Mary Lisa
Oro Valley
Impeach justices
This is a proposal I am sending to all outlets. A federal judge is appointed for life. However, they are all subject to impeachment. I propose we exercise that right for all who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. Especially Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas. They have politicized the court that is supposed to be unbiased and fair.
If they are going to continue this backward slide of our rights, how about making interracial marriage unconstitutional?
Barbara L. “George
French, J.D.
Midtown
My rights, not your rights
The current conservative justices on the Supreme Court have decided to take away what was considered a fundamental right for women in the U.S. for almost 50 years. Justice Clarence Thomas took it a step further and opined that the Court “should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.” Those decisions all were based on Americans’ fundamental privacy, due process, and equal protection rights. Thomas didn’t mention reconsidering Loving v. Virginia, the landmark civil rights decision banning laws against interracial marriage, a decision based on those same principles. It appears that one certain individual right is more important to Justice Thomas, namely a right which directly personally impacts him and his wife. One responsibility of being an American is respecting the rights of everyone, regardless of whether those rights directly impact you individually. I wish Justice Thomas and the other conservatives on the bench would demonstrate that sense of responsibility.
Albert Fiorello
Foothills
Guns and babies
Re: the June 27 letter “Guns and babies.”
In response to the writer who claims, “Our babies will stop killing when we stop killing our babies.” Sadly, this represents so much of the nonsense (literal non-sense) that emanates from conservative thinking these days. Seriously, aside from trying to sound clever, I ask the writer to show the causal relationship between abortion and mass shootings. I’m confident he can’t.
Hope Gastelum
East side
A waste of time
Why have confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court judge nominees? The hearings now mean nothing. The “Law of the Land” is changeable based on the politics of the justices, so very sad.
Mary Schneider
Northeast side
What?
Now corporations are people, but women aren’t?
Fran McNeely
Northeast side
Abortion rights
Re: the June 27 letter “Guns and babies.”
The letter writer says “our babies will stop killing when we stop killing our babies.” Wouldn’t it be nice if simply stopping abortions would stop the gun violence in this country? I don’t think you have to be a psychologist to realize that the babies most likely to grow up and kill are those raised by a mother (possibly pregnant as a result of rape, incest or maybe a simple accident) who did not want and could not love this child. The child prayed for and cherished from the very beginning will be a gift to their family and to society. When you are loved you give love, when you are a consequence of a crime or a mistake and you are not loved, you have little to give back.
Kenneth Cohn
Northwest side
Problems for both sides
To the Editor:
Problems for Democrats: Baby formula shortage, inflation, gas prices, Supreme Court decisions, Ukraine, gun control, COVID-19 vaccines and prescription drug pricing. The real problem with the Democrats is that they promise so much but don’t deliver much. On the other hand, Republicans (under the influence of former President Donald Trump) continue with lies and misinformation and ‘alternative news,’ thereby resulting in a politically and emotionally divided nation. Clearly, they seem to favor a dictatorship over a democracy. As an independent voter I sincerely hope Trump backers wake up and vote these miscreants out of office. Both parties need to come up with programs to help American citizens who are hurting because of weak leadership. I wish President Biden good health for the rest of his term. The consequences could be disastrous.
Herb Stark
Downtown
Gannett and opinions
Re: the June 26 article “A cartoonist returns to find an American Press now in peril.”
I have enthusiastically read several letters to the editor bemoaning Gannett’s decision to not run cartoons in its newspapers. Thanks to David Fitzsimmons, we know what may be coming to the Daily Star. I read every word of the Opinion pages and the letters to the editor every day. I enjoy the columns that differ from my opinion and have learned from them. And I enjoy the cartoons! It is nice to have some levity on the pages that sometimes are heavy with doom and gloom. I would be very unhappy if the Daily Star did not have Opinion pages and letters to the editor. I might cancel my subscription if these pages are deleted. I hope the newsroom will follow Lee’s guidance.
Judy Moll
Northwest side
