Gun rights vs. women’s rights
Re: the Sept. 23 letter “Women’s rights.”
My eyes are rolling at this letter. If life is so important, more important than a woman’s life, why isn’t she complaining about too many automatic weapons in this country? They’re being used to kill children in school! But I don’t hear anything from these religious hypocrites about taking the rights to purchase these awful weapons. Seriously?
Carol Allen-Rasoul
Green Valley
PCC Board Election
Voters should know more about PCC’s board before they cast ballots. A three-member bloc has made the board a rubber stamp for the chancellor and effectively silenced the two minority members.
People are also reading…
The Higher Learning Commission, the college’s national accrediting body, came to investigate the board in March. The chancellor received a draft report months ago. He refuses to release it. The final vote occurs after our election.
KOLD reporter Valerie Cavazos obtained a leaked draft and reported on Aug. 29 that the HLC team found “the rift in the board severe enough to put the college at risk.”
I hope voters will give the board a new District 2 member, Theresa Riel, who taught mathematics at the college for 23 years. She insists on transparency, values diversity, and is dedicated to Pima. A vote for Riel is a vote for a functioning, open-minded, transparent board.
Kitty Reeve,
Retired PCC Faculty
Midtown
Absurd report
Re: the Sept. 19 article “Report: 1,400 census takers were ‘hard fails’.”
The absurdity of this “report” is beyond compare. The reporter, Mike Schneider of the Associated Press, fails completely to tell us what the scope relative to the entire Census operation and to previous Census operations is even in a vague way. The “story” is alarmist .
Vincent Allen
Northwest side
Monsoon answers aren’t enough
Re: the Sept. 21 letter “No answers to question.”
It’s pointless to try and explain adiabatic process to a lay person, so I’ll turn the letter writer’s request around and ask why they think the monsoon would shut down with global warming? Convection processes with “rain” occur on Venus with temps of 600 degrees Celsius. Boiling doesn’t refer to temperature as such, but a change in state caused by increased energy. For instance, liquid nitrogen boils at minus-325 degrees Fahrenheit. The convection cell that runs the local monsoon will be around long after we’ve perished. At some point the micro-bursts associated with it could hit speeds of 200 mph or more. Ten inches of rain or more could fall in two hours as the air will rise higher with more water vapor before condensing. This sounds bad, but don’t fret. By the time the “monsoon” gets this bad we’ll be having 150 degrees in the shade and will most likely have already perished.
Dan Pendergrass
West side
Congress must protect patients
I believe it’s the responsibility of Congress to ensure the U.S. health care system is as strong and accessible for our patients as possible. My daughter Sophia was born with extreme eczema, an itchy skin condition that causes rashes, dry patches, and even blistering. While eczema has no cure, we are fortunate that Sophia has access to treatments that manage her discomfort to help her live a relatively carefree life as children should.
Without the proper policies and support, we would have access to far fewer treatment and medication options — and that is unacceptable. There are other ways to ensure access to the right care while also helping alleviate costs, like Pharmacy Benefit Manager reforms. These health care middlemen pocket savings that are supposed to be applied when picking up prescriptions at the pharmacy counter.
I hope Congress will protect our ability to continue finding the next best medical innovation.
Miguel Herrera
East side
Elect Fontes to protect rights
We’re on the knife’s edge of losing our right to vote here in Arizona. Republican candidate for Arizona secretary of state Mark Finchem posts on social media using #FollowtheLaw — but he won’t. An ardent promoter of the Big Lie, he sends out frequent fundraising emails promising that, if elected, he will conduct “perp walks” for “fraudsters.” In fact, he’s never produced credible evidence of election fraud in Arizona in 2020. He’s made it clear that he will not accept the results of this election if he loses.
If elected, Finchem will strictly limit mail-in voting and require a hand count of ballots. His “reforms” will throw Arizona’s election system into chaos, giving him a pretext to disallow millions of ballots cast by Arizonans who disagree with him or allow him to argue that due to “concerns” about the results, a presidential election must be independently decided by the Arizona Legislature.
Protect our future right to vote. Elect Adrian Fontes for secretary of state.
Jacolyn Marshall
Oro Valley
Political advertisement
What has happened to the day when candidates for public office advertised their qualifications, and their philosophy, for consideration by the voting public? Today, political ads seem to consist mainly of efforts to tear down the opponent, often using content taken out of context. How can we make a decision on which candidate to choose, based on this kind of negative campaigning?
William Johnson
Northwest side
Learn from her life
Re: the Oct. 1 letter “Royal death obsession.”
The writer of this letter seems to suggest that there was too much coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II by our nation’s networks. I believe one of the reasons our networks covered the death and funeral of this remarkable woman was because she was what virtually no American politician, past or present, has ever been — someone who dedicated her entire life to the service of her people, with selflessness, grace, dignity and kindness. Queen Elizabeth II never forgot who she worked for. Our country’s politicians would do well to heed her example.
Catey Bartolucci
Northeast side
‘Life matters more’ depends on question
It is apparent that the idea of “life matters more” is determined only by the issue in question. If the issue is preventing abortion, the “life matters more” argument is used to prevent anyone from making an individual choice. However, if the issue is mandatory vaccinations to prevent illness and death, then many chose the position that this is a choice issue for individuals, rather than mandating shots for the benefit of all. How do these people rationalize the difference? Just wondering.
Craig Whaley
Oro Valley
Fentanyl problem
Re: the Oct. 2 column “Look beyond border to fix fentanyl problem.”
As an alcoholic with 43 years of recovery, I congratulate Tim Steller for his column. It is an axiom of treatment and recovery that if I have a problem, I must look within myself to fix it rather than blaming others. Steller implicitly raises a larger question, though: Why are so many Americans addicted to so many things, fentanyl among them? What are the conditions of life in America today that drive so many of us to drugs, alcohol, overeating or anorexia, even suicide? And once we identify these conditions, what can we do to change them, individually or as a society?
Sterling Vinson
Midtown
Pima Community College
Re: the Sept. 30 article “Group wants PCC chancellor’s resignation.”
As your recent article demonstrates, the Pima Community College, its Governing Board and upcoming election for two new board members are the subject of considerable interest. The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson is sponsoring a PCC Governing Board Candidate Forum on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 5 p.m. on Zoom. Anyone interested in attending can sign up by going to our website, lwvtucson.org and go to Events Tab, or email communications@lwvtucson.com. Everyone is invited.
Nancy Hand, President of the League of Women Voters of Tucson
North side
