Former Sen. Bradley
Re: the Feb. 20 article “Former Sen. David Bradley, a children’s advocate, dies.”
The wonderful article on former state Sen. David Bradley emphasized his kindness and his caring for children. It seems he was a terrific person who was liked and respected across party lines. There were even complimentary comments by Senate President Karen Fann and Gov. Doug Ducey. Too bad the majority party members in the state Legislature do not subscribe to the caring qualities of Bradley. They seek to pass bills which will underfund our public schools, thereby denying our children the education they deserve. Contact your legislators and ask them to emulate Bradley.
Kathleen Dubbs
West side
Legislation wrong on many levels
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Re: the Jan 26 article “Bill forces teachers to disclose secrets.”
The proposed legislation is wrong on many levels. First, it violates individual liberties. What happened to the idea of limited government and respecting individual rights? Conservatives constantly tout this concept but do not apply it consistently. Second, this bill limits students’ free speech. Students who are scared to come out to their parents would not be able to confide in a trusted teacher without risking the teacher’s job. These students are forced to remain silent and continue hurting. By talking with a trusted adult, they may have the means to move forward. A student has the right to choose who that trusted individual is. Third, this bill adds another responsibility to over-burdened teachers and creates a toxic work environment. It is difficult enough to keep teachers.
Legislators, do your own job and stay out of personal relationships. Parents, do your job to build a positive, trusting relationship with your child.
Sandy Caster
Oro Valley
Separate but equal
Segregation because of disease is not new, as those who were infected with the leprosy bacterium were relegated to their own isolated areas, usually on Pacific islands, as were those who suffered from tuberculosis who were segregated to the drier and cleaner air found in the Southwest sanitariums. This brings to mind a suggestion my wife made that because of the many dissenting opinions regarding masks, isolation and vaccination, a way to satisfy these social and education needs might be to create separate but equal facilities — schools, restaurants, bars, stores, etc. — that cater exclusively to either the masked/unmasked or vaccinated/unvaccinated where people can enter an area where other people share the same idea without arguing who’s right and who’s wrong. In this way, you would have the access you need without the ensuing argument about the proper course of action and the violence it usually brings.
Richard Rebl
East side
Basketball farce
Went to the ASU men’s basketball game. There were so many people who bought popcorn or a drink to keep their mask down. One guy in the front row, sucked on a lollipop just to avoid putting his mask on. Others in defiance didn’t even bother to give the false impression of compliance. During this time of a pandemic, why is it so necessary to sell popcorn and drinks? There should be a strict rule on mask enforcement and if someone violates the rule after a warning, they should be ejected. It’s that simple. UA paid more money to the departed basketball and football coaches than they would ever sell in popcorn. Where are your priorities?
Jimmy Fein
Midtown
Letter to Sinema on filibuster
Dear Sen. Kyrsten Sinema,
I’ve waited patiently for you to weigh the critical importance of passing the two right-to-vote bills you’ve helped to shape and publicly supported against retaining the Senate’s filibuster rule with no carve-out to make passing those bills possible.
I am convinced that, unless measures to cripple our electoral system already enacted in states across America are rolled back, we will have no Senate and no House of Representatives worth calling a Senate and House — and we will have no Republic to defend.
I am also convinced that you know this to be true.
So, unless you can change your mind about opposing a carve-out of the filibuster rule or convince at least 10 of your Republican colleagues not to sustain a filibuster with regard to the right-to-vote bills, I ask that you resign as senator in favor of someone who will do what you know must be done.
Regretfully, a longtime Tucson resident and independent.
Jeffrey Lockridge
East side
Flight changes and environment
Re: the Jan. 29 article “AF seeks to change flight rules in AZ zones.”
The Air Force is proposing to change their flight rules to permit flights as low as 100 feet, adding to the area around Tombstone by 750 square miles and to litter our beautiful desert with “chaff” and flares. I wonder and worry about the impact of these changes on our wildlife and rural communities.
Tim Wernette
Foothills
Teaching the truth
Republican lawmakers are introducing legislation to ban books, discourage teachers from dealing with unpleasant events in American history and hold schools liable if students are caused discomfort as a result of classroom instruction.
Trust local boards of education and professionals to make intelligent decisions regarding the choice of books to be studied. If members of the community are uncomfortable with a book choice, they should deal with that concern at the local level.
These lawmakers believe it is OK to say there were slaves, but oppose including instruction on how the slaves were treated. They would advise avoiding teaching about conditions on the slave ships and the selling of slave children away from their parents. Presented properly, students can deal with the truth.
Regarding the discomfort of children, a reasonable amount of discomfort should be expected when teaching our history of slavery and Jim Crow and should be viewed as evidence of empathy and compassion.
Bottom line is that Republican lawmakers are advocating not telling the truth about America.
Stuart Sellinger
Northwest side
A true question
If the defeated president claims he won the last presidential election then, as I understand the Constitution, he cannot run again, is that right?
If that’s legal, how about running Obama, wait, name your past president, whatever illegal act you choose.
Binky Luckhurst
Woodward
Foothills
Math legislation
Re: the Feb. 21 article “AZ bill promotes changes to HS math.”
I have tutored math for eight years, in two different school systems. Students who do not know their multiplication table are being tested on linear regression analysis and other mathematical concepts that they will never use.
Most people will not complete college and of those that do most will not go into advanced mathematics. Why are they being taught how to calculate the standard deviation for a group of measurements when they can’t compute the yards of carpeting needed to cover a 20-foot-by-15-foot room, much less the gallons of paint required to paint a room if one gallon covers 100 square feet?
In my 82 years, I have been a surveyor, military mathematician, owned a retail store, a mortgage company, repaired houses and sold houses, along with other miscellaneous jobs. Ninety-nine percent of those jobs required only eighth grade math: add, subtract, multiply, divide, percentage, powers and roots. If one understands these concepts, they can look up how to calculate a standard deviation should the need arise.
David Lyle
Northwest side
March is Women’s History Month
Just in case you didn’t know, March is Women’s History Month (I didn’t know). We are very fortunate here in Tucson to have our own women’s historical author, Jan Cleere. Jan writes a monthly column, Western Women in the Arizona Daily Star. She is amazing and writes about incredible women. I find myself anxiously awaiting her next article. By the way, her books are great, too. Thanks, Jan.
Vicky Kuzel
Northeast side
Words matter
Re: the Feb. 21 letter “Surely God knew what he meant.”
Words are powerful. They hurt, empower, belittle, enlighten and, in the Catholic Church, perform miracles and impart grace. Their importance in conferring the Sacraments of the Catholic Church eludes the letter writer. But we Catholics know their power and significance. Priests in the church act “in persona Christi” (as Christ), and sacramental words are written to reflect Christ working through the priest.
We thrive on constancy in our faith life. The Mass is a constant. The Sacraments are constants. Learning of invalid sacraments is not new for the Church. To rectify mistakes, the Church is clear, compassionate, and corrective. What we felt at a supposed sacrament matters not; what matters is whether it was a Sacrament. There is nothing to be angry about — there was an error and it will be fixed. Grace will come in full to those who receive the the Sacrament performed rightly. If the Church wavers on the importance of words, the Sacraments will die. Fr. Arango now understands the importance of words. Peace be with him.
Molly Lamb
Northeast side
