Tucson Speaks Out: October 8

Editorial standards

The Oct. 3 letter by Janet Wittenbraker implores the Star to uphold its standards of factual accuracy. I wholeheartedly agree, and wonder why you published her LTE, criticizing a prior “Warrior ethos vs. truth” letter. That letter specifically identified Trump as someone “who would never be caught dead near a war zone ever.” Factually true. “Cadet Bone Spur’s” history says so. He refused to even visit a war dead cemetery in Europe because a light rain might get his hair wet. Apparently, this Ward 3 City Council candidate (yikes), struggling with reading comprehension, gave an irrelevant long-winded résumé for Pete Hegseth. Sorry: still true. Those two disgraced the memory of actual war heroes in front of a room full of true military leaders.

Gary Susko

Midtown

The bully returns

I taught at universities in Iraq and Egypt, and nearly 20 years here at the UA. The first two countries are not exactly known for an enlightened emphasis on civil rights. But never did I see the kind of heavy-handed interference in academic independence that this U.S. administration is trying to impose. The U.S. president’s bully-offer to nine universities, including the UA, of a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” is a Faustian bargain and should be met with a unified and resounding “No.” The Board of Regents and the UA president need to stand tall and just say no. The UA faculty, staff, students and alumni will back them up and be grateful for their insistence on integrity and academic freedom. And, significantly, the Arizona legislature needs to take much more seriously its responsibility to the state universities and properly fund them. Then they will be better able to stand up to bullies.

Maggy Zanger

Midtown

Hansen’s excellent articles

What a writer! Please never leave us, Greg Hansen.

1) Lack of fans at early, hot UA football game. Tucsonans have just endured a ridiculously hot, uncomfortable summer, and will not show up for a hot football game in early October. Just bad scheduling.

2) Exorbitant cost of facility upgrades. This will not increase fan attendance. Only winning football will. I have attended games at Penn State and Michigan in rickety, antiquated stadiums, yet overflowing with fans. Winning games and tradition are what sells tickets, not sound systems and fancy scoreboards.

3) Sahuaro /Sabino rivalry. With the new HS football format in Southern Arizona, we will never again see rivalries such as this.

My wife, Beth Egan, now a principal in The Tanque Verde School District, was a Sahuaro student in the late 1980s and experienced this awesome rivalry. In her words, it was “incredible!”

Thank you, Greg Hansen, for your excellent writing and historical perspective.

Dan Egan

East side

Short-term threats or long-term planning

Ah, the irony of timing sometimes. As supporters of U of A (and me an alum), my husband and I just received an ad promotion to do estate planning that includes the university. Hmm, I thought: Does the Institute think extortion threats from a racist administration more important than integrity, quality, freedom and financial planning? We’ll see.

“University” means an institution of higher learning, places that open and expand minds, not narrow them; places that provide society with progress in science, mathematics, social sciences and the arts. If U of A wishes to narrow and contain thought and practices for monies easily withdrawn (fascist spying anyone?), then I’m looking to ASU and their President, Michael Crow, for my allegiances.

Look up President Crow, ASU, and the accomplishments and awards received. U of A: You have a challenge and a model before you, and it sure isn’t a demented man led by Medieval Project 2025! This is your moment to stand by principle or tarnish yourself for the future.

Nancy Jacques

Northeast side

UA’s ‘must do’ list

The specific actions the UA has been asked to commit to are so comprehensively vague that they would be impossible to coherently enact, much less to evaluate. Setting aside questions regarding the moral and intellectual integrity which a university must exemplify, many actions requested are inherently biased. Three examples: 1. “Transform or abolish ... units that ... punish, belittle ... conservative ideas.” (You can belittle liberal ideas, though?) 2. “Demonstrate commitment to grade activity...publishing grade distribution dashboards ... that explain ... any unusual upward trends” (It’s OK to have unusual downward trends?) 3. “exceptions permitted for families of substantial means” (No other exceptions are listed. One wonders why the only one permitted is for rich folks.)

Delores Keahey

Southeast side

HS football rivalry

Greg Hansen’s article about the Saguaro/Sabino rivalry on Oct. 5 brings back fond memories of Tucson’s original HS football rivalry. Through most of the ’50s, Tucson High and Amphi were the only high schools in town. The rivalry game was played each year on Thanksgiving Day, always at the THS stadium. Amphi’s bleachers couldn’t accommodate the crowd. Tucson High was about four times our (Amphi’s) size, but we won a few.

In the days long before NFL football on TV, we went to the game early afternoon, then home for turkey dinner. A simpler place and time.

William Thornton

Midtown

Only the brave can be free

“U of A must not cave to demands of Trump ‘compact’” (Star page A16, Oct. 5) by John P. Schaefer, UA President 1971-82, Research Corporation for Scientific Research CEO 1988-2004, and continuing supporter of scientific research at UA and elsewhere, and “U of A must reject federal demands” (Star page A17, Oct. 5) by Michael A. Chihak, retired native-Tucsonan newsman, showed courage and wisdom in defending the integrity of UA as a center of excellence in research and education and a welcoming home for all, including the disadvantaged. In addition to applauding loudly for these two voices of courage and wisdom, I want to remind ourselves, whether you are related to UA like I (physics faculty 1971-2012) or not, only the brave dare to stand up for the truth and only truth can make you free. Are we living in “the land of the free and the home of the brave”?

Ke Chiang Hsieh

Midtown

Regarding boycotts

A recent letter about the efficacy of boycotts got me thinking. Actually, the “marketplace” as a form of consumer politics has been the focus of boycotts since America’s early days. Think Boston Tea Party. Think of the boycott involving the rejection of goods produced by slave labor, or the boycotting of segregated businesses, or the boycott of the segregated bus system in Montgomery, Alabama. All created positive change. Recent boycotts involving social change are murkier, largely because the MAGA/anti-”woke” crowd has made boycotting a vehicle for their desire to disappear people they don’t want to share the earth with (primarily trans and gay people). The idiotic Bud Light boycott was a prime example, with organizers including such unfortunate examples of humanity as Kid Rock and Ted Nugent. Used for meaningful purposes, boycotts can harness economic power to effect positive change, both socially and politically. Individuals are always free to withhold spending from businesses antithetical to their worldview.

S. Ross Emmanuel

Southeast side

The Bunny that roared

Conservatives never build, expand or create anything that we Americans want or need.

Rather, they take away. Take away our rights, our freedoms, our thoughts.

They want to be in our bathrooms, bedrooms, doctor’s office, even in our heads. Now, they want to dictate the NFL Halftime show.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Republicans actually did real work that they were elected and paid by the American people to do? Like drafting one piece of legislation that actually benefits the citizens and small businesses of this country.

I must be dreaming. They’d rather funnel more wealth into the bulging pockets of their billionaire patrons while they find the nearest camera to bleat their latest culture-war outrage as distraction.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if these fools were finally tripped up by ... a bunny?

Joe Turner

East side

Trump and his minions

Neither facts nor truth have any meaning in the White House. Trump creates sickening and childish videos on “Truth” Social that denigrate elected members of Congress. Steve Miller, an unelected member of Trump’s staff, has started a war against ships in the Caribbean with no reporting to or permission from Congress. ICE is attacking US citizens and children in Portland and Chicago. Trump is trying to send National Guard troops to Portland and Chicago against his appointed judge’s order and using doctored videos from years before as rationale. Congress is not to be seen because the Speaker called a recess so he can illegally refuse to seat Adelita Grijalva in a cowardly attempt to avoid a vote on the release of the Epstein files. In the meantime, government workers have been laid off, so the work of government on behalf of the people is no longer being done, and people are panicking about their healthcare. Congress has abdicated its responsibility to someone unfit to be President. It must stop.

Nancy Atherton

Foothills

Don’t do it

Over the years, my husband and I have made contributions to various programs at the University of Arizona. I do not mean to imply these were large contributions, but they were meaningful for us. And I suspect there are thousands of others in the southern Arizona community who have done the same. If the university abandons its governance and financial independence to the Trump administration by endorsing the “Compact,” I can almost assure the university’s administrators they will be shocked by the backlash and decrease in community financial support.

Fran McNeely

Northeast side

Who’s driving the bus?

Trump has been focused on the idea that Portland is a “war zone,” reportedly influenced by a Fox News report that passed off 2020 footage as current. Key allies Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, and Pete Hegseth have supported this narrative, despite clear denials from Oregon’s governor, Portland’s mayor, and local sources.

A Friday report by the Minnesota Star Tribune revealed a Signal chat between one of Miller’s deputies and a senior Hegseth adviser, discussing a plan to deploy the 82nd Airborne Division to Portland, which they hoped Trump would support. Trump, after speaking with the governor, questioned whether his understanding of Portland was based on outdated or false information, saying, “My people tell me different.” However, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut blocked a National Guard deployment, stating Trump’s claims were “untethered to the facts.”

The situation raises concerns about who is influencing military decisions in Trump’s circle and questions about their motives, as narratives unsupported by facts appear to be shaping high-level policy.

Barbara Hall

Midtown

What is Ciscomani doing during this recess?

With Congress on recess, Arizona citizens deserve to know how you are using this time.

Specifically:

University of Arizona: What actions are you taking to oppose any attempt by Donald Trump to threaten or withhold vital research funding unless the University complies with extreme political demands? Arizona’s flagship public university must remain free from political blackmail.

Adelita Grijalva’s swearing-in: What are you doing to press Speaker Johnson to immediately swear in Representative-Elect Adelita Grijalva, as required by law and the will of Arizona voters? Every day of delay silences the people she was elected to represent.

Constituent accountability: Will you hold open town halls during this recess to listen directly to your constituents about these urgent issues?

Representative Ciscomani, your actions during this break will speak loudly. We expect you to protect our universities and ensure that every duly elected representative takes their rightful seat in Congress.

Frank Hagel

SaddleBrooke