College athletes are exploited
Re: the Oct. 7 letter “Paying athletes is not the college way.”
Two letters in the Arizona Daily Star disparaged the California law allowing college athletes to sign contract endorsements. I do not know when the writers went to college, but for decades the “college way” has been using them as a way for the college to make money, from endorsements (Adidas, anyone?) as well as from having successful teams that generate both attendance and alumni contributions.
The athletes themselves? Unless they are the few who sign professional contracts, they are discarded. They are often given unchallenging courses and frequently don’t even graduate.
Joshua Freeman
North side
Do as we say, not as we do
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement accusing China of “a highly repressive campaign” including “mass detentions in internment camps, pervasive high-tech surveillance, and coercion of individuals to return from abroad to an often perilous fate in China.”
Is that not a very accurate description of the U.S. policy at our southern border? Could China not issue the exact same statement about the U.S.? It’s OK if we do it, but not another country?
Shawn McNamara
South Side
Now is the time
to bee down, Arizona
With fall and winter around the corner, the UA and Tucson community is starting to plan for the seasons’ festivities. Something at the top of our planning list should be the revitalization of our honeybee community. Honeybees are dying at an alarming rate, and it is our job to save these special species. Honeybees are essential to about one-third of all the food we eat including fruits, vegetables and nuts. They also pollinate flowers and play a role in our coffee supply.
Honeybees are responsible for $20 billion worth of U.S. crop production so, if bees continue decreasing, produce will be more expensive to buy. So when you are eating a pastry this autumn, caffeinating with coffee during finals week or baking that apple pie, remember a bee pollinated that and think of the things you can do to help revitalize their community. These upcoming seasons, let’s suit up and bee down.
Sarah Marrujo
Midtown
A simple solution
to AZ hydration deaths
I urge the cities of Arizona to prioritize the hydration of its residents. It is not surprising that Arizona’s summers are considered among the hottest summers on Earth. About 50 people die every year due to heat-related illness in the state. As a proud Arizonan, I believe that our cities could improve their efforts in their mission to diminish the number of deaths that are experienced year after year due to this preventable crisis.
A great example of how to appropriately address this issue is by replicating the efforts of Yuma County, which has recently established a total of five water sites and 10 cooling centers for citizens to use whenever temperatures arise harshly. I encourage that efforts like Yuma County’s be implemented across the state in order to help those who are most vulnerable to these extreme temperatures. It is time for Arizona to act on the obvious threat that is taking the lives of its residents.
Edgar Villavicencio
Midtown
Comprehensive sex-ed
needs to be taught
It is naïve to think that all youth will remain abstinent. If we are not providing our community’s children with comprehensive sex education, we are letting them down. Evidence has shown time and time again that abstinence-only education does not work. We need to empower our youth with evidence-based, extensive and inclusive sex-ed.
We cannot just expect parents to be teaching their children these things, because that is not always the case. If schools aren’t teaching them, and parents aren’t teaching them, where are they getting the information? From each other. With STI rates and teen pregnancy still being a huge issue in Arizona, we need to do better. How do we expect our youth to make healthy decisions when we do not even give them all of the information they need to make those decisions.
Serena Bailey
Northeast side
Is health care part
of ‘American Dream?’
Is the “American Dream” augmented? In addition to work, family reunification and safety, health care is a large pull factor for migration to the United States. However, undocumented immigrants, including DACA holders, are ineligible to receive most public benefits. Starting in November, immigrant-visa applicants will be required to prove they can afford health care.
This obstacle, targeted toward immigrants, also shines a light on the number of U.S. citizens who are already without health insurance. In 2017, 20.55 million of those uninsured were U.S. born and naturalized citizens. Thus, exposing the flaws in the American health-care system. I urge politicians to consider these numbers and mobilize in creating health-care as human right for all.
As the rates of immigration to the United States rise and the rates of health-care coverage fall, we have to ask ourselves: “is the U.S. facing an immigration problem, or a health-care problem?”
Jhenitza Raygoza
South side
Constitutional amendment not needed
Re: the Oct. 8 opinion “Amendment is needed to curb presidential powers.”
I take issue with James Williams’ opinion that we need a constitutional amendment to limit the powers of the presidency. The Constitution as written already contains ample definition of the powers of both Congress and the president. Impeachment is the main solution to any abuse of power by the president.
The other solution, of course, is the election process. As Williams states, in his mind presidents of both parties were at fault. Of course a majority voted for them, so must agree with their actions. I believe another constitutional amendment limiting presidential powers could hamstring a president when they need to act quickly to respond to events. And of course, allowing a president to be prosecuted for crimes while in office could tie them up in legal wrangling for months fending off false allegations. The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing, Williams. Leave the document alone.
Bruce Dockter
Sierra Vista
Trump’s Tucson visit and his past-due bill
El Tour De Tucson found themselves in financial troubles when they couldn’t pay for traffic control. Somehow, Friends of El Tour came together and funded the delinquent debt.
In 2016, Trump’s visit to Tucson used 180 police officers for security. He never paid the outstanding debt of $80,000 to the city.
Trump supporters, here is your chance. With the great Trump economy (16% smaller than previous administration) we’ll clean up Trump’s past-due security debt. Aren’t we all wheeling barrows full of money to the bank? Tired of winning with the tax cuts? Not only would we be doing a great service for the idolized commander in chief, but it would be helping Tucson. God knows we could use the money.
Larry Robinson
Northwest side
President wants what’s best for US citizens
Every day there are “letters to the editor” from Americans calling other Americans derogatory names because they happen to have different opinions than they do, and then they have the nerve to try and demean us because of it. We wonder why they so willingly and strongly support a political party that works harder for those breaking our laws than they do for us.
We wonder why they don’t support a president who wants the best for its own citizens, that doesn’t like the fact that American taxpayer dollars should freely be given to those illegally penetrating our borders, and who believes in American patriotism and its people first. It’s unfortunate that they are so full of hate, that all they strive for is to bring down this president (and, by doing so, weakening our country abroad as well). Yes, Trump does have his faults, but the fact that he is for U.S. citizens first, to us, speaks loudly.
Rosalie Wright
Oro Valley
