Women's sports
As a parent of a daughter who is an NCAA athlete, I agree with Mac Engel that a "pay for play" system is a bad idea for college athletes. However, I strongly disagree with him that "if the athletes are smart, they will exploit the system to their advantage." We are raising our daughters to be a part of the team, work hard and help others. Not be exploiters!And I even more strongly disagree with him when he said women's sports are "a waste of money." Girls' sports, and specifically women's college sports, have taught our girls valuable lessons in the classroom and on the court in commitment, accountability, hard work, time management, leadership and gratitude for the scholarship. And they will be able to use all these skills in their jobs, as parents, in their church and for their communities. Skills which are priceless to help make America a better place.-- Jan Hegi, Fort WorthNew road fundsThe column about Texas gasoline taxes was interesting. (See: "A 'painless' way to save TxDOT and help fund education," Wednesday) Yet gasoline taxes are going the way of dial-up modems and corded telephones. As each year passes and old vehicles are replaced by new, average fuel economy rises. The vehicle which provides 30 mpg pays half as much tax per mile driven as one which delivers only 15 mpg. And we can buy cars which use little or no gasoline: the Nissan Leaf is all-electric, and Chevy's Volt can rely entirely on battery power depending upon how it is driven. While these vehicles are now only a very small percentage of vehicles on the road, they are trendsetters, and more will follow.For the future, we may have to look to vast networks of toll roads, and registration fees may increase dramatically. Ideally, we would all pay a fee based on mileage driven, but today's technology does not offer a foolproof method of monitoring our vehicles.Raising the Texas gasoline tax may help fund our highways for the next decade or so, but new ways of funding road maintenance and highway construction must be found.-- Gary Sprott, ColleyvilleForest Hill turmoilConstant ongoing scandals have been the norm for the Forest Hill City Council.A whistleblower suit was filed by a recently fired city manager. An attempt was made to restructure the city charter to, among other things, form a strong mayor form of government and allow City Council members to be paid.The council ignored a petition to recall the mayor and a councilman. A councilman was suspended because of misuse of a city credit card.The mayor attempted to have a councilman detained on a mental health warrant. The mayor was suspended by the City Council. The mayor filed suit against four council members and the city. Then the mayor and a city councilman had a fistfight in City Hall.How much more do we need?It is time to clean house!-- Joseph R. Rhyne, Forest HillJudicial nominees"'Advice and consent' means voting, not obstructing" (See: Editorial, Tuesday) aptly focused on Texas Sen. John Cornyn's statement that he might support a filibuster of a trial court nominee despite Cornyn's prior insistence that "the U.S. Constitution demands" up-or-down votes on nominees.Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison also stated repeatedly on the Senate floor that requiring 60 votes to end a filibuster against a judicial nominee would be "changing the Constitution."So far, the actions by Cornyn and Hutchison have been consistent with their words; they have never voted against ending a filibuster of a judicial nominee.Now, will either senator violate what they have insisted the Constitution requires by blocking an up-or-down vote on whether to confirm a lower-court judge?-- Glenn Sugameli, staff attorney, Judging the Environment,Defenders of Wildlife,Washington, D.C. Alcohol tax increaseThe alcohol excise tax in Texas has not been changed since 1984, and, at 19 cents per gallon for beer is lower than the surrounding states of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. No mention, however, by our state Legislature of looking at potential revenue generators, such as increasing the alcohol excise tax, to prevent the layoffs of teachers and maintain state funding for other critical health programs. Raising the alcohol excise tax would have the added benefit of reducing underage drinking. It appears to be very clear what the Legislature's priorities are, and those priorities do not involve the education, health and welfare of ordinary citizens.-- Rex Carey, MidlothianElection letters
Letters to the editor endorsing political candidates or issues in the May 14 elections will be considered for publication if they are limited to 150 words or less and include the author's full name, home street address, city of residence and daytime and home telephone numbers for verification purposes. The deadline to submit election letters is 5 p.m. Sunday, May 1.
Letters may be submitted via e-mail (the preferred method) to letters@star-telegram.com; by fax to 817-390-7688; or by mail to Letters, Star-Telegram, P.O. Box 1870, Fort Worth, TX 76102.
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