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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Public Records,
Public Money
To the editor: Betty Brink’s story on the downtown campus of Tarrant County College (“Master’s Degree of a Mess,” Jan. 30, 2008) was superb coverage. The picture is pretty bleak, and I don’t have much faith in the TCCD trustees and absolutely none in the chancellor.
I’m pretty certain that my open records requests have not made them very happy over the past three years.
I think it is time to stop the project dead and get new leadership in place.
Bob Mhoon
Fort Worth
To the editor: I have been trying for some time to protest the wasteful spending going on for the downtown college campus, but TCC trustee Kristin Vandergriff will not respond to my e-mails. Let me know how I can help the persons trying to get the attention of the trustees, who are supposed to be watching over the public’s money.
Gary T. Trammell
Arlington
Clown Kings
To the editor: I live in the rapidly disappearing neighborhood that borders the Museum District. In recent weeks, as I do every year around this time (“This Ain’t Their Best Rodeo,” Feb. 6, 2008), weather permitting, I walked around the perimeter picking up the many aluminum cans that stock show visitors toss around.
It genuinely saddened me to see that some ass-clowns called the Kings have spray-painted everything that doesn’t move between Camp Bowie and the freeway with their ugly graffiti. A new board fence behind a church. The QuikWay where I get my burgers. The former Children’s Museum. Two billboards.
Is this the best face Fort Worth can put on for our out-of-town visitors? Sad and nothing less. Montgomery Street looks like East L.A.
The stock show is the only time of year I ever see any level of police presence in my neighborhood, and yet this is what I see. Pathetic.
Brian Roper
Fort Worth
Dad of Short Cop
To the editor: Jeff Prince’s story (“Circular Track,” Feb. 6, 2008) brought back an old memory, of the time I got my first-ever ticket in Dallas for jaywalking, way back in ’71 when I was 18.
I was used to the more relaxed downtown standards of Fort Worth, and that still is true today. Unlike in Jeff’s case, the light I walked against was working fine, but I was not prepared for the huffing, puffing, red-faced Dallas cop who ran after me down the crowded sidewalk, yelling for me to stop. He was pissed that I didn’t stop quicker (I had hoped he would get tired or go away).
As he wrote the ticket, I told him I was in Dallas for my draft physical. Scowling contemptuously at my longish hair, he spit out, “I bet!” My parents paid the ticket, and I framed it as a symbol of the cursed establishment and my contempt for it. This was long before DART cops, but maybe this dude was the dad of the officer you encountered.
Don Willis
Fort Worth
Free to Say No
To the editor: As a regular reader of many newspapers and periodicals, I have noticed that the news media frequently lay blame for the current credit crisis (“Too Little, Too Late,” Sept. 12, 2007) at the feet of greedy corporations and politicians beholden to them.
But where does the consumer’s responsibility begin? A person who receives credit card applications, refinancing notices, and mortgage offers has the ability to say no. The problem is that we have become a society of instant gratification and entitlement. We do not want to wait for any item, including housing. We buy more than we can afford, with little or no equity, only to find out that we have signed on for repayment terms we can’t afford. Due diligence and economic discipline are required for individuals as well as companies to succeed. Saving, investing, and spending less than you make, while limiting debt, is the real American dream. It’s hard and requires work.
I do agree with media reports suggesting that our politicians pander for votes and make promises that can never be fulfilled. The ridiculous economic stimulus proposed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the Bush administration, for instance, is an exercise in futility. I would wager that most recipients in need will not spend the stimulus check on new goods but will pay the minimum payment due on their credit cards.
Washington, like many of us, needs a severe wake-up call. There are no true entitlements in this world. Everything has a price, and it is time for America to grow up and take that into account.
Kirk Miller
Fort Worth
Correction
A Feb. 13 story on the Tarrant County College’s downtown campus (“One Down”) included an error regarding which parts of that project the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction over. The Corps has jurisdiction over the work planned for the north bank of the Trinity River, but not for that on the south bank. Fort Worth Weekly regrets the error.
Brother Joe
To the editor: Jeff Prince’s feature story on my brother Joe was just a fabulous piece of writing (“Natural Man,” Feb. 20, 2008). He really captured the man, his situation, his outlook. I appreciate this very much, and feel like it will do some real good in the world, by increasing awareness of all the things Joe has stood for.
Frank Kuban
Ferris
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