Progress is being made, but we all should unite to defeat lung cancer
Did you know that our congressman, Chuck Fleischmann, is a member of the Cancer Caucus and was on the front page of the March 14 Roll Call in Washington, D.C., along with his personal story of how cancer affected his life? I just returned from our capitol, joining others from across America who have been impacted by lung cancer, for Lung Cancer Advocacy Day. I asked Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, as well as Rep. Fleischmann, to increase research funding for lung cancer treatments and for early diagnosis, and shared my own story about being diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer six years ago. Although some progress is being made in the fight, lung cancer is still the No. 1 cancer killer. Join me in advocating for its defeat!
Cathy Barker
Signal Mountain
Trump has become GOP's Frankenstein
As a "yellow dog Democrat," I have enjoyed and been amused by the Republican Party being confounded by the same problem that confronted Dr. Frankenstein: how to destroy or control the monster it created, Donald J. Trump.
In the beginning, there was the party of Lincoln, liberal and progressive, believing in internal improvements (infrastructure) and preventing the spread of slavery to the territories. As time passed, it became more conservative but was still a rational party in opposition to the Democratic Party. Then came the Southern strategy of Nixon, bringing the Southern states under the umbrella of the Republican Party by playing to the backlash against desegregation.
It was a small step, in recent years, for the mainstream of the party to start dancing to the tune being played by the reactionary mouse of the party, the tea party. It became a case of the mouse swallowing the elephant.
For a democracy to function, the opposition party, or parties, must accept the results of a fair election. The tea party has never accepted the fact President Obama was fairly elected twice; hence, the beginning of the creation of monster Trump.
Archie Thurman
End gun violence where it begins
An aspect of gun violence that is never discussed - a "no talk rule?" - is demographics: Where does the lion's share of this violence take place? In a recent article on gun violence toward local police, there was a strong hint of this violent cohort. The anti-gun bunch appears to be focused on law-aiding citizens who own firearms, not "weapons." A weapon is directly related to use. A firearm becomes a weapon in how it is employed. End "drive-bys" by outlawing automobiles! Go after all the bad folks - violent law breakers. Accounts of life in these shooting zones sound like reports from the former Yugoslavia some years back. In a recent speech, the president gave clear direction in how to address these problems.
William A. Reed
Time for people to speak to D.C.
Everyone in Washington has had a chance to speak without asking the people who voted for them. Now, maybe it's the people's turn for a say.
Everyone up there is money-hungry. The seniors have not had a raise in so long. We deserve at least 9 to 10 percent. The price of gas has nothing to do with our raise. We do not travel. We're not able. Rent, groceries, medical bills and prescriptions have all gone up. Why can't somebody get on level with normal people? Now, just edge that gas back up. We are tired of excuses. Go home, Mitch McConnell. You ruined our Republican party.
Bertis Branam
Dayton, Tenn.
'Sex Week' funding better than decals
I was rather dismayed by the bill which proposed to take $100,000 in funding from UT's diversity office. It is not logical or productive to take money away from education for car decals. If legislators are so concerned about money going to promote religiously affiliated activities on campus, how do they justify putting the funding towards religious car decals that have nothing to do with education?
Also, why did the senators even mention "Sex Week"? Since it's not funded by tax dollars, I think it's out of their jurisdiction. It seems like they're trying to target those wanting to actually have a conversation about sex. Sex education is woefully lacking in our education system, and I think conversations about safe sex, consent, etc., which "Sex Week" promotes, are very important, especially on a college campus.
I don't know what greater good they hope to accomplish, but I would much rather my tax dollars go to support students and the future of this nation than temporary car decals.
Sarah Hunt
Collegedale
School leader choice critical
A non-educator interim superintendent requires a steep learning curve, and considering our test scores, we cannot afford that. Requiring only a bachelor's degree is alarming. A school superintendent needs a deep understanding of many aspects of education, not the least of which are statistics to effectively assess, set goals, monitor trends, evaluate outcomes, and importantly, to interpret standardized test scores. Perhaps Rick Smith was not trying to fool anyone last fall, rather he didn't fully understand the results.
The Board of Education has not been happy with the last three superintendents. We were doing better with the previous two, yet rather than finish out their contracts, taxpayers bought out both. For Mr. Smith, the doctoral qualification was lowered to a master's, and in spite of falling scores, he was given a raise and a four-year contract.
More gravitas in the selection of the interim and next superintendent is owed the children, teachers, parents and taxpayers. A task force including a teacher, administrator, parent, and school board member could (should?) visit a highly successful school system, wherever that may be, to model and mentor our broken system. We need to get this fourth choice right.
Janet Secrest
Hixson
Socialist FDR showed the way
Conservatives contend the reason young people are strongly supporting an old Democratic socialist is because they're wanting a handout. I disagree and believe all they really want is a fair shake. Their whole life, all they've seen is the utter disaster of the economic theory called "trickle down economics."
Children born in the middle class have seen their parents' struggle get more difficult every year as their wages stagnated or have seen their families fall into poverty as their parents' jobs were shipped overseas. They've seen CEOs get $18 million bonuses the year they lay off 25,000 employees, like the head of Schlumberger, an oil drilling company, recently did. They've witnessed all the wealth generated in the last 30 or 40 years go to the top 1 percent.
Republican governors drive states like Kansas and Louisiana to the point of bankruptcy, where they can't even conduct a full school year, with their tax cuts for the rich. It wouldn't set a precedent to elect a Democratic socialist president. We did it before and liked it so much we elected him four times overwhelmingly, with the most narrow margin of victory being 10 percent nationally.
John Mark Davis
Ringgold, Ga.