Sunday's Letters to the Editor

Protest canceled

Dear editor:

I'm so very glad everyone now realizes the problem at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts is about the decisions made by the school's administration and how the school's leadership treats its students and staff.

This has never been about who was speaking at a commencement exercise, but the thought behind the decision on who would speak. Members of the Citizens for the American Agenda took up the cause after we heard complaints from parents, the children and from employees of ASMSA that leadership changes were needed.

The administration has constantly promoted a liberal agenda and does not listen to the needs of its students.

Your May 14 article revealing the mistreatment of students and staff by the administration of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts was a true reflection of the board of visitors meeting held the previous night.

If the stories told by students, parents and staff were not so tragic, I would compare the sophomoric hazing and operations of ASMSA administration to a frat house in the movie "Animal House." But allegations of sexual assault on a student that was not reported to the child's parents or law enforcement is not a laughing matter.

You must remember the administration is charged with not only the education of high school junior and seniors, they are responsible for any harm that comes to these young people. The administration's failure to report an alleged sexual assault on a child should be thoroughly investigated.

The 17-year-old student said that students are not respected and their problems are ignored by ASMSA's administration unless a parent intervenes. He said he informed the school administration of the on-campus sexual assault and nothing was done to his attacker.

There were also reports from students, parents and staff of retaliatory actions taken against them for complaints of treatment. Plus, the students were denied forming a Young Republican club although they had the membership and the sponsor needed.

We welcome a complete and open investigation by the Garland County prosecuting attorney and local law enforcement authorities of the failure of the school administration to report assaults on children. The University of Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson's office and our state legislators should demand an investigation of the management and operation of ASMSA.

Many of the parents, students and employees contacted the Citizens for the American Agenda when the organization challenged the ASMSA misuse of state tax dollars to promote a liberal agenda to students. An example of this misspending of public funds was the invitation of Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the school commencement speaker.

In order to draw attention to the ASMSA problem, members of the C4AA and others planned a protest during the commencement exercise on May 25. We believe now that out of respect for these victims and that the ASMSA mismanagement has been exposed we do not want to take attention away from any future investigation and we will not hold any demonstrations.

It is unfortunate the lives of children had to be affected for the public to discover the injustice delivered to the students, parents and employees of the ASMSA. We can only hope that the matters are thoroughly investigated to give the students, their parents and the employees the assurance that someone cares.

Reggie Cowan

Hot Springs

Just some thoughts

Dear editor:

To the young man who keeps insisting that the Arkansas School for Math, Science and the Arts' invitation for Hillary Clinton to be its commencement speaker is political, he should have read the letter from Bud Kenny published in an issue last week. Bud pointed out that Hillary had a great deal to do with the founding of this institution, and therefore should be certainly an appropriate speaker. One might remember also, that while the wife of Gov. Bill Clinton for about 12 years, she worked tirelessly to help improve education in Arkansas public schools.

And, as several writers have commented, student organizations are not begun by administrations or staff. They are begun by student interest groups. Should there be sufficient interest by any ASMSA student Republican to initiate a Young Republican organization, there is no doubt in my mind that the school would allow it.

Allow me to conjecture about that point. Students of this school are selected for their academic abilities in these various subjects offered. They come with strong interests in academic matters, with open minds, and with an intent to study their specialty with an objective point of view. Now, it just might very well be that few, if any of the students, are Republican-minded these days in view of such a mess they read about and see in the media concerning our recent president and the GOP-led Senate majority. When our own leader finds it impossible to be consistent from week to week on any given issue, when he from a rather childish point of view must retaliate with those he disagrees with (often his own staff), when he insists on name-calling (like the grade school boy when he loses a game of marbles at recess), when he can't decide if we really do have opponents in Putin and the North Korean pure Communist leader, when he causes great disturbances in the financial markets with his constant threats of tariffs, when he cannot see clearly in his own party who a real military hero is (and McCain, a lifelong Republican certainly was), when he tends to favor strong-arm leaders (not free market capitalists), and when he simply cannot admit that he could possibly be wrong on a given issue, perhaps there is little reason for very many thinking young men and women to want to lay claim to the Republican label. Add to that the few thinking, moderate GOP members of Congress left (most of whom seem to be supporting our leader on any given issue) there is even more reason to doubt a vast number of thinking students would want to align themselves with such twisted chaos. Many students still have values. Can that be said of our leader and the bulk of GOP Congressional members?

Just my thoughts. Well, the sun is shining somewhere (hopefully here when this letter appears), so take a different path to work, take time to "smell some roses" and thank God for the blessings we do have. There are many indeed!

John W. "Doc" Crawford

Hot Springs

Objects to Clinton speech

Dear editor:

Count me all in along with the many other conservative and traditionally patriotic, taxpaying citizens who strongly object and think that it is a shame that this extremely controversial figure was invited to speak to the graduates of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts!

As a born again evangelical Christian, I must disapprove of her progressive (liberal), corrupt, and godless agenda as well as her very questionable character. And please don't some of you try to silence me by wrongfully using that "Don't judge" verse. Remember that God is not only a God of love but also is a God of justice Who hates all wrongdoing (sin)! (see Psalm 11:7)

It is true that she was one (but certainly not the only one) who helped with the founding of the ASMSA 25 years ago but the way that she (and her husband, Bill) have conducted themselves since then should have easily disqualified her for this great honor!

She and Bill were both very academic in their education but good character, proper ethics and morality and genuine Godliness are also very important if she is to serve as a good role model for these bright, young students.

Unfortunately, academics is really about the only valid thing that she can claim. A whole lot of water has passed under the bridge since she helped with the founding and after an honest look of who she really is, that water looks awfully muddy and dirty!

Better hurry up and let her speak while she is still available because it is looking more and more like a lot of her wrongdoing is about to catch up with her! (I wonder if pantsuits are available in black and white stripes?)

I understand that Hillary is not charging the school a speaking fee. With so many criminal investigations going on about her, I would imagine that there's not a whole lot of demand for her speeches these days!

I'd like to recommend an excellent book for all the ASMSA students (as well as for their parents) that will certainly give the total true picture of who Hillary Clinton really is. It's called "Hillary's America" by Dinesh D'Souza and was also a major motion picture recently.

Here are a few excerpts from it:

"This woman has been in public life for decades, and yet she has accomplished nothing." (page 1) (read the rest of the page for more details.)

"Lack of accomplishment is one thing; deceit is quite another. Everyone who has followed her career knows that Hillary is dishonest to the core, a congenital liar' as columnist William Safire once put it."

"Even Hollywood mogul David Geffen, an avid progressive (liberal), said a few years ago of the Clintons, 'Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling." (page 2)

And Chapter 7 reveals her as a true disciple of the far left radical, Saul Alinsky! Wow!

Lloyd Hoffman

Hot Springs

Knee deep

Dear editor:

Mr. Ruff, I do not deny that climate is changing. You and I will disagree on who is causing the damage. The United States has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to achieve better air and water quality. I don't care how many scientists tell me that the climate is being changed by man, I believe them! I do not believe that our country is the leading cause of the problem. I would love for the air and water we clean to stay put, but something in nature tells me this will not happen. Is that also our fault? I guess we are just being greedy to expect other nations to do something.

The same people that tell me that our climate is math not politics tell me that babies are cells, not humans. The same people use to clamor for the removal of paper bags from stores to save the trees only to be replaced with plastic that comes from oil and is one of our greatest polluters of the environment. The same people are telling me that there is no border crisis and we can afford to pay the medical, housing and food bills of illegals. The same people are telling me that determining who is in our country is racist. The same people, for years, told me that living together was going to reduce the rate of divorce. The same people preventing voter verification would allow convicted felons in prison to vote. The same people will tell me that Medicare for all will not destroy our employer-sponsored insurance market. The same people that would evoke Paul Manafort's name as corrupt would deny that Joe Biden's son being paid $50,000 per month for a Ukrainian gas company was corrupt. This was just coincidence since Joe Biden had been given charge over the U.S./Ukrainian relationship by President Obama. The fact that Hunter Biden had no knowledge of the energy sector for which he was being paid was not suspicious. The fact that Joe Biden had threatened to withdraw 1.2 billion in loan guarantees to the Ukrainian Government if the prosecutor who was investigating Hunter was not fired, was also a coincidence. Not a bad gig for a child that had just been kicked out of the military for testing positive for cocaine. Paul Manafort and Hunter Biden probably worked together. I am surprised you guys had not thought of that. The same people that are so hellbent to find corruption on our president will ignore the Fisa warrant debacle, the destruction of evidence, and the immunity given to countless individuals involved in corruption by your so-called truth seekers. The hypocrisy is knee deep and getting deeper.

As for Hillary Clinton, corruption, lies, destruction of evidence, illegal servers, bleechbit, and hammers should have no effect on your opinion of her true character. She means well! This really fits into the way we are teaching our children anyway. It is always someone else at fault! As long as you can enrich yourself at another's expense, go for it! What a grand example to parade before successful students at graduation. Besides, they will be able to tell their children, she spoke to us when she was free. It will be a Mandela moment!

Edward K. "Rick" Cherry

Hot Springs

'Fiddling while Rome burns'

Dear editor:

There are several stories about the burning of Rome, Italy, in 64 A. D. One is that an unconcerned Emperor Nero sat within sight of the conflagration, playing his fiddle. Poor guy -- the fiddle had not even been invented then. Maybe he played the lyre? Tacitus, the Italian historian, tells us that Nero placed the blame for the fire on Christians.

A recent letter to the editor reminded me that there are some who still do not get the picture on our scary environmental concerns. They deny that there is a problem. They are fiddling while the whole world dies. This letter accused one political party of using a trumped-up (no pun intended) concern about climate change -- or was it global warming -- for its own purposes.

I taught science in the public schools for many years. I have always been a student of the environment, studying the trends and conditions that cause changes that threaten the existence of plants and animals. Conservation of our natural resources is a part of my major concern, because we are using up our resources unwisely, and polluting what is left. We may think that we have enough aluminum, iron, gasoline or trees to serve us for many years to come, but a thinking person will realize that the earth's vast storehouse of minerals will be empty one day. Even renewable resources will be in danger as the world's population explosion grows out of control.

So where are the thinking people? Where are those who should be concerned about our passing on to our children's children a world where they will not have clean air and water, and the resources and space for the building of homes?

Some are content to wait for pie in the sky by and by -- not worrying about their offspring. Some are not willing to give up present comforts and extravagances for even the basics of future existence.

Each day, while we fiddle away our time, brings us closer to the point of no return, where it is too late.

Thinking people may not trust politicians. But they ought to trust scientists who have studied what is happening to our earth. Hundreds of them have been warning us for a long time, and many of us refuse to listen or read, for our own reasons. For those who keep saying that conditions are no different from what they have always been, and point to weather events, floods and fires from days gone by, I urge you to try to get an overall picture that sums up our real situation. Read, and listen to the experts. Put aside what you would like to be true and see things as they really are.

And if you still feel that some of us are alarmists, and everything is going to be all right if we keep doing as we have always done, ask yourself one question: "What if I am wrong?"

Gordon Smith

Hot Springs

Editorial on 05/19/2019

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