While I appreciated Jim Schutze's article "One honest man" (June 22), he did reveal his own racist nature. Dr. Rojas has not been referred to as a black man since he's been here. In fact, the black board members have been his most consistent critics. (Jose Plata brags of being responsible for finding him.) And when he claimed his first trophy to prove how tough he was, he selected a black man as his target. His first derogatory comments about community people were to tell African-Americans to stop being victims. Se-Gwen Tyler has consistently criticized him publicly in board meetings for favoring Hispanic children (in most news articles he is featured only as visiting schools with large Hispanic populations). His project, Edison, is provided only for schools with large Hispanic populations. And, most recently when Tyler criticized him about black students' performance, his comments were that black children were last in math, in reading, and everything else. He has not proved to be a black man and endeared himself to the black community. Dr. Rojas adopted black administrators and politicians only after the people he brought here with him turned on him.
Please tell Jim Schutze, "Don't incite a riot." We don't want to claim Rojas either.
N.F. Scott
Grand Prairie
The death penalty is certainly a serious issue. But, I have a problem when the Dallas Observer or any other media organization seems to vilify the city of Huntsville by mentioning only the existence of the prisons ("Killing machine," June 29). One thing you definitely forgot, in particular, is that Huntsville is also a college town! A 121-year-old state university, Sam Houston State, which had an enrollment of more than 12,000 students last year, exists only blocks away from the death chamber.
There are cities and towns all across Texas that are not as cosmopolitan as Dallas, Austin, or Houston. Don't you understand that? But what Huntsville has is beautiful scenery, history (Sam Houston, himself, did reside here), and of course a solid educational institution.
Also, the people in Huntsville are not bloodthirsty. Our governor does have his faults, but when it comes to administrating this difficult task, he is clearly doing his job by simply upholding the law. It seems that the media forget the reasons why these people on death row are executed. Many of these people had led lives of crime, juries convicted these people, judges sentenced them, and after that they get their cases reviewed again and again, which leads to the inevitable.
Matthew Barnebey
Dallas
What a cute title Jonathan Fox penned for his article. ("Granny get your gun," June 29). And if blatant death threats against elected officials and homosexuals and the assassination of physicians who practice in certain areas are now amusing, then Fox should win an award for his sharp wit.
Fox correctly links Freerepublic.com to the "Second Amendment Sisters." However, he fails to inform his readers of serious concerns that have been raised about Freerepublic and the "Second Amendment Sisters."
Persons associated with Freerepublic have used its message boards to issue death threats against numerous elected officials. There have been multiple investigations of "Freepers" by the U.S. Secret Service. Did Fox inform us that Freerepublic's owner has publicly threatened to lead an insurrection against the government of the United States, should the "liberal" George W. Bush be elected president?
Perhaps Mr. Fox should have done some research before he wrote his promo piece on the "Sisters." Did Fox inform us of a recent posting by a certain "Second Amendment Sister" who uses the pseudonym Basil on Freerepublic, wherein she openly wishes the best recovery to an ailing, apparent would-be domestic terrorist, using the pseudonym "Gonzo"?
Perhaps Fox is just a young and inexperienced writer. Perhaps he needs to learn how to perform basic Internet research.
Oh, and here is one more tidbit. Fox makes reference to another of the other "Second Amendment Sisters", whose Freerepublic pseudonym is PistolPaknMama. Here is this Sister's take on African-Americans and the civil-rights movement: "The Communists realized early on how easily led the blacks are as a group. Read any documentation on the early beginnings of the Communist Party in the U.S. and it is easy to see how they have targeted blacks as a useful tool, and named most of the groups "Christian" this or that."
Name withheld by request
As a longtime resident of Flower Mound, I was deeply offended by this narrow-minded article ("Good fences," June 15). While it's one thing to report on the activities of a city council or a political action committee or even a revenge-seeking attorney, it's another thing to say these groups represent the entire community.
As your article indicated, there are more than 50,000 Flower Mound residents, while only 3,000 are members of the Voters United to Preserve Flower Mound. That's like saying that the people of the city of Dallas are reflected in totality by the Dallas City Council or the Dallas school board. We know this is simply not true. If it were, why would anyone want to live in Dallas?
Denise Woods
Flower Mound
After reading the article about Flower Mound, I felt I must write and express my opinion. I moved to Flower Mound two years ago from western Massachusetts, where there is no master plan nor are there subdivisions as we know them here in the south. I am originally from Georgia, but lived in the northeast for 12 years before moving to Texas in 1998. The reason my husband and I bought a home in Flower Mound was the beauty and spaciousness of the area. We like the way things have been planned or controlled in our new town! Nowhere is it written that we have to grow to be like Plano or any other town or city.
We joined the Voters United this past winter because we agree with what they are trying to accomplish for our town. No one twisted our arm; we read and followed what has been happening, and we made up our own minds. I hope that Mayor DeLuca and our elected officials in Flower Mound will continue to work to preserve Flower Mound. It is a crying shame that people like Ms. Morris can use her profession as an attorney to be such a pain. I personally think Ms. Morris needs to grow up and act like a professional and an adult. If she doesn't like the way Flower Mound is, I propose she look elsewhere.
Gwen Gary
Flower Mound
There are always two sides to every story, and you covered it pretty well. I am a member of Voters United to Preserve Flower Mound and proud of it. I moved here in 1985 to get away from Dallas traffic and crime. At that time it was only 10,000 in population. I have seen it explode in the last 15 years. I also still commute to Dallas, and I spend half of my commute time just trying to get out of Flower Mound. So thank goodness we have Voters United and people who are interested in trying to control growth.
I attended many planning and zoning meetings and council meetings in the past, when the "old guard" ruled and let developers have their way with the land. I have also seen clear-cutting and huge oak trees die because of development. Call me a tree-hugger, and I'll give you a big hug. And to the developers and Donna Morris, the voters of Flower Mound have spoken. Deal with it.
Connie Reese
Flower Mound
I am a police officer with the Dallas PD, and all I can say to you is thank you (for "Wolf? What wolf?," June 15). I do not want the police department to be glorified as a bunch of saints or anything like that. All I want is fair pay for my work, what I call fair market value. If I lived in the Chicago area, the Los Angeles area, or the New York area, I would like a fair market value as compared to what other officers in the area were making.
I am just a cop, but I do not understand the thinking of our bosses. It was my understanding that the police, other city departments, and, yes, the city council are to serve the citizens for a better city. What happened to the city council, our bosses, I do not know.
Well again, sir, I say thank you.
Name withheld by request
Via e-mail
Such preoccupation with emetics makes me wonder if the Bossa Nova reviewer is in need of one, accounting for his bad mood ("Love sick," May 25). Was he under the impression this was a contender for a learned documentary award instead of a carefree movie in the best Brazil manner in which Rio stars along with the actors? His description of rude and crude fits the review rather than this nice, romantic little movie which is undeserving of such scabrous venom. He is irritated by the beaches, mountains, sunsets because they are too gorgeous..."even jet planes seem cuddly"?! Gracious me, words fail. Except to suggest next time he has a movie to review, take something. The night before.
Shirley Brazill
Dallas
I can totally understand the opinion of the writer ("Body shots," June 15), only because I believe that everyone has their opinion. But she's forgetting about the song itself. Shouldn't she be a critic of Mariah Carey's music and not of what she's wearing? Shouldn't she actually put aside his own negative judgments of her personally and look deep into her music?
You can't take away the fact that Mariah Carey is a phenomenal singer! You can't take away the fact that she is the best-selling female artist of the '90s. The writer wrote about the fact that there are little girls out there struggling with their weight. Well, as a girl who isn't the skinniest around, I'm tired of all this. I'm tired of people saying that "skinny superstars" are the ones to blame for eating disorders! Yes, I'm not skinny, and yes, I love myself. I didn't gain my self-confidence by imitating a celebrity. I built that self-confidence on my own.
It's not fair that this "critic's" negative opinion is printed to crush the hearts of millions of fans!
Isabel Villalobos
El Centro, California
