Distraction-free driving

When you drive from point A to point B and you are talking, texting, reading a book or putting on makeup, then you obviously are not paying attention to your driving. You are putting yourself and other drivers at risk of serious injury or death.

It is faster and more efficient to drive without those distractions. Such clarity gets you to your destination more quickly, and you then have the time to make those cell calls.

Don Culling

Lee’s Summit

Dorothy flees Kansas

Auntie Em, Dorothy and Toto are leaving their home state of Kansas after many years of residence. Auntie Em wanted to make sure that Dorothy received the best education possible but became concerned since the wise Wizard of Oz was replaced by the Warlord of Kansas (Gov. Sam Brownback) and his 10 flying monkeys (Committee on Education).

Auntie Em, a former teacher, knew that no magic wand would help the children of Kansas and their educational experiences until the warlord and his monkeys lose interest in educational policymaking and are replaced by truly qualified persons.

Barbara D. Ham

Raytown

Year of the woman

Despite the GOP war on women, this year women scored huge victories in the recent election. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who vowed to overturn Roe v. Wade and defund Planned Parenthood, lost to President Barack Obama by 11 points with female voters.

Voters ousted extremists Todd “legitimate rape” Akin and Richard “rape pregnancies are a gift from God” Mourdock. Also, we elected more women to the House and Senate than ever before.

Wisconsin elected Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay person in the Senate. In Hawaii, voters made Mazie Hirono the first Asian-American female senator.

2012 was the year of the woman in politics.

Jane Toliver

Leawood

Gusewelle column

Once again we see what a treasure we have in this man (11-11, A4, “Amid deep loss, how does hope survive?”). Mostly common words, but no one puts them in proper order as well as C.W. Gusewelle.

God blessed us when this sensitive human being was born.

Jim Green

Olathe

Camera-shy building

I was downtown recently at 11th Street and Broadway taking pictures of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. A security guard on a Segway rolled up to me and said DST doesn’t want pictures taken of its building.

I said I wasn’t taking pictures of DST. But I was amazed.

I told my son this, and because I am a veteran he said, “Well, I’m sure that is not what you fought for.”

If I had been a visitor from out of town, I wonder what my perception of Kansas City would have been.

Bill Brinton

Kansas City

Pragmatic solutions

I hope that now that the election is over we can change the debate from big government vs. small government to a more sensible discussion about effective and efficient government. That’s what I believe most Americans really want.

Superstorm Sandy certainly demonstrated the need for a large, efficient Federal Emergency Management Agency, but there are cases when a government that’s small and light on its feet is better, too. Let’s hope that our new leaders and Congress will work toward pragmatic solutions instead of dogmatic posturing.

Mark Hastert

Kansas City

Painful birth of U.S.

Lest we forget the history of the formation of the United States as a nation and a government, we must recognize ourselves in what we find in today’s media.

Less than 100 years after our independence, our forefathers and leaders split our nation in two.

Families fought each other for about four years and saw about 600,000 fathers, brothers and sons dead. Please read your history books.

The birth of a nation is painful.

David Frank

Lenexa

Increasing foot traffic

My husband and I own Mission Fresh Fashion, a small business in downtown Mission. Mission’s City Council is expected to vote on the future of The Gateway Project (old Mission Mall).

Our business has been in Mission for the better part of 15 years. We are not in fear of losing our business if The Gateway happens to include a Walmart.

Walmart doesn’t carry the lines of apparel and shoes that we do. Nor does it offer fresh-baked goods like Best of Bernadette’s Cakes and Catering or the fresh-made soups and sandwiches found at Chacko’s Eatery.

Diaper Daisy is new to Mission, and it shouldn’t fear Walmart.

It carries environmentally friendly items for babies and moms.

Merriam is welcoming Ikea, while Culver’s and Freebirds World Burrito have found homes in Mission.

For us, it appears the tides of the economy are turning.

We are in support of The Gateway. If the Mission City Council wants to help small businesses in Mission, then we urge the council to vote “yes” and get this project under way.

What small business couldn’t use a little more foot traffic?

Becky Hanf

Mission

Book program kudos

The Kansas City Kansas Community College My Shelf to Yours book program is a wonderful idea.

Being able to afford all required books for classes is never easy. I am a current college student, and I deal with this issue firsthand, as do other students in my class.

This semester I am enrolled in four classes and haven’t been able to buy all of my required books because the price added up to $500 before I even had all of my books in hand.

Books are extremely expensive, and having a program that helps students obtain the school books they need at lower prices is awesome.

We are college students because we want to get an education and make something of ourselves. For some, it’s hard to make that happen because money is an issue.

If other colleges could start this program in their buildings and help their students, this could help many stay successful and concentrated on their schoolwork instead of money issues.

Kudos to Kansas City Kansas Community College.

Brandy Perez

Shawnee

McGovern’s legacy

Last month, we lost former U.S. Sen. George McGovern. Although many will recall his disastrous 1972 loss to President Richard Nixon and his subsequent leadership in getting us out of Vietnam, his truly lasting legacy will be his war on hunger and malnutrition.

In 1977, after extensive public hearings, McGovern’s Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs published Dietary Goals for the United States, a precursor to today’s Dietary Guidelines. It marked the first time that a U.S. government document recommended reduced meat consumption.

The meat industry forced the destruction of all copies of the report and the removal of the offending recommendation from a new edition. It then got the committee abolished and McGovern voted out of office and warned government bureaucrats never to challenge meat consumption again.

Yet, after 35 years of additional studies linking meat consumption with elevated risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and other killer diseases, the MyPlate icon, representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, recommends vegetables, fruits, and grains but never mentions meat, and it shunts dairy off to one side (www.choosemyplate.gov).

And it all started with one brave senator from South Dakota.

Brittany Fletcher

Kansas City

Bryant school memories

In her walls … I was a magnificent flautist, proudly toting my Kansas City Public Schools woodwind to the music room for a rousing rendition of “Hot Cross Buns.”

I learned to play baseball, taught by the same gym teacher who instructed us in the proper use of our gluteus maximus. We all shook in delightful terror at Principal Birch’s lunchroom birthday paddle as she sang out your years.

Her library held the joys of fiction, and many recesses were spent on the limestone walls penning mysteries with friends. In fourth grade, Mrs. Field taught us about the Gulf War, watching newscasts and hiding under our desks in bomb drills.

In fifth grade, Mrs. Graham titillated our minds with a very mature topic meant only for middle school and above — the basics of algebra. In her walls, we were safe and secure. She was regal.

I will always remember the life and energy those grand hallways exuded when we gladly poured inside her doors from the bus line each morning.

With the building now up for sale, another neighborhood will forever lose its land option for a public school. What a shame.

Thanks for the memories.

Angela Fuhrken Kmeck

Bryant Elementary

Graduate, 1992

Kansas City