Letters: Readers discuss ‘Angry White Male’ class, Yost’s skill and abortion truths
Yost has roots
I’m a old man who’s lived his whole life in Kansas City — a baseball fan when the Blues were playing at Muehlebach Field, the A’s at Municipal Stadium and our beloved Royals at Kauffman Stadium. We’ve had some great managers, and I believe Ned Yost is one of them.
Back in the 1950s and even the ’60s, a reliever would come in, let’s say in the sixth inning, and if he didn’t get into trouble, he might pitch the rest of the game.
Yost is old enough to remember those eras, yet he still believes you need a seventh-inning reliever, an eighth-inning reliever and a closer. Well, that might sound good in theory, but our bullpen is pitiful.
So, Ned, think of the good old days when a reliever could go three innings.
John Koehler
Kansas City
Anger inducing
Part of the reason for anger about ridiculous courses such as the University of Kansas’ “HUM 365: Angry White Male Studies” is that they degrade the academic institution. (April 5, 8A, “Mad about KU’s ‘angry white male’ class? That kind of proves the point”)
If you are a graduate of KU, as I am, you get angry, or at least should be angry, that your alma mater offers and gives credit for such stupid classes as this one.
On another note, how about offering a class called “Angry Young Black Male Studies”? Of course, you won’t see KU, or any other university, offer that class.
Kind of see the point now?
John A. Christiansen
Kansas City
Not so angry
I enjoyed reading The Star’s editorial on KU’s “angry white male” class. It was cleverly and humorously written in response to those myopic angry white male objectors. Although the phrase might be trite, it pretty much applies: Anyone bothered by the course “doth protest too much, methinks.”
My guess those opposed probably skimmed the title of the class and didn’t bother even with the CliffsNotes version of the syllabus.
Nice work, editorial board.
Mark Gunnison
Lenexa
Not an industry
I could not believe an April 5 letter writer referred to the medical infrastructure that provides the procedure of abortion as an “industry.” (8A) Abortion is a painful, serious choice a woman makes when she finds herself with an unplanned pregnancy.
Whatever the circumstances, it is and should continue to be her choice. She will visit a doctor, not an “industry,” to discuss her options.
So many anti-choice do-gooders whine and accuse women of murder if they choose to end their pregnancies. The fact is, a person must be born before they can be murdered. The so-called pro-life people don’t seem to care what happens after these unplanned babies are born. So, technically, how can they claim to be pro-“life”? These people are not pro-life — they are anti-choice.
Abortion an “industry”? Ridiculous. Doctors do not go searching for pregnancies to abort. In clinics like Planned Parenthood’s, desperate women receive counseling about their choices. Some may continue their pregnancies; some will not. It is their choice what happens in their uteruses, thanks to Roe v. Wade of 1973. Before that, desperate women sought deadly back-alley abortions.
Susan Holmberg
Meinders
Lake Lotawana
Potential untapped
Kansas City voters rejected a sales tax increase to fund pre-kindergarten education. Sales taxes already approach 10% in some districts.
Assuming that pre-K education is necessary, there are other sources for the money. First for consideration should be existing school buildings, which are public property.
The school board recently turned down a proposal to reopen Southwest High School as a charter school. Now the building remains empty. Less than a mile down Wornall Road, the Bryant Elementary School building is in similar vacant disrepair. These properties, and others, apparently have no use for district purposes, yet they remain standing, untaxed, consuming some amount of money to keep them upright.
Some old properties have been converted to residential use and are now on the tax rolls. Why not these? If they are beyond salvaging, they could be demolished and the land used for residential purposes. Even conversion to parks would probably represent some savings and provide welcome amenities.
There are always objections when the idea of closing or abandoning any building is broached, but putting derelict property to use benefits both the district and the city. Before we increase taxes, let’s make good use of existing resources.
Fred Wolferman
Kansas City