Letters to the Editor

Tribune

February 3, 2003 - 10:19AM

The Tribune welcomes all letters to the Editor.

You can mail your letters to :

Tribune Letters to the Editor

P.O. Box 1547

Mesa, AZ 85211

The Tribune encourages readers to submit letters to the editor on issues of interest to East Valley residents. Submissions should be no longer than 300 words, factually accurate and the original thoughts of the writer. To have your letter considered for publication, you must include your full name and city of residence for publication, and street address and phone number for verification (that information will not be shared with anyone or published).

Letters can also be faxed to (480)-898-6362, or

e-mailed to forum@aztrib.com.

Submit letters by e-mail at forum@aztrib.com.

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My comment disappeared! What's going on?

One of many upset Pappas Teachers

No Change for Pappas Teachers

It seems that even with all the publicity and outpouring of public support for the Pappas teachers, they are still getting the runaround from their district.
Recently the teachers learned how they would not be getting the $1,500 they were promised from a donor. It seems the district told the teachers (and the media) about the money even though the $50,000 donation never truly existed. Perhaps this was a ploy to keep the teachers’ from walking while not getting their paychecks. Some district and Pappas Foundation officials are continuing to tell the teachers (and the media) the money is still coming, while at the same time the school principals have told the teachers there was no donation to the district. Maybe the current district superintendent will donate his recent $50,000 raise to cover the money promised the teachers.
In Sandra Dowling’s farewell message to the staff of the Pappas schools she announced that teachers around the state were each donating $1 to Pappas teachers. It seems the Arizona Educational Association (AEA) has decided to put the money in a fund, and the only way the Pappas teachers can have it is if they apply for a grant. The catch is that the only way the teachers can apply for the grant is if they are not getting paid. With Dowling out of the picture the teachers probably won’t have to worry anymore about being paid, so the money donated to the Pappas teachers may never be given to them.
The Pappas teachers were deeply touched by the support and encouragement they received from the community. They never expected so many people to rush to their aid, and they hoped the attention given them would shine a light on the plight of all teachers. Teachers are overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. This latest crisis in the Maricopa Regional School District has shown how the teachers suffer along with the students by poor district management. Even when kind-hearted people have tried to help the teachers, the district has managed to keep the aid from them. But then there is always talk in our society of paying our educators more, and in the end the district administrators make more while the teachers get the crumbs.
Will things ever change?

A Pappas teacher Comment has been reviewed

January 3, 2007

Ray St. John

The Tribune seems eager to print letters from global warming debunkers that are full of “hoaxes” themselves (Richard Ward, “Don’t buy the hoax”). Although Mr. Ward’s letter may appear more sophisticated than a flawed experiment with a bowl of water and ice cubes, it’s just as easy to counter his unsubstantiated claim regarding no carbon dioxide increase for the past 800 years. I’ll quote scientific findings from the Encarta Encyclopedia:
“In 1750 there were 281 molecules of carbon dioxide per million molecules of air (abbreviated as parts per million, or ppm). In 2006 two major scientific organizations—the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)—reported that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had hit a record high.
Using different measurement techniques, the WMO said carbon dioxide levels had risen to 377 ppm, an annual increase of 1.8 ppm, and the NOAA reported a figure of 381 ppm for a yearly increase of 2.6 ppm…by the year 2100 carbon dioxide will reach concentrations of more than 540 to 970 ppm”
I won’t bore Mr. Ward’s groupies with other alarming greenhouse topics such as methane, deforestation, nitrous oxide, etc. It’s all just a bunch of “blah, blah, blah” to y’all anyway. Just keep your land-based radios tuned to Rush Limbaugh as you gleefully rumble down the road in your gas hogs.
Comment has been reviewed

March 15, 2007

Cindy Schnackel

Thank you for Mark Flatten’s April 15th article, “New land baron has checkered past,” about builder Jim Rhodes. AZ should’ve had Mr. Flatten “do the homework” for the state, since they claim they were so unaware of Rhodes' past.

It’s unbelievable that consumers are accused of “not doing their homework” before buying a new home, when the STATE GOVERNMENT can’t or won’t do ITS homework before selling State Trust land to a developer, or God forbid, allowing one to start its own water company! Why didn’t the state at least “Google” (google.com) Rhodes and find out about his checkered past, which was online at least a year or two ago, because I remember posting it on our site’s news page about that long ago.

Next time one of AZ’s agencies tells a consumer, “this is a civil matter, get a lawyer, you should’ve done your homework,” they should remember the Rhodes incident. The only other alternative is for me to think is that the state didn’t CARE what Rhodes’ background was. Really tells you who the govt cares most about when the competition for its attention is between tax-paying citizens, or a moneyed developer. Arizonans should remember this on the next election.

Cindy Schnackel

National Secretary, Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings http://www.hadd.com Suggest removal of this comment