Critics of de Souza column distort or miss his message

Critics of de Souza column distort or miss his message
EDITOR:
I opine in response to Dr. Sweet's "letter" in the Sept. 4 edition of The Vindicator, critical of and heralded as "an open letter ... to Bertram de Souza," a letter for which he and his "private donors" paid to ensure that it would appear in the paper. A savvy little ploy by Dr. Sweet; one that suggests there's a little politician living symbiotically inside him.
As is the custom of Professor Emeritus Ronald Gould of the YSU Music Department, as he related in a letter that appeared in the more traditional site on the editorial page of the same edition of the newspaper, I too turn first to Mr. de Souza's column, and for the same reasons the Professor enumerates.
It seems to me, after re-reading Mr. de Souza's column, that Dr. Sweet's understanding of the column and mine do not coincide, perhaps revealing a patch of thin skin on the part of the university's president.
I think Dr. Sweet infers that because YSU was referred to as a "second tier" university (not "second rate with second rate faculty" as he speciously claimed) that something disparaging was implied, or that YSU's faculty and mission were being denigrated. One or the other of us sorely needs a course in reading comprehension, because I didn't read it that way.
Just as Mr. de Souza understands and accepts that The Vindicator isn't The Wall Street Journal, so should you understand and accept that YSU does not enjoy parity with MIT, or even OSU. They each have praiseworthy but different missions. That reality should be crystal clear. If you cannot see that, you are oblivious to the reason why the Ohio Board of Regents looks at YSU and OSU differently when it passes out the money. That's reality, even in academia.
Ask yourself this question. If a Ph.D. in physics wanted to do nuclear research, and given the choice, would he/she choose employment at YSU or MIT? Conversely, if another Ph.D. would aspire to teach physics to small classes of undergraduates, where might he/she be more inclined to seek employment? Two highly qualified individuals, each with admirable goals, but different aspirations.
Nobody in Ohio expects to see students come to YSU to study law, dentistry, or veterinary medicine. Yet, many successful professionals in these fields and others have begun their successful college educations at YSU. That means YSU occupies a valuable niche in higher education.
I believe the thesis of Mr. de Souza's column was that Dr. Sweet's faculty members are too full of themselves when it comes to expectations of remuneration for their services. I agree, but would include the staff and plethora of overpaid administrators, Dr. Sweet included. To anyone working at YSU who thinks he would be happier or more appreciated or better compensated elsewhere, I say: dust off your r & eacute;sum & eacute; and get a job elsewhere, if you can. But the university's customers, the students seeking baccalaureate, cannot afford another increase in tuition and/or fees because you people inevitably want more. They are the reason the people at YSU even have jobs.
WILLIAM CRAWFORD
Austintown
President Bush's bashers just can't help themselves
EDITOR:
Aaah! Here they come, out of their little rat holes -- the Bush-bashers. Katrina has revitalized them. This is their opportunity. Undeterred by the facts, they will accuse President Bush of being indifferent, negligent, racist, incompetent and worst of all, of just being Bush (I suppose as opposed to being Clinton).
The fact is that the primary responsibility for the people of New Orleans, poor or otherwise, resides in the mayor, Ray Nagin, a Democrat. It was his job to curtail the looting, evacuate the poor and organize the aftermath. He is the hub, the nexus, the one man around which the people should rally. He is the field marshal, the implementer, the go-to-guy who was nowhere to be seen.
Beyond New Orleans, it is the responsibility of the governor, Kathleen Blanco, another Democrat. The mayor and the governor must mobilize the state's resources, and if those resources are not up to the task, they can request help from the federal government. But neither Nagin nor Blanco had to make that request for help because President Bush had declared these areas eligible for disaster relief even before the hurricane hit. Another fact conveniently ignored by these political gnats.
Bush could have stood at the mouth of the Mississippi with staff in hand and commanded the raging waters to recede. And if by some miracle of God the storm was calmed, the city was saved and the levees held, these slugs of society would accuse him of catering to the religious right. It is all they know, and all they have to offer.
The truth is that this was a losing venture for all concerned. If they (Nagin, Blanco and Bush) had staged relief supplies around the city and they were washed away by the storm, bash time. If, instead of letting them run free, they had shot the looters, bash time. If they had forced the poor to evacuate prior to the storm, bash time. If they had picked up the dead instead of saving the living, bash time. You name the choice; they'd find a critic. But notice, it is only the Bush- bashers that make the news. The Nagin and Blanco-bashers, either don't exist or are not news worthy. Either way, it speaks volumes.
THOMAS MASKELL
Poland
Nero didn't have guitar
EDITOR:
Nero played with his fiddle while Rome burned. Bush played a guitar at a party in California while New Orleans drowned. This is a president who supports Intelligent Design. Too bad he doesn't support Intelligent Government. I am sick of the Right Wing Nuts apologizing for him. How blind do you need to be to not see that he is inept?
Harry Truman took the responsibility for his office by saying the "The Buck Stops Here," Bush says, "Who can I blame? & quot; It was the fault of the people in New Orleans for not ducking in time. The problem was, "we didn't know and no one told us."
This administration is more concerned with saving their own back sides, than the people who are dying because of their mistakes.
PAUL SHANABARGER
New Springfield