Can't always believe attendance numbers
"Announced attendance" at athletic events leads people to believe that this was the actual number of people that were in the stands. Not so.
This represents "tickets sold," which in many cases were sold to large corporations but not used. In many cases, the actual attendance is only a fraction of the announced attendance. Most arenas have turnstiles which give the actual count of attendance.
Calling it "announced attendance" doesn't relieve the paper from its responsibility to report the true facts. If the universities, or other sponsors of events, refuse to give the public the true figures, don't be a party to this deception and report nothing.
ROCKY RENNEISEN, Signal Mountain
Annexation laws should be changed
I strongly support state Rep. Mike Carter and state Sen. Bo Watson in their efforts to change Tennessee's annexation laws. A city should not be able to forcibly annex a person's property without a referendum. No taxation without representation.
Two years ago, I had property in Ooltewah that was annexed into the city of Collegedale. My taxes have increased $2,400 a year. Three weeks ago, my farm in Apison was annexed into the city of Collegedale and my taxes will increase an additional $1,200 a year. I have been forced to pay for something I do not want or need.
In 1967 I was in the Air Force as a forward air controller and was assigned to support the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade. In late November, part of the Brigade engaged in a bloody four-day battle on Hill 875. We lost many brave Americans.
These men had fought, they had killed, and they had died for freedom, liberty and justice for all Americans.
The state of Tennessee does not honor the sacrifices that the brave men and women in our military have made with the current laws allowing forced annexation.
LT. COL. ARTHUR KEY POE II, USAF Retired, McDonald, Tenn.
Wilderness Act is a win-win
I had many choices as to where to spend my golden years. My heart chose the Tennessee Cumberland Plateau adjacent to an extensive wilderness greenway of Fall Creek Falls State Park for its beauty, diversity and serenity. Over 150 years ago, Henry David Thoreau said, "In wildness is the preservation of the world." God's world began as totally free for life to be as designed without any controls. When I spend a day in God's wildness, I feel secure, accepted, connected and belonging to all of creation. My soul is nourished.
The Tennessee Wilderness Act, supported by Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, designates nearly 20,000 acres of existing public lands to wilderness use in the Cherokee National Forest at no expense to the taxpayer. The bill promotes eco-tourism and regional economic growth by enhancing the quality of living for residents. Under the law of supply and demand, wilderness can only appreciate in value for the public. The bill has languished in Congress for two years which begs the question: What are we waiting for? I urge you to contact your representatives to move this win-win bill onto the floor of Congress for a positive vote in 2013.
CYRUS RHODE JR., Spencer, Tenn.
Nation is losing Christian status
I believe because not as many Christians are teaching or defending the word of God as they once did, the U.S.A. is now very fast losing its status as a nation of Christians. It is becoming a land of savages instead. One needs no weapon to act as though they are savages.
Do I need to explain how more and more people are acting worse than savages. Why aren't more Christians trying to explain about salvation in a loving Christian way and how to live a daily life the way the Bible says. Saying a silent prayer for everyone they see would not hurt either.
JENNIFER BRADFORD
Restrictions can apply to many
Re: E.J.Dionne Jr.'s column (April 6)
A proposal to enact a law to require a background check of all op-ed columnists:
All authors would be required to declare their draft status in 1969-1972 and their length of service during this time. Those with no service record would be banned from writing about military conflicts.
All authors with no degree in economics would be banned from writing about or commenting on the subject.
There would be a ban on any op-ed which demonized the opposition without facts to back up the claim.
There would be a ban on the publication of any political book in which the author made more than a 5 percent profit.
Sound ridiculous? Well, Mr. Dionne Jr. might not want the First Amendment challenged, but there are those who feel the same about the Second Amendment. After all, these proposals would not restrict his right to write, would it? Just protect the rest of us from the 1 percenter journalist who doesn't always have the facts.
JACK N. CALLAHAN, Cleveland, Tenn.
Knock on Watson for pole-tax stance
I'm astounded that state Sen. Bo Watson (R-Hixson) is advocating a pole tax, allowing public utilities to nearly double the money they can charge for private companies to attach wires to public utility poles. This bill will cause Tennessee to have the highest pole attachment rates in the country by an enormous margin and will lead to a delay in broadband expansion and higher rates for cable and phone users statewide. Our bills are high enough already!
I thought Sen. Watson was a reasonable, conservative-minded politician and strong ally of the free market economy. After his introduction of this bill, which clearly imposes higher costs on the private sector and consumers to the benefit of a government-run monopoly, I can see I was wrong in my assessment of his character and his stance on the issues that matter.
Electric cooperatives and government-owned utilities are seeking a way to use the force of government against their private sector competitors, and Sen. Watson is facilitating the process. With this legislation, he is creating massive barriers to private sector-led growth. After reading this bill, I've realized I made a big mistake when I voted for Watson.
LANCE LADA
Use military draft only when needed
A letter April 12 advocates reinstating the military draft because the burden of fighting in America's wars is not shared by the majority of citizens. It states: "We must have a military so powerful that no country would dare to approach us." In fact, America has had that kind of military since 1945 when the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
The last country that approached us was Japan. The problem has been that we have approached other countries such as Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan in unnecessary and wasteful wars.
The imposition of a military draft is an abomination to a free people unless it is truly needed as in the Civil War and World War II.
JOE STEVENSON, Tunnel Hill, Ga.
Guns but no wine? That's absurd
I went online to buy a single bottle of wine (12 percent alcohol) shipped to my house in Hixson, Tenn., and was informed that I could not have it shipped because it was against the law!
I then tried to buy a gun and ammo online shipped to my house and had no trouble at all.
If you lawmakers don't find this absolutely asinine, you have no business representing the people of Tennessee or making laws in this country.
NELSON R. SULLIVAN, Hixson
Only the state can take life
Poll question: Should the death penalty be abolished?
One printed reply: Are not pro-life and pro-death penalty contradictory positions?
My explanation: The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution grants that the state has the legitimate authority to take life -- after due process. A jury trial with a death penalty verdict or police following a defined protocol.
Pro-life persons believe human life must begin at conception because what change is there between conception and birth to change it from non-human to human, or from non-life to life? Nothing but growth, which is a primary characteristic of life! Also, between two pregnant women, how can one choose to define the fetus inside her as non-life while the other cherishes life in her womb?
So, while the death penalty and abortion are both the taking of human life, abortion is illegitimate because there is no due process and it is not the state taking the action. Nor can the state legitimately grant to individuals (abortion doctors) a blanket delegation of authority to take life.
So there is no contradiction between being pro-life and pro-death penalty. They each recognize only the state's authority to take life through due process.
DENNIS URBANIAK, Signal Mountain