Information theft from Veterans Affairs
School vouchers and the Catholic archdiocese
Re: “Catholic archdiocese unveils school vouchers,” June 9 news story.
It is laudable that the archdiocese has been able to find local funding to establish a voucher program. In keeping with the spirit of separation of church and state, they have moved forward to take care of their own.
If it is a success, will that provide vindication for a future state-supported voucher program? Perhaps not. Keep in mind that unlike public schools, Catholic schools (and I imagine all private schools) have the freedom to expel any student who does not meet its academic and behavioral standards. Troublemakers and poor performers ultimately would not be tolerated; they would be sent away to make room for involved students.
It is somewhat disingenuous for Richard Thompson, superintendent of the archdiocesan schools, to state, “It’s a way to sort of test that premise – how would it have done if they [the government] made those funds available?” He refers to the fact that the state Supreme Court has declared voucher legislation unconstitutional. Surely he knows that there is no viable evidence to show that state-supported voucher programs produce any better results than their equivalent public schools.
So again, congratulations. I wish them well, but they never will be a role model for general voucher legislation.
Bertram Rothschild, Aurora
Information theft from Veterans Affairs
As a veteran, I have followed the Veterans Affairs’ inadvertent loss of information on millions of armed forces personnel. To say that this is infuriating is to underestimate the intensity I feel. I personally have taken every precaution I know to protect my identity. Unfortunately, we all simply can’t avoid having to deal with these huge bureaucracies. However, breaches of information protection are unconscionable. We need not only the strongest laws possible against identity theft, but also need to punish the bunglers and their bosses who have so little regard for the people whose data they ought to protect.
Good for the vets who have brought suit in this case.
Rabbi Joel R. Schwartzman, Lone Tree
Threat to the ‘Net
Corporate lobbyists in Washington run the show in Congress and now they want the House to destroy democracy on the Internet by passing HR 5252, the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act. This legislation will allow AT&T, Verizon and few others to divide the information superhighway into fast and slow lanes.
Websites willing to pay a toll to the telcomms will be channeled through the fast lane. All others will be bottled up in slower lanes. If the act (and similar legislation in the Senate) passes, the Internet will be transformed.
The House proposal would allow these giant corporations to control which voices will be heard in cyberspace and which voices will become insignificant. Citizens who stand for freedom and democracy and who oppose giant corporate telcoms setting themselves up as Internet power brokers should contact their elected representatives and tell them to oppose HR 5252.
Jon Tate, Esther, Fla.
Traffic and road work on Interstate 70
Everyone knows that summertime
in Colorado means road construction,
and I think we all expect
reasonable delays. But recently
while traveling eastbound on Interstate
70 about 5:30 p.m., I was delayed
for over an hour and a half
outside of Georgetown, due to
road repair. There was no car accident,
and it was unclear why the
lane needed to be closed for miles
in order to repair a very small
stretch of road. I couldn’t help but
notice all of the out-of-state license
plates that were sitting
there with me. How ironic that we
are going to spend millions of dollars
attracting tourists to Colorado,
but then we allow this kind
of major annoyance, which is sure
to leave a very bad impression.
Welcome to Colorado!
Jeanne Bistranin, Littleton
