Letters on WSU football, Trump’s wall, other embassy attacks, shooting

Focus on academics at WSU, not football

Wichita State University is once again considering putting time, attention and importance on restarting football. I remember when, with the leadership of then-president Warren Armstrong and the strong stance of student government, football was ended at WSU. Academic programs were built instead.

Now WSU is busy turning over the use of public property, owned by the citizens of Kansas, to entities in the “private sector.” They will decide what needs to be done, and our students will be privileged to work for them.

Liberal arts and sciences traditionally had the responsibility for thinking, experimenting, remembering, evaluating. Not any more.

Knowing what Ibn Khaldun, Aristotle, Kofi Annan, Margaret Mead, Nelson Mandela, Indira Gandhi or Mao thought or did apparently is not important. Now what matters is making a new gadget for guns or planes. And getting people to the university because it has football.

The university has an outstanding international student program, built by two people who for several years had to “sing for their supper” – Al Vargo and Armin Gerhard. Such students have helped all of us learn about the world. Do you think the moms and dads of India or Malaysia or Pakistan will want to send their children here because we have football? Or guns on campus?

I am always hoping to see the faculty stand up.

Wall not answer

Most Americans probably do want better control of our borders, but Donald Trump’s wall is not the answer. The answer was the comprehensive immigration reform bill put together by the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” in Congress, which the Republicans refused to pass because they had decided to oppose everything President Obama wanted to do.

Now, Republicans are aghast that Trump is their presumptive nominee for president. I bet they wish now that they had passed the commonsense, well-thought-out immigration plan put forth by the Gang of Eight. It’s exactly this kind of obstructionism that brought about the political climate that made a radical, unqualified candidate like Trump possible.

I hope the Republican Party will take note of the results of this kind of political gamesmanship for future reference, if indeed the party survives Trump.

Other embassy attacks

Why didn’t members of Congress look into what happened while George W. Bush was president? Do they know that there were 13 attacks on our embassies and that more than 60 people died?

Why didn’t Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., the chairman of the House Benghazi committee, look into this? Instead, the committee was hooked on finding something on Hillary Clinton.

It is sad that four people died in Benghazi, but more than 60 died in the past attacks. You would think that would pique some interest in finding out what happened. Oh, I forgot – Bush is a Republican.

Excellent officer

Regarding the July 2 Eagle article about Butch Moore, who died recently when struck by a bullet fired by a Butler County Sheriff’s deputy: Lt. Bob Bartlett, who fired the shot, has been a friend of mine for more than 20 years. For about five years, while employed as a Boeing engineer, I was a reserve deputy for the Butler County Sheriff’s Office. Bartlett was my field training officer, and much of the time I spent as a reserve was spent with him.

Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet said in the article that Bartlett is an “excellent officer.” My experience bears this out. In the many hours I was with him on patrol, he was always considerate of people, treating them with respect.

I did not know Moore. From the description of him in the article, I think I would have liked him. But an investigation found that on the day he was shot, Moore was pointing his rifle at people. His actions placed others in lethal danger, and the shot ending that danger was fired. It is tragic that he died, and I have deep sympathy for his family and friends. But it would be even more tragic if Moore had wounded or killed someone.

I have great respect for law enforcement officers who place themselves in danger to protect American citizens. Sadly, at times it may be necessary for them to use lethal force to protect others. We should be thankful for officers like Bob Bartlett who have the courage to fulfill their vow to protect.

This story was originally published July 8, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Letters on WSU football, Trump’s wall, other embassy attacks, shooting."