Bill must hold CEOs accountable
To the editor:
Basic high school economics teaches students the greater the risk, the greater the reward. It is obvious the Wall Street wonders played the risk game and made a lot of money hoping to avoid the risk associated with their choices. They got caught and now want the government to bail them out.
I have yet to hear anyone in Congress or the media discuss what has happened. The closest thing to any form of censure that I have heard involves Congress restricting CEO compensation but allowing them to keep their previous bonuses.
Am I the only one who would like to see accountability become an issue?
Richard L. Robinson
HENDERSON
Hurt feelings
To the editor:
Just when I thought there couldn't possibly be a bit of positive news in this whole financial mess we are in, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., found it for me in attacking Republicans who voted against the taxpayer bailout.
To those of you who found Rep. Frank's statement -- "somebody hurt their feelings" -- clever, sophisticated and humorous, those who did not now have full license to point out your hypocrisy, stupidity, cheapness and any other attributes you may or may not have.
Just think of all the effort everyone will save by not worrying about insulting others. Just blurt it out, feelings be damned. And we'll have Rep. Pelosi, Rep. Frank and you to thank.
Bill Wilson
HENDERSON
Don't rush it
To the editor:
Please slow down on the deliberation process involving the taxpayer rescue of the financial sector. If this is as dire as everyone in Washington and on Wall Street is claiming, then it needs to be treated seriously and not rushed through the House, just as so many decisions have been rushed in the past; the Iraq war decision being the worst example.
I am not impressed with the pained expressions of those in power during this so-called emergency because of the pain those are feeling in the financial sector. Those of us on Main Street have already been feeling the pain for some time, and we are not impressed that they are just now getting it only because it has reached Wall Street.
Aine Butler-Smith
LAS VEGAS
Proud of UNLV
To the editor:
Kudos to UNLV professor Nasser Daneshvary for Sunday's scholarly rebuttal to the attack on the university and the city by professor William Epstein in the Sept. 14 and Sept. 21 Viewpoints sections.
I am neither an academic nor a UNLV graduate, but Mr. Epstein's articles offended me as a resident of the Las Vegas Valley. He proposes merging UNLV, UNR and Nevada State College, thereby destroying their identities and the related support from their communities. He also proposes the elimination of intercollegiate athletics, which would further diminish community support for the schools.
Further, Mr. Epstein asserts that Las Vegas has no culture. But we have found that fine cultural events such as ballet, opera, symphony and great stage shows are readily available in the valley, and many such events are offered right on the UNLV campus. If Mr. Epstein got out more often, he could find great cultural experiences in this valley that we are proud to call home.
We live in a desert, but it is not a cultural desert. And we are proud of UNLV.
Richard N. Fulton
HENDERSON
Sapping our intellect
To the editor:
In response to Thomas Mitchell's Sunday column, "It's 'what we wanted,' what 'we chose' ":
I have long been an avid newspaper reader -- I read at least two newspapers every day.
As the Internet developed, I was delighted to see it as another source of news, and especially as a more immediate source of news -- latest market news, sports scores, and so on.
It wasn't long, though, before I began receiving those "you have got to read this" e-mails quoting dubious sources from the Internet.
Most of the senders of those e-mails could have debunked the story with a couple of quick searches via their Internet browser.
So, in trying to be brief, I believe the acronym EPIC, rather than being short for Evolving Personalized Information Construct, should be Eventual Population Intellect Collapse if we continue to desert real journalism in favor of blogs and Internet rumors.
Of course, there are real newspapers online, and I read those as well, but nothing seems as natural as the printed version with my morning coffee.
Ron Rash
HENDERSON
