Letters to the Editor
Presidential candidates are more accessible now
In response to Walter Rodgers's Feb. 19 Opinion piece, "How Republicans might sink Obama": It seems that two major things are different today from the Ford/Carter election: the Information Age and the availability and accessibility of Senator Obama.
Today we see the world in a much different light from the way we did in 1976. Today free information is available everywhere. I remember well the election coverage of the Carter win, and Mr. Rodgers is right – who was Carter really?
And, while I am and do remain in the middle of the political spectrum and an outsider in the election process, I can't understand how people in this country let the far right and far left use political games to destroy it.
Brian Hebb
Los Angeles
Regarding Walter Rodgers's recent Opinion piece on the Republican strategy against Senator Obama: While Mr. Rodgers's culinary discussion of Obama being eaten for lunch is valid, I, for one, prefer Obama's fresh, organic approach to the overly processed, frozen ones of the Republican Party of the last two decades.
I would like to believe there is a greater chef in the kitchen than the Republican strategists, and that people's palates are ready for a true delicacy.
Nancy Mayer Allan
La Canada Flintridge, Calif.
Ideas for election reforms
Regarding Andrea Cooper's Feb. 11 Opinion piece, "The case for a national primary": I wholeheartedly agree with the author. Why not have the candidates declare in early May, have six weeks to campaign before a national primary around the Fourth of July, winner take all. The party conventions would then meet to verify the results and select a vice president, then each party would have six more weeks to campaign. General election would be in mid-September. We could do the voting over a couple of days or over the weekend. Those unable to go to the polls would vote absentee in the week prior to the general election. It's quick, it's over by Oct. 1, and would cull the herd quickly. Other countries do it and have great voter turnout. They avoid the endless squabbling by candidates and the media.
Greg Piazza
Ferndale, Mich.
Regarding Andrea Cooper's recent Opinion piece on the idea of a national primary: Somehow this idea makes me uncomfortable for the "lesser" candidates.
Instead, how about a series of regional primaries that rotate in sequence from one election to another?
Larry Jackson
Qingdao, China
More women in engineering
Regarding the Feb. 14 article, "A major, reengineered": The article poses an excellent point: Universities can foster a successful engineering career for both women and minority students in many ways.
As a female engineering student at Northwestern University, I have found success in the McCormick Engineering School (currently 27 percent women). Seeing female engineering classmates showed me that the environment is accepting, making me forget that engineering is traditionally male-dominated.
I immediately developed my ability to communicate, work in teams, and tackle a real engineering problem with a solution for my client.
It is worth noting McCormick's approach and its impact on women, minorities, and indeed, all students pursuing engineering.
Claudia Villamil
Evanston, Ill.
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