Love Letters/Hate Mail

Exposed

Dear Editor:

Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe (who thinks Global Warming is a hoax) has a local TV political ad bragging about how he has supported the troops. Here's what he hasn't done to support the troops:

He voted no to increase veterans' medical care in March 2005; voted no to increase veterans' health-care funding in March 2007; voted no for additional funding for veterans' affairs in April 2006; voted no for additional funding for veterans' programs in March 2003; voted no for armor for tactical wheeled vehicles in October 2005; voted no for safety equipment for U.S. forces in Iraq in October 2003.

I hope you can expose the hypocrisy of this man.

-Barbara Santee

Paying for It

Dear Editor:

My son's alma mater, Oklahoma State University, is being run by a wolf in sheep's clothing. In his first test since taking office, O.S.U. president Burns Hargis had a choice of standing up with University of Oklahoma president David Boren or his own students.

Hargis chose to dance with Boren and chew on the legs of his students. He approved his regents' second consecutive 9.9 per cent annual increase in undergraduate in--state tuition and fees at the Stillwater and Tulsa campuses.

That is almost a 20 percent raise in two years for students whose state has a median household income of $37,109, fifth poorest among the 50 states.

Boren backed 0.U. regents approving the same 9.9 percent tuition and fees increase. Regents take orders from college presidents who should be following the state of Georgia's example by offering four years of college free.

Our presidents are pricing a college education beyond the means of the average Okie family.

Shame on Hargis and other presidents who live like little kings, rape their students with tuition and fees and suffocate them under tens of thousands in loans.

The only hope for po folks to get relief from robber barons like Hargis and Boren, is to elect Barack Obama because Obama and his wife had to take out loans to get through college. College loans should be forgiven by the government.

We forgive loans to third world countries. Why not our kids?

Knowledge should be free.

-Virginia Blue Jean Jenner

Streets For Free

Dear Editor:

We could get the Federal Government, or perhaps the United Nations to repair Tulsa's streets. Here's how... Mayor Kathy Taylor would publicly announce that Tulsa is an Al Queda refuge and already has a large number of terrorists occupying all areas of town.

She should be convincing in this announcement, as she has had practice of misleading large numbers of people in her past quests for new taxes in the past.

After about 30 days Mayor Taylor would address the United Nations saying that the town had been bombed repeatedly by US planes. The UN would then send a fact finding team to Tulsa, and would examine for bomb damage.

Upon looking at the condition of the streets of Tulsa, the UN would declare that indeed there was extensive bomb damage throughout Tulsa streets.

Shortly thereafter a relief team would arrive from the UN, and with US tax dollars, Halliburton would do Billions of Dollars in repairs to the streets of Tulsa. Now if only we could figure out how to convince them to build a new baseball stadium in downtown Tulsa, so that we can confine the terrorists that currently live here.

-Steve Meador

Stop Bagging on the BOK

Dear Editor:

Hello, how are you? I have become a bit concerned about some of your latest issues of your newspaper in regards to a lot of Negatives about the new BOK Arena.

Just a note to say that pointing out using a dude holding a cardboard sign.. pointing to BOK Center one way...then Ho's and Hookers and Drug Dealers the other direction etc etc...made it's point ok? (See "Archer Street Blues" in the May 29-June 4, 2008, issue) But...After Tulsa spends over $178,000,000 on this incredible structure of most unusual architectural design, wouldn't it be a good idea for all of us to Back It??

I mean it IS being constructed to HELP Tulsa's economy and bring in more tourists and people to enjoy great concerts and sports activities...etc.

By supporting it I think it's only Fair to Tulsa to do more of that rather than point out how Parking seems a difficulty and location and some of the goings on in said neighborhood....not to mention how it's being presented as it's mostly for the RICK People of Tulsa to enjoy.

Check out the ticket prices for the concerts...WOAH....! I certainly can't afford to buy the kinds of priced tickets they advertise for a Show. But...none the less....Let's make it look GOOD for all to enjoy..!

Fair Nuff...???

Let's bring those Fans in for Rascal Flats...and Celine Dion...and Neil Diamond..and Much Much More..!

-Jerry Hawkins

No Bueno

Dear Editor:

I was flipping through a recent Urban Tulsa and was shocked to see a column with a stereotyped toothy, sombrero-wearing caricature of a Hispanic man with the heading, "Ask a Mexican." This Mexican caricature is racist and reminded me of similar caricatures drawn of Jews and Black people in propaganda to promote hate and anti-Semitism by Nazis throughout Europe prior to WWII. Visit the Holocaust exhibit at the Jewish Museum in Tulsa if you don't believe me.

It is NOT okay to promote racism and hate against Mexicans in our community and Urban Tulsa should immediately stop printing this column. Promoting intolerance is neither humorous nor entertaining. "Ask a Mexican" is insulting to Hispanics and a disgrace to our entire community.

Please remove this racist caricature and column from Urban Tulsa, simply because it is the right thing to do.

-Heather Fallek

The Spaceship Has Landed

Dear Editor:

There is a saying..." If you try to make every street a perfect street, none of them will be." A beautiful structure, like I personally think [the BOK Center] is, can be like, a pond. Something pleasing around which other things can be built, an open space, something to view. It is also the nature of "Iconic" buildings to stand apart and aback from the usual. The Eiffel Tower, and many other iconic concert halls, museums, etc. as examples.

Again, not every street, or block, needs to have ground level retail, there are worthy exceptions. Now if this had been placed in say the Brady Arts district, an area which I hope becomes more pedestrian friendly, I would have objected. But where it is, shunted off in a different corner of downtown, near other "unpedestrian friendly" buildings, its fine. But ....even here the entrance and exit is facing what could become a pedestrian friendly area, a gateway if you will, to the rest of downtown.

Imagine exiting the new arena and right across the street where the Tower View property is, a great pedestrian friendly development, hotel, shops, etc. Imagine sitting out at those shops and looking out at this wonderful sculpture of an arena. (Though I would hope that in the future some fountains or water features could go in front of the arena to add a little more "splash" to the effect). Imagine exiting this arena then right in front of you the rest of Downtown Tulsa beckons.

One can argue about whether this spot could have become more pedestrian friendly between the Convention Center, several parking garages, etc. It could have been, but, I think this is an equally nice result for this particular area as well. Another area, I would have agreed with you, it could have done more harm than good. This particular location was a great place to have such a structure. And I personally like having something like this for Tulsa.

One other thing. Have you ever heard of a place in Paris called, La Defense? I was looking at a photo thread of it in an international forum and couldn't help but respond negatively to what I was seeing. The buildings and set up of the places there screamed disaster to my Midwestern sensibilities. After having lived through the destruction of our downtown by having buildings that pay no attention to the pedestrian, to outdoor "mall" like areas with contemporary architecture, etc. I felt that I should warn these Parisiennes that they were making a mistake. I got roundly criticized and rebuked. They explained that it works there and indeed upon looking at the photos again, there were indeed plenty of people walking around and enjoying the spaces there. Basically it boils down to context and density. The people argued that things that would be a disaster in one location, can work perfectly well in another.

One shouldn't be too rigid and hold to too simplistic a bag of rules. There are caveats and exceptions. With a little more finesse and a richer understanding one can see how, when and where, the exceptions work.

-William Franklin