Letters from the issue of Thursday, February 21, 2008

Editor's note: Many of the comments about Globe High School's censorship debate appeared under Sarah Fenske's column on our Web site.

Channel One? It's not so bad: Ms. Fenske is correct in her assessment of the quality of past issues of the Papoose. However, for the December 7 issue, students took advantage of a situation in which they had little supervision from an adviser to attempt to publish inappropriate material.

The district certainly had valid reasons and every right under the law to censor such a story.

However, I would also like to address Ms. Fenske's criticism of Channel One. As a former journalism teacher, I have always been impressed with the journalistic quality of its news programs. The content of the program is far from insipid. Indeed, since Globe High School is no longer able to get copies of the Arizona Republic delivered to every classroom daily, and few students have a daily newspaper delivered to their home or watch television news broadcasts outside of school, the Channel One news program is often the only exposure students receive to timely national news stories.

Yes, Channel One does have advertisements, but they are easily ignored, and I encourage my students to do so.
Wendy Hankin, Globe High School

Don't let your youth go to waste: Is anyone else sad? The young in this country are dying in a foreign war. Our rights are being taken away by the federal government, and innocent children of illegal aliens are being harassed and discriminated against by a thug sheriff [Maricopa County's Joe Arpaio].

Yet the future of our country is writing articles about how to build a bong and claiming infringement of the First Amendment when it gets censored. Maybe it is just in Globe. I would hope that high school students in the rest of the Arizona are actually standing up and fighting for something worthwhile.

As for the students mentioned here. I am deeply ashamed of you. As it seems that you fancy yourselves journalists yet have twisted the facts to serve your own personal ends. When is it okay for a journalist to become the story and want justice because of an issue like this?

I hope you learn from this. You have your future ahead of you. Please don't waste it like this.
John Hagel, via the Internet

STILL WRONG

He needs a national advocate: I was wondering what could be done to help Bryant Wilkerson ("The Wrong Driver," Sarah Fenske, January 24). The girl deserves the prison time, not this man. Clearly he made a mistake, but her money is working against him.

Is there anything that could be done to help save him? Has anyone suggested calling a nationally recognized civil rights leader or a prime-time news show? Thank you for advocating for justice for this man.
Amanda Parker, Grand Terrace, California

Why wasn't Varker arrested?: Please continue to shine a huge spotlight on this case. It is bad enough that having lots of money can buy lawyers who buy easy verdicts for people charged with acts they committed. But when the police don't even arrest people who plainly were underage and intoxicated?

In my mind, I fully believe Laura Varker wasn't arrested because it was apparent to the police that they were dealing with an SUV full of rich kids.

Sadly, someone died in this wreck.

Also terribly sad: Wilkerson made a very stupid decision when he left, and let him be judged for his mistakes.

But to let the underage drunken driver walk away with no charges is so wrong. Please help this man with your continued updates on his plight.
Randy Merritt, Mesa

Let's avoid further tragedy: I can't seem to get over your piece about the Laura Varker/Bryant Wilkerson accident. I would like to voice my interest in securing that no further tragedy follows the already horrible situation. It seems a crime that Wilkerson would face such a harsh punishment.
Emily Murphy, Tempe

PUTTING ON AN ACT

Petty's okay and hip-hop's overrated: In ways, I understand what you are trying to say about how many NFL players are likin' hip-hop and about how it would be nice to have a hip-hop star as a halftime act ("Snooper Bowl," Niki D'Andrea, January 31).

However, I really can't stand the stuff. Now, trip-hop (i.e.: Tricky, Massive Attack), and now we're talkin'. But this isn't really popular with Americans and wouldn't make a good halftime act, unfortunately.

So, I'm fine with it being Tom Petty, a name everyone recognizes, and a symbol of Americana. Aging or not, he's got a lot of good tunes, and it's good to see him still around. Who cares if he's pushing the envelope or not?

As far as hip-hop is concerned, I'm puzzled by its popularity. It lacks a lot of respect and positive vibe. And all the hip-hop headliners at the Scottsdale Super Bowl events were insane. Certainly made me not want to shell out any money to go, or even go if I happened across a free invitation.

Folks in Arizona have gone ape-shit over this stuff for some reason, as if there is nothing else to listen to in the world. Hit a Burger King in London, and you're likely to find an odd Faithless or Underworld tune playing. They wouldn't give as much of a shit about Snoop Dogg, Diddy, and the like.