April 30, 2012: Our readers write

 Waking up parents

I am writing this letter in hopes it will awaken a sleeping lion: parents. If enough parents would stand up, there would be no more Wednesday night ball practices or games and no more Sunday practices or games.

I feel sure there are enough Christian parents out there who disapprove of these activities that destroy essential Bible training and quality family time. 

I just came from my church’s Wednesday night service. More than half of the children who usually come to get vital Bible training, and positive interaction with other children and role model adults, were absent. There also have been many occasions on Sunday mornings that many children are absent because of ball activities. I attempt to teach on Sunday mornings and I have had multiple children say to me, “Ms. Rosemarie, I want to come to church but if I miss practice or a game, the coach won’t let me play, and sometimes makes me run for missing.” Shame on you coaches. I certainly would not want to be in your shoes when you read information about a young person who made terrible choices and lost their life because of it, or caused the death of someone else. 

Had they been allowed to attend church services and be with their families, perhaps they would not have made the wrong choices. 

You may think I am being drastic. I am just speaking of my own knowledge. When myself and my brothers and sisters were growing up, a coach who said he was going to have practice or a game on a Wednesday night or Sunday would have been run out of town. Look at statistics of crime rates and the destruction of families then and now. Why are parents sitting back and taking this? I am begging you to please take a stand for your child.

Rosemary Hay

Cecilia

Has Rubio gone loco?

 For Marco Rubio to introduce a modified DREAM Act during Mitt Romney’s run for president is like feeding Romney a poisoned apple.

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments from Obama’s lawyers to rule the Arizona law SB1070 unconstitutional. A recent poll found Hispanics favor upholding the Arizona law by 45 percent to 43 percent not in favor. Many legal immigrants want our immigration laws enforced, as they had to abide by our laws to become U. S. citizens.

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners, which grants membership to the Bar, has asked the Florida Supreme Court to determine whether it can accept someone who is not in the country legally. Jose Godinez-Samperio, a Tampa-area resident, came to the United States on a tourist visa from Mexico with his parents when he was 9 years old but overstayed his visa which is a violation of federal law. He attended our schools and graduated from the Florida State University College of Law. This man is one of Rubio’s DREAM Act candidates even though he knowingly broke our immigration laws, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not acting to pick him up.

While our U.S. citizens are struggling to pay tuition, Rubio wants illegal aliens to be granted in-state tuition. He wants to give them a temporary student visa rather than citizenship, but it could lead to these students applying for legal residency without the requirement of returning to their parents’ home countries.

I agree with Romney that he should veto the DREAM Act, but allow illegal aliens who serve in the military and have an honorable discharge the opportunity for legal residency. 

Rubio should consider our college graduates before he wants to add more students to compete with U.S. citizens. The unemployment rate or underemployment rate for college graduates is over 50 percent. Some are working for minimum wage.

The DREAM Act is a form of amnesty which will cost U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars and will become a nightmare for our college students and graduates as they will have fewer employment opportunities.

Again, I have to ask, ¿Se ha vuelto loco Marco Rubio?

Betty Dobson

Elizabethtown