Schools can stop competition for grades Regarding “Title for top of class dropped” (Metro, May 21), it is 50 years since I graduated from a small school in Ohio. The school already had discontinued having a valedictorian. Instead, almost 30 percent of my class were named “honor graduates” who had earned a grade point average of B-plus or better.

Great ladies always
looked out for friend Guest columnist Sylvia Krebs brought back memories from long ago (“On the
bus and moved to ‘get
along’ ” (Opinion, May 22). As a 21-year-old in 1953, I transferred from Albany to Atlanta, and moved into a boarding house.

It’s wise to look closely 
at who has your animal I enjoyed the pet-sitting article showing the plus side of in-home animal care (“The pluses of pet-sitters,” Living, May 22). I have my own pet-sitting business. It is great to have options besides taking your “babies” to a vet.

Achievers should be recognized, not hidden I read the article that reported schools refusing to rank seniors, or pick a valedictorian. (“Title for top of class dropped,” Metro, May 21). The upshot was basically the competition made other students feel bad.

Ballot question shows lawmakers’ odd logic It is inconceivable to me that ethics is on the ballot. (“GOP puts ethics on the ballot,” News, May 19). We spend months listening to legislature wannabes assuring me that they are people of integrity and so believing them, we elect them.

Veto SB448 and don’t reward bad builders Marietta builder Larry Thompson’s attorney Jimmy Luke questions “what’s best for business, or a neighborhood or the people of Georgia” in his remarks for support of Senate Bill 448, designed to protect builders’ financial interests (“Big developers seek debt bailout,” News, May 13).

Is Davis not aware
 of what happened? In response to your story about Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis, it was reported that Davis’ top priority is “creating a culture that targets outcomes” (“Changing a culture,” Opinion, May 13).

Transportation woes will finally force action We are told there is no Plan B on the books should T-SPLOST fail. Rest assured, should T-SPLOST fail, Plan B will appear in time and it will look surprisingly like Plan A, the only difference being that a few passing years and greater desperation will push it through, at greater cost.

Recently, housing counselors, advocates and those who work in Georgia’s housing industry traveled to the White House to talk with senior Obama administration officials about what we need to continue rebuilding in the wake of a historic recession. Already, we’ve made real progress.

Government has
no place in decisions The recent controversy over President Barack Obama’s comments about favoring gay marriages has caused a lot of people to overlook a major fact. Why should government have a position on marriage? It is a private thing between two partners.

Prepaid cards on way for the unemployed Kelly McCutchen, with the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, wrote an informative column suggesting a pre-paid card for recipients of unemployment benefits (“Cards best for all,” Opinion, May 10).

Low blows do nothing 
to help the electorate Bravo to David Brooks on his column (“Both parties guilty of gangland tactics,” Opinion, May 7). There should be a gentlemen’s agreement between rival parties’ candidates that gutter politics do not benefit anyone.

Lawmakers cater to big campaign contributors It is the nature of man, if left unconstrained, to abuse power. The purpose of government is to constrain abusive power and serve people independent of wealth and status. That is why our founding fathers wrote the Constitution to limit the power of federal government and leave local governments to deal with local problems.

Leave the decision 
to parents, doctors Rep. Doug McKillip sponsored HB 954 and says “it’s going to save 1,200 babies a year” (“ ‘Fetal pain’ bill signed into law,” Metro, May 2). What it’s really going to do is add thousands of babies to our state’s welfare system.

Both Deal, McKillip ought to be ashamed Gov. Nathan Deal should be embarrassed. He has signed a bill (HB 954) based on bad science, a bill that will harm women and a bill that was brought to the floor to further the political ambitions of its sponsor.

Blank may not care; average taxpayers do I have been a Falcons fan my whole life. I have much respect for what Arthur Blank has done with the franchise, but I am disgusted by the idea of the city paying a dime for a new stadium when we have major issues to resolve related to education, public safety, transportation and infrastructure.

Sports complex design must be built to last Regarding “New home or old Dome?” (Metro, April 29), are the Falcons and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority wise enough to design a new stadium to meet future needs? The new stadium is planned to have a retractable roof and a $1 billion cost, with a portion paid by a tax added to hotel- room bills.

City, not stadium, needs an overhaul Atlanta’s schools are a mess. The city is filthy, the streets are filled with potholes and our infrastructure is breaking down. There are plenty of homeless people in the city. And we should build a stadium? Are you kidding? The two reasons being advanced for this boondoggle are the following: Many stadiums are replaced after 25 years.

Voice of public, fans, patrons must be heard

The AJC’s excellent description of the stadium-planning process was notable for pointing out the absence of community participation. Missing from the official discussion is the public, which will be paying a sizable chunk of the bill, and fans and patrons who have contributed to the success of the team.

Feds could do more to lower pump prices “Put aside your partisanship” (Opinion, April 25) offered no solutions to high gas prices. There are actions this administration could take that would lower gas prices in the U.S. Moving goods through this country via diesel-engine trucks accounts for 25 percent of fuel consumption.

We still have a lot
of growing up to do I was interested in the column “Enforcing penalty saves lives” (Opinion, April 26), in which another attempt was made at justifying the death penalty. If killing is against the law, then how is it OK to use killing as punishment? It makes no sense to me.

Intown market looks strong amid meltdown “Area home prices drop to ’96 levels” (News, April 25) was informative. I hope readers stuck with the article long enough to read that this is aggregated information. There is more to the story.

If cash doesn’t buy influence, why give? According to lawmakers, the contributions they received leading up to the recent tax vote didn’t influence them (“Money flowed before big vote,” News, April 22). Ergo, the business owners who made them must be stupid and spending their money to no effect.

Teens should know right from wrong I read with dismay the article “Students’ pranks can cross line” (News, April 24). Did these high school seniors really not know the difference between a harmless prank and criminal destruction of property? Here is a simple guideline parents can (and should) use when talking to their high school kids: If something causes irreparable damage or it costs money to repair, don’t do it.

With Colson, tragedy turned into a triumph Regarding “Nixon aide founded renowned ministry” (News, April 22), the world lost a statesman and cultural reformer recently. The obituary (unfortunately) got only part of the story. Chuck Colson was the “hatchet man” of the Nixon administration.

Closing bank would hit state’s economy hard A partisan fight in Congress is threatening to close the Export-Import Bank, a federal agency which supports thousands of U.S. jobs and billions in annual exports by providing loan financing to exporters when private banks can’t (or won’t).