The arts help us understand ourselves and each other
Jacob Sullum isn’t reasonable [“Arts in America will do just fine without subsidies,” column, Friday]. It isn’t that the funding for the arts is minuscule or small potatoes. The point is the arts are underfunded. The creative aspect of our nature is fundamental to our well- being and survival. When we lose it, we lose ourselves, and inevitably, lost is the connection with life around us. It is a very important investment.
The arts fuel inspiration, curiosity, and discovery. They help us foster understanding across cultures, if not also help us develop empathy with each other. Nurturing the arts gives us insight into who we are. That opens doors to change, preservation, exploration and innovation.
We seek many ways to reconnect with ourselves and our community. The arts consistently bring people together with a shared empowerment and new economic opportunities.
What we do will speak for what we value. Alex Kovacs, Andersonville
Police have rights
In response to the Sun- Times editorial [“Rid contracts of loopholes that protect misdeeds,” Sunday] on changes to the Chicago police contract that would call for the elimination of the name and address of someone making a complaint against a police officer: In other words, investigators should be allowed to pursue anonymous complaints. This action is being pursued by the City Council Black Caucus, which I find somewhat ironic coming from a Council that has consistently voted against anyone investigating them.
After spending 33 years on the Chicago Police Department, I can tell you that most certainly, cops are not above the law. On the other hand, they are not below the law either. The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution gives every American the right to be confronted by his or her accuser and that the evidence against him be presented. Should every murderer, rapist and child molester be afforded a right that a police officer should be denied?
Bad cops should be weeded out and sent packing, no question, just as we would desperately like to wipe out the violence that has plagued our city. But to do that by taking rights away that are afforded to all Americans is not only unconstitutional but also a dangerous way to set an example of what a free society is all about. BobAngone, Miramar Beach, Florida
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