Watching a child gain confidence is beautiful
My wife and I run an equine literacy program that allows kids with reading difficulties to practice reading aloud to miniature horses. The minis do not judge the children, and the young readers have a natural interest in and curiosity about the horses. We have had up to 25 kids waiting either at our home or at a local school for their turn to read to a mini. Some kids have come out with a parent several times to read.
While it can be a beautiful experience to watch as a child gains confidence while reading to a patient horse, we have seen firsthand the painstaking struggle that some children experience when reading beyond the simplest words and sentences. It is heartbreaking to see even a 9- or 10-year-old struggling to read the most basic sentence. Many children in Santa Fe need help earlier in life, which is why we strongly support the Kaune Kids Campaign sponsored by United Way of Santa Fe. Gary Clendenen
Santa Fe
Fully funding NIH
An article in The New York Times (“Scientists Bristle at Trump Budget’s Cuts to Research,” March 16) highlights the president’s proposal to cut the National Institutes of Health’s budget by 18 percent. This cut would undermine the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to all Americans, which includes health. Public health research requires a reliable flow of funds. Teams of NIH scientists have long-range goals to improve health in the United States and other countries around the world.
Slashing research budgets would be a trade-off for aircraft carriers — useful in 1942 but not today — and tax cuts for the wealthy who would bank their savings. This approach would not create jobs, which the president promised. America holds enlightenment values of inquiry and demonstrable knowledge. Reducing support for these values would weaken our place in the world. Congress determines the budget. Tell your representative how important it is to restore full funding to NIH. Basia Miller
Santa Fe
Teachers transform
Readers’ letters saying New Mexico schools are poor and not effective sadden me. As a writer of kids’ books, I’m sometimes invited to a class.
At Piñon Elementary School, Eileen Stapleton teaches fifth grade with great experience, giving goals for her students. The school’s hallways are alive with knowledge and activity.
Capital High School presents well-performed plays for the public.
Acequia Madre Elementary grows plants. Visit a school to discover its truth.
Money helps, but our fine teachers transform youth into understanding their own power. Barbara Beasley Murphy
Santa Fe
Better ways
Please don’t bring back the speedmonitoring SUVs (“Questions slow speed camera plans,” March 22). The cost of the program could easily pay for three or four more police officers.
Setting up manned speed traps in random areas of town seems a more palatable plan for checking speeders. The program must rely on legible license plates.
Too many vehicles around town have old, illegible plates. The “black out” trend with dark covers over plates also renders them unreadable. Requiring these drivers to update their plates or be fined could fill the city coffers. I believe most Santa Feans would prefer to have real bodies on the streets.
There are better ways to achieve compliance with speed limits than unmanned cameras. Kimberly Duran
Lamy
True-blue N.M.
I have been fishing and bow hunting for as long as I remember, starting as a kid when my grandfather and father would drag my brothers and I across the wilderness areas of New Mexico. It’s more than a hobby or pastime; it’s a way of life. It has taught me immeasurably about myself and the world around me. I am proud to be an outspoken advocate for Río Grande del Norte National Monument, which celebrated its fourth birthday on March 25.
As a combat veteran and an ardent sportsman, I can say that nothing nourishes the soul like quality time spent outdoors. Some in Congress, most notably Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, want to roll back designations for national monuments, the embodiment of our outdoor heritage in New Mexico. I hope that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will listen to his fellow veterans and fulfill his promise to protect national monuments and public lands. Julian C. Gonzales Jr.
Santa Fe
Honesty, a precious virtue
We all lie. I am no exception. Like it or not, this is a plain and simple truth of the human condition. The degree and frequency of telling lies also is a human condition with predetermined limits resulting from our parental upbringing, personal restraint and impressive role models, good or bad. Our current president appears to be on a mission to reset our interpretation of what constitutes a lie and has begun to condition us to a new concept of “alternative facts.” In this new state of mind, we become desensitized to believe that a lie is not necessarily a lie. Regardless of political persuasion, for our children and their children’s sake, hopefully we can see truth as a simple, infallible virtue and dismiss him, and others like him, who choose to invalidate that most precious virtue. The wholesome and aspiring future of our nation depends on it. Ernie D. Velarde
Española