Keeping The Faith

After living in Anchorage, Alaska, I recently returned to Tucson after a 10-year absence. Imagine my surprise to find Raul Grijalva and Sal Baldenegro embroiled in controversy. Thirty-one years ago, as a Tucson High School student, I actively participated in the walkouts.

"School Board Suspends 300 Students" was a shocking headline back in those days. The issues were the same as now: unacceptable drop-out rates, indifferent teachers, etc. The urgency we felt was, of course, angrily protesting a structured environment only effective in supplying cannon fodder for Vietnam. A Vietnam-type of war is waged daily by teen gang members thriving and surviving their own guerilla war.

Everyone seems complacent that this "New World Order" is inevitable. Ironically enough, somehow those of us who were born in Tucson, Arizona, are being made to appear to be the "outsiders."

What's new about outsiders invading Tucson to economically loot and rape for their own benefit? Raul and Sal's tiny presence, in the overall scheme of things, gives the rest of us hope. Rodney King said "Can't we all just get along?" It must come down to that eventually.

-- Joseph Vasquez

Steering 'Em Straight

Whoever writes The Skinny should be highly commended for their insightful assessment of Tucson's biggest, fattest sacred cow -- the incredibly lame-ass Tucson Rodeo ("The Happy Numbskull's News Hole Almanac," February 3). How many more years must we be subjected to this ridiculous glorification of the wasteful, destructive ranching industry?

-- Lynn Jacobs