HUMAN NATURE

The malady of selfishness plagues the human race

A sage of the past who understood human nature quipped, “Don’t think less of yourself, but think of yourself less.” This statement catches up both the challenge and the plight of humankind. We all need a good self concept, but it is in our nature to want the world to revolve around us.

If humankind, in all arenas of life, is to fulfill its rightful destiny, we need to overcome selfishness and seek the general welfare of others. Politicians have rightly said, “All politics are local,” which suggests that we humans tend to analyze legislation in terms of what is in it for us. Again, self-concern prevails.

I suppose these observations and opinions reveal a Christian orientation, but they also suggest the need to overcome a malady that plagues the human race.

HARRY A. DENNIS, Boise

GRADUATION

Rude family members disrupt a big event

At Centennial High School’s graduation, students were more well-behaved than the audience.

What made this one memorable? The incredibly rude family sitting behind us. Throughout the ceremony they talked in overly loud voices. A small child pulled his seat up and down, making a loud squeaking noise, and was politely asked to stop. The child then kicked the seat in front of him. My mother decided to move. The child screamed a family member’s name at ear level with my sister and again was politely asked to stop. The screaming continued long after the family member passed over the stage. The child was again politely asked to stop.

The rude behavior of the child became understandable. The father started a vulgar name-calling tirade at my sister, a respected teacher and a mother of two. The language used in front of his child and children in the vicinity was shocking. At the end of the ceremony a young woman came and apologized for the disgusting display. I hope this family member has influence in the child’s life. He will need it. It’s very sad that this memorable event was overshadowed by this family.

WENDY CHRISTOPHER, Boise

Airhorns and beach balls sully a formal ceremony

I recently attended the Kuna High School graduation and would like express how appalled I was at the level of rudeness and disrespect displayed by many parents and graduates.

Many parents showed up with airhorns and consistently blared them during the reading of names. After about one-third of the graduates had walked the line, approximately 10 beach balls started being batted around by the graduates. School officials who attempted to confiscate the beach balls were subsequently booed by the parents. The ceremony quickly turned into something resembling more of a frat house party than a formal ceremony honoring the academic accomplishments of the graduates.

Each graduate gets about five seconds of recognition as his or her name is read and he or she walks across the stage. The inappropriate behavior exhibited by the parents and the graduates made it so the final third of the graduates were not able to hear their names read and get the five seconds of recognition that they earned. The parents and school board of this graduating class should be embarrassed for the terrible example they displayed by encouraging, supporting and allowing such disrespectful behavior.

JOHN THOMAS, Meridian

POLITICS

If schools matter to you, don’t vote for Romney

Mitt Romney made a campaign stop at a school where he sat at a round table and told teachers larger class sizes are good for students and teachers. The look of disbelief on their faces was telling. After they picked their chins up off their chests they began to set him straight. Then I read where Mitt Romney has picked Tom Luna as one of his education advisers. Do you get the feeling you’re watching a horror flick? Neither one of these men has a clue about education. There is a word that comes to mind — bedlam, the state of confusion or a madhouse.

If you care about children’s education, you cannot vote for Romney. He is so far removed from what real life is about.

RICHARD L. MICKEY, Boise

Some sources to check

I am deluged with political emails requesting money, votes and support. They come from political organizations, friends and a whole lot of people I don’t know. Mostly, they are virulent attack emails directed toward the candidate they want me to vote against.

Some emails are not just incorrect but offensively incorrect. I read wild claims against candidates for almost everything. President Obama, in particular, is regularly subjected to the most malicious and malignant email attacks. Some people completely accept this garbage as “truth.” That is unfortunate. It means we increasingly don’t vote “for” someone or something but against.

When I receive one, I ask the senders to check the accuracy of the information against one or more of the following sites before they send me more. Often, this stops that sender from sending more. I recommend you do the same. Maybe we can move the viciousness and virulence toward at least considering the facts instead of just the lies when we vote.

• FactCheck.org: http://www.factcheck.org/

• PolitiFact: http://www.politifact.com/

• Snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/

• Infoplease: http://www.infoplease.com/

• Bio.com: http://www.biography.com/

Good luck and be patient. It will all be over in a few months.

BERT LANDAU, Star

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Invest in infrastructure, not industry bailouts

Isn’t it confusing when taxpayer money is used to bail out corporations or industries and none of the taxes are allotted for upkeep and maintenance of our infrastructure? When money is used to bail out the car manufacturing business, aren’t we encouraging the overuse of oil and promoting the oil industry that is polluting our environment? Does it continue to be possible to have a government of, by and for the people? Wouldn’t this encourage our government to use taxpayer money to build an efficient public transportation project? We read about the great things our government has done long ago, as in the Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, etc., yet we have nothing being offered that would update our infrastructure. Europeans as well as Asians have great public transportation systems and we continue to peddle ourselves as a great free nation that consumes the greatest amount of oil and we waste precious time trying to find more areas to dig for oil and build pipelines to transport oil. Isn’t there anyone elected or appointed to positions in government who has some novel ideas?

CECILIA LANGLAND, Boise