I cross the Red River regularly for business, and it galls me every time. You see “OU” everywhere, and you can’t say anything, because Bob Stoops owns Mack Brown [“The Eyes of Texas Are Upon Him,” September 2005]. Mack Brown may be a nice guy, but I want trained killers going into Dallas every October. My little sister can beat New Mexico State.
Alan Robinson
Grapevine

My first impression of the Mack Brown “Let’s Go Kick Some O.U. Butt” issue, like everyone else’s, was to think negatively about the coach. Then, after reading the article and finding no reference to kicking OU’s butt, I learn that Texas Monthly arbitrarily added the caption under the picture! Huh? I had to check the cover again to make sure that I wasn’t reading the National Enquirer.
Todd Warthan
Tulsa

Global Warning

I enjoyed Gary Cartwright’s “That Sinking Feeling” [September 2005]. I lived in Galveston County for several years and witnessed the seasonal decline of our once-lovely coastline. I agree that, if possible, something should be done. However, Mr. Cartwright states, “Everyone except the fossil-fuel industry and some elements of the Republican party knows that global warming is fact, not theory.” Why do we only hear journalists and environmental alarmists make this claim? Like religious zealots, they confuse belief with fact. To date, the leading scientists on this subject have appropriately referred to global warming as a theory. Will our planet become a giant dust ball or be plunged into another ice age? The fact is that we just don’t know enough to make accurate predictions. Whatever the case, taking care of our planet will require accurate dissemination of facts, rather than theories such as global warming.
Tracy Farthing
San Antonio

Living on the Edge

I am a graduate of Edgewood High School (class of 1956) and read the article in regard to Edgewood and its dilemmas [“The Equity Myth,” September 2005]. By the sixth grade, my family tried to encourage my mother to get me and my twin sister out of school. Thank God she refused, and with much sacrifice, we graduated.

Only one teacher ever said something positive about me, and I still remember it. The others were all negative. It took seventeen years to even think I was college material. I went and took the SAT and enrolled in college to work on being a professional registered nurse, which I became in 1973. I already had a marriage and four kids. Now, fifty years later, one is an engineer; another has her Ph.D. and lectures at Baylor.

I say all of the above because it really hurts to see that we could have done a lot more than the generation before us. I know my mother could not speak English due to the fact that my grandfather took her out of school when she was in the second grade and kept her at home until she married, at 21. Again, another cultural belief, at least in our family.

Yes, I do go back and check out the old barrio. Nothing has changed. In the story, Ramiro Nava states that it takes time. How much more time? I would think that after fifty years, something needs to change. Maybe having to merge is the answer. All I know is, if our graduating class had become teachers, principals, social workers, nurses, doctors, and self-employed business owners, Edgewood could have grown too.

It really is sad to see the dropout rate in 2005. The worst thing is that a lot of these parents are daughters and sons of my classmates. I thought we were not going to let our kids go through what we did. I love my barrio. I wish I could say that I enjoyed the article, but sometimes the truth is sad and painful.
Minerva Gonzalez
Houston

We Shoot, We Score

Being a subscriber to Sports Illustrated, I have always felt that they could not be matched in the area of sports photography. But your series of photos depicting football fields throughout the state exceeded any action photo I’ve ever seen [“Fields of Dreams,” September 2005]. The stark differences between the big-money districts and the small districts were captured magnificently.
Michael W. Brooks
Everman

Editor’s Note: In reference to Darrell Tully Stadium, in Houston, we misidentified it as the home to Spring Branch High School. In fact, it is home to several schools in the Spring Branch ISD. We regret the error.

The Nurse Practitioner Will See You Now

As a nurse practitioner for seven years, I do not feel the need to cite the studies that you will undoubtedly be given by my colleagues for your lack of preparation in composing “The Doctor Will Mistreat You Now” [Texas Monthly Reporter, September 2005]. I can only hope that you are not so blinded by your physician-given view that you can’t wake up and smell the coffee. Many physicians in my community are seeking the help of qualified nurse practitioners to help them provide quality patient care. In the end, isn’t that what it is all about?
Cynthia M. Stoughton
Via e-mail

Badge of Dishonor

I am very disappointed to be writing to you under these circumstances. I feel that for years Texas Monthly has effectively represented Texas, its cities, and its people. However, the artwork for the article “Borderline Insanity” [August 2005] was absolutely despicable and, even worse, irresponsible to the citizens of one of Texas’s oldest, historically significant, and culturally rich communities. The damage you have caused to our community’s image and the harm you have sustained to your own reputation as a professional journalistic entity with this caricature of truth presented in the illustration, as well as the article, will take enormous healing.

Our public-safety professionals—from the city’s police department to our county law enforcement officials—have the utmost integrity and, aside from their duty to serve and protect the citizens of Laredo and Webb County, have an additional responsibility, which they fully accept, to protect our border in the name of homeland security. The drawing you thought fit to run with that article was insulting to those hardworking men and women defending Laredo, Webb County, the state of Texas, and the United States of America.
Mayor Elizabeth G. Flores
Laredo