Sam's Clubs

Sam's Clubs
Group sects: Regarding the May 18 Kansas City Strip on Sam Brownback: Interesting tie-in with The Da Vinci Code, but perhaps more appropriate would be Brownback Mountain. It's the tale of a Kansas senator who can't stop himself from hopping into bed with absolutely any conservative group if he feels that it will somehow further his political career. It's rated R — a big red R. God, I wish Kansas could quit him!

Dave Gaddy-Cox
Kansas City, Kansas

Leach Out
Switch-a-Roo: Nadia Pflaum's "The Miseducation of Marcus Leach" (June 1) was by far the best coverage of this story by any news media. However, her story contained a few discrepancies.

First, Sofya Galich was reinstated to her office because she chose to act on the suggestions of the senate during the performance review in late November 2005. Respect — not race — was the issue in this matter.

Second, while the Roo Party did have approximately 48 percent of the vote in the 2005 election, the majority of the students voted for the other two parties running.

Third, in the recent election, Roo Party members were seen soliciting votes and distributing free food near the polling stations, though Mr. Leach was not a party to these offenses.

Fourth, while members of the senate did bring forth allegations of Mr. Leach's underage drinking and improper comments on a Web site, these charges were dropped and disregarded by the majority of the senate as reminiscent of a witch hunt.

Finally, Pflaum noted the meetings that Mr. Leach was to have attended while in office but did not convey the importance of these meetings. Mr. Leach was to attend these meetings or send another student in his place. Mr. Leach failed to do this on multiple occasions. As a result of his absence, the Board of Curators for the UM system was improperly told that the students at UMKC approved an increase in fees and tuition.

Most of Mr. Leach's problems with the senate were due to a lack of respect and maturity that will fade with time and experience. I look forward to working with Mr. Leach in the SGA, and I believe that next year will be different, at least from the senate's position.

Jonathan Rodgers, Senator for the
School of Computing and Engineering
Weston

Vision Airing
Image is everything:I want to thank the talented staff of the Pitch for their first-class article about me ("The Image King," May 25). Jay Soldner's photography was portrait-class, Kym Griswold's artwork captured my goals, and writer Patrick Quinn blew my mind with his gifted ability to condense and present the myriad details of my life's past and ongoing works in a captivating, entertaining style.

I also want to thank the stockholders of my company, 21st Century Sound & Vision Inc., who have made the development of the 3-D aerial image technology possible. I am committed for the long haul to take the company to financial success. I also want to thank Robert Babcock, co-inventor with me of our company's original technology, which made it on to the Discovery Channel's Science of Star Wars series.

Finally, I'd like to note a few corrections: Quinn made a reference to the "Kansas Film Society," but the correct name of the organization is the Kansas Film Institute. Also, the actress for whom my mother worked was named Selena Royle. Finally, Stoney Johnson (not Jackson) was the media coordinator for the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta.

Roger Holden
Lawrence

Hunter Gatherers
Duck duck, goose: Regarding Alan Scherstuhl's "Just Shoot Me" (May 25): I wonder if Scherstuhl actually saw the play Duck Hunter Shoots Angel or simply wrote his review like the star of the show, "Sandy," writes his articles for the fictitious Weekly World and Globe.

The audience, when I attended, may not have measured up to Scherstuhl's standards of sophistication, but nobody there could have slept through the gales of laughter that rocked the American Heartland Theatre. The performance was hilarious, fast-paced and energetic. Joseph Albright, as Duwell, easily stole the show with a brand of humor that could be appreciated by all. The audience left the Heartland having been thoroughly entertained, and, after all, isn't that what theater is all about?

Kenneth Lee
Raytown Native Son
In local parentis: Liked Jason Harper's article on the Beaumont shoot (Wayward Son, June 1) — a nifty, ground-level view of the event. (It's not always easy to determine the crowd's mentality while rushing around on the production side.)

The only part I wanted to mention is about Steve Unruh, our composer. Harper described him as "nonlocal," and though he currently lives in Rhode Island, he is a Kansas native and lived in Lawrence when we began our working relationship.

Keep a firm grasp on those bottles!

Christopher Blunk
Lawrence