Missed the clincher

I believe President Barack Obama missed an opportunity to clinch his re-election.

At the end of his speech from Afghanistan, he should have taken a moment to say, “Although very belatedly, today, on this one-year anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden, I want to thank President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for laying the groundwork for the programs that lead us to bin Laden’s hiding place. Thank you.” God bless America!

Michael Miller

Grover Beach

Cost vs. gain

When California college leaders lobbied Sacramento for more funding, I wonder if any of the lawmakers being lobbied asked the chancellors and presidents to explain why, in times of budget crisis, it is necessary for state citizens’ tax dollars to underwrite salaries, housing and car allowances of the university officials while supplementing the tuition of the upper middle-class kids attending universities.

If a rich and a poor kid graduate from high school and the poor kid goes to work full time while the other enrolls in a public university, why should the poor kid have the burden of subsidizing the tuition of the rich kid? If the rich kid flunks out after two years or graduates and “takes his talents to South Beach,” what have the state citizens gained from their forced investment in his education?

Perhaps it is time for university officials to determine the actual cost of sustaining their business models without aid from the state, charge accordingly and compete on equal footing with private schools, trade schools and the workplace.

Andrew Wright

San Luis Obispo

A GI Bill question

As a World War II vet who earned a college degree via the GI Bill and spent 40 years as a teacher, I have a question for members of the current House of Representatives, including John Boehner: “Did you benefit from higher education as a result of the GI Bill or student loans to assist you in your college years?”

Jeff Jeffries

Los Osos

We’ll miss Scolari’s

Scolari’s family store is closing after years of serving our community. We will lose friends such as Mark, Nathan, Linda, Myra, Trish, Bill, Christina and many others. Mark and Nathan have always gone the extra mile to support us when other stores have not been able to do so. From ordering baby food and formula to making Sunday balloons for Xander, the staff at Scolari’s has always assisted us with all of our needs.

Thank you for your great service and smiles. We will miss you. Good luck, and don’t disappear.

Sjany de Groot, Wendy de Groot and family

De Groot’s Nursing Home for Children

Stamp out hunger

Saturday, May 12, is Stamp Out Hunger Day! The Food Bank Coalition and the National Association of Letter Carriers invite you to put nonperishable food where you receive your mail. Now in its 20th year, the Stamp Out Hunger! effort is the nation’s largest single-day food drive. Mail carriers have collected 1.1 billion pounds of food since its inception in 1993.

The number of people at risk of hunger and malnutrition has increased to 44,000 in San Luis Obispo County alone. Over 40 percent are children, and most are households with at least one working adult. And 15 percent are seniors struggling to get by.

Wherever you live or work in the county, simply leave a sturdy bag containing nonperishable nutritious food next to your mailbox prior to the time of regular mail delivery on May 12.

Please donate food in unopened, in-date, unbreakable containers. Local letter carriers will then collect your donations, and the Food Bank Coalition will distribute the food to local households in cooperation with other nonprofit antihunger partners. We are grateful to our local letter carriers for their extra hard work on May 12 to help their neighbors. Won’t you help on May 12, too? Thank you!

Carl R. Hansen

Executive director, Food Bank Coalition of SLO County

The real heroes

Thanks to The Tribune for its very excellent April 26 Sports article “Mininni grappled with missing coaches before his final bout.”

I must say that I know very little about wrestling because I was always involved with Little League baseball, football and track from an early age through my Cal Poly years. What I do know a little about is coaches.

I was lucky to be coached by the best! These were people who were always there for me and the team no matter what! I cannot believe that the coach (knowing the wrestling matches’ schedule) would leave the main arena to get something to eat.

The real winners and heroes in this story are Dolin Mininni and Coach Chris Ferree from Atascadero. Congratulations to you both for not dropping the ball!

William Parker

Morro Bay

Offensive criticism

The “cartoon” in the May 2 paper regarding the Pope’s admonition of some nuns is nasty and uncalled for.

You do not like it, so what?

Are you a practicing Catholic with concerns about our religion, or someone who does not like Catholics and has no other reason to criticize? I find it very offensive that you are interfering in our Church policies.

Eleanor Kinsella

Arroyo Grande