Pelosi ignores Constitution, breaks the law

I have to disagree with Lila Burgos (“”Shuttle diplomacy””). Pelosi broke the law when she went to negotiate with the Syrians. First, she is ignoring the separation of powers by negotiating without authorization from the president. “”Into the field of negotiation the Senate cannot intrude, and Congress itself is powerless to invade it.”” (Supreme Court 1936 Curtiss v. Wright case.)

Second, there actually is a law that prohibits people from conducting personal negotiations with foreign powers called the Logan Act:

“”Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply himself, or his agent, to any foreign government, or the agents thereof, for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.””

Bill Duy pre-engineering junior

Violin prodigy needs lessons in ‘busking’

Matt Stone’s column detailing the inattention a virtuoso violinist received while busking in the D.C. subway emphasizes some interesting facts – for instance, the ethnicity-blind audience that actually paid attention to Joshua Bell, as well as his universal appeal to children.

However, like the Washington Post article covering the event, Stone seems agonized about what the inattention to “”timeless, priceless”” music, especially in contrast to the steady line at a lotto machine, might imply about society at large. Are we so wrapped up in our iPods and our next appointments, or de facto skeptical of a street performer’s talent that we’ve lost the ability to recognize and savor the ephemeral beauty of a master’s playing? Well, maybe.

But this Washington Post stunt doesn’t tell us one way or the other for a simple reason – location. Joshua Bell set up at the entrance to a very busy Metro station during the morning rush. Metro riders only pass through the turnstiles in this area – anxious to get to the platform, which lies at the bottom of a large escalator.

Busking at the entrance is the worst possible location – there are lines to get to the turnstiles, and it’s full of people moving in every direction. On the platform though, riders are captive audiences as they wait for their trains – a fact that shrewd buskers I’ve listened to, with pleasure, in Chicago and New York City know.

We’ll never know, but I imagine if Bell had busked on the platform, he’d have been playing to a rapt, quiet audience who would’ve told their coworkers about the incredible busker at L’enfant station that morning. The reason so few of those conversations occurred on Jan. 12 isn’t due to the crassness of people’s tastes, or the lack of value our society ascribes to art, but the fact that Joshua Bell, while undoubtedly a world-class violinist, could use some busking lessons.

Aaron Beyerlein insect science graduate student

Tuitama not fit to play

I think that UA students should know about the article and front page spread that appeared in the Apr. 8 Arizona Daily Star (“”Tuitama tackles concussions head on””). We are given intimate details in the working of Willie Tuitama’s post-concussion brain. We are also informed that he had two in high school, which to date makes five concussions.

Apparently, with all the medical testing, he’s considered “”good-to-go.”” Of course, does the UA coach have any ethics, and what about the Star’s patent shamelessness in exploiting an injured athlete?

The Star is using Willie Tuitama to sell football tickets and advance its subscription sales. His parents are using him for their own self-aggrandizement. “”Three-concussion”” is using him to win penny-poor football games.

After all this publicity, there’s no NFL scout that will recommend him to play for an NFL franchise, not to mention the damage that it will do to UA’s recruitment and the school’s reputation in the PAC-10.

Any professional, whether in football, medicine, or in medical testing, who makes the call that he is well enough to play is a mendacious liar. He’ll be lucky if he survives the 2007 season after he’s blitzed and repeatedly hit. So much for college football being an amateur sport.

I’ll close with a comment from a friend, Earl, who played as a defensive end for the New York Jets: “”We hurt people!””

Michael J. Beisch Tucson citizen