From John Stafford's carping reflections on his college experience ("University system numbs minds," March 23), it is hard to tell whom exactly he blames for his cynicism.

The U and other universities should maintain some funding for creative writing programs, even though they're facing budget cuts. We should fight to foster this skill as the vehicle for self-actualization and as a record of who we really are.

Replacing grass with urban gardens, a simple task, could potentially inspire other changes on campus and within the city. It could serve as an example of what can be done when we think beyond societal norms that we have accepted as the only way to improve the areas we live, work and go to school in.

Repugnant as the people are who engage in such behavior, the best way to confront them is by criticizing their actions rather than attacking them personally. Such an approach is not only more diplomatic but is paradoxically more devastating because it is focused on the other party's least defensible point.

The frequent changing of passwords is irritating to students. Any change is tolerable when the effects of the requirement actually serve a purpose, but the effectiveness of switching passwords so often is questionable.

What I am proposing is to have airport security done the right way. To have educated, well-trained officials conduct concise and respectful assessments of travelers that don't leave them clutching their belts and shoes, wondering where they left their dignity.

From GM to AIG, responsibility needs to be shifted back to the individual, not the vague entity as a whole. There are no individual consequences for the unethical practices we're seeing in these corporations. We've been far too trusting of executives who will do anything to turn a profit. We need to create bailout contracts with that in mind, and patch up the holes. Or better yet, we could stop bailouts altogether.

Why aren't private donors stepping in to support students rather than the buildings that (will no longer) house them? Why is higher education driving economic development, when the past decade of economic development decadence failed to support higher education? Quid Pro No, I guess.

House Bill 347, which passed earlier this month and will eliminate compulsory private club memberships, is a good first step in this process. However, it cannot be counterbalanced with a bill that moves us two steps backward. H.B. 347 helps Utah look forward in the same way that SB 187 will serve to keep Utah looking into the past.

In Southern Utah, there are several pending lawsuits in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's approval of releasing a Russian beetle on a weed management expedition.