Integrity needed to serve public

The latest sex scandal involving New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who has now resigned, is yet another example of flawed character. It is unfortunate that this incident occurred at such a high profile position, but our nation has seen this type of behavior by elected officials before. This was a violation of trust of the people of New York and Spitzer's wife and family from which they will probably never recover.

Someone once said that integrity is what you do behind the scenes when no one is looking. Electing people of impeccable integrity at all levels of government is essential if we are to function with order and decency.

Remember these words: Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

-- Wayne Alden, McFarland

Sports fans in Wisconsin rode a mega roller coaster the last few weeks.

The retirement of Brett Favre tugged at our heartstrings, while the Packer fan fest provided a preview of the future, and gave Aaron Rodgers a starring role.

The Badger men secured a well-deserved Big Ten basketball title. Kudos to the Badger men and their intrepid, unassuming, inspirational coach, Bo Ryan.

The state high school boys' basketball tournament reinforced my belief that the youth of our country will rise to the challenges that we elders bequeath them. Kudos are in order to all of the young men who "made it to state" and played their hearts out at the Kohl Center.

But I give extra kudos to the Wauwatosa East basketball team. Not only were they champions on the court, they were gentlemen. I cannot count the number of times during the championship game that the men in red extended their hands to Madison Memorial players who had fallen in the line of duty.

They demonstrated a rare degree of maturity and empathy. They realized it was only a game, and that sportsmanship should be the real winner. They made sure it was.

-- Sue Martin, Portage

Zero tolerance same as zero judgment

As a 70-year-old who volunteers to tutor mathematics in Adams-Friendship, I eagerly read Susan Lampert Smith's interesting column on the policy of zero-tolerance and suspension of students. I have called that stupid, brainless policy by names similar to the way Smith described it: Zero-thought!

In this day and age when our teachers so often say they are teaching kids to think, many of them engage in this policy which is thoughtless and, in my opinion, cruel. There was a time when we had evolved the skill to render judgments based on what was considered equitable and fair, not based on just "a jot and a tittle."

Apparently, we are now stepping back to a time before even the faintest hint of reason. I would prefer that we not go there.

-- Floyd Roberts, Friendship

Female athlete skills are different, not bad

Regarding the Wednesday writer who criticized the skills of female athletes, he noted "basketball is about passing, catching, dribbling, rebounding, body control, reacting and team defense." That's exactly why the boys could learn a few pointers from the women.

Rarely do I see anything more from male teams at all levels -- high school through the NBA -- than a "run and gun" offense, which isn't offense at all. It's only high-powered, fast-paced, in-your-face slam and jam pick-up ball. It's more entertaining, but hardly requires any more skill, as the writer suggests

I played high school ball on a successful team. We learned fundamentals, we did drills. I can still hear my coach screaming "seven passes!" before we could shoot. In practice we shot free throws every night because, as everyone knows, the game is won and lost on the free throw line. I suspect that many girls' teams in the state continue to do similar ball handling and shooting drills.

Sure, the girls' high school game is a little slower, but a true fan of basketball will watch and appreciate the skills those female athletes bring to the court, as well as the skill of their coaches who teach them to appreciate the game and how to actually run an offense.

-- Tara Vasby, Deerfield

Reader questions new home credits

Saturday's guest column by John DeWitt, "Subsidize new home buying, not first-time buy," was self-serving.

If a first-time home buyer purchases a home, where does the seller move to? Obviously a percentage of them will build new homes and others will buy existing homes from people who will, in turn, build new homes. It is one thing to give credit to a low-income person to buy their first home; it is entirely different to offer that credit to a wealthier person to build a home they would build anyway.

The current problem with the home building industry is due in part to speculation that home prices would continue to rise. Offering a credit to induce continued building runs undue risk of adding to future speculation. Predatory lending practices also played a large role in the current problem, but it could be argued that the two fed off one another.

As to the multiplier effect, if the federal government offered us money to rebuild our infrastructure, that would induce local governments to invest in our communities. We would all benefit, not just those who might build a new home, flip it and then build another one just to get the credits.

-- Roger Remus, Verona