It's time for the United States to lead

It's time.

In a dramatic about face, the U.S. delegation at the climate change conference in Bali finally agreed to a compromise agreement setting a road map for intense negotiations aimed at reducing greenhouse gases. It was nice to finally see the United States agree to participate in the mitigation of this escalating global catastrophe.

But it 's time for much more from the United States.

The United States is the largest contributor of greenhouse gases in the world. It 's time for the United States to stop ignoring the problem and live up to its responsibility as inhabitants of this planet.

This nation is a leader in environmental technology. In response to President Kennedy 's challenge in the 1960s, the United States proved its technological muscle in winning the "space race. " It 's time for the United States to show its technology might once again and lead in the "save the earth race. "

The United States has shown that it can be an environmental leader. America was one of the core countries responsible for the Montreal Protocol banning chlorofluorocarbons which were creating a hole in the ozone layer of the earth. The United States was instrumental in the worldwide ban of CFCs and was a leader in the technology to replace them with safer alternatives. It 's time for the United States to show once again that it can be a leader.

The United States refused to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which permanently marked us as the only major country that was not willing to make the sacrifices needed to mitigate climate change. It 's time to make amends and put Kyoto behind us.

A Harris poll in November showed that 81 percent of Americans think the United States should "set the lead when it comes to controlling greenhouse gases and pollution. " Despite that, U.S. policy continues to ignore climate change. It 's time for the U.S. government to listen to the American public and, for that matter, the rest of the world.

-- Sara Dorsey, Madison

Our days of interest in Badger sports are waning. There is now almost no free local programing, a deplorable situation involving a public institution letting profit motives escalate.

In the late 1960s we attended almost every Badger hockey game. Since then the cost to support the programs has caused our attendance to slide downhill into the present abyss.

College sports has become a money game, with no thanks to the public for their taxpayer support. I know the sports programs pay for themselves. But without the public institution that carries the load and provides the mostly uncompensated student athletes, they are just a dubious "business " that could never become the program they are today.

Also unfortunate is the fact that subscription TV is becoming an extravagant expenditure for many citizens. I predict that within three years, free Badger radio broadcasts will also be nonexistent.

I 've chosen to pull the plug and bail out now. The handwriting is on the wall. We are fed up. We do not endorse the big money sports programs that proceed without an iota of payback to the citizens.

Goodbye UW money masters -- we will not miss you. It 's a shame you 're losing countless, once-loyal fans. We 'll enhance our lives in other ways. We 'll turn off the tube that brings us only games we don 't want to see and read good books, spend more time in the outdoors and give more time to friends. There is more to life than UW sports.

-- Stan Tamulevich, Middleton

Hip-hop for blacks is dying in Madison

The war on people of color and hip-hop continues in Madison. Local club owners are using hip-hop as a scapegoat to disguise the fact that they don 't want minorities in their establishments. It 's gotten to the point where only white hip-hop artists can book hip-hop events at many of the local venues. If hip-hop is the problem, why is the door open to white artists and closed for people of color?

These club owners fail to realize that music is music, and it 's the alcohol that causes the problems at the end of the night. I have thrown 17 hip-hop events this year in Madison and violence has never been an issue. For as long as I have lived in Madison and have been old enough to visit bars, I 've seen random acts of violence everywhere. When these acts of violence involve people of color, the consequences are magnified.

I 'm frustrated that as a result of this prejudice I 'm limited regarding where I can book my events in Madison. I am thankful for the venues that continue to support me, but frustrated with the venues in Madison that fail to realize their own prejudice.

Madison takes pride in being a "liberal city, " but it seems the liberty is distributed to a select group of individuals. I was raised in Madison and it 's repulsive that this type of prejudice is still going on in our community. I 'm looking for answers. Can anyone help me?

-- Dexter Patterson, Madison, managing member of  L.O.S.T. S.O.U.L.S.

Sunday practice OK by WIAA questioned

I was sad to hear that at the last Big 8 athletic and principal meetings, Big 8 bylaws were changed to allow teams to practice on Sundays.

WIAA regulations state that teams may not practice seven days in a row without having one day of rest. With the addition of Verona to the Big 8, bylaw regulations were being examined and the Sunday rule came up for discussion.

As a coach and parent of high school athletes, I was shocked to see this bylaw amended. It has nothing to do with my religious beliefs. I believe kids and families need a day to spend however they wish. But the pace high school has chosen to follow is the pace of society: fast, faster and fastest.

What was the educational rational for changing the bylaw? Who will monitor the overzealous coach who calls off practice on Tuesday but expects the kids to lift weights that day. What is wrong with an athlete having a day to sleep in?

Parents, keep an eye on your children 's teams. They must have one day of rest in a seven-day stretch, and no one else will be watching.

-- Tim Ritchie, coach, Madison Memorial boys swim team (state champions 2005, 2006, 2007)

Cut the rhetoric over illegal immigration

The debate over immigration policy has hardened into two simplistic positions: One side says no amnesty for any illegal immigrants, the other wants to provide a path to citizenship for all those currently residing in the United States.

There seems to be wide agreement on other aspects of the issue. Most Americans want the border controlled, and to see the law effectively enforced against employers who knowingly or negligently hire illegal immigrants. Most are even willing to have legal immigration expanded. It 's the treatment of those already here that is controversial.

Yet this issue begs for compromise. If an illegal immigrant has been here several years, has a family here, no police record, has long-term employment or started a business and is involved in the community, let him stay, at least to live and work legally. On the other hand, an illegal who sneaked across the border a few months ago should be deported.

For cases between those extremes, it 's a matter of working out details of a compromise. This can be done if both sides will back off from their needless polarization.

-- Wayne Shockley, Brooklyn

Execution more costly than extended prison

I am generally in favor of the death penalty, because it ensures that those executed do not commit other crimes. That being said, it is generally more expensive to execute a person then it is to keep them locked up for life, contrary to what a letter writer suggested last week.

Speaking of keeping them locked up for life, how long before some bleeding-heart judge says that life without a chance for parole is "cruel and inhuman " and we see some people who were sentenced to life back on the streets?

-- Dennis Crowley, Spring Green

Wisconsin citizens reject death penalty

A reader who supports the death penalty stands on his podium and spurts his "do the math " ideals in spite of the facts and the beliefs of the majority of taxpayers. This is America, and the majority rules -- including in Wisconsin.

Our standards are supported by our humanistic beliefs. Those who don 't support our standard beliefs should move to those states that do not recognize the essence of humanism.

-- James Oliver Campbell, Sun Prairie