TO THE EDITOR:

The guest column ("Clear Liberian plan avoids Somalia pitfalls," July 13) by Judge Nathaniel R. Jones was historical, informational, factual and very compelling. I was intrigued and captivated by the history of Africa given by Judge Jones.

To learn that his family, friends, and he were involved in the development of Africa, especially Liberia is very exciting. Further, trading of raw materials between American companies and Liberia is prosperous.

So Africa is of national interest to America.

Edna Farley, North Avondale

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Clarett editorial was right on point

This is in response to a July 17 letter, which attacks the Enquirer's editorial ("Clarify Clarett issue," July 16). The editorial merely opined that Ohio State needs to get to the bottom of allegations of academic fraud revolving Clarett.

The letter writer attacks the editorial with flawed logic and the jaundiced eye of an Ohio State fan by suggesting the Clarett story is not newsworthy and the allegations defensible because of what he calls, "The exact same academic ineptitude" that is occurring in the UC basketball program.

The University of Cincinnati's most recent NCAA report said graduation rate was 100 percent for the most recent year. UC also led Conference USA in team grade-point average for the past two years. We should, however, acknowledge Ohio State University's 20 percent graduation rate for football several years ago, or the fact one player played in a bowl game despite boasting a zero grade-point average.

Finally, even if the letter writer's mischaracterization of UC's academic performance could be taken as true, two wrongs do not make a right.

The Enquirer's editorial was correct in simply stating that such allegations are serious and must be properly investigated.

Ted Murphy, Hyde Park

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Concern about global warming is justified

I'm responding to Dennis Avery's column ("Ex-energy czar throws cold water on global warming consensus," July 20).

The column might give readers the impression there is much dissent among scientists to the idea that the buildup of greenhouse gases in the air, notably carbon dioxide, is causing global warming. While there are some prominent skeptics, they are in the minority and their ranks have been shrinking as evidence of progressive worldwide warming increases.

Very few scientists now say global warming isn't happening. This disputes now mostly centers on whether greenhouse gas buildups are responsible for the warming, and will cause more warming in the future.

Skeptics are right to question the idea of global warming, because the Earth's climate is very complex, and has varied in the past because of causes not yet fully understood. However, there is now strong evidence linking global warming to greenhouse gas buildups.

Contrary to what some say, concern about global warming is well justified.

Michael Hamill, Forest Park

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Freedom a result of military's obedience

This is in response to the letter ("How much free speech should soldiers have," July 19).

There is a high probability that had it not been for the military's voluntary loyalty and obedience in the 1940s, neither the letter writer nor the soldiers that he defends in his letter would have any freedom of speech today. I say this from my personal military experience during that era.

Our military is not political and for the letter writer to refer to it as the Republican Guard is either a political opinion or a comparison to Saddam Hussein's military.

Paul Miner, Fairfield

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Churches should focus on their true mission

The writer ("Churches should help out homeless citizens," July 22) made an interesting point about exactly what true worship of God is really all about - namely, to take care of one another by means of clothing and feeding the sick, needy and the homeless.

Unfortunately, in this day and age, contemporary churches are more interested in spending millions of dollars on building state-of-the-art facilities that contain high-tech sound and media systems, which do nothing more than entertain people. It is a sad commentary on today's society when churches are more interested in taking care of their own needs for entertainment and making sure their members are comfortable and surrounded by more of the worldly culture from which Christians are supposed to remain separated.

Until such exorbitant amounts of money are used for more noble purposes, I have no interest in attending such contemporary churches.

Robert Adams,West Chester

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Forest health problem comes from logging

There has been a lot of talk about Congress taking action in response to the wildfires in our western national forests, some of our most precious public lands.

If Senators Mike DeWine and George Voinovich are truly committed to protecting communities and homes from wildfire, I urge them to vote against upcoming legislation misleadingly called the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, HR 1904 - otherwise called the Senate logging bill.

This Senate logging bill does nothing to protect rural homeowners from wildfire. The Forest Service's own research shows the protection of a home depends entirely on treatment of the home itself and the area within 200 feet of the home. Instead it plays on the public's fear of fire to limit citizen participation and undermine our nati on's environmental laws in order to increase logging on America's National Forests.

The real "forest health" problem on our national forest is from logging and road building. We have cut more than 95 percent of our nation's ancient, old growth forests and our national forests contain over 400,000 miles of logging roads.

We should not be passing special laws to reduce environmental oversight and increase the ease with which timber corporations can exploit these public resources.

Chris Wiedeman, Over-the-Rhine

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Efforts to keep Convergys laudable

Downtown Cincinnati Inc's. (DCI) role is to work together with public and private partners toward a vital downtown. We are pleased the City of Cincinnati, the State of Ohio and Convergys are working together to retain more than 1,450 jobs and enable future growth and investment.

This is more than just a "win" for downtown - it is also a win for the City of Cincinnati and the entire Tristate region.

For downtown, jobs are the lifeblood of the economy and these are very good jobs, with a current average salary of about $73,000. These jobs help sustain downtown retail businesses, many of which are small businesses such as Hunt Club Clothiers and Appointments. Large employers, such as Convergys, are also magnets for residential development in the urban core as more and more people want to live near the workplace. That, too, is good for business and helps add people to the environment 24/7.

Keeping Convergys downtown is a win for the 52 great neighborhoods of Cincinnati and the region. Downtown contributes nearly 40 percent of the city's tax revenue. These revenues are used to provide police and many city services. If the primary generator of these revenues diminishes, the entire city loses. There is great momentum in downtown Cincinnati - and retaining Convergys will help maintain that momentum.

The diligence and commitment shown by Mayor Luken, City Council, the administration, State of Ohio, and Convergys are commendable.

David N. Ginsburg, President & CEO, Downtown Cincinnati Inc.