I commend Cincinnati Police Officer Princess Davis and her fellow District 1 officers for their generosity in paying the school fees of Randy Parnell ("Cops kick in to get Taft grad's diploma," Feb. 28), but I am curious why this good kid, who graduated last August, was not able to pay those fees himself by working at least part-time at a fast food or grocery bagging job. These jobs require no high school diploma.

Leslie Miller, Oakley

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Marge Schott was Queen City's queen

Cincinnati has lost her queen. God bless you, Marge Schott.

Kenneth Lambert, Milford

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Fan remembers Marge Schott

I hope Marge Schott's stewardship of the Reds and the millions of dollars in generous support of local schools and charities will be remembered.

Rest in peace Marge. Thanks for 1990 and more!

Fred Schuler, Kissimmee, Fla., formerly of Cincinnati

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'Facts' not as columnist portrays them

For a while, I thought syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts might be a liberal columnist who is not also a Bush-hating lunatic. "Bush manipulates known facts" (March 1) put to rest that quaint notion. He wasted an entire column accusing the current administration of manipulating cold, hard scientific facts to favor its political agenda.

Pitts places global warming in the same category of "objective, verifiable, demonstrable truth"as two plus two equals four. Global warming is not science; it is politics.

The condom example is nearly as ridiculous. How can one argue that the Centers for Disease Control are manipulating the truth about condoms by publishing their known failure rate? From a disease prevention point of view, this information is at least as important as how to use them.

Tom Vangeloff, Kenwood

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'Passion' is a great movie, not a thesis

I was surprised by the negative comments about The Passion of The Christ in the Feb. 29 Forum section by Art Dewey, theology professor at Xavier University. To quote, "Not only is it a bad film, but it's bad theology and it's historically inaccurate."

This is the most powerful movie I've ever seen. It has been praised by most critics, both Christian and Jewish. It doesn't bother me that Pontius Pilate was even more evil than portrayed. I don't care if Greek should have been used instead of Latin. It's a movie, not a doctoral thesis.

I believe that for many, a single viewing of this amazing movie will have a more positive impact than a semester's worth of historically accurate theology lectures delivered by a professor.

Robert A. Scott, Villa Hills

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Buckle up children for all car trips

I was disturbed by the photo accompanying the March 3 story "19 school levies and other issues go before voters Tuesday," regarding the Reading tax levy. No tax issue is worth jeopardizing the safety of our children. I can only hope that the parade was at walking speed. Parents, please remind your children to buckle up in any car, even for a local trip at 25 mph.

Geoff Wise, Reading

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Clooney can't get votes in California

I see Democratic candidate for Congress Nick Clooney was in California recently with son George. George was asking his Hollywood friends to chip in some big bucks to help his dad's campaign. That sounds like Nick found out he wasn't going to raise much money around home. Too bad the folks in California can't vote for him in Northern Kentucky.

Nick, do you still believe President Bush sent our military boys to Iraq on a snipe hunt? This mission has accomplished Saddam Hussein's capture.

To defend our freedom, I like Clooney's opponent Geoff Davis, a graduate of West Point and a veteran of special forces, who understands what our country needs to do after 9-11, not one without any military record.

Robert L. Williams, Union, Ky.