I am a professor at a local university. I cannot think of a more idiotic idea than to allow students and/or professors to carry guns on campus ("Can Armed Students Stop Campus Gun Tragedies?" Feb. 24).

First, chances are astronomically slim that an incident like Northern Illinois or Virginia Tech will happen on one's campus. There are thousands of colleges and universities in the United States and few incidents of this sort over the years. One should worry more about pedestrians being hit and killed by vehicles on campus or students dying from alcohol poisoning than isolated campus shootings.

Second, despite the amount of firearm training one may receive, as the article pointed out people could very well shoot innocent victims. As well, if a potential shooter knew that people may be carrying guns, they would modify their plans accordingly. The shooters in the Northern Illinois and Virginia Tech incidents were unbalanced, but they weren't dumb.

And finally, the impact of students and professors packing heat in the classroom would be to destroy the freedom of expression we all seek in a college atmosphere. Do you think seeing your professor's bulging .357 magnum as he walks around the class might dampen class participation or dissent? Do you think a professor might avoid discussing sensitive issues that an outspoken 9 mm-packing student disagrees with?

What an asinine knee-jerk idea. And this opinion comes from a professor who happens to own guns and is thoroughly trained on how to use them.

JOHN W. MULLENNIX
Johnstown

---

There are so many things that I could say about the horrific idea of armed students ("Can Armed Students Stop Campus Gun Tragedies?" Feb. 24), but my college-bound daughter summed it up rather well. When I asked her what she thought of students carrying guns on campus, she replied, "Well, that was part of the problem to begin with, wasn't it?"

MARY KAY YOUNG
Ross

---

Archie Bunker is alive and suggesting a method to solve a problem today much like one he made in an episode of "All in the Family."

Archie suggested the solution to skyjacking airliners was to give each passenger a gun when he boarded the plane. Thus, in Archie's logic, this would keep a potential skyjacker from carrying out his plan.

Soon after the Northern Illinois University massacre an Archiephile suggested students should carry guns to class to fight against an attack on them.

Try to imagine 35,000 gun-toting students on a major campus. Scary, huh?

JIM EMANUEL
Wilkins

---

I usually disagree with the opinions of Jack Kelly, and his column on Barack Obama ("The Obama Mirage: There's No There There," Feb. 24) is no exception. Mr. Kelly claims Barack Obama lacks the credentials and experience to be president of the United States. Nothing could be further from the truth.

To begin with, Mr. Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law as president of the Law Review. He became a civil rights lawyer for a Chicago law firm and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago for 10 years. During the first eight years of Mr. Obama's elected service, he sponsored more than 820 bills on various subjects including health-care reform, poverty, crime fighting, economics, human rights, ethics reform and veterans affairs. In his first year in the U.S. Senate, Mr. Obama authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427 bills. In total, he has written 890 bills and co-sponsored 1,096 bills in the U.S. Senate.

As a registered "no party affiliation" voter in Pennsylvania, I cannot vote in the April 22 primary election, but if I could, I would vote for Barack Obama. He is certainly qualified to hold this office based on his past academic and public record.

Perhaps if the media would emphasize the achievements of the candidates instead of focusing on their personal lives, voters would be more well-informed on the candidates and able to cast a more informed vote.

JOSEPH KOWALSKI
North Huntingdon

---

Sometimes when one has an opinion on a subject, it is far better to just keep your mouth shut and your thoughts to yourself. Instead the PG chose to fire out the editorial "Nader's Nadir: Political Egotists Never Know When to Quit" (Feb. 26). What purpose was served launching such a vicious, ridiculing attack other than to satisfy some urge to just dump on the man?

You attack him because he has the nerve to stand up for what he believes and that he is willing to put his beliefs on the line against all odds. Many would see that as being a man of principle. You also manage to blame Mr. Nader for the Bush presidency, which is a stretch of the facts. The fact regarding Florida is that had the Supreme Court not politicized its ruling by stopping the recount and thus appointing George W. Bush, Al Gore would have won the presidency. Also Mr. Gore ran such a poor campaign that he failed to carry his home state of Tennessee, which, had he done so, would have given him the presidency in spite of Florida.

Yes, as you belatedly acknowledge in your final paragraph, Ralph Nader was a great man who has done much for the American people, and I would argue that he still is a great man -- one who still tries to get certain issues and viewpoints before the American people such as ballot access, where the Democratic and Republican parties have managed to exclude any serious third-party challenges.

We need many more Ralph Naders who are willing to speak truth to power.

HENRY W. JONES
Moon

---

As an elected official who is privileged to serve a predominately poor, African-American constituency, I find former Pittsburgh Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle's actions deeply disappointing. Moreover, the sentence is commensurate for her betrayal of the public trust ("Judge Sends Ex-Councilwoman to Prison," Feb. 28).

However, I find former state Rep. Frank LaGrotta's treatment outrageously deficient. How especially stark and troubling for African Americans to see a black woman sentenced to state prison for two years, while a white man serves only six months of house arrest and retains an annual state pension ("LaGrotta Still Eligible for Pension," Feb. 28).

Justice, equality and transparency demand that two public officials, with an equivalent level of venality, receive the same level of punishment. Public officials must always be held accountable and our justice system must be proportional, just and colorblind.

MAYOR JOHN FETTERMAN
Braddock

---

I thought that UPMC was supposed to be nonprofit. The Feb. 26 article "UPMC Goes International Again" just proves that this is not a nonprofit organization. UPMC's expansion into Ireland for a "worldwide push for revenues and markets" is another one of its profit-making actions. According to the article, in the first six months of UPMC's 2008 fiscal year, UPMC made "$52 million in profit produced by 19 area UPMC hospitals and $52 million in profit generated by UPMC's insurance arm."

I have a family member in one of the UPMC hospitals now, and I am extremely disappointed in the care being given. I feel that the care provided is incompetent and not very compassionate. Perhaps the money would be better spent on more staff and better-paid staff. The huge surpluses also could be used to provide additional training for staff and improving ancillary services such as food services.

Stay at home and provide better care to the citizens who are providing you with a tax-free base. After you do this, then perhaps you can move into other markets so that you can increase your profit.

CATHERINE GINDELE
Squirrel Hill

---

Regarding the Feb. 17 "Getting Around" column by Joe Grata ("Instead of Rebates, Rescue Railroads"): Too often theorists are accused of pedantic rhetoric. That was clearly not the case with Mr. Grata. His contention was straightforward and very pragmatic.

As city administrator for Mc-Keesport, I can tell you that the loss of commuter rail to McKeesport has had an adverse impact on the adaptive reuse of property as well as on sustaining the capacity of the Monongahela Valley bedroom communities.

The (troubled) Port Authority has an intermodal facility in Mc-Keesport from which feeder buses interface with express routes to Pittsburgh. Those express routes, however, are an oxymoron when the buses are stalled in traffic with personally owned vehicles on routes 885 and 837, etc.

It would truly be an enhancement to the long-term rebirth of both the valley and the region, if both Amtrak (which also used to stop in McKeesport) and commuter rail were revisited as a transit tool for economic growth in the 21st century.

DENNIS K. E. PITTMAN
McKeesport

---

We welcome your letters. Please include your name, address and phone number, and send to Letters to the Editor, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh 15222. E-mail letters to letters@post-gazette.com or fax to 412-263-2014. Letters should be 250 words or less, original and exclusive to the Post-Gazette. All letters are subject to editing for length, clarity and accuracy and will be verified before being published.