Why was Pittsburgh's casino process so botched?

It is painstakingly obvious that in awarding Don Barden the $50 million casino license, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board made an egregious and unforgivable mistake, especially by passing up a free $300 million arena.

Additionally, the board passed up the largest name in gambling (Harrah's) before rewarding the license to an outsider who owned a company that had major losses. Only in Pittsburgh can a license to print money be botched so unforgivably.

Statewide, casinos are thriving, as temporary buildings were used in sites where construction took place. These slots parlors are already pumping much needed relief into a sputtering economy.

The Post-Gazette should launch a full-scale investigation into the dubious awarding of the license.

BRIAN J. DUERMEYER
Shaler

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The wrong move

Regarding "Parents Still Wary of Arts School Plan" (July 9): Last month, 11 students from the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts traveled with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra to China as ambassadors for Pittsburgh.

The parents of one of these students moved to Pittsburgh from Boston so their daughter could attend CAPA high school. CAPA high school is the only high school in the city of Pittsburgh capable of attracting families into the city.

The year my son auditioned to attend CAPA, more than 500 students applied for the 175 available seats at the school. So when the Dowe's on 9th space became available, everyone at CAPA thought we would have an opportunity to increase the size of the high school student population and give more young people the opportunity to attend this wonderful high school.

Instead we are now faced with the possibility that neither the high school nor the middle school will have the opportunity to grow if the two schools are merged. This is why I am wary of the arts school plan.

Will the board be interested in attracting new families and students into the city or will it accept the continuing flight of families and students to the suburbs?

WILLIAM PERSINGER
Brighton Heights

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Keep CAPA separate

As a parent of a student at the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, I'm more than "wary" of the CAPA High-Rogers Middle School merger, and city leaders should be too. These arts schools are the highest-performing schools in the Pittsburgh School District, based on the latest Pittsburgh Business Times rankings. The physical logistics of this plan threaten to compromise them in significant ways:

1) Yellow school buses in front of a strip club: Next to the newly acquired space is the "gentleman's club" Blush. What parent wouldn't have second thoughts about sending an 11-year-old to that location? What happens to the youngster who misses the bus?

2) No room for recess: At Rogers, the kids explode onto a large yard to run around at lunch. I don't see how this physical need of middle-schoolers can be met in a Downtown space without a lawn or yard and with a tiny roof deck.

3) Overcrowded stairways: The current CAPA building, designed for 450 students, has stretched to 520 plus. There are now rules about how to walk in the stairwells to avoid accidents. What happens when 300 smaller kids are added to this mix, even if they move on staggered schedules?

It sounds like they are jamming a square peg into a round hole -- they bought the building and now are trying to make it work to save face.

PAOLA SCOMMEGNA
Highland Park

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Blame the right?

Regarding "What Was The New Yorker Thinking With That Cover?" (July 15): Seems to me that liberals can't take as good as they give. Exhibit A ... the latest cover of The New Yorker magazine.

The left-leaning bunch took no issue with the full-page ad put out by MoveOn.org featuring a photo of Gen. David Petraeus referring to him as "General Betray Us." But a clearly satirical caricature of Barack and Michelle Obama on a fairly liberal publication, and the left-leaning crowd acts as if the sky were falling!

It's also interesting to read political scientist Drew Westen's take on this. He said that were he the Obama campaign, he "wouldn't attack The New Yorker" but "would use this an as opportunity once again to talk about how the right is trying to paint him and his wife as 'foreign, different, not like us, and, by the way, did I mention that they're black?' I don't think the cover does much other than give the Obama campaign what they need."

Does Mr. Westen actually mean to imply that those involved in the "vast right-wing conspiracy" somehow hijacked those on the editorial staff of The New Yorker and forced them to run this cover? Really ... that's about as plausible as MoveOn.org forcing the National Review to run some anti-conservative cover.

Was that particular cover a poor choice? Probably. Can any magazine exercise free speech and ideas, including satire? Definitely. Do Americans who disagree with this have the right to voice their opinion about the matter? Absolutely. But trying to lay the blame and responsibility for this cover at the feet of the conservatives is absurd.

SUSANNE KLINE
Mt. Lebanon

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Unfair to Obama

On the cover of The New Yorker this week, Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are depicted in a so-called "satirical image." But let's face it: The cover is downright mean. The artist said he was poking fun at the scare tactics being used on voters to defuse Sen. Obama's campaign -- a campaign that is on fire with enthusiasm from potential voters looking for change.

I was hurt when I looked at the cover, but not surprised. There have been many stereotypical references and exaggerated revelations since Sen. Obama decided to run for president. Somehow it seems all right to go outside the professional and ethical box when it comes to defaming and disrespecting him.

I have had the opportunity to travel to Europe several times in my life. When foreigners talk about America, they have many pros and cons about our lifestyles and treatment of each other. One of the comments that I've heard often is that racism is still alive in America. While I know they are right, it saddens me to hear it outside my country. It's like someone talking about your family.

I love America and feel bad when I see images like the one in The New Yorker. Barack Obama is a decent, hard-working father, husband and patriot of these United States. So give him a fair one, please. According to the Declaration of Independence, that's what we are all entitled to.

DEBORAH STARLING-POLLARD
Green Tree

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