Letters to the Editor

Cover, June 12: “Threading the Needle”

Follow the Trail

In regards to John Roby's June 12 cover story—I would be interested to hear what Mr. Roby thinks of his home state of Texas allowing for exemptions based not only on medical reasons but also for "reasons of conscience" (religious exemptions being included as one example within this category) and also, curiously, allowing for exemptions "for active duty members of the United States armed forces." Would he have any insight into that reasoning or take issue with those exemptions?

Also, I am curious, perhaps Mr. Roby (being a data guy) would be able to find the data on documented cases of measles in New Mexico starting from when records were first kept—roughly the turn of the century, before statehood. It appears to have been, and continues to be, a relatively rare disease in New Mexico, and I wondered if he was able to find any statistics on the number of cases throughout our history or if New Mexico has EVER at all reported a death from measles.

Lastly—in assessing the risks of any given situation it's always wise to consider who stands to profit off of, say, the distribution of vaccines, and listen much less to those who benefit monetarily from distribution.

M Russell West-Fox
Santa Fe

Email Newsletter, June 4: The Morning Word

Good Morning

Thank you for the way you chose to cover the firing of New Mexico School for the Arts faculty member Orlando Madrid. My son, Gideon Buchleiter, is the pianist in the NMSA Jazz Combo that participated in the New York Jazz Festival this past April. It was good to see some acknowledgement of the talent and accomplishment of these students, and your shout-out of encouragement to them meant the world to us. While I feel that the news coverage of Mr. Madrid's dismissal has been fair and factual overall, it has had the unfortunate effect of diminishing both the student's achievements and of NMSA as a whole in the public eye. As is so often the case, your writing brought some balance back to the equation.

The saddest part of this whole story is that none of the coverage recognizes what an excellent young teacher Orlando Madrid was. Don't get me wrong—his dismissal was completely necessary and appropriate. It is my hope, though, that when it's all said and done, there will be people who also remember the tremendous positive impact he had on his students overall.

Finally, I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your writing style, your humor, and the balance you bring to your brief news summaries in The Morning Word each day.

Troy L Buchleiter
Santa Fe