I am a student at Linn-Benton Community College, and I am disappointed with the funding of our colleges. I am getting training in refrigeration and heating. There is a shortage of people skilled in this, and yet we are very limited in our training by the equipment available.

One example: an investment in a new heat pump for training purposes (perhaps $5,000) would be invaluable for our training, but this is out of the question. We only have a couple of non-functional heat pumps that are outdated. There are a lot of other examples, such as when we only have one shot to practice a skill because the copper fittings are a strain on the budget.

This is not the only program at the college that is so limited by budget. There is a great opportunity here. Please support education with your votes.

Andy Gillespie

Corvallis

Iranian president a U.S. creation

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is asking for $75 million to promote democracy in Iran. Who are we to suggest they change their government, just because we do not like the leader the Iranians elected?

When I lived in Iran for two and a half years in the 1970s, the United States was strongly backing a powerful dictator in the Shah of Iran. Those Iranians who were not afraid to speak their mind informed me of the CIA's influence in their political environment in the 1950s.

In 1951, Prime Minister Mohammed Mosadegh was at odds with the shah after he nationalized the oil fields. In one of its most blatant interventions, the CIA sent in a team of covert operatives to plot Mosadegh's downfall and return full power to the shah.

In 1953, while the shah fled Iran, the CIA overthrew Mosadegh. From that time on until the revolution in 1978, the shah was an absolute dictator who allowed no opposition to exist. Massive U.S. aid helped to build up the shah's loyal military machine and SAVAK, his secret police, had an estimated force of 60,000.

Iranians clearly remember this, even though few in the United States are even aware of it. It is no wonder that Iranians elected such an abrasive leader, one that would stand up to the United States. There were more moderate candidates in last year's election in Iran, but Iran chose the ignoramus, just like our country did in its last election.

Rich Wittrup

Corvallis

Iraq war unworthy of troops' lives

I thank Ted J. Langton Sr. for his service in World War II. However, his March 8 letter, "Support troops? Then support war" makes an unsupported assumption that the City Council is out of touch. There is no evidence that a majority of Corvallis citizens opposed the City Council's actions. Petitioning is part of our democracy. The opposition didn't bother to do their own petition.

The way you can separate supporting the troops from supporting the war is simple: Those who think that way want our troops to fight for a good and just cause, not one promulgated through lies, deception and misleading information. This is an illegal war, and based upon the precedents that the United States helped set at the Nuremberg trials, the Bush administration can be charged with war crimes.

We also want our troops to be properly equipped, which this administration has actively and criminally refused to do. We want them to receive all the benefits they were promised when they signed up, which this administration has consistently failed to do.

More Americans want our troops home than want them to stay, particularly in the West, of which Oregon is a part. A recent Zogby poll shows that 72 percent of our troops in Iraq think we should be out of Iraq no later than the end of the year.

The Bush administration has thrown away any chance of our succeeding in Iraq, at the cost of 2,300 American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis, mostly women and children.

Jeffrey K. McGonagill

Corvallis

Free press means ideas exchange

The March 2 article, "Campus columnist provokes Muslims," provided a profound learning opportunity for those who are willing to take advantage of it.

A free press is essential to the functioning of a democratic form of government. A press that is afraid of offending people is of no use to a free society. A campus newspaper is a teaching tool for training the reporters and editors who will be responsible for maintaining the freedoms we all enjoy. This is why I was upset to read that the editors had vetted copy to a Muslim organization before printing.

The practice of allowing the pressure group of the day to censor copy before publication bodes ill for the freedom to express and disseminate ideas. Our system depends on the free exercise of the ability to put our ideas good or bad forward for debate.

Aly Mohamed, president of the Muslim Student Association, seems to understand the system better than the Barometer editors. He wrote an op-ed piece on Feb 14 in rebuttal to the original Blake column of Feb 8. This is how a free press functions. A country that promises freedom of worship will have occasional disputes over belief. This is the price we pay for freedom.

George Novak

Corvallis

Benefits cut to dropouts mean

While the federal budget deficit soars this year to an all-time high, the Bush administration's answer to our growing economic woes is to cut monies dedicated to help our children and most needy citizens. Among all these Simon Legree-esque cuts, the requested cut that I find the most incredibly mean-spirited is the one to end Social Security survivor benefits to 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts. What possible good could singling out these kids for these unfair cuts do to help reduce the deficit? These kids on the average are without a doubt already among the most disadvantaged in their age group. This is disgusting.

Tim Sherlock

Corvallis

Meet with us

Join the Gazette-Times editorial board from 4 to 5:45 p.m. Thursday at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 Monroe Ave.

In addition to our regular editorial board meeting, we'll discuss editorial topics, policy issues and the importance of open government.