That story about fathers and daughters ("Her Heart Belongs to Daddy") certainly puts the Freud in fatherhood. The education story ("Moving Beyond Needlepoint") was interesting and made me think of Mary Lyon and her determined 19th-century efforts to extend education to women at a reasonable cost. Actually, quite a low cost.

Mt. Holyoke was the prototype, and at least five other colleges were "daughters" of Mt. Holyoke, including mine (Western College in Oxford, which alas closed its doors in 1974). California's Mills College is another and still in business as far as I know.

The aim was good education almost anyone could afford. Costs went up over the years, but the goals -- rising above needlepoint and etiquette -- remained.

-- Jane Durrell,

Walnut Hills

Privilege Is Earned, Not for Free
I think CityBeat is wonderful, and I hate to see dissension between you and the Charter Committee ("Exclusive Charter," issue of May 9). I think there is misunderstanding about Charter meetings.

I'm a board member of the Charter Committee. Our board meets regularly. When you join Charter, you get a newsletter and you're invited to our annual meeting, but you do not become a board member.

You have to work on a campaign or a committee, often for several years, and then you might be invited to join the board. Only a very few new members are added to the board each year.

Our board meetings, like most board meetings, are not open to the public. Justin Jeffre and Jason Haap wanted to join the organization and then be able to attend board meetings. That privilege has to be earned; it can't be bought.

-- Jeneene Brengelman,

Westwood

Cross Section of Life
I've lived Downtown for the past two years and love it ("Come June," issue of May 9). The diversity is great, and I think Larry Gross is going to like the change.

I lived in Clifton for a little while, and it's just too lily white for me. Downtown, you get a cross-section of real life.

I hope Gross will keep us posted in the Living Out Loud column on how things are going. Again, welcome.

-- Mandy Hanson,

Downtown

Get Involved and Make a Difference
Let me say to Larry Gross that I hope he doesn't get hit by a bus ("Come June," issue of May 9), but I think he's wrong about his Living Out Loud columns.

His stories about everyday life are the best, and his stories about what he considers to be problems in Cincinnati are some of his worst. But, if he's really going to move Downtown, I have to respect him for that. Getting involved is a very positive thing.

-- Gary Anderson,

Rising Sun, Ind.

We'll Drink if There's a Place Open
I have enjoyed Larry Gross' work for some time now in CityBeat, and I love it when he trashes the city because so often it is deserved.

I happen to live downtown, and I'll welcome Gross when he moves here next month ("Come June," issue of May 9). Let me be the first to buy him a drink -- if we can find anything open.

-- Sam Curry,

Downtown

Keep People Stirred Up
Elaborating a little on Gregory Flannery's piece about immigrants (Porkopolis, issue of May 2), I don't think you leave behind your home, your country and maybe your family to go somewhere you aren't wanted and can hardly speak the language unless you're desperate.

Vast numbers of people around the world are being driven to desperation by war, persecution and/or the imposition of neoliberal economic policies that ensure poverty for many and riches for a few -- the "many" being more or less ordinary people and the "few" being corporations and their investors.

It's known in some circles as kicking away the ladder. Once you get to the top, you impose policies that prevent others from using the strategies you used to get there. It's part and parcel of corporate globalization and U.S. foreign policy, the two terms being practically interchangeable.

So don't blame immigrants. They're mostly just working people, victims no different from the American who gets laid off when his job is moved to some Third World country.

Actually there is a difference: Americans by and large aren't desperate enough yet to leave their homes and move to another country.

But the "few" don't want Americans to sympathize with immigrants, much less identify with them. They want people afraid of and pitted against one another while they grind up the world for profit.

They prefer people be at each other's throats, lest they begin to focus on the real causes of their problems.

-- Jim Byrnes,

Hyde Park