Letters to the Editor Making Lemonade To the Editor: With the Titans playing in the Super Bowl, many Memphians revisited the hurt feelings that we experienced as we were senselessly and coldly denied an NFL franchise after doing everything they asked of us. We’re justified in feeling this way. Now what are we going to do about it? Many will choose to gripe that Nashville got something and Memphis didn’t (again). Many will reluctantly jump on the Titans bandwagon. Or we could turn it all into something positive. If we want pro sports here in Memphis, we need to let our elected officials at every level — from city council to U.S. Senator — know about it. They need to know we mean business. They need to hear from us that we’re not ready for them to “drop the ball” in our pursuit of a pro sports franchise. Sure, there will be naysayers. But to say that Memphis doesn’t need professional sports is to say that Memphis doesn’t need jobs, money, prestige, and a sense of community. And what sense does that make? Memphis has the facilities to host most every professional sport. We can and will support a professional team as long as it’s ours to keep — no babysitting and no exhibition games. But our city’s political and business leaders need to know about it. We can have the real thing if we work at it. Joseph Keene Collierville Laws Not Always the Answer To the Editor: In “No More Hard Times” (Helter Shelter, January 27th issue), Walter Jowers reported that “the Mississippi legislature is considering a public-sex-and-nudity law with a provision that would make it illegal for sexually aroused men to show themselves in public.” Some people think that when there is any problem, all you have to do is pass a law about it. Laws may be very helpful in some cases and in others they may do actual harm. Whether a given evil can be remedied by law is frequently a difficult question. It will depend upon the nature of the evil and the wisdom of the law. Moreover, if the people will not obey the law, particularly in a representational democracy, the law is futile, and its failure may weaken respect for other laws and common decency. Arthur H. Prince Memphis Clarification #1 To the Editor: I would like to thank Ashley Fantz for a well-written story on the problem of AIDS in our community (“The Forgotten Disease,” January 20th issue). However, there is one inaccuracy. On page 18, it says that David Case and I kept pushing for a budget. That is not correct. We were, however, frustrated by not having regular and timely financial reports showing where our funds were going. I feel like we were all puzzled over this issue. Thanks for letting me make this clarification. Mac Mathis Memphis Clarification #2 To the Editor: Tom Tomorrow mentions the Stars and Bars (This Modern World, January 27th issue). That is not the flag they are objecting to in South Carolina; it is the battle flag. The Stars and Bars is a different flag. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t know their history or this kind of thing wouldn’t go on. Please make the correction. The battle flag is not the Stars and Bars. F.A. Coyle Jr. Memphis Clarification #3 To the Editor: I would like to point out that Paterson, New Jersey, as in the movie The Hurricane (Film, January 27th issue) is spelled with one “t.” I should know, I was born there and graduated from Eastside High. Alice Zalon Memphis The Memphis Flyer encourages reader response. Send mail to: Letters to the Editor, POB 687, Memphis, TN 38101. Or call Back Talk at 575-9405. Or send us e-mail at letters@memphisflyer.com. All responses must include name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters should be no longer than 250 words. Editor’s Note It isn’t often that we publish a paper without a politics column. But this week, Jackson Baker is in New England, covering the New Hampshire primary, as he did in 1992 and 1996. Baker will have detailed coverage in next week’s paper.