Misrepresenting the homeless
In Edward Oden's facile and completely speculative analysis of Austin's homeless population ("Vagrant vengeance," The Firing Line, April 16), he neglected to mention that a significant portion of the "lazy" vagrants are also war veterans. I guess he also didn't consider that half of them might be unable to find work due to the combined effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and a disappointing lack of accessible healthcare. I find it funny that Mr. Oden is so swift in passing his judgment; you would think YCT members would be the first to acknowledge their efforts in making America "the greatest capitalist democracy in the history of the world."
I can, however, concede one point to Mr. Oden: Many homeless people do have "chips on their shoulders." According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the VA only has resources to reach 25 percent of its constituents, leaving approximately 300,000 veterans without supportive services. We can do better.
Sophia Kwong UT alum
Skewed schooling
In "Home-schooling misconceptions," The Firing Line, April 16, Charlie Matthis warns us to "recognize the potential for children to receive either an extremely skewed education - or very little education at all," as if this is an problem that's somehow unique to home-schooled students. I suppose a similar warning should be issued regarding regular public and private school students, because most will never earn a full scholarship to Princeton University, followed by a Ph.D in aerospace engineering from UT, as I did.
I guess we all have our own measures of success. My own schooling was obviously skewed more towards critical thinking and academic success than social interaction and ignorantly spouting off about things I don't understand, but if that's what Matthis got from his school experience, more power to him.
Isaac Boxx UT alum
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