Play "Ball"!

Play "Ball"!
Brady's plight is incomprehensible:The treatment of UMSL baseball coach Jim Brady is incomprehensible [D.J. Wilson, "Foul Ball," May 14]. Don't the state's higher education commissars have more important things to do other than hassling a man whose record for success is indisputable? Kudos to D.J. Wilson for uncovering this sorry mess.
Steven Olafson
Lake Jackson, Texas

Brady's boss is a mean mistreater: D.J. Wilson was right on the money. As an UMSL baseball alum, I experienced the mistreatment of Coach Brady and the baseball team firsthand. Year in and year out, the baseball program produces quality results, and that can be credited to the work ethic Brady and assistant coach Deron Spink instill in all of their players. It is a shame to see that Pat Dolan wants to ruin the tradition of baseball excellence that Brady has built for UMSL.
Kurt Grimmer
Bridgeton

Brady's fan is a little over the edge:I don't think I've ever been so angry and disgusted after reading something. How can Pat Dolan and these other pieces of excrement sleep, given how wretchedly they've treated Jim Brady? I wish I could do something terrible to all of them, especially her. They deserve to rot and burn in hell for eternity because of this. I just wish I could get a chance to spit in their faces and tell them that.
Jon McSweeney
Kirkwood

Passionate About Tapas
Backing BARcelona:I could not disagree more vehemently with Rose Martelli about BARcelona ["Tapas Without Passion," May 14]! BARcelona may not appeal to you if what you want is a rustic tapas experience, but I can tell you that, having eaten there many times, the food is wonderful and Johnson has created a warm enclave in stuffy Clayton. Modesto is different, not necessarily better. In her effort to be pithy, Martelli has missed.
Susan Bubb
Kirkwood

Marie's Methods
You had to be there:Jeannette Batz's article about Marie Clark and the Behavioral Science Institute was overly critical ["Hard Case," April 16]. Although many may disagree with Clark's methods, I feel she is very good at achieving her primary goal, which is to keep sex offenders from reoffending. I was in group therapy at BSI for nearly two years because of a history of indecent exposure, and not only did I not commit an offense during my time there, I have not reoffended in the two years since.

Ms. Clark is blunt and direct, true enough, but that is exactly what sex offenders need -- direct confrontation. They need to be held accountable and made to realize the gravity of their actions. Shame and humiliation are necessary in the treatment of sex offenders. Only once they've been made to feel like the crap they are can they begin to alter their deviant behavior. I thank Ms. Clark; she saved me and has helped many others in ways most people can't possibly understand.
Edward Robinson
St. Louis

Serra Banned
Bitchin' criticism:You know that point you get to in any argument, when you are so mad at the other person that you just want to hit them? It's understandable, but not helpful. Not to you, or to anybody watching. The two letters written in response to Ivy Cooper's March 26 review of Richard Serra's work make me think the same emotions are in play -- frustration, anger, the desire to hurt someone [ Letters, April 16].

I think you can have your own opinion, and if you want to pick on Serra, go right ahead. But how does it help anyone to understand modern art by insulting us (I'm one of the people who is fooled all the time because I'm trying to understand Richard Serra's work and I like it) or by viciously attacking the critic who is discussing the art? The one good thing that comes out of the letters is that people feel passionately enough about the art to write and condemn it. However, I don't think that positive aspect outweighs the personal invective and inability to debate the issues in a rational manner.
Gillian Noero
St. Louis

"Girls" Watcher
With respect to respect:I am writing concerning Geri L. Dreiling's April 9 story "When Girls Go Wild." As a researcher interviewed for the story, I was pleased to contribute. On the whole, Ms. Dreiling has provided a thoughtful and thought-provoking description of the issues facing young women and the practitioners who work with them. However, I do need to clarify a point I made during the interview. Both in the text and the caption accompanying my photo, I'm characterized as saying the girls I've studied "don't respect themselves."

My point to Ms. Dreiling was absolutely not that girls don't respect themselves. Instead, what I emphasized is that pervasive gender inequality results in girls' growing up in contexts in which they routinely receive messages that devalue women. In conjunction with a lack of institutional and other resources to counteract these messages (and to respond to widespread violence against young women), girls are in a constant struggle to gain and maintain respect among their peers.

As a feminist and advocate with fifteen years' experience working with delinquent girls, I am encouraged to see the RFT enlightening its readers on the complex issues these girls face.
Jody Miller, associate professor
Criminology and criminal justice
University of Missouri-St. Louis