Readers write (May 4): Marriage equality, life and death, farm critters, U Med School, potholes

Considering that couples spend $15,000 to $26,000 on weddings, according to the Star Tribune, shouldn't we want to legalize gay marriage? Shouldn't we want to encourage that kind of spending in this economy?

Aside from the obvious civil rights argument, legalizing gay marriage should be an argument for creating jobs. Why wouldn't we want local businesses to benefit from providing goods and services for gay couples' weddings?

The Republicans' proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage seems like a "job killer" to me.

JAMIE ROBINSON, ST. PAUL

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Legislators need to be careful about what they do with the Constitution. Using it to avoid negotiation and compromise has a way of backfiring.

Few understood that the environment would become the top funding priority when it was included in the Constitution. Now it's funded ahead of education, nursing homes, police, fire protection, health care, etc.

Our Constitution provides a framework for civilized people to resolve their differences through legislative negotiation without locking future generations into the political hot buttons of the day.

Whatever your opinion on same-sex marriage, using the Constitution to restrict minority rights is a dangerous precedent to establish. The Constitution defines parameters and protects minority groups from the tyranny of the majority. Same-sex marriage should be debated in the Legislature.

Whatever the outcome, the courts will determine if it passes Constitutional muster.

MARK PUPEZA, NEW HOPE, MINN.

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JULIE FOLEY, RICHFIELD

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Dr. James D. Rusin in his Counterpoint claims that, "Recent data show that people on public assistance spend 27 percent of their benefits on cigarettes" ("It's not how we die -- it's how we live," May 3). What is he smoking?

THE REV. MICHAEL TEGEDER, BLOOMINGTON

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Dr. Patrick Schlievert, a world-renowned microbiology researcher and a perennial favorite teacher of medical students, is leaving because he wonders whether the university "really has an organized direction, or are we just in salvage mode?"

Schlievert, who discovered the cause of Toxic Shock Syndrome, as well as many other life-threatening illnesses, stated that "the basic science departments are cut to the bone." Is this really what we want in Minnesota?

We used to value medical education and research. I'm sure that I'm not alone when I say that I find this news very distressing.

Schlievert has taught hundreds of physicians in this state and should have continued in his role as an educator and research scientist here. To say that our loss to Iowa is tragic is a huge understatement.

DR. LAURIE C. DRILL-MELLUM, WACONIA

A letter writer wants answers to the problem of costly auto repairs caused by poor road conditions (Readers write, May 1). I have some solutions for him: Take the bus, take the train, call a cab, drive an SUV with big tires, ride a bike, walk, invent an electromagnetic vehicle that suspends above the pot-hole-filled road, work at home, start a private coalition to repair the potholes with donated funds, borrow some tools and materials from the Minneapolis city road crews and fix the potholes yourself, live in a state that doesn't go from 90 degrees to 25 in one day.

If none of those suggestions do the trick, how about redirecting tax money away from fancy social programs into something more concrete, er, I mean solidly at the core of government's role?

ETHAN ELLINGSON, HARRIS, MINN.

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As a former Minnesota resident, I was dismayed, saddened and angered to read about the proposed legislation that would make it a crime to videotape and/or carry out undercover investigations of agribusinesses to expose inhumane treatment of farm animals.