Readers Write (Sept. 29): Higher education, poverty, photo cop, daycare and unions, hogs

The article "A steady drain of collegians from Minnesota, but why?" (Sept. 27) seemed to suggest a real problem with many of our best students going out of state for college. This may not be a problem at all -- it might be a boon to Minnesota.

Iceland for years has promoted a kind of "salmon" strategy -- sending its best students abroad to study, even paying for scholarships. There are two great results.

First, a network of Icelanders is established as leaders in business, government and the arts around the world. Second, some significant percentage returns, bringing the best skills from great schools back to Iceland. Many of these returnees come back for the quality of life and to raise their own kids.

One of the problems local corporations like General Mills and Target have is that they hire people right out of school locally and promote them up the ranks. The result is in-bred, self-contented thinking. New people aren't being brought in from the outside into critical management positions.

The Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota has consistently ranked lower than its peers in national rankings precisely for this reason -- people graduate and get a good job locally, and the school never builds a strong national network like the Darden or Wharton schools.

If we send many of our best out of state to Northwestern, NYU and Cal, they'll get outstanding educations. Some will stay forming our network. Many will return to the best place in the United States to raise kids.

ROHN JAY MILLER, MINNEAPOLIS

The Star Tribune missed the real reason there is a "steady drain of collegians from Minnesota." Duh, it's Minnesota's ever-rising college costs due to perpetual higher-education funding cuts! My daughter went to Wisconsin because of the lower cost of tuition and books. She is pursuing her graduate degree in Wisconsin for the same reason.

So a note to Republican legislators: Ignore the fact that the state is a miserable cold tundra half the year and continue to cut education and services which formerly made Minnesota attractive as a superior quality-of-life state. And to Democrats: If you want to continue the exodus of business and collegians, keep capitulating to the Republican demands to cut even more.

Contrary to GOP mythology, Minnesota can never ever be as low-tax as Mississippi because it has winter road maintenance and repairs. The simple Minnesota success story has always been to attract great minds and great businesses by a higher quality of life through affordable education and more services, and that means higher taxes.

KIM MILLMAN, BURNSVILLE

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And an article on Page A3 was about the Florida law that requires welfare applicants to undergo drug testing. This law is based on the assumption that drug use makes welfare recipients less motivated to find work. In fact, the application of this law over the last several months has revealed that welfare applicants are far less likely to be drug users than is the general population.

The false notion connecting poverty to a lack of motivation undermines the compassion of the general population and allows "small government" promoters to justify the elimination or "reform" of programs to help the poor. This is especially disheartening at a time when poverty is on the increase and programs to support them are needed more than ever.

JERILYN JACKSON, STILLWATER

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I disagree with the writer of the Sept. 28 Letter of the Day ("Give us photo cop, or give somebody death"). Instead of reactivating the red-light cameras, there should be lights attached to existing traffic-signal warning signs that flash when the light is about to turn red and/or "Prepare to Stop

There is a stark contrast between people who die in traffic accidents and those who die as a result of violence, in that deaths that come as a result of violence are more unnerving.

I think it is more important for Minneapolis to rein in gang violence so that no more young people are needlessly murdered ("New cameras make thugs go elsewhere," Sept. 26) than it is to stop accidents resulting from traffic violations.

DAN WICHT, FRIDLEY

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I have been a day care provider for 13 years in Dakota County. I was visited by union representatives during a busy day last spring. I was asked to sign a card to get more information about the union and how it would benefit me as a provider.

The union has yet to give us any concrete benefits or guidelines -- seems like a runaround and dishonest from the start. I want to have my own control over my business that I built. Gov. Mark Dayton has yet to respond to a meeting request with providers who oppose unionization. This is an important turning point in child care. What profession will the unions go after next, just to make a buck?

PAMELA STEINHAGEN, LAKEVILLE

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If states accept federal money for education, they have to conform to politicians' standards and give controversial standardized tests ("Don't let learning fall victim to politics," editorial, Sept. 28). The teacher-student relationship should not be skewered by unrealistic expectations on local educational institutions. Each child should be taught in an environment that best fits his or her needs. National standards mean that many students receive a substandard education.

HOWARD JAY MEYER, NEW YORK CITY

The hogs need time and space outdoors (photograph accompanying "Hog rustling: Old crime, new target," Sept. 28). They are living creatures, not widgets.