Letters to the Editor

2/25/10 6:00pm

Online Comment of the Week

In response to "Commentary: Ineptitude starts at top of Astros' organization," Feb. 19:Thank you, Captain Obvious. You have to love college students who essentially rewrite what has been said all offseason by some of the hacks that call themselves professional writers. Yes, it would be nice to unload Carlos Lee's horrible contract. Except for that pesky thing called a no-trade clause that stays in effect for the remainder of the upcoming season. Must have missed that one doing your research.

In general, Ed Wade has done a decent job putting this team together with the parameters (and restraints) given to him by Drayton McLane Jr. I'll concede the point that Brandon Lyon was a reach at $15 million, but I can't imagine what you'd be whining about if Wade hadn't acquired him, Matt Lindstrom, Pedro Feliz and Brett Myers. At least he's trying to put some talent on the field for Brad Mills to work with while he and Bobby Heck rebuild the underperforming farm system you reference. As a matter of fact, I don't even see a mention of our new manager who is already getting much praise for his communication skills and will prove to be the perfect guy to handle the transition to a younger generation.

---

---

Bottom line, the Astros will have a tough time making the playoffs this season, but it should be a lot more fun watching this group than last year's team. I'll take Brett Myers over Mike Hampton and Russ Ortiz any day of the week. Our defense will be better, our young guys will have a chance to play and grow and our starting pitching on paper looks light-years better heading into spring training. Their performance will undoubtedly help our "unreliable" bullpen, which, by the way, saw great years from Jeff Fulchino, Alberto Arias, Tim Byrdak, Samuel Gervacio and the recently departed LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Valverde.

Okay, I get it. Negativity and pessimism sell papers (student papers?). But how about a breath of optimism for once? We have something like three or four players with guaranteed contracts after this season. Carlos Lee will finally be tradeable, and our better minor leaguers will be playing AA and AAA ball. This ship is headed in the right direction. It may be ugly at times, but Brad Mills will have them playing passionate and inspired baseball along the way. And that is what I'll be excited about. Good day.

Thomas Greene

METRO provides expanding service

To the Editor:

Since its launch in 2004, METRORail has provided a valuable service to the students and staff at Rice University, offering inexpensive, clean and fast transportation to venues downtown, sporting events and facilities at the Texas Medical Center. So we were perplexed to read assertions made by the Thresher's opinion editor in an editorial from Feb. 12, titled "Sporadic, inconsistent security beleaguers METRORail system." Typically, editorials are based on facts derived from interviews with the editorial's subject. Because this was not granted to METRO, we did not have the opportunity to address, clarify and correct points highlighted in the article.

For example, the writer states that METRO is focusing all its funding on the expansion of the light rail. In fact, from fiscal year 2005 to fiscal year 2009, $518 million was spent on bus service improvements, with $34 million spent on Main Street rail line improvements. In other words, METRO spent 15 times the amount on bus versus rail. Today, METRO is adding 100 new buses to its fleet each year and installing 100 new shelters on its routes. We have also added five new bus lines in the past two years to our system.

Most disturbing are the writer's comments about safety and fare enforcement along the METRO. Since its inception, the number of METRO accidents has dropped more than 40 percent thanks to our efforts to improve signal timing and additional safety features at intersections. Many accidents in the early days came from the learning curve that occurs whenever a rail line is overlaid on a system built for cars. And truth be told, the vast majority of accidents are caused by motorists failing to heed traffic signals. These motorists pose a danger to all of us.

Riding the METRO is also safe for passengers. Serious crimes onboard the system occur generally less than once a month - often never. On our platforms, less than three crimes occur per month. Because one crime is one too many, we have a consistent presence on the light rail system. Sometimes, thanks to our undercover program, you may not even know an officer is riding on your train. And we monitor platforms and trains with a state-of-the-art camera system - an additional layer of safety. Fare enforcement is also an issue METRO police take seriously. While it would be cost prohibitive to station officers permanently on the train as suggested by the editorial's writer, we have stepped up fare enforcement where needed.

We are inviting the writer of the editorial to meet with METRO Police Department Chief Tom Lambert to address her issues in further detail. We also applaud the students who commented on the editorial in the Rice Standard (www.ricestandard.org/in-defense-of-the-houston-light-rail/).

The students and faculty at Rice are important METRO customers and we look forward to continuing to provide them with first-class service. You are the future of this community, and the example you set by riding mass transit will be an example for us all.

George Smalley

Vice President, Communication and Marketing

Houston METRO

---