SCOTT SIMON, host:
Time now for your letters.
(Soundbite of typewriter)
SIMON: First, a correction from last week's show. Nat Hentoff mistakenly said that McClatchy's Washington bureau had closed. The bureau is not closed. McClatchy CEO Gary Pruitt said in a statement, the bureau represents our continuing commitment to providing outstanding regional, national and international news coverage.
A number of you thanked us for a profile last week of OrchKids, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's education outreach program at Harriett Tubman Elementary School. Barbara Grant(ph) of Corvallis, Oregon writes: Despite the symphony's own hard economic times, Marin Alsop, its director, spoke the truth and is an inspiration when she explained that our social responsibilities are even more essential these days. In fact, attending to our community's needs is an investment with far-reaching, positive returns. NPR, along with the general media, ought to regularly highlight such stories rather than reinforcing models based on fear and self-preservation.
Detroit teacher Tony Gibson(ph) adds: Kudos to the principal at Harriett Tubman. Without her unwavering support, even projects with the BSO cannot be sustained. I say, pay close attention to the principal. They make a huge difference if they are keenly interested in what is best for the students and not what is best for themselves.
Now to another musical story. Two weeks ago, Bridget McCarthy(ph) reported on adults who decided to take up a musical instrument later in life and how the brain works as you're learning that instrument, which sparked memories for Sheila Zackary(ph) of Concord, New Hampshire: When I began taking violin lessons at age 47, I wrote a poem, "Ode to an Adult Beginning Music Student," she writes. The poem includes the lines, if I can play just one tune in real or jig time, when I am 97, I will still be in my prime. Ms. Zackary says she dedicated to the poem, quote,"to my neighbors who share in my joyful musical development because they live too close to avoid it when my windows are open."
Now last week, guest host Ari Shapiro spoke with NPR's Joe Palca about Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Rovers that are still studying the planet five years after they'd landed there. Philip Davis(ph) of West Gardener, Maine says that as an engineer, he respects what he calls the extraordinary performance and durability of the Rovers, but he adds, I am dismayed by your failure to ask the uncomfortable questions, the questions that might get you less ready access to NASA publicity flacks. Give us for once a thorough analysis of the cost-benefits of space missions. I predict that you will find missions like this Mars Rover are marvelously cost-effective, while the entire man space program is a worthless drag and impediment to both science and exploration.
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