Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 73

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2006 THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC QUICK HITRICHARD DE URIARTE, EDITORIAL WRITER Sorry, but the republic and we newshounds survived not knowing the outcome in the Congressional District 5 and a scattering of state legislative districts until all the votes were counted, about 12 days after Election Day. When we err, we should fall on the side of as many voters participating, through mail and at the polling places. We shouldn't set new restrictions for the convenience of poll workers or reporters. QUICK KITKATHLEEN IN6LEY, EDITORIAL WRITER There's a ray of hope in the plague of HIVAIDS. Eight African nations have seen a marked decline in the number of infections among 15- to 24-year-olds, the group at highest risk.

The world needs to build on whatever strategies have led to this decrease. And we still need to boost funding for treatment as well as prevention. The heartbreaking death toll this year will be nearly 3 million. 1 THE ISSUE: MERGING DELTA WITH US AIRWAYS r. -r ii; liLLJ For the latest commentary on Arizona politics by Assistant Editorial Page Editor Dan Nowicki, go to pluggedin.azcentral-com.

From that site, you can also visit Viewpoints' editor Phil Boas' Viewpoints Today blog as well as our community and columnist blogs. A XMVa Delta IIKMI HI III MIIIMMMIIM ft LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Public rituals sure to create concerns I wish the Muslim folks who were removed in Minneapolis from the flight to Phoenix for standing up and praying would understand that their rituals are not performed publicly everywhere, every day in the United States. They called attention to themselves. I wish that they would understand that we are naturally sensitive to unusual behaviors when it comes to airlines. Every day we watch the news and see people blowing themselves up.

It seems to me that some of the complaints were that the people removed were scholars and leaders, and so why would they be terrorists? It is natural to assume that extremist bombers follow extremist leaders. If I were asked to leave a plane for behaving in an unusual way, I would have gone quietly. Shelly Hegeman, Phoenix Tuition hikes fit Arizona pattern The story about university tuition increasing again seems to fit a pattern tuition hike irks students," Valley State, Tuesday). The Legislature criticizes public schools for dropouts and the lack of college preparation, but they won't pay for those graduates to attend college when we succeed. It has to be disheartening and discouraging to students to know that studying hard and making good grades in high school will not pay for college, particularly when the Arizona Constitution requires that, "The university and all other state educational institutions shall be open to students of both sexes, and the instruction furnished shall be as nearly free as possible." This pattern of not funding education is repeated with Arizona's elementary and high schools.

Nearly every other state in the nation has determined it takes more money per student for an adequate education than what the Legislature pays for Arizona schools. For several years, Arizona has ranked in the bottom three among the 50 states in per-pupil funding. When a voter initiative increased educa- ELISE AMENDOLAASSOCIATED PRESS A US Airways jet mixes with Delta planes at Logan International Airport in Boston. Merging the airlines would make the mix permanent and result in the nation's largest airline. Flying high and boldly tion spending through a tax increase and casino proceeds, Arizona temporarily rose to 44th in the nation in per-pupil spending, but the Legislature simply backed off on its funding and the next year we were down at 49th again.

Now it is backing off funding for universities so students have to make up the difference. The Legislature has become so superfluous that unless the recent election created a more responsible body, voters will likely have more ballot issues in the next election to govern themselves, since their elected representatives won't do it. Michael T. Martin, Phoenix The writer is a research analyst for the Arizona School Boards Association. 'Einstein's paradox' more like it Regarding the Nov.

16 article "Disproving Einstein harder than it looks," and the letters reacting to the article: Observations of stars moving away from us at distances far greater than would be possible unless they are moving at speeds far greater than the speed of light disproves the theory that nothing can move faster than the speed of light. The only way Einstein could be right is if the Earth were the center of the universe. He ignored the fact that you could leave the Earth and slow down, which would if his theory were correct make time speed up for the traveler in a ship relative to time on Earth. This would have to be true because there is no starting point for the effect of movement on relative time. So, if you were to come to a complete stop in space, you would die of old age instantly, but according to Einstein, time cannot exist without movement.

This is called a paradox. So much for Einstein's theories. David Postgate, Sun City Delta." Even the Delta pilots' union, which has fought bitterly with airline management over bankruptcy-induced salary cuts, has locked arms with the company's CEO, Gerald Grinstein, against Parker and US Airways. Ultimately, the decision may not be Delta's to make. The airline has until Feb.

15 to submit a plan for emerging from bankruptcy, and it's possible that the judge may reject it, concluding that a merger or outright buyout is its only reasonable option. By then, other suitors for Delta may surface. The industry rumor mill suggests United Airlines might be interested. And as if a possible Delta buyout by somebody wasn't enough to change things in this most vital industry, Houston-based Continental Airlines has jumped into the merger-mix, declaring it would consider a buyout if the price were right. Then there is the very real possibility that this sudden merger mania is just that: mania.

Mergers and buyouts of airlines are not just numbers games. Delta is still struggling to work out its merger with Pan Am 15 years ago. At New York's Kennedy Airport, Delta operates a confusing mess of three separate check-in areas in two separate terminals, a direct (and unfixed) result of its purchase of Pan Am's European operation. And Parker is still working to combine the cultures, reservations systems and union groups of America West and US Airways, no easy task. Combining three major airlines would be the accomplishment of a lifetime for any airline executive.

And if Parker can ensure that a merged Delta and US Airways is headquartered in Tempe, this will be the home of the largest U.S. airline in terms of passenger traffic. Now, that's Parser-quality bold. For an airline executive who has run with the bulls at Pamplona, Spain, and gone bungee-jumping on his honeymoon no less orchestrating two major airline mergers in barely two years may not be as daunting as it seems. Still, whether it's within the powers of US Airways CEO Doug Parker to acquire Delta Air Lines is very much up in the air.

Powerful forces in the industry are coalescing against the airline's audacious $8.7 billion of- fer for Delta, based in Atlanta. But if any airline executive is capable of pulling off such a com- plex merger, Parker seems a good bet. Fans of Southwest Airlines, the industry's perennial leader at tweaking the noses of tradition- alists, will no doubt hate this comparison. But people are starting to view Parker as the new Herb Kelleher, the bold, hard-working (and hard-partying) founder of US Airway's arch- competitor, Southwest. Noted as a "big picture" futurist, Parker made 'Tempe-based America West Airlines then valued at just $150 million or so vastly bigger when it acquired US Airways a little over a year ago and assumed its name.

Estimated current value: $5 billion. That was bold. Now Parker seeks to acquire an airline more than 50 percent larger than US Airways by offering to pull Delta out of bankruptcy court. That's bold. There are serious hurdles to the bid to ac- quire Delta, not the least of which is that the airline clearly intends to fight to stay independent.

Delta has launched a major media campaign against the hostile takeover, and is passing out lapel buttons and wristbands to its customers, declaring fightin' words like "Keep Delta My U.S. policies regarding Iraq when he wants to commit more troops to Iraq? This is a war where our mission has been accomplished. Our troops deserve praise. They have done their job. We John McCain: Out of touch on Iraq? THE ISSUE: PHELPS DODGE BUYOUT Big fish are on feeding frenzy Draft would make war stickier Congratulations to Congressman Charlie Rangel, N.Y., for having the integrity and courage to try to resurrect the military draft.

By doing so, we would not only replenish our depleted forces but also directly involve more Americans in the war on terror, many of whom have been big Bush cheerleaders for Iraq while sitting on the sidelines. Because 70 percent of Americans apparently oppose the reinstitution of the military draft and nobody else in Congress with the exception of John Murtha, wants any part of this political hot potato, could this be RangePs way of forcing us to put up or shut up? Comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam seem to be in vogue these days but let's not forget that the draft was a huge part of the Vietnam experience and a much larger percentage of Americans had a personal investment in that war. Too many politicians, Arizona Sen. John McCain included, keep telling us that a draft isn't necessary, that we will be able to bolster troop levels solely from volunteers. But recent enlistment numbers don't indicate that, and current casualty rates provide little incentive.

It's troublesome to watch politicians cut and run from this issue, but even more troublesome to realize that many of us expect the United States to fight and win a war against terror as long as nobody from our family has to get involved. When did patriotism become so passive? Jim Johnson, Scottsdale McCain totally off base on Iraq How can Arizona Sen. John McCain even think about being our president took out Saddam Hussein and laid the groundwork for a democratic government. McCain must realize our troops are now in the middle of a civil war. More troops will not stop it.

For the freedom of the people of Iraq to exist, the civil war must take place. More U.S. troops certainly won't be the answer. How can our senator get it so wrong? Additionally, we are depleted in troop deployments. Let us not forget North Korea and that volatile situation.

They have WMDs and they hate us. The 35,000 troops at the DMZ are not enough. Think about it In Iraq our troops must be reduced and redeployed. We must leave the country but not the region. We must seal the Iraqi borders and we must move bases to the Kurd territories to the north, to Kuwait, to Jordan, to Saudi Arabia, to United Arab Emirates.

We take those Iraqi citizens with us and provide humanitarian aid to them. Let Iraq have its civil war. Our job is done. We can stay in the region to prevent an invasion but we should not have our troops in harm's way and dying in a civil war where we are not wanted. This should be the "redeployment not withdrawal" plan the Democratic Party should get behind.

Sen. McCain has lost before he has even begun. John Chiazza, Gilbert cluding interest rates that remain at historic lows, equity firms with a surplus of cash and banks that are eager to finance big buyouts. As usual, the action is primarily in the United States, and the fever here is driven hotter by federal laws that are pushing publicly traded companies to go private, rendering them targets for fast purchase by the better-financed fish in the sea. The upshot of all this merger madness for Phelps Dodge? Sitting pretty, it seems.

Freeport's offer of $25.9 billion in stocks and cash immediately sent the Phoenix firm's stock soaring almost 30 percent. And as The Arizona Republic's Max Jarman reports, even if Free-porf own buyout by BHP Billiton comes to pass, Freeport still will owe Phelps Dodge a $375 million break-up fee. As for concerns that Arizona might lose yet another corporate headquarters, that isn't in the cards either under the Freeport deal. If it does buy Phelps Dodge, Freeport plans to move into the firm's headquarters in downtown Phoenix. Sometimes a merger really is a win-win deal.

As if the airline wheeling-and-dealing in Tempe weren't enough, a New Orleans-based copper mining firm wants to buy Phoenix-based Phelps Dodge creating the largest publicly traded copper-producing com-7pany in the world. i(. Ah, but that was a week ago. Since then, we Learned the company that wants to eat Phelps Dodge Freeport-McMoRan Copper Gold Inc. of New Orleans may itself be eaten by an Australian firm, BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining concern.

Does it seem like companies are merging as frantically as elk in rutting season? As a matter of fact, they are. Big businesses worldwide are in an unprecedented merger mania. Merger analysts such as Standard Poor's say that as the end of the year draws nigh, companies are merging with (or buying out) each other at a rate of $445 million an hour. At that pace, analysts project, companies worldwide may end the year expending $3.46 trillion in acquisition activity, the most ever. What's driving the frenzy? A lot of factors, in Editorials represent the opinion of the newspaper, whose Editorial Board consists of: Robert J.

Dickey, John Zidich, Joanna Allhands, Steve Benson, Patricia Biggs, Phil Boas, Ward Bushee, Richard de Uriarte, Jennifer Dokes, Jeremy Dowell, Cindy Hernandez, Kathleen Ingley, Robert Leger, Doug MacEachern, Gary Nelson, Joel Nilsson, Dan Nowicki, Robert Robb, Bob Schuster, Linda Valdez and Ken Western YOUR VOICE COUNTS GENE O'AOAMO Virr I'ri'Shirnt Community Kchitions J. MICHAia WOMACK Vkc t'rvHiient Cimihmnn KAREN CKOTC1II LET Vice Prcslilenl Market llasmess I ttittoptncnt BOR KOTVYASINSKI icc PrrsiJent Pnxhiitum GASPER CENOVESE Vice President I I I II) We welcome letters of up to 200 words on any topic. They may be edited for clarity and length Letters must include your name, address and a daytime phone number If your letter is selected for publication, we will notify you. Letters to the edttor opinion columns and articles submitted to The Arizona Republic may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms for more information, call us at (602) 444 8499 JON MELD I t'bwf financial Officer WARD BISIIEE h'Jllar Sews KEN WESTERN fiiifor ii the hlilnnal LINDA GKEIWK Srrimr VP AtlwtisMg The Arizona Republic Founded in 18 A Gannett newspaper Incorporating The Phoen.jf GrieMe ROIJKKT J. DICKEY JOHN ZIDICH President and I'nbhiher EUGENE C.

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