Trump's woman-bashing overshadowed USA men's hockey team win | Letters

Trump tainted U.S. men's hockey team

It is understandable that the men's hockey team was excited about the locker room phone call they received from President Donald Trump after their thrilling gold medal victory .

And the personal invite to the State of the Union address and a private White House had to make the call more exciting.

Perhaps it is even understandable that, in the thrill of the moment, they laughed when Trump made the women's team the butt of a joke as he said he would probably face impeachment if he didn't invite the women also.

Rob Oller: U.S. men's hockey mixes sports and politics by accepting SOTU invite

But now that they have had the time to step back a bit, perhaps they might consider how insulting the Trump joke was, especially coupled with the fact that the women's team did not receive a locker room call or a personal invitation from the president right after their thrilling gold medal victory .

The women's team politely declined the belated presidential invitation to the State of the Union and a White House visit with the excuse that their schedules didn't allow it. We will never know whether the women could have arranged their schedules for the visit had the invitation been made more appropriately at the time of their victory rather than as a joking afterthought to the men's invitation.

What we do know is that Trump has a history of insults directed at women, and it is sad that the men's invitation has been tainted by another one.

Stephen Gladstone, Cleveland

WCBE makes Columbus better

Re "Funding in flux," Feb. 23: WCBE Public Radio has been operating for 56 years as a broadcaster of educational programming, music and news. Longevity isn't the reason to continue support. The reason to continue funding this station is the value it brings to listeners every day.

WCBE provides a place where music matters, where community matters, where education matters, where opportunity matters. Sponsoring concerts where local musicians can get heard is important. Playing that local music on the air and getting it heard not just in Columbus, but around the world, is important.

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Education matters to WCBE's mission, as high school interns work at the station every day. The skills learned at WCBE will be invaluable in the world of broadcasting, recording, podcasting and music production.

Opportunity matters at WCBE, and musicians who come to Columbus welcome the chance to perform in Studio A , sharing their stories and music with WCBE listeners.

WCBE's website and podcasts let listeners tune in to the station from anywhere, and a comment often heard from donors is that they have never found another station like WCBE, and they take it with them wherever they go. WCBE matters around the world.

WCBE should matter to Columbus residents and to Columbus City Schools, not because it's been around a long time, but because it makes our city a better place to live.

Patricia DeMaria, Columbus