ALEX CHADWICK, host: DAY TO DAY Senior Producer and Letters Editor, Steve Proffitt is back with us now. Steve, what are we hearing from people?
STEVE PROFFITT reporting:
Alex, let's begin with some critical reaction to a conversation we had last week with NPR's Jackie Northam.
CHADWICK: She talked to us from the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, attending a hearing for a detainee.
PROFFITT: Listener Alan Goldsmith of Princeton, New Jersey objected to the tone of Jackie's reporting.
CHADWICK: Okay, "Jackie Northam," he writes, "made it sound as if the administrative hearings were the epitome of justice, and the prison itself a veritable vacation destination with its new barracks and KFC." And on another story, listener Kevin Bingley heard our report last week on how baby boomers from the U.S. are retiring in Panama and driving up the price of residential property there.
PROFFITT: Mr. Bingley says he lived and worked in Panama, and is dismayed by the influx of ex-pats into the coastal area of Bocas del Toro. "Development in such areas," he writes, "is a fragile enterprise that can cause irreversible damage to such a sensitive environment and unique culture."
CHADWICK: Okay, from Seattle, Walter Bodel(ph) listened to Luke Burbank's two- part series last week on the city of Compton, California, a town best known for its gang violence. Mr. Bodel says he spent thirty years teaching in the Compton school system, mostly at Compton High.
PROFFITT: And he writes, "While your story reminded me that Compton still has gangs causing intense problems, the report also spoke of the gangs of parents and teachers and neighbors who haven't given up on the young people growing up in Compton."
CHADWICK: On Friday, Mike Pesca filed a report about the college basketball tradition known as court storming.
PROFFITT: That's when fans of the winning team rush out onto the court at the conclusion of a game, and it happens a lot.
CHADWICK: And Gerri Micelli(ph) of Rio Rancho, New Mexico notes that a high school player in Tucson, Arizona was seriously injured in a court storming event two years ago.
PROFFITT: Miss Micelli says, "I'm all fro keeping everyone who doesn't belong on the court off the court."
CHADWICK: And finally, response to an ad review we ran last week. Seth Stevenson of the online magazine Slate panned a car commercial for the Volkswagen GTI. The commercial's called MY FAST. Here's a bid of that ad.
Unidentified Woman: (in Volkswagen ad) Honey, can I roll the window up a little bit?
Unidentified Male: (in Volkswagen ad) My fast likes the windows down.
Mr. MICHAEL POTTER: As if the mere fact that I'm an NPR listener isn't enough, let me state up front that I'm a pretty enlightened guy. I vote liberal, I rescue cats, and on occasion, I go to museums or the symphony.
PROFFITT: That's listener Michael Potter of Los Angeles, who didn't really like the review.
Mr. POTTER: Seth Stevenson's rant against these ads and the supposed neanderthals they target sounds more like the grievances of somebody who got beat up by the football team in high school. Come on, Seth. Get some therapy, learn to deal with your past tiffs with Biff and Chip, and most importantly, have a sense of humor.
Mr. PROFFITT: Those comments from listener Michael Potter. If you have thoughts, questions, or suggestions, write us, too.
CHADWICK: Just go to our website, it's npr.org. And there, you can click on the contact us link.
PROFFITT: It's at the top of every page.
CHADWICK: Thank you NPR Senior Producer and Letters Editor, Steve Proffitt.
PROFFITT: You're welcome, Alex. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.