MELISSA BLOCK, host:
From NPR News, this is All Things Considered. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
And I'm Robert Siegel. Now to your comments. Yesterday, I talked with NPR's national political correspondent, Mara Liasson, about the presidential race. And one of her comments in particular sparked criticism from some of you.
BLOCK: Lynn Maxwell(ph) of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, put the complaint succinctly. She writes, "In regard to Mara Liasson's prediction that downscale voters would be more likely to vote for the McCain-Palin ticket while upscale voters would stick with Obama, who are the upscale and who are the downscale? And whose scale are we using? If you mean rich voters as opposed to middle-income or poor voters, just say so."
SIEGEL: Also yesterday, we heard a story about tensions in a Florida community where billboards have displaced trees. Pete Turner(ph) of Scottsdale, Arizona, was one of numerous listeners who had the same thought when they heard the story. He writes this...
BLOCK: (Reading) Your correspondent lost an opportunity for some humor. He could have mentioned Ogden Nash's famous parody of Joyce Kilmer's poem that went like this, "I think that I shall never see a billboard lovely as a tree. Indeed, unless the billboards fall, I'll never see a tree at all."
SIEGEL: Our story about colleges getting rid of lunch trays in their cafeterias to cut costs led several of you to wax nostalgic.
BLOCK: Among them, Carrie Swing(ph) of South Charleston, West Virginia, who writes, "I couldn't help but think back on my own days as a college student at Chatham College in Pittsburgh. Yes, we used trays to carry our meals, but we also used them as sleds in the winter. The hill on which the college chapel sat was the favorite venue. We always worried about being caught, until the one night when we were joined by the head of our food service whose children were sledding on nothing else than cafeteria trays. The end of such traditions makes me sad."
SIEGEL: And lastly, one correction to yesterday's program.
BLOCK: We aired a feature about movie theaters showing things other than movies to bring in revenue. Among those things we said are the Quarterfinals of Drum Corps International, which we described as a marching band competition.
SIEGEL: Well, Corey Jones(ph) of Huntsville, Alabama, wrote in to point out that a drum corps and a marching band are not one and the same. He writes this. "As a former member of both types of organizations, I'm here to tell you they are very different. Marching bands, usually associated with high schools and colleges or universities, contain instruments not found in drum corps, like woodwinds, and often program shows to please a fall football halftime audience." And he goes on, "Drum corps, however, are made up of performers playing all brass or percussion instruments, usually made up of members from different marching bands that are competing during the summer months only for the chance to win the premier competition for drum corps, the DCI Finals. Yes, it's a technicality, but still an important distinction for those of us who are alumni of the DCI Corps."
BLOCK: We thank you for your comments and your corrections. You can send them to us by going to our Web site, npr.org.
SIEGEL: Click on "Contact Us" at the top of the page. And please don't forget to tell us where you're from and how we should pronounce your name. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.