Keep the slots out of Arlington Park

Your Opinion page of May 9th, 2003 contained the following paragraph: "….we've balked at expanded gambling because of queasiness about the government relying on revenue that is generated, after all, by people's willingness to throw money away in hopes of beating the odds. It is a strange fuel for vital public services that consists of people's largely unrealistic fantasies of striking it rich."

Even though you endorsed "limited expansion" of slot machines elsewhere in the editorial, I think this is a magnificently written summation of the problem.

To think that our state educational supplemental support is in the hands of gamblers is symptomatic of our inabilities to have a strong economy and the incredible wasteful spending of our taxes in local, county, state, and federal bureaucracies.

Even though there are certainly moral objections to gambling, I think one of our community's main concerns is the attraction of questionable folks, some of whom may be desperate and, perhaps, dangerous.

Casinos and racetracks are the fodder of innocent Damon Runyon folklore and TV dramas, but I wonder if, in real life, law enforcement agencies cover up most of the behavior problems and dangers around gambling, much like college campus police cover up rapes and other crimes.

Right now, the racetrack seems to be harmless to our community in that regard. Let's keep it that way. No slots!

Dave Souders

Arlington Heights