Whitney Houston: a fallen star

Her death was tragic, untimely – and a reminder of how far even the most gifted can fall, readers say. Other letter topics today: student cheats, dog mauling saga, hotel cuts and marketing Abu Dhabi.

Singer Whitney Houston performs on 'Good Morning America' in Central Park on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)

Your report about students cheating on examinations and buying ready-made essays (Cheating the modern way, February 12) was very disturbing.

The worst element, I think, is that some of the students cited did not even seem to see that what they are doing is wrong.

Will these ethical standards also apply when these people get jobs and go work?

It's hard to say how to solve this problem but school and university officials will have to work very hard to inculcate higher ethical standards, and also to catch and punish those who cheat.

Cormell Price, Abu Dhabi

I don't understand something about the cheating story. How is it cheating for students in an exam to "write something on small chits and hide them in their socks"?

Munir Shah, Dubai

Whitney Houston died too young

My friends and I grew up listening to Whitney Houston's hits from the '80s and the '90s. Her voice touched and inspired us all.

I am shocked and saddened by this news (Whitney Houston dead at 48, February 12). May her soul rest in peace.

Name withheld by request

I don't suppose there's much doubt what killed Whitney Houston, who was once such a beautiful, cheerful, promising young performer.

The menace of drugs is seen more clearly when a celebrity succumbs, or even if drug abuse has just hastened death.

But for far too many non-celebrities around the world, too, death comes early because of these substances.

Sarah Billerton, Abu Dhabi

To know India, get out of the office

Lively reports from India are welcome; thank you for the articles by Eric Randolph. Both of his recent stories, Politicians disappoint in Indian state's badlands (February 12) and On the campaign trail, India's dynasty grooms the next heir (February 8) were a pleasure to read.

So much coverage of India is produced in office blocks in big cities.

This lively coverage from the villages where so many Indians live is both interesting and informative.

DT Wilkinson, Abu Dhabi

Why all the fuss over dog mauling?

It has been a week since your report Family mourn poodle killed at pet show (February 5). I don't know why the dog-being-killed-by-another-dog story created so much of a media frenzy.

I love animals (I have two dogs and a cat) but this story has in my opinion gone overboard. Animals act like animals.

I just can't believe this news has received so much attention - by the media and the municipality - while other more most pressing news has not.

Sharon Salazar, Dubai

Revolutions can have hidden costs

I am not really surprised to read that Hotel giant Millennium defers plans for Tunisia, Egypt and Syria (February 12).

Revolution, however necessary, means tumult. When the different elements in a country can't achieve a new form of stability quickly, then investors, both local and international, grow anxious.

I hesitate to say "better the devil you know than the devil you don't" to the long-suffering people of those countries.

But all the major players in those countries have a responsibility to stabilise the political and financial situation quickly.

VJ Mehta, Dubai

Nothing boring about Abu Dhabi

In Marketing Abu Dhabi's virtues, minus the tents(February 12) an Emirati girl is quoted as saying: "Abu Dhabi is boring, there is nothing to do here."

I have to disagree totally. My relatives live and work in the UAE not because there is nothing to do in my homeland, Turkey, but because the UAE is a beautifully designed and developed country with distinctive business and leisure activities plus safety and security guarantees.

Dubai has some fine attractions but these do not make the capital city less attractive.

Paris and London might be better known places but the UAE's cities deliver the best of modern fashion and the arts while maintaining the religious ideals on which they were founded.

Dilara Akay, Turkey