TNT letters to the editor, 9/9/2021

Troubled youth

Re: “Police presence criminalizes Tacoma schools, contributes to campus-to-prison pipeline,” ( TNT, 9/3).

Whoa! I was very surprised at University of Washington Tacoma professor Jeff Cohen’s short-sighted op-ed.

It’s sadly true that some cops are bad news. But there are other reasons why some demographic groups have more children in trouble at school.

For example, some groups have higher percentages of their kids coming from single-parent families, which are more often plagued by emotional problems, discipline issues, truancy, drugs, crime, poverty and poor academics.

I know from sad personal experience how tough it was for my siblings when my mother was the only parent available to raise us. By the grace of God most of us turned out alright; however, the stress helped kill her at a young age.

Two parents are frequently better than one, especially when numerous children pare resent. As a result, boys and girls from dual-parent families often have fewer problems.

America thus needs to support students from single-parent backgrounds while fostering the concept of a dual-parent, nuclear family

Vaccine mandate

One Washingtonian’s right to spread viral infection in public spaces ends where another Washingtonian’s nose begins.

Laws empower states to implement reasonable regulations to safeguard public health and safety. A vaccine mandate does not infringe on one’s liberty when applied neutrally to everyone in matters of literal life and death.

As such, the inclusion of a religious exemption is auxiliary deference to religious freedom — not religious discrimination.

The best way to preserve the integrity of the entire situation would have been for the mandate, from the beginning, to take a leaf from the US Constitution and simply forgo mention of gods altogether.

For the wages of being unvaccinated in a still-raging pandemic is death, but the gift of science is continued life through preventative measures.

The morality of endangering others is precisely relevant to this discussion. Someone whose morality consciously and proactively endangers the lives of fellow human beings may want to consider a re-examination thereof.

It does not require religion to know which morality — and choice — saves lives.

Rodman Bolek, University Place

Climate change

Re :”Deadly remnants of Ida slam Northeast” (TNT, 9/3).

Some 170 years ago, in the 1850s, scientists first noted the rise in global carbon dioxide with an expected rise in global temperatures.

In 1988, NASA scientist James Hansen testified before the Senate that humans were the primary cause of rising temperatures. In the early 2000s, Al Gore warned of the “inconvenient truth” of the coming climate crisis.

Fast forward today’s wild fires, droughts, water shortages, crop losses, melting glaciers and historic flooding and tornadoes.

In New York’s Central Park, 7.19 inches of rain fell in 24 hours last month, with over 3 inches in one hour. In China, some 8 inches fell in one hour.

Penn State’s climate scientist Michael E. Mann states that the world must reduce fossil fuel emissions by 60% in the next 10 years. If we fail, we will see even more extreme loss of life and property damage.

We have the technology to meet this crisis but lack the political will. You need to demand that your Congress person act on climate legislation.

Chuck Jensen, Tacoma

This story was originally published September 11, 2021 at 5:05 AM with the headline "TNT letters to the editor, 9/9/2021."