Letters to the Editor | May 29, 2024

Living in a seaside town, we gratefully experience four different seasons and two distinct populations. Memorial Day 2024 brought us summer weather, holiday crowds, and turmoil. Many locals were surprised by — and tourists expressed shock at — the behavior of the youth on our boardwalk. But should it be surprising? Newspapers, television, social media, and our daily interactions make it clear that divisiveness is ubiquitous. Unfortunately, when thousands of people come to our little town, their rage comes over the bridge with them (and we are neither blameless nor exempt as we argue over everything from windmills to elections and more).

Take a minute to imagine how hopeless it may feel to be a teen these days. So many things seem on the brink of destruction, from natural disasters to the very fabric of our communities. Young people mimic and react to what they see in their homes, in their schools, and on social media. We must do better with the examples we provide for them. Let’s muster more patience and kindness with each other. We can disagree, even fundamentally, without it turning to hate. There is wisdom in humility, and we can learn from people with whom we disagree.

Karen Barlow, Ocean City, N.J., aabarlow@gmail.com

It made me very sad to see The Inquirer’s front-page feature article about a man who commemorates Memorial Day by decorating veterans’ graves in memory of his father, a World War II veteran who recently died. Unfortunately, it is increasingly common for Americans to lack understanding of this holiday, and that piece contributes to the misunderstanding. Memorial Day is not for veterans who survived the wars where they served. This special holiday was created to honor and remember those who died while serving in those wars. Their lives were sacrificed while defending our country. We deserve to give them a special honor by not also including those who lived to come home to their families. We already have a holiday for them: It’s called Veterans Day.

Michael J. Ciavola, Newtown Square

As a civil servant, I am perturbed by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s tone-deaf plan to “help Center City bounce back” by requiring municipal employees without public-facing duties to work in person every day, bowing to the commercial real estate investment companies that own the area’s obsolete office buildings. The city’s workforce should not be a tool for lining the pockets of real estate corporations. Whom does Parker serve?

We are a civil service workforce, not a supplier of foot traffic and commercial rent demand. When we’re not in unneeded Center City office buildings, we’re in the Philly communities where our employment contracts require us to live, enlivening them in a way that matters to Philadelphians, not real estate investment trusts. We work for the city because we value service and the work-life balance a civil service career provides. Abandoning that balance and those values asks us to find meaning elsewhere. Empty or half full of municipal workers, the blank office buildings surrounding City Hall do not a vibrant City Center make. Instead of bailing out their corporate owners on the fraught premise of bouncing back to a long-gone work culture, the mayor should invest in making Center City a place worth going by choice, not force.

Karly Soldner, Philadelphia

As a graduate of Penn State, I am appalled at its proposal to spend $700 million to upgrade Beaver Stadium. This is the equivalent of 3,500 four-year scholarships valued at $50,000 per year. I’m glad the football program is so profitable, but those profits should be used to benefit the primary purpose of the university, which is education, not football. Worse, this expenditure undercuts the university’s efforts to secure more funding from the state legislature. I don’t know whether it was arrogance or thoughtlessness — probably a combination of both — that caused a substantial majority of the board of trustees to approve the expenditure. I hope there will be sufficient outcry to cause the board to reconsider. But until it does, I will cease donating to the university since it clearly does not need my money.

David C. Harrison, Philadelphia, dcharrlaw55@comcast.net

Thank goodness Penn State has its priorities straight. Nothing too good (or expensive) for the football program. While satellite campuses are possibly being closed, professors being let go, and tuition rising, 26 esteemed board members are ensuring richer alumni can enjoy the games from more luxury boxes. Apparently, they are “seeking additional revenues.” Here’s an idea to keep revenue: Don’t approve a $700 million renovation that will end up costing $1.28 billion in the long run. This country sure has its priorities twisted. How much of those luxury boxes’ revenues will be going to students?

Tim Lynch, Philadelphia

Columnist Jennifer Stefano’s portrayal of President Joe Biden’s pledge to let the Trump tax cuts expire is one-sided and simplistic. The fact is, Biden would most likely recast the cuts, retaining many of the key features, such as keeping the higher standard deduction and its repeal of the old personal exemption. In his State of the Union address and his budget proposals, Biden also said he would raise the top income tax rate, expand the child tax credit, and raise capital gains tax rates. So, yes, he will let the Trump tax cuts expire, but he will replace them with his own better version, one that levels the playing field for all.

Joe McKinley, Warwick Township

Will Bunch’s column focused on the reality of the former president’s deportation plans, which are reiterated at all of his rallies. Not only would undocumented immigrants be impacted, but the repercussions would also affect our economy, removing approximately 4.5% of the current workforce and ultimately causing hundreds of thousands of native-born Americans to lose their jobs. This is only one aspect of Project 2025, a 900-page, carefully planned program for a GOP presidency. We hear bits and pieces of this proposal, but the American people deserve to know just what those 900 pages contain. Please, I urge responsible news sources, journalists, and editorial boards to get this information out, so our electorate is aware of what this portends for our future. We need to know much more about Project 2025.

Catherine Poynton, Havertown

Strictly from a philosophical view, a teacher’s role, at any educational level, is to present facts based upon their districts’ curriculum and/or reliable facts-based entities. Beyond that, students do not need to know, nor should they know, the teacher’s opinion. A skilled teacher can moderate a strong discussion/debate without ever expressing their opinion.

As a teacher, I used the Socratic method with questions such as, “Why did you come to that conclusion?” Or turning to another student to ask, “Do you agree? Why or why not?” Devil’s advocacy can leave questions unanswered and can be beneficial for healthy disagreement and further research. Once the teacher weighs in, the entire atmosphere changes. My fifth-grade students learned persuasive writing in election years by researching the candidate of their choice. When asked who I was voting for, I declined to answer. That information is not beneficial to their independent conclusions. A teacher’s role is like that of a good journalist (not a commentator). That is, after reading a well-balanced, reliably fact-based article, I should not even know the opinion of the writer. That’s the only path to independent critical thinking.

Christine Detwiler Neff, Blue Bell

Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 200 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.