Letters to the Editor | Aug. 9, 2023

There are thousands of dedicated men and women who go to work every day at SEPTA. They work tirelessly, around-the-clock, seven days a week with one common multipoint objective: keep all riders safe while they use a reliable, clean, and affordable public transportation system. SEPTA is far, far better than the recent tragedies and news headlines make it seem. And while accountability for mistakes and accidents is necessary and expected, that should not devalue or detract from the overwhelmingly safe and critical service that SEPTA provides to the region and its citizens every day.

Human beings make mistakes. Sometimes big ones with terrible consequences. Sometimes mistakes inexplicably happen with a greater frequency than normal. All those factors should be subject to examination, and action taken as needed. But no one wants a safer and more reliable system than SEPTA employees. With continued dedication and hard work from those employees — supported by strong and focused executive leadership — I am 100% confident that SEPTA will continue to improve and better serve its customers and the region as it has for the past 60 years.

Mike Dobson, retired, chief officer, SEPTA railroad division, Albrightsville, medobson328@gmail.com

I found the recent Inquirer article about the Temple University white coat ceremony for incoming medical students interesting. First, for replacing the archaic Hippocratic Oath with the modern Geneva Declaration, but more importantly for the timing of the ceremony and the gender, race, and ethnicity of the incoming class. Over the years, white coat ceremonies were held when the basic science years ended for medical students and the clinical years began. Having the ceremony for entering students suggests that the two disciplines will be linked from the start. My incoming class in a New York medical school in 1958 with 150 students included five women, two African Americans and three Asians. The diversity of this incoming class meets a critical need in training and medical practice.

Joel Chinitz, Philadelphia

The New Jersey adoption community joins the many in mourning the loss of Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver. While in the General Assembly, Oliver worked alongside State Sen. Joe Vitale to see that adoptees gained access to their own birth certificates. Her dedication paid off in 2017, when secret adoption was finally banned. That same year, Oliver became our first Democratic lieutenant governor. It was quite a battle to restore adoptees’ rights, but Oliver never left our side.

In 2008, after initial efforts to change the law failed, she took the time to write to me and said, “Remain ever steadfast and vigilant. Many of us continue to champion A752 and have not abandoned its righteousness!” I knew then that we had a caring freedom fighter on our side, and success would just be a matter of time. As I grasp for reasons why she empathized with the adoption community and her sudden death, I can only rest on the fact that we were blessed by her presence in public life and that New Jersey is a better place because of it. Rest in peace, Lt. Gov. Oliver.

Peter W. Franklin, retired, Adoptees Without Liberty, Ringwood

Although the No Robot Bosses Act, cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, may attract productive attention to issues associated with use of automation in the workplace, it is important to recognize that this type of artificial intelligence-specific legislation is not necessary to provide legal protection against workplace abuse of workers by AI. If AI or other forms of automation create workplace environments that violate current labor and employment requirements, the employers responsible will face legal liability, just as they always have in workplaces entirely operated by humans.

An organization’s decision to automate all or part of its activities does not provide some sort of “get out of jail free” card, enabling it to escape responsibility by attributing blame to AI or robots. We do not need to create rules specifically directed toward “robot bosses.” Instead, we should act to ensure that all organizations considering the use of robot bosses recognize that they will continue to be held legally accountable for the behavior of those robot bosses, just as they have always been responsible for the conduct of human bosses.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provides guidance to employers regarding use of AI and other forms of software and algorithms in employment actions. As is the case with other tools, it remains the human users who are responsible for any harm resulting from their use. There is no inherent reason to believe that automated systems will be more abusive than traditional systems. The impact of AI is ultimately the responsibility of the people who develop it and those who manage its use.

Jeff Matsuura, Falls Church, Va.

It seems that the Sixers are whining and complaining like spoiled children, according to what Comcast Spectacor Chairman Daniel Hilferty has to say. Apparently, most of the things that the Sixers don’t like about their home at the Wells Fargo Center are not true or are a complete exaggeration. Doesn’t it seem ludicrous for a supposedly world-class city to be arguing over an arena for a team that doesn’t need it, and that many people don’t want, when it can’t even find a proper place for travelers to wait for a bus? As a recent letter writer said, a bus terminal used daily around-the-clock would be a much better use of public space than an arena that would be used only 40% of the time.

Jean Haskell, Philadelphia

Kyle Sammin’s column was not wrong about the need for a new generation of leaders. Where he was wrong was dwelling at length on Hunter Biden’s transgressions while offering only a throwaway line that some of Donald Trump’s family “stand accused of some of that, too.” There still is no evidence that Joe Biden aided in his son’s “illusion of access” beyond taking phone calls. It is not hard to picture Hunter putting his dad on speaker phone and saying, “Hey Dad, say hello to my friend X.” It is not hard to imagine garrulous Joe replying, “Hey X, my Daddy used to say that any friend of my son’s is a friend of mine” while saying nothing about business.

Meanwhile, it is established fact that Ivanka Trump received multiple trademark approvals from China days before her father lifted charges against a Chinese telecom firm, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s firm got a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia, and Trump himself has raked in cash from the Saudis for everything from overpriced rooms in his hotels to holding LIV Golf tournaments at his courses. Conservative Sammin does at least admit that Trump’s attempt to subvert the Constitution is an altogether higher problem. However, he might consider the imbalance of giving far more space to a dumb donkey than to the elephants in the room.

Terry Shepard, Bryn Mawr

Real public dialogue about the multibillion-dollar redevelopment of the South Philly oil refinery site is long overdue. After years of requests, executives from Hilco, the global corporation responsible for the largest development in our city’s history, attended an in-person meeting with residents for the first time earlier this month. Hilco has promised to build “sustainable” logistics and life science campuses on the 1,300-acre site. Residents who suffered from generations of deadly refinery pollution — I lost my own husband to cancer — have shared demands for how Hilco can make good on that promise, including strengthening flood control plans, reinvesting through a strong community benefits agreement, ending fossil fuel storage on the site, and halting construction until cleanup methods are finalized. Everyone benefits when development projects are shaped by meaningful input from longtime residents. Will Hilco and our elected officials ensure this land’s rebirth benefits the people of our city, or will they waste this historic opportunity?

Sonya Sanders, Philadelphia

So another presidential election looms and we still have not addressed the role of the Electoral College. Voters whose chosen candidate wins the popular vote but not the electoral vote in winner-takes-all states — meaning all states except Nebraska and Maine — are effectively disenfranchised, as I was in 2000 (Al Gore) and 2016 (Hillary Clinton). When will we either mandate proportional distribution of electoral votes in all states or, even better, do away with the electoral system altogether?

Marie Conn, Hatboro

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