Letters to the Editor | Feb. 1, 2023

Will Bunch’s Sunday column is right on the mark. While there should be more opportunities for those without a college degree and we should reassess whether a degree is really necessary for some jobs, the value of a college education should not be dismissed. College is about much more than vocational training. It is also about becoming a well-rounded person through exposure to new ideas and to people from all different kinds of backgrounds. In college, students have the opportunity to study subjects in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and other fields that cannot possibly be covered in high school, which can open doors for them. Most importantly, they learn how to reason and how to conduct research — enabling them to become more proficient at distinguishing good information from bad. People without a college degree should never be denigrated, but neither should those who choose to pursue higher education.

Bill Fanshel, Bryn Mawr, wfanshel@hotmail.com

SEPTA can’t afford not to build the subway line proposed for Roosevelt Boulevard. Driving on or walking across the boulevard is a nightmare, as all of the 124,500 folks who would be daily riders of the subway extension know. The right of way in the boulevard median has been in place since the extension was proposed in 1914. I’m sure people living in the densely populated areas around the boulevard would trade their horrid driving commute and ride the line in a heartbeat. The extension would result in less traffic, fewer accidents, and a healthier environment. Come on, SEPTA. Find additional infrastructure funding and get behind a project that would improve the lives of real people, right here in our city.

Jack Scott, Wallingford

The Roosevelt Boulevard subway, which SEPTA claims it cannot build, is an example of a public good that could have been done — along with roads, bridges, schools, etc. — had our legislators had the foresight and courage to do the right thing regarding our tax code. For decades, a relatively small number of individuals have accumulated fortunes via favorable tax treatment, as have many very profitable corporations. It is a corruption of any pretense of morality and must change. As our various divides widen, how long before our ill behavior and noncollegiality destroy what was good about America?

N. Farbman, Philadelphia

The Inquirer article on Pennsylvania House Speaker Mark Rozzi’s public meeting in Philadelphia makes me wonder whether the reporter attended and stayed. Left unmentioned were the facts that several hundred citizens and a dozen House members attended, that 23 citizens gave passionate testimony about the House’s dysfunction and how reforming legislative rules could improve the lives of all Pennsylvanians, and that there was tremendous energy in the room because, for once, legislators were listening. In gratuitous bothsidesism, the article quoted a conservative think tank and a political fund-raising letter; both critical of the speaker’s initiative. But no one who actually attended the meeting favored business as usual. The speaker is breaking ground in making public the discussion of rules — which are usually set in secret and passed in a hurry. Citizens’ interest in reform needs to be recognized. Only the special interests could want Harrisburg to continue down its path of failure.

Deirdre Gibson, Media

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