Letters to the Editor

Look before the leap

Let's not expand the agony by adding further delays to the divorce process as Beverly Willett proposes ("Time to reform divorce laws," April 25). In place of the gasoline-on-the-fire adversarial system, let's institute divorce mediation and pre-marital contracts that parties to a marriage would draft themselves and sign as a prerequisite to getting a marriage license. That offers a means for easing the inflammatory horror of divorce by getting government and the courts out of people's private lives. Years ago, Maine, California, and other states moved in this direction.

Donald J. Middleman, Haverford

Stall speed cameras

Installing crosswalk signals and restoring the time-honored system of allowing pedestrians to cross only when protected by a red light on Roosevelt Boulevard and other such routes would go a long way toward eliminating pedestrian accidents ("Lower speeds aren't high-tech," April 25). Solutions like that, and like timing the traffic lights more effectively so motorists would have no incentive to speed in order to avoid the next red light, are the kinds of strategies officials should be studying instead of speed cameras.

John M. Baxter, Downingtown, jmbaxt@aol.com

Coverage can't wait

Logger Dean Angstadt pays $26.11 for his first month of coverage under Obamacare and, not a month later, has what I can guarantee cost his insurance company - Blue Cross and the taxpayers, that is, you and me - six figures in medical bills ("Once opposed, now a convert," April 27). The problem is, this is exactly what the Affordable Care Act cannot afford. By its very nature, it needs more young, healthy, and working people to participate to make it affordable. If this is a good example of what the legislation is going to accomplish, the rest of us are in a heap of trouble. I'm glad for Angstadt, but there is a better and more responsible way for him to have gotten care. Twenty-six bucks-"just in time"- is not it.

Hubert Streep, Medford

Wind power costs

The disagreement between the state Board of Public Utilities and Fishermen's Energy over an offshore wind farm is strictly about whether sufficient subsidies and grants are obtainable to mask the actual wind cost ("Windmill firm fights rejection," April 25). The disagreement identifies a real issue: Wind turbines are incapable of producing affordable power. Until it can be generated at comparable costs, wind power is an ideology-driven energy source, not an economic one.

Frederick Willis, Haddonfield

Checking references

Clark DeLeon knows the references in his baseline quiz for students in his English 101 class because he lived through most of them ("Cultural divide between teacher/pupils," April 20). He should stop putting his students down for what they don't know yet. They will have their aha moments when they discover, for example, why the Ramones sang, "Gabba Gabba Hey!" Similarly, who out there just learned about the Hurricane in Bob Dylan's 1975 song? Some of today's kids will be teaching English 101 and lamenting that their students don't get why walking home with Skittles is fraught with danger. For now, it's enough to teach our amazing kids to love literature, music, film, and museums. They'll catch up.

Tracy Shields, Moorestown

Slam-dunked

Professional sports have always portrayed themselves as wholesome and family-friendly. Hence, when an athlete or member of management goes astray, he can expect to be subjected to some type of sanction ("Fans are told to stay away," April 29). An individual who evidences a deep-seated hatred for individuals based on their skin color has no place in such an organization, since he has tainted his team. If Clippers owner Donald Sterling has any honor and decency, he will exit the stage posthaste.

Oren M. Spiegler, Upper St. Clair