Penn State hazing victim, parents are not to blame

Penn State sophomore Timothy Piazza is dead. His parents are going through unimaginable pain. Tuesday's letter, "Hazing victim made bad choices," does not serve to explain or offer comfort. It points a finger in the wrong direction.

The fraternity brothers behaved deplorably and allegedly criminally during that terrible evening. It seems everyone made the wrong decisions, but only one young man is dead.
Education at home? Sometimes, despite a parent's best efforts, peer pressure trumps education.

Maybe the main fault lies with the universities that haven't done more to stop this horrible practice of hazing. Regardless, the young men involved need to answer for what they did, or, in some cases, did not do.

— Diana Canamucio, Yardley

Blaming the victim? If, as the letter claims, 18- to 22-year-olds should not be held liable, should society revoke their right to drive, vote, marry, and engage in combat? According to the letter, any crime committed by a male before the age of 25 should be construed as mere youthful indiscretion.

Equally disturbing is labeling Timothy Piazza's death a "misfortune." If "preventing these misfortunes starts with education at home," perhaps we should charge the parents of the 18 fraternity brothers for their sons' blatant disregard for another human being. Or perhaps the fault lies with the cavalier and incredibly insensitive portrayal of a young man simply trying to be part of a community — the apparently perfect Greek life the letter writer experienced, replete with peer support, healthy boundaries, and sound decisions.

Just when does deflecting blame stop?

— Janice York, West Chester

Timothy Piazza made some bad choices the night of that fatal fraternity party at Penn State, but the other 18 fraternity members made a life-or-death choice by not calling 911. The brain of an 18- to 22-year-old should not be held accountable for choices made at that age? I have heard of 7-year-olds who have called 911 when their parent was injured. If a 7-year-old can do it, even an inebriated 18- to 22-year-old should be able to make a better choice than doing nothing.

— Joan Doyle, Media

I take exception to a letter's message that "the sad reality of the current social safety net is it results in a major disincentive to seek employment" ("Getting Americans off welfare," Tuesday). Without this much-needed safety net, many people, including children, would not have basic needs such as food, water, and shelter. They are hardly living high off the hog.

There are so many good-paying jobs for those terrible people who have difficulty finding employment. Who cares if they are disabled, like my younger sister, who is on dialysis and has serious lung disease — she certainly should be able to work hard all day to make ends meet.

America stands for education and hard work, but it's also a nation that cares for the disenfranchised, and that means providing a safety net to prevent people from falling further into poverty with no way out.

The amount of waste in defense spending is enough to take care of this cost. President Trump's budget is simply terrible on many counts. The budget thinking on welfare/food stamps is immoral.

— James Stevens, West Chester

Gotta love how a man who is known for paying far less than what he owes to his creditors or not paying them at all is complaining about how much other countries are paying into NATO ("Trump, Merkel show no sign of relenting," Wednesday).

— C. Fogarty, Schwenksville

Two coal-fired power plants are closing in New Jersey because they cannot compete with cheap shale gas ("PSEG on closures: 'Just economics,' Tuesday). People may choose to ignore scientific facts, but they cannot ignore economic reality. So, let economics lead to decreased emissions. Make clean energy, such as solar and wind power, so cheap that coal and oil cannot compete. This will lead to less greenhouse gas emissions and less global warming.

— Ranjan Mukherjee, Churchville, ranjanmuk21@gmail.com

Of Philadelphia's streets that are not interstates, West Roosevelt Boulevard had the highest accident rate on a per-mile basis from 2011 through 2016 ("Phila.'s lofty goal: Zero traffic deaths," Tuesday).

As a frequent driver on that road, I believe that a main contributor must be the Fox Street exit from the Route 1 southbound lanes. Because traffic from Abbotsford Avenue is restricted by the Fox Street traffic light, it backs up onto the right lane of Route 1, which encourages aggressive drivers to jam up the center lane as they fight to exit. Often, this bottleneck causes a backup all the way to North Ninth Street.

It would help to relocate the exit farther east on Abbotsford Road, which would accommodate a longer line of traffic, and to adjust the timing of the Fox Street traffic light.

— Ed Devinney, Delanco