More on 'necessity' of air-conditioning
In answer to the May 24 letter, “Air-conditioning not a necessity for schools,” if the above statement is true then why are the majority of our outlying schools so equipped? I can just imagine if these schools were asked to get rid of their non-essential cooling systems it would be a sure bet that this would create a morass of unhappy campers.
Having seen and experienced the sub-par conditions under which some of our city schools have to operate, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize the only reason they don’t have air is that the good patrons who support those schools simply do not have the revenue it takes to enjoy these kinds of privileges.
Conversely, our outlying schools are awash in funds that make it possible for them to enjoy these kinds of non-necessary privileges. If everything is to be equal across the board, then all our schools should be so equipped.
Otherwise, if this equality cannot be shared by all, then none of our schools should have it. Especially since air-conditioning is not a necessity.
If you think this letter is about whether it’s possible to attend non-air conditioned classes (as I had to) without suffering any side effects, which I didn’t, and then you’ve missed the point of this letter. It is about equality.
P.S. If you live outside the city school system and cannot find the means to support these schools, maybe you could write in testifying how air-conditioning creates a better learning environment, not to mention how it is beneficial to the well-being of your children and the teachers who teach them.
Larry Reynard
Veterans Day parade one of best I've seen
Congratulations and thanks to the many people, who made this year’s Veterans Day parade. It was of the best I have seen in several years. From where we were sitting, it looked like a nice-sized, very appreciative crowd.
Thanks to the motorcyclists, the Fort Wayne Police Department, the Allen County Sheriff’s Department and three fire departments. Thanks to the high school bands - South Side in uncomfortably warm full uniforms and Concordia Lutheran in more practical short and T-shirts after an exhausting day in Indianapolis the day before. Thanks to Michael Floyd’s Windsong group, the 40 and 8 engine, the relatives’ groups and to all those I can’t remember who marched in 90-plus degree heat.
Thanks to the veterans – from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and two Gulf wars – who marched, rode or watched with us.
But the most thanks goes to those we remembered today –those still serving far away from their loved ones in heat far hotter than what we endured for one hour. They don’t get to go home when the parade is over. They stay in the heat and hope they will see their families again to protect us so we can enjoy the freedoms we sometimes take for granted.
And thanks to those who never returned and to those who came home in a box draped with the American flag. Draftees no more, they volunteered to do what had to be done. Watching a parade just doesn’t seem like enough.
Danny Walchle
Playing fast, loose is new standard for GOP
Republican George Will claims Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren “plays fast, loose with ancestry” because Donald Trump lies about President Obama’s birthplace, while Mitt Romney plays fast, loose with his claims of job creation at Bain.
False equivalency, huh?
Will’s politics are ugly enough to choke a buzzard, but that’s the new standard for the GOP.
B. J. Paschal
