Readers write 11/26

EMPLOYMENT

Delta should OK rules, hold vote on union

Delta would best be served by accepting the proposed new union voting rules, and holding employee elections immediately (“Union issues still vex Delta,” Business, Nov. 15). There is zero chance that the president or Congress is going to intervene, and any drawn out legal proceedings will be expensive, and will likely further polarize the work force. The unions likely stand a better chance of winning if the process drags out.

Delta would benefit greatly from an immediate integration of employees and work rules. Operating as two separate companies and route systems is more expensive and ineffective. Delta’s competitors, AirTran and Southwest, are unionized, and still manage to provide a low-cost product. It is time that Delta faced reality, held the elections and lived with the outcome.

Bob Peterson, Brooks

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Connecting campuses creates a brighter future

Leah Pine’s column, “Atlanta’s colleges key to revitalization of its core” (Opinion, Nov. 11), identifies the potential for making Atlanta a true college and university town.

We’ve seen Georgia State transform downtown as it builds a vibrant, residential campus. Atlanta University Center colleges support economic development in their community, and draw students from around the world.

Georgia Tech is a magnet for business, and its students launched the ideas for Atlantic Station and the Beltline.

Pine’s plan for a walkable, bikeable, safe city that connects collegiate campuses can even be extended to include Emory University Hospital Midtown, a teaching center for health care professionals, and a research hub.

And let’s make SCAD-Atlanta and its incredible creative resources more convenient to downtown through better transportation alternatives.

Building on existing college and university strengths, and connecting the campuses in a bold and imaginative way offer a new view of Atlanta’s future.

Michael A. Gerber, president of the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education

HEALTH CARE

Focus on patients’ welfare, not on profits

With all the data about the cost of health care, I want to see an explanation of why our U.S. health care is the most expensive per patient. It isn’t the best — just the most expensive.

Perhaps it’s because those other “socialist” countries don’t have for-profit systems.

They consider health a natural right, and not a for-profit opportunity — something like fire or police protection: necessary but not profitable, and available to all.

I am enjoying my socialist system, Medicare — government-paid, with free choice of physician. It’s what my friends enjoy also.

None of us thinks health care has to be for profit.

Adele Kushner, Alto

FOOD

Throwaway society bad for animals, humans

James McWilliams’ column, “Here’s my (personal) beef with meat” (Opinion, Nov. 18), is heartbreaking.

Animal abuse and suffering are an integral part of our food industry. When we lose the ability to feel pain at the loss and suffering of animals, it’s not long before we lose the ability to feel pain at the loss and suffering of human beings.

In our society, we throw away both human beings and animals. The homeless on our streets and the animals overflowing our shelters bear witness to that reality.

THE Rev. Coile Estes, Decatur