Collegians need to know there’s no free lunch
I am amused at students who demand a free college education but fail to understand that free isn’t really free. Do they really think they will receive a “Bulldog Nation” or “Auburn Tiger” type of education with all the bells and whistles? Based on the German “free college system,” which some claim as their goal, the German educational system starts at the middle school level to direct, not suggest, students to trade schools instead of universities. German universities do not have football teams, climbing walls, fraternities or generous cafeterias, and most lack dorms, expecting students to live locally on their own dime. German university classes typically have hundreds of students; there’s no assistance for struggling students, and no teaching assistants. Forget mental health clinics and remedial classes. You either pass or fail. Period. Germans are now rethinking their “free education” system and will likely end it as impractical and too expensive. Young Americans who demand a free education need to understand, there is no free lunch or free quality education.
ERNEST WADE, LOGANVILLE
Climate change legislation needs serious discussion
As global heat waves and wildfires continue to blaze from California to Greece to the Arctic Circle, I cannot help but think that this is just a mild preview of the future in our warming world. It will continue to get worse until we do something to curb our greenhouse gas emissions. This is the conclusion of every major scientific academy in the world, including NASA, the U.S. military, national intelligence community, Defense Department, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, World Bank, United Nations, and others. Yet solutions are rarely proposed in earnest. A happy exception is Carlos Curbelo’s new Market Choice Act. The Florida Republican proposes a carbon tax to incentivize a market transition, with much of the revenue going to rebuild American infrastructure. Our Georgia representatives ought to actively engage in the debate surrounding this bill.
JEFF SHADE, ATLANTA
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