Emory’s leaders on a slippery slope
Regarding Emory University’s consideration of deeming their school a sanctuary campus, I cannot understand how any responsible college administrator could support that decision. Student leaders, sure — they have nothing at stake and can afford to take risks with positions that do not consider the full range of consequences.
As a resident of a neighboring community with close ties to Emory, I would ask the president of Emory to consider the consequences of allowing illegal immigrants on their campus. Is it fair for other law-abiding U.S. citizens to be burdened with the social costs of supporting people here illegally? If someone illegally working or studying on your campus commits a crime, who ultimately should be held responsible? Does the precedent of picking and choosing which laws apply to your school set the right example for those in your community?
As a nation, we are nothing without the rule of law. If you don’t like the laws, fight to change them. There are many laws imposed on me that I do not like. If I choose to ignore them, I do so at my own peril; sometimes with the knowledge that my actions may put others at risk, ultimately making me liable.
I hope Emory’s leaders realize the slippery slope they are descending upon.
DOUG LOCKER, DECATUR
Print media panders to worst instincts
There was a time when the Fourth Estate, i.e. the press or news media, was respected as an institution that represented and protected the public interests.
Now it seems the focus of the media is on pandering to the public’s worst instincts in order to attract a large audience and thus increase profits. If this was not the case, would the media have given so much exposure to the most-seedy aspects of the presidential campaign (and the primaries before that)?
Even the liberal New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has admitted “we in the mainstream media — especially cable television — sometimes bungled coverage of Trump. There was too much uncritical coverage of Donald Trump because he was good for ratings.” Seems most of the print media was equally guilty, if not more than cable television, for the same reason.
RON KURTZ, ALPHARETTA
We must confront bullying behavior
Bravo to Delta Airlines for slapping a lifetime travel ban on the individual who treated recent fellow fliers to a rant celebrating Donald Trump and castigating Hilary Clinton.
However: I am a historian. This incident points me to larger themes.
I cannot help thinking about other places at other times — when similar crude, bullying, behavior took place. I always wondered what I would have done, had I been in Germany and witnessed Nazi bully-boys strutting in the streets, intimidating passersby. Or what I would have done in similar circumstances in Italy under Mussolini, or in Russia under Stalin — or, for that matter, in Russia today under Putin.
In the Delta airplane, passengers looked uncomfortable. But no one said a word. I assume that no one wanted to make a scene, or get into a fight. We are now seeing swastikas daubed on black and Hispanic churches. We learn that white supremacists promise Muslims that President Trump will do to them what Hitler did to the Jews.
No sensible person wants to make a scene or confront unpleasantness. History suggests, however, that sometimes they must.
JONATHAN SCHNEER, DECATUR
Kudos to Reed for letter to Trump
As someone who is concerned about climate change and the impact it will have on my future grandchildren, I was pleased to see Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed sign an open letter — along with 37 other mayors — to President-elect Trump urging him to work with cities to preserve a livable world.
As Reed and the other mayors said in their letter, “The cost of prevention pales in comparison to cost of inaction, in terms of dollars, property and human life. As our incoming President, as a businessman, and as a parent, we believe we can find common ground when it comes to addressing an issue not rooted in politics or philosophy, but in science and hard economic data.”
Under Reed’s leadership, Atlanta has taken great strides to become more sustainable — energy-efficient buildings, bike-friendly streets, the Atlanta Beltline, to name just a few of those initiatives. Thank you, Mayor Reed.
STEVE VALK, CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY, ATLANTA
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