Hindering voters can spur turnout
It is with dismay that I read Ms. (Rinda) Wilson’s comments (“Elections board says ‘no’ to Sunday voting in Macon,” Political Insider, AJC.com, Sept. 26). Wilson, a Bibb County Board of Elections member, has decided that Sunday voting is “partisan” and that Democrats are “trying to wring out every last vote.” As a Republican myself, I simply do not understand this line of reasoning. Many Democrats and Republicans go to church on Sunday. If the pastor urges them to be more involved in their community, including voting, that is a good thing for our nation.
In any case, if history is any indication, Ms. Wilson’s actions will have the opposite effect of what she desires (Democrats failing to vote, as usual, in mid-term elections). Voter suppression, as our secretary of state is also doing by holding up 51,000 new (mostly minority) voter applications, simply increases the motivation of Democrats to vote.
JACK BERNARD, MONTICELLO
Look again at APS test cheating story
Regarding “‘Monster case’: It’s showtime for APS” (News, Sept. 28), you refer to the role of AJC in 2008 in revealing the “test-cheating-scandal” of the Atlanta Public Schools. Are you confident that the tests in question were both reliable and valid for the purposes for which they were used? Or, could these tests have served to harm the schoolchildren and public education in Atlanta? Could the educators accused of changing test scores be guilty of nothing more than an act of civil disobedience to protect their pupils and the schools?
In view of changing efforts now in Georgia and throughout our nation regarding such educational tests, it appears a thorough investigation may be needed to present “the rest of the story.” Would such an investigation be too much of an assault on the ego of the AJC? There are educational research experts in Georgia and throughout the U.S. who can provide scientific data critical to the completion of this story.
BERT O. RICHMOND, ATHENS
U.S. should halt west Africa flights
In response to “Ebola patient lied on forms” (News, Oct. 3), it is clear to me that health officials are not paying attention to what’s going on in west Africa. Families are hiding their infected members and being sloppy about the way they handle contaminated linens and clothing, despite all the warnings. Now, here in the U.S., west Africans are behaving the same way, hiding information about contact with infected individuals and refusing to stay away from others.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is wrong about first containing Ebola in Africa to stop its spread here and elsewhere. I hope the CDC director sees the folly in his approach before it’s too late. The only course of action is to stop all flights from west Africa from coming to the U.S., as England has done.
MARY S. RICHARDS, ATLANTA
Let bike bells ring on Atlanta Beltline
Here is why the use of bicycle bells on the Beltline is a good idea. I am hearing impaired, and I rarely can make out bicyclists’ shouts, as it’s my left ear that is deaf. Add to that, my impairment muffles some tones, mostly those of male voices. So even if I hear something, I can’t necessarily make out what is being said. I can hear the ringing of a bicycle bell. I’m all for it. And I’m sure I’m not alone.
SUSAN C. BEECHING, ATLANTA