EYE EXAMS
Make sure school children see properly
Since about 80 percent of learning in a child’s first 12 years is via vision, it is important to ensure that school-aged children can see properly. Prevent Blindness America and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend annual vision screenings for children ages 3 through 6, with followups through the school years. We encourage parents to take their child to an eye doctor for an exam by age 4 (or before he enters school). Five percent of preschool children have significant visual impairment. Many will develop amblyopia, or “lazy eye” blindness if their conditions are not diagnosed and treated early.
Childhood vision issues are not always apparent because children learn to compensate for vision loss as they develop. If a child rubs her eyes often, closes or covers one eye to see, squints more than usual, or turns her head to the side to watch TV, she may have a vision issue.
JENNY POMEROY, ATLANTA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PREVENT BLINDNESS GEORGIA
COLLEGE RANKINGS
Gatekeepers violate mission and trust
Regarding “College rankings’ validity, usefulness at issue” (News, Aug. 26), we can add Emory University to the list of institutions defrauding our trust. The U.S. News & World Report rating system has leveraged our egocentric nature to “teach to the test” (i.e., the ends justify the means). It’s sad that some gatekeepers offering instruction as to how best to “lead an ethical life” violate their mission statements and our trust.
The direct connection between the U.S. Department of Education, Moody’s bond ratings and the requirement for accuracy of data submitted by institutions is used by U.S. News & World Report as “assurance” that the data submitted is trustworthy — the logic being that the penalty (for submitting erroneous data) is greater than the reward (higher ranking). Hopefully, the trend for college administrators and influencers to boycott these rankings increases, and families’ skepticism of any ranking system finds fertile ground. As with most choices, the pressure to live a life of authenticity proves to be a difficult challenge compared to the ease of simply expressing the desire to be better.
ROBERT GLASS, PRESIDENT, GLASS & GOLD INC.
CAMPAIGNS
Just say ‘no’ to candidate robocalls
Regarding “Read my lips: No more robocalls” (Metro, Aug. 26), hooray for this opinion. I kept a log of robocalls for the primaries, vowing not to vote for any candidate from whom I received more than one robocall. I also refuse to take surveys. Now, despite the Do Not Call registry, we are receiving marketing messages. Therefore, we are screening calls. If we answer because we do not recognize a source, we are quick to disconnect.
Let us encourage candidates to stop robocalls. There is no need to vote for those who are not wise enough to recognize they are wasting money.
DALE LOVELL, GRIFFIN
