Three-year degrees may not be enough

An article by Susan Snyder that ran recently in The Morning Call on three-year college degrees misses significant input from the employers who will hire the three-year graduates.

I do not believe that an engineering curriculum can be taught in three years. Employers will have to view the new curricula and judge whether they are adequate. If it is their judgment that what is taught in three years is not adequate or that programs do not meet their needs, they will not hire these graduates. Hiring will be from four-year programs or from foreign sources.

The higher education market has been flooded with money and this has contributed to tuition increases. Making more aid available will not reduce the cost of a degree. The cost of higher education continues to rise with the average tuition for both public and private four-year colleges doubling after adjusting for inflation.

— Jim Lenahan, South Whitehall Township

Why won’t Mackenzie hold open town halls?

Ryan Mackenzie has been in Congress for almost two years and has held zero face-to-face town halls. Phone-in town halls are ridiculous and only make Mackenzie appear to be scared to speak at an open forum. Mackenzie voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill supported by President Trump, which was touted as a “no tax on tips or overtime” measure. The truth is the tips portion has a $25,000 tax deduction cap and no tax on overtime includes a $12,500 deduction for single filers and $25,000 for married couples. Both of those deductions will expire in 2028. The bill has already played a role in millions of people losing their healthcare coverage, with millions more likely in the near future. The bill Mackenzie supported also means cuts in healthcare for children and SNAP benefits. The policies Mackenzie supports include billions in tax cuts for the rich and crumbs for the middle class. The Iran war started by Trump, which Mackenzie also supports, is hurting average people with skyrocketing costs for gasoline and other consumer goods.

— Donald R. Wehr, Lehigh Township

Helping teach young children to read was my best decision

In January I saw the column in the Morning Call requesting reading specialist volunteers for the Allentown School District, which described the poor reading scores of ASD students and that volunteers are needed to help improve those scores.

Although I had no formal experience teaching kids, I saw volunteering as an opportunity to give back and be part of the solution. Volunteering was one of the best decisions I have made in my post-work life!  After easily completing the forms and attending a training session, I was assigned to a first grade class. I worked with a group of three or four students at a time. It was rewarding to see how the students improved, which is a testament to the wonderful teacher, reading specialist and parents. I lost count of how many hugs I received.

Seeing the bright eyes and smiling faces of these 6- and 7-year-old kids, it is heartbreaking to think they may not have the opportunities they deserve.  If more people could see the potential of these students, more people would support providing greater resources for them.   If you want to learn more about this wonderful program, you can contact Cynthia Phillips at phillipsc@allentownsd.org.

— Sam Amory, Upper Saucon Township

Trump should be president, not an interior decorator

For some unknown reason, President Trump seems to be under the impression that he was elected president a second time in order to golf and redecorate Washington.

Rather than dedicating himself to the important areas of usefulness where presidents of the past exerted themselves, such as keeping the peace both home and abroad; supporting our allies and strengthening our alliances; and helping the American middle class and working families strive to live happy, healthy, safe lives; Trump has instead waged a senseless war, alienated our allies and reduced important social programs, causing undue hardships for many Americans.

While Trump seems preoccupied with unnecessarily placing gaudy gold ornaments all over the Oval Office, paving over the Rose Garden Mar-a-Lago style, knocking down the East Wing and replacing it with a bunker ballroom, building an arch and refurbishing the reflecting pool, the American people have seen their wages stagnate while the prices of food, gas, housing and healthcare skyrocket.

President Trump should put down his golf club, place his blueprints back in the drawer, and start doing the job that a president, not an interior decorator, is expected to do.

— Robert K. McFadden, Upper Macungie Township

If forced to choose, use daylight saving time

I have been reading opinions on whether we should adopt yearlong daylight saving time or yearlong standard time. My personal opinion would be to leave things as they are, because it works. People can avoid losing an hour sleep in March by going to bed early on a Saturday night.

However, since it appears that most want not to have change their clocks, and have just one or the other, my choice would be yearlong daylight saving time. As one ages, we find we need more daylight in our lives and less darkness. With daylight saving, it does not begin to get dark in the summer until close to 9 p.m. On standard time, it would begin to get dark as early as 8 p.m. With daylight saving, it begins to get light at 5:30 in the morning in the summer. On standard time, it would begin to get light as early as 4:30 a.m., and some people may find it difficult to sleep.

Neither option is perfect, but if I must choose one over the other, daylight saving is my choice.

— Ronald Epstein, Allentown

The Morning Call publishes letters from readers online and in print several times a week. Submit a letter to the editor at letters@mcall.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.