Letters to the Editor for Sunday, May 26

PHOTOGRAPHER: Letters to the Editor

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Stay informed on the issues and then vote

Reading the May 21 edition, “In Ohio, blue-collar workers stick with Trump,” a quote jumped out of the page at me.
“The Democratic Party has lost its voice to speak to people that shower after and not before work.”
As if this country isn’t divided enough, has a new demographic been introduced? How about folks that shower before and after work? Who represents them?
It’s time to start talking about the things all Americans can agree on (and there are many). Stay informed by reading, watching and listening to different sources and make sure you’re registered to vote. Don’t wait till the last minute. Every election is important.
Edward Vanderwall
Clifton Park

SAT adversity score undermines fairness

The SAT “adversity score” assigned by the College Board has been piloted since 2015 in response to rampant cheating in the Middle East, Asia, and most notably in the Singer scandal.
It also strives to increase campus diversity by crediting students with their racial and social backgrounds, and fears that an unreliably conservative Supreme Court may strike down affirmative action have prompted 150 institutions to adopt the measure.
Comparisons have been drawn to Harvard’s long-used “personality factor,” which has disadvantaged otherwise stellar Asian applicants.
Aside from the possible cultural discrimination, every institution accounts for a student’s extracurricular activities, whether or not they give arbitrary categories such as “likability.”
The adversity score, however, is beyond anyone’s control and stigmatizes students based on superficial factors.
Given state-control over K-12 education, one doesn’t need to come from “privilege,” as a score below 50 would indicate, to make school a priority.
Nonetheless, such privileged students may face undetected adversities including caring for a family member, bouts of depression, unreported domestic violence or bullying.
This unfair stereotyping at best nullifies the academic performances of middle-class whites while providing a disincentive for students of all backgrounds to perform. It also provides a cheap excuse for a sub-par public school system.
Primary education should require teachers to have a masters in their subjects and encourage parents to have strong connections to religious institutions.
Both would provide students of all backgrounds a strong academic and moral foundation necessary to build stable careers and families, regardless of where they are admitted.
Stephen Dansereau
Albany

Motorists need to abide by safety rules

I needed a ride in the Duanesburg ambulance to Ellis Emergency Room.
Every single car behind the ambulance tailgated us, and all of the cars happened to be SUVs.
The ambulance driver had to stop several times for potholes, construction, traffic, etc.
The back doors of an ambulance have no protection from tailgaters.
My heart was in my mouth the whole way.
We should all hear car safety rules on the local news, maybe a different rule along with the weather, and repeat often.
Peg Lapo
Delanson