Letters to the Editor
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Published Letters: 208 Editor's Choice: 75
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How Important Are Coaching Classes?
[Read the article: All hail the SAT snafu!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Smatalek said "are there specific tricks to shooting free throws that are accessible ONLY to people who get PROFESSIONAL coaching, and not to anyone else". I don't think that's true of the SAT either. (Maybe it's true of the LSAT, I haven't taken that test.)
I used to teach an SAT prep class. Although the school claimed that they had "secret" information about how to score well on the SAT, they really didn't. What they taught was basic math, basic vocabulary, and familiarity with the test format. All of which you can get for $20 in an SAT prep book, or for free at any public library. The rest was just flim-flam that didn't do anything to raise scores.
I could tell almost immediately which students would improve their scores. Any student who took just one practice test improved their scores. Any student who studied at all improved. No special "secrets" were required. It was just a question of willingness and motivation. Unfortunately, most of the students didn't do even minimal work. I would assign a few math problems and a couple of sections in a practice test, and most of the students would fill in 2 or 3 questions and leave the rest blank. They couldn't be bothered. (Then their parents would complain when their scores didn't improve, but that's another problem.)
I think the SAT has a lot of flaws, but it doesn't require special tricks and professional coaching to do well. Basically, it measures the willingness to learn somewhat useless information and regurgitate it back - which is a key skill in college, for better or worse.
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Vegetables, After Work?
[Read the article: We are what we eat]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I like to cook, although I originally started cooking because of financial necessity. I still have to shop carefully, and finding produce that I can afford is the most difficult part of my budget. But I'd like to buy more organic and locally grown foods, even if it cost a little more. (But not at Whole Foods prices, especially since their stuff isn't even local.)
The biggest issue I've run into is shopping - even if local farmer's markets exist, they never seem to be open at a time when a working person can shop. One local farmer's market runs in the summers, from 10-2 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Another one closes promptly at 4:30 every day and isn't open on the weekends. The only one open on the weekends is held very early on Saturdays - and is practically empty of food by 8 or 9 am. (I only have one day when I can sleep past 7, and organic produce isn't enough for me to give it up.) I tried CSA, but ran into the same problem - the pickup was 45 minutes away and had to be picked up on a weekday before 5. I realize this isn't true everywhere, but it's true in a lot of places, especially if you don't live downtown in a city. (I live in a fairly busy area in the Northeast, but can't afford $20 to take the train into the city every time I want to shop.) Is it too much to ask to be able to buy produce at a time that works with my schedule?
What irritated me the most was the attitude of the sellers and farmers who I've talked to. I had a day off work and managed to make it to the local market, and I mentioned that the reason they had so few customers was because of their hours, which were nearly impossible for someone who worked a 9 to 5 schedule, or who had other committments in the crack-of-dawn hours on Saturday. I was given a stern lecture about how, if I really cared about my health (and the earth, and humanity) that I'd rearrange my schedule to suit the market's, and demand that my boss let me off early on market days so I could shop. It made me wonder if any of them had ever worked in an office, or knew anyone who did.
I don't mean to be unrealistic, or expect a farmer's market to keep the same hours as the local megamart. I appreciate that farmers and produce sellers have families too. But is it so much to ask, to be able to buy local produce after work, or on the weekends after 10 am? It seems like the gatekeepers not only want customers who spend money, but customers whose lives revolve around the farmer's market's schedule. (Maybe only in California...)
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Only The First Step
[Read the article: The left splits over immigration]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Most illegal immigrants are nice and hard working. But the world is full of nice, hard working people, who would come here if they could - and the US economy can't accommodate an infinite number of illegal immigrants, at least not without destroying what's left of the minimum wage and shredding the minimal safety net we still have.
The story won't end with the legalization of the illegal immigrants currently here. Once those workers are legal, and have to receive basic protections from their employers, then another eleven million illegal workers will come to take their places. The Republicans have not offered any serious crackdown on businesses that hire illegals, and businesses will still be looking for someone who'll work for less and won't complain. A couple of years down the road, someone will be saying that we need illegal immigrants to do "the jobs that those legalized immigrants won't do".
In a few years, we'll have the same situation again - millions of illegal workers, plus the millions of "legalized" workers. Repeat as necessary, until quaint ideas like minimum wage, public schools and emergency medical care become impossible to afford (especially as the middle class continues to be outsourced away and tax cuts for the rich continue). Isn't that what the Republicans wanted all along??