Students deserve balanced teaching about Israel
Greenwich, Conn.: A May 29 op-ed by me and fellow Vassar College alums Lynn Benswanger, Melinda Maidens and Megan Tallmer (“Vassar College’s president caved to Israel-hate“) decried Vassar’s caving to anti-Israel protesters whose encampment violated several college rules. Since then, President Elizabeth Bradley’s appeasement has been rewarded with the militant disruption of reunion weekend. According to eyewitnesses, when some alumni protesters barged into a tent with a megaphone to harass and intimidate fellow alums, Bradley fled the stage, leaving the reunion attendees to fend for themselves.
The disruption was helped by at least one outside agitator who bragged about it on Instagram. And anti-Israel students previously had invited outside agitators to their encampment (in defiance of Vassar’s assembly rules).Yet in her June 1 op-ed (“What happened at Vassar this spring“), Bradley portrays concerned alums like us as the “illiberal, external forces” striving to “split” the community and “dehumanize ‘the other.’ ” This gaslighting will not fool anyone who has paid attention to the campus and, in particular, how Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) operates; its modus operandi is to refuse engagement with and to marginalize and ostracize those who oppose them.
In contrast, we are members of an alumni group that has spent a decade trying to peacefully persuade Vassar to have non-ideologues teach Israel-related issues in a fair and comprehensive way, to offer some programming featuring pro-Israel speakers (providing some balance to the constant stream of anti-Zionist ones), and to otherwise ensure an environment where students who feel connected to Israel are able to express that identity without fear. Laurie Josephs
Easy spending
Bronx: Why didn’t Gov. Hochul do more careful consideration before all this money was spent on cameras? Or were there more kickbacks like the COVID test kits company that New York State paid three times as much for after contributing to her campaign? Ross De Marco
Degraded service
Brooklyn: I wish to congratulate Gov. Hochul on her decision to indefinitely pause congestion pricing in New York City. There was never a more wrong-headed transit tolling initiative, and I am convinced that the only “transit advocates” disappointed by the move are in the bike lobby that promotes bike lanes, which decrease car mobility, eliminate free parking and create congestion in Midtown. The MTA is an overly subsidized agency that has become too soft to provide competitive transit service. If you have read the Savas report “Privatization for New York: Competing for a Better Future,” you know that this toll money could never make MTA service better. The newest trains have 14 fewer seats per car. Clearly, the MTA planned to cram us together standing like sardines. Never truly concerned with customer service, the OMNY fare actually costs 17 cents more per ride than a 30-day unlimited MetroCard. Paul Evans
Revenue review
Flushing: The $1.4 billion paid in overtime to MTA employees would sure come in handy now. And where exactly does all the money go that is collected from NYC speed cameras and red light cameras? Linda Castaldi
Bloated agency
Rockaway, N.J.: We keep reading about how the MTA can’t function and do the necessary work without congestion pricing (drivers paying for the subway that many riders don’t pay for). This is typical of a government-run business. Look at the post office mail and packages constantly delayed or lost. The post office loses millions of dollars annually, whereas UPS and FedEx make millions if not billions of dollars doing the same thing: delivering packages. Like President Ronald Reagan said, it’s not that the government (MTA) doesn’t have enough money — they have too much money! Our money! Make them earn it. Michael Ilardi
How many hits?
Hackensack, N.J.: I can’t see how Major League Baseball can declare that Josh Gibson has the highest career batting average. The most games he ever played in one year is 69 with 249 at-bats. First we were led to believe he hit 800 home runs, but it turns out he did not hit nearly that many. He would not have enough at-bats to win even one batting title in a regular MLB season. What the committee did is a fake and a fraud and shows disrespect for their own statistics. However, this is not to say Gibson was not a great player, but let’s be fair to the history of the statistics of the game. Ted Zaremba
Plastic overload
Brooklyn: Currently, when New Yorkers make a purchase, the products come with lots of packaging — much of it single-use plastic. That packaging quickly becomes waste, polluting public spaces, clogging landfills or burning in incinerators. It’s shocking to know that due to space constraints, NYC spent more than $448 million in 2022 to truck trash out of the city. If we reduce the amount of plastic packaging, New York can spend less on trucking our waste somewhere else. Luckily, there is a solution: The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act would reduce plastic packaging by 50% in 12 years, remove toxic chemicals from packaging and require companies to pay to clean up their packaging waste. The state Senate has passed it and now the Assembly must follow and have it signed into law. Gail Tierney
Hard to believe
St. Petersburg, Fla: To Voicer Ken Byrnes: I did not ask what branch of service Hillary Clinton served in. My letter asked what branch Biden and Clinton served in (assuming people would know which Clinton I was referring to). So, I’m asking you to tell me which branch they served in and while we’re at it, let’s include Barack Obama also. What draft-dodging excuses did they come up with? As for Gen. John Kelly, do you really believe anyone would actually say that all service members are suckers and losers to a serviceman’s face, much less a general? Are you serious? Bill Barrett
Specifics, please
New Hyde Park, L.I.: What is the meaning of “Make America Great Again”? To my knowledge, Donald Trump has never articulated the what, when and why of this expression. I have asked Trump sympathizers to explain this slogan. The best response I have received is, “It’s just a figure of speech.” Since this expression is the central theme of Trump’s platform, he or his advocates should provide a more thorough explanation. As loyal Republicans, they are obviously not praising any prior Democratic presidential administrations. Clearly, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan are popular presidents. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also served two terms and probably would have been elected for a third if the Constitution allowed it. Apparently, our citizens did not agree that Trump fulfilled his pledge. He lost by more than 7 million votes. I am asking Trump acolytes when is the “again” and why. John Macklin
Sounds familiar
Brooklyn: If you missed Ronald Reagan’s inspirational speech at Normandy Beach 40 years ago, you just got to hear it again, uttered by the fragile Plagiarist-in-Chief, President Biden. Is there an original thought that can be uttered by this feeble octogenarian? Not recent thoughts, mind you — we know he has none of his own, outside of his old-man yelling while hopped up on Adderall. Did his speechwriters think no one would notice? Or was their target audience those who were not alive when Reagan gave his speech? Footnotes, Joe, footnotes! David DiBello
Good recall
Central Islip, L.I.: President Biden said he wouldn’t pardon Hunter Biden. Gee, the president remembers he has a son? Thomas Sarc
Cheapened faith
Itasca, Ill.: Phil Hartman, the late comedian, once played Jesus Christ in a 1993 “Saturday Night Live” skit. A young mother played by Sally Fields is constantly praying for her daughter’s safe trip to the school bus stop when Hartman’s Jesus magically appears before the astonished mom. Jesus patiently explains that perhaps she could cut back on the “please don’t let the rice get sticky” type prayers. I wonder if the real Jesus ever feels that way. We seem to be getting a little silly about godly things. I’ve heard professional boxers praise God for the talent to knock their opponent senseless. Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert offered that Jesus wouldn’t have been crucified if he had an AR-15. Finally, a presidential candidate is selling his own Bible and the U.S. Constitution all in one. Some clergy and politicians aren’t fond of separation of church and state. Is it now fine for them to speak for the rest of us? Jim Newton
