Broad support for New College makeover

I support Gov. Ron DeSantis’ New College initiative. While obvious to any objective reader that the Herald-Tribune does not agree with me, the vast majority of Sarasota and Florida residents do.

More: GOP aide hired to lead New College Foundation

I hope DeSantis keeps up the intelligent pressure to make us America’s bastion of liberty, sanity and justice for all.Jim Koeniger, Nokomis

Board member undaunted by attacks

Thank you to Tom Edwards for having the courage and strength of character to run for re-election to the Sarasota County School Board.

More: Board member under attack to run again

He is a voice of reason, and I will support him wholeheartedly!

Joan Hastings, Sarasota

Ignorance causes dangerous divide

Re “Board member leaves meeting after attacks,” March 23: It has become an embarrassment to live in Florida, where a gay School Board member can be publicly maligned by total, unabashed ignorance.

I am worried about the children growing up in the homes of ignorant, mean-spirited parents who are on board with hate, bigotry and lack of knowledge of human biology.

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It is a sad time in this country where uninformed opinions have led to a dangerous divide.

Nancy F. Goldstein, Lakewood Ranch

Professors teach critical thinking

I was left slack-jawed by the March 22 letter titled “Be open to new ideas at New College."

There were too many false equivalencies in the letter.

Professors don’t have “one year of experience repeated 20-30 times.” We teach myriad courses, each requiring new preparations, different texts, multiple genres, varying mediums, etc.

Opinion: Why one New College student is leaving

Also, our students range in experience and age. Every class, day and year differs, as do our students.

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Nor do we teach one way to think. We teach our students how to think and to do so critically, which means examining topics from multiple perspectives. Never have I or a colleague implied “this is what you must believe.”

Finally, the writer’s inference that we should forget the past is horrifying. Would the letter writer tell his children to forget all they’ve learned and experienced? Don’t we learn from our past successes and failures? Erasing history is both dangerous and anti-democratic.Is the letter writer speaking from experience, or just going down the Ron DeSantis rabbit hole?Betsy Miller, Sarasota

Don't blame social media for bad behavior

While no fan of TikTok, specifically, or social media in general, it would seem to this writer that holding social media responsible for reprehensible behavior is similar to blaming a mirror for what we see when we look in it. The behavior is ours – social media is a reflection of it.

The concept that someone can be persuaded to commit suicide by being inundated with encouragement to do so, absent any other extenuating circumstances or predilection to do so, is precisely why some claim that exposing transgenderism to young people encourages them to seek that alternative.

As we continue societally to seek others to be responsible for our or others behavior, we alleviate ourselves of the responsibility of adulthood, parenthood and good citizenship – the bedrocks of civilized society.

If we are responsible for nothing, then we are exonerated of any responsibility for the outcomes.

Lee Hoffman, Lakewood Ranch

Panel confirms impacts of climate change

On March 20, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its latest assessment on climate change, drawing on the findings of hundreds of scientists. The assessment details the devastating impacts of rising greenhouse gas emissions, including destruction of homes, loss of crops and fragmentation of communities.Animal agriculture is responsible for at least 15% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, including nitrous oxide from animal waste piles, methane from ruminant digestion and carbon dioxide from burning forests to create animal pastures.

Related:IPCC Assessment Report

In an environmentally sustainable world, meat and dairy products in our diet must be replaced by vegetables, fruits and grains – just as fossil fuels are replaced by wind, solar and other emission-free energy sources.Most supermarkets offer a variety of plant-based meat and dairy products. Alternatives enable us to reduce our carbon footprint, even as we improve our health and reduce animal cruelty.Mario Helgemo, Sarasota

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New School Board performs badly, support for New College makeover