Letters: We don’t need pointless barriers to graduation

Your Oct. 20, editorial, “Don’t Tinker with City Colleges’ Graduation Rates,” is thoroughly misinformed. Here is the real story: Some students who complete their course requirements at a community college don’t officially graduate, not because they haven’t earned their degrees, but because they don’t go through the procedural steps. Remember, many community college students are working and raising families; time is at a premium. Others are moving as quickly as they can to their next educational steps and may not even know that they have to go through an official process to graduate. That’s why it’s a best practice, promoted by many higher education experts nationally, to award students who meet all the requirements a two-year degree if they successfully transfer to a four-year institution. This is simply a recognition that the student has earned that degree. Doing so is a tangible benefit to students, who will be able to list their associates degree as a credential they’ve attained even if they don’t obtain their bachelors degree. It also enables colleges to more accurately gauge their completion rates.

In the past, students had to “apply” for graduation. Why would the Sun-Times object to City Colleges’ decision to jettison this piece of bureaucracy and automatically confer diplomas on students who have met the graduation requirements? When a public institution decides to eliminate pointless barriers, we should be applauding.

The fact is that the students in question earned their degrees and credits. City Colleges has greatly improved its graduation rates, and is doing it, as you say, by focusing on what counts. We encourage the Sun-Times to report on the issues raised in the editorial and provide the public with the full story of how these changes relate to efforts across the country to improve community college programs and outcomes — and what they mean for hard-working students.

Jenny Wittner, associate director, Women Employed

Trust police

All across American media the hysteria prevails as to the mistrust of our law enforcement officers. We have been conned into believing the police are the bad guys. Let’s applaud Mary Mitchell for setting the record straight. Mistrust is most prevalent where crime is the highest. It is in these same communities where no one can ever identify the drive by shooter, the shooter on a bike or the shooter who disappears in the bushes. Who then can trust these people?

Joseph A. Murzanski Palos Heights

Foremost crooner

Wayne Messmer is contemporary America’s first and foremost crooner of the “Star Spangled Banner.” His deep, resonating voice parallels that of an internationally acclaimed opera singer. Messmer’s rendition of the anthem is straightforward, a countenance of which Francis Scott Key would have been proud to identify with had he been among the 40,000-plus fans at Wrigley Field Tuesday night.

Others who butcher the National Anthem are jokes. Their soulful, individualistic, high-nasal-pitch, and unnecessarily drawn-out boring performances are an insulting affront to America’s song.

Earl Beal, Terre Haute, Ind.

Harder choices

Now that Russia is more openly supporting Syria’s Bashar-al Assad, the United States is facing even harder choices. In the past, we have supported brutal dictators when the other side was a communist insurgency or regime. Now we might be forced to back yet another brutal dictator, hoping for a modicum of stability in the face of radical Islamist fighter groups that may continue fighting each other for control if Assad were to fall. I see no end in sight no matter what the Unites States does! A diplomatic solution that transitions Assad out of power may already be out of reach.

Mary F. Warren, Wheaton

Human suffering

I agree with the Wednesday letter to the editor by James Patrick O’Connor assessing Bruce Rauner’s pushing of a right-wing agenda that has no impact on state finances as causing human loss. The only aspect Mr. O’Connor omitted is that inducing human suffering is the part of the job Rauner enjoys. He is clearly one of those billionaires who believes there was no point in becoming mega-wealthy unless he could keep his boot on the necks of the less fortunate.

Joel Ostrow, Deerfield

Skills needed

A question was posed in a recent letter [“Workers and jobs,” Chicago Sun-Times, Oct. 18] asking who bears the responsibility of “erasing America’s shortage of skilled workers.”

Skilled workers are critical to building the safe, environmentally conscious, and cost-efficient office buildings, homes, and places of worship on which we all rely. These are the individuals who care about their work product, who see themselves as an integral part of building their communities.

This is why the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters maintains a longstanding commitment to training its members, with one of the largest training programs in the United States that boasts tens of thousands of highly trained and skilled workers. Our members undergo years of training in every facet of our industry to ensure that they can safely and accurately get the job done.

The CRCC recognizes that when we train our carpenters, we get better buildings; when we pay fair wages and provide benefits, our carpenters feel a sense of pride in their work; when we treat our carpenters with the respect they deserve, we get projects completed in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner.

Our carpenters earn a living wage, meaning that they aren’t forced to live from paycheck to paycheck, and that they are able to earn a wage that allows them to support their families, to invest in their communities and increase state and local tax revenue.

It’s not a difficult concept: when we pay our workers a living wage, provide them with a respectful work environment, and give them the training they need, we get better workers who create safer and higher quality products.

If you’re interested in this type of experience, in feeling a passion for your work, we encourage you to apply to our apprentice training program. Our highly trained and skilled work force gets the job done right the first time.

Frank T. Libby, president/executive secretary, Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters