To stop school shootings, put an eye in the sky
Brooklyn: According to the Washington Post, since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999, when two 12th-grade students murdered 12 students and one teacher, there have been 417 school shootings.
Yet, there is something that can be done to better deal with school shootings: deploying drones. They are low-cost, easily maneuverable, flexible and stable. They have greatly improved response efficiency in surveillance, rescue operations, etc. by disaster management, environmental, infrastructure, law enforcement and military professionals.
A drone can be programmed to recognize when a backpack or other student carry-on contains guns and ammunition. Skilled pilots stationed at dedicated school areas can hover drones several hundred feet above a school site to flag renegade carry-ons and alert security, who will then notify the principal and other staff of the situation. Subsequently, all students with their carry-ons will go through a screening process, and once the suspect has been identified, the school can have the relevant parties and law authorities come to the scene to address the issue.
Some people have complained that drone usage violates the First and Fourth Amendments; various administrative laws do not permit their widespread use. However, the severity of the school shooting situation in this country has resulted in costly lawsuits and caused staff and students who witnessed the shootings to develop traumatic stress symptoms, chronic psychiatric disorders and other impairments that impact academic achievement and social and emotional growth. Therefore, the laws should be amended with critical vigor to allow for drone usage in schools. Vasilios Vasilounis
Commentary critique
Brooklyn: I watched a true debate. The moderators were professional and kept everything on track, not losing control of the situation, and being impartial for the most part. However, the discussions by commentators afterwards (and I switched back and forth through channels) appeared biased. Their tone and remarks seemed meant to sway voters to one side over the other. I thought it was their job to be neutral. L. Veneroni
In sheep’s clothing
Manhattan: While watching the VP debate, it became clear to me that this man (JD Vance) is the classic wolf — intelligent and cunning, he had all the right answers on the debate stage. Too bad that those answers only applied to the debate and not to his actual, well-exposed political beliefs. A dangerous man hiding in the flock, or on the road to grandma’s house. Don Cerrone
‘The Boss’ has spoken
Swarthmore, Pa.: Bruce Springsteen, perhaps the most famous and iconic American singer of all time, has come out with a full-throated endorsement of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Will it make any difference? That’s hard to know. But Bruce, the man often called “The Boss,” is an inspiring hero to millions of white, older men (like me). Arguably, there’s no musician, or few people anywhere, who’s viewed as more authentic and down-to-earth as Springsteen is. Even more than the endorsement Harris received from Taylor Swift, Springsteen’s endorsement just might, at least subconsciously, move some voters toward her. In a race where the margin of victory is expected to be incredibly, even historically, small, Bruce’s words could make a difference. Ken Derow
Stay above the fray
St. James, L.I.: I’ve noticed an increase in vituperative personal attacks between Voicers who maintain differing views on the presidential candidates and their respective parties. This should cease immediately, for it is disrespectful to our American values and history. The Founding Fathers designed the Constitution with the belief that the free exchange of opinions, without the fear of government reprisals and societal oppression, was the cornerstone of a democratic society where all citizens could participate. The constitutional freedoms of speech, press and assembly were designed to protect the minority opinion against the perilous oppression of the majority. The words of the 18th century philosopher Voltaire’s biographer, Evelyn Beatrice Hall, were never more appropriate: “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” We can disagree, debate and argue, but it should be done in a respectful manner. Carmine E. Esposito
United against the union
Edgewater, N.J.: Is anyone else enjoying watching the conservatives on TV twisting themselves into knots over the dockworkers and their demands for a fair share of the crazy profits they are helping to bring their foreign-based employers? The networks that pretend to represent the working man (working woman not so much — unless, of course, she’s a Trump-styled babe) while surreptitiously promoting tax cuts for billionaires to be paid for by middle-class voters appear very concerned that the gains the dockworkers were able to obtain over the last few days will ruin the economy by causing inflation for the rest of us. And they seem rather dispirited that the quick settlement of the strike doesn’t embarrass our president and vice president enough. So, whose side are they on? Jay K. Egelberg
Understocked
Staten Island: I recently went food shopping at the Stop & Shop here. I just happened to go the day after the longshoremen’s/dock workers strike went into effect. Yet, you’d be shocked by what I saw. Many of the shelves there were empty of the most-purchased items, such as milk, toilet paper, paper towels, etc. In other words, the high-demand items. Surprised? Not me. I have no doubt that Stop & Shop was holding back items for sale just to be able to raise the prices on the name brands of these items. This is typical of them. They could have never sold out of these items in one day after the strike went into effect. Anyone who tells you differently is full of it. Dennis Pascale
Unfamiliar faces
Staten Island: Why are we allowing all these ugly protesters waving their flags and screaming? Go back to your country, please. You are making America ugly. America was always “the beautiful.” American flags should be the only ones allowed to fly, no foreign ones! Fran Bocignone
Reach within
Manhattan: Joshua Stanton’s essay (“We can’t circle the wagons this Rosh Hashanah,” op-ed, Oct. 2) rightfully exposes discrimination and its toll on Jews throughout the world. He beseeches all to reach out to other communities throughout the world. However, he buries one throwaway line in the middle of his essay: “While the circumstances into which we have been cast are not of our making…” — ah, there’s the rub! Stanton can reach out to anyone anywhere and he will never make even a trivial dent in the problem until he accepts the fact that sometimes, Jews contribute to their own problems. There weren’t too many antisemitic demonstrations the day after Hamas invaded Israel. Two months later, after Israel barbarically decimated half of Gaza, on their way to 95% destruction, world opinion changed. Israel’s systematic pummeling of Gaza was a choice. Being persecuted only takes you so far. Accepting reality can take you further. Steven Davies
Height of victory
Manhattan: Gotta feel for the way the losers lost on Thursday (“Beer goggles!” Oct. 4) — and for good baseball fans in a small market (although I grew up in a Yankees household where that sort of empathy was unknown). My husband and two of three sons root for the Mets, so they know the feeling. That allows them to acknowledge the irony that, had the Brewers not come back from a 0-8 deficit against the D’backs nearly a fortnight earlier to win 10-9, the Mets would have missed the wild card round. For a sport with quantifiable batting failure three-fourths of the time, the incidence of high drama is almost magical! Michele P. Brown
Uber-burdened
Rochdale Village: Kudos to retired NYPD commanding officer of the Traffic Control Division, James F. McShane (“Congestion pricing is not the (complete) answer,” op-ed, Oct. 3). Finally, an op-ed on traffic that considers the automobile. Mayor Mike Bloomberg started the bike lanes and parking in the second lane, but Mayor Bill de Blasio did the most egregious action, in my view. While the number of yellow cabs was fixed at 11,787 from 1937 until 1996 and has been capped at 13,587 since 2018, de Blasio allowed Uber and Lyft to put 75,000 cars on the road! And one guess where they all make beelines for! The Financial District, of course! Something should be done! And I have 25 years of yellow cab owner-driver experience. Saul Rothenberg