Readers sound off on ALS, climate change, voting

ALS challenge

We have some weird things we do for good causes. We have the polar plunges, running races and many fundraisers. But the thing to do today to get attention is to dump a bucket of ice water on yourself.

People of all ages are doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The challenge is where someone nominates you, and you can dump the bucket of ice on yourself or have someone else dump it on you.

You have 24 hours to do the challenge once you’re nominated.

You can challenge a minimum of three people to do this challenge. You can sidestep the challenge and donate $100, or you can do the challenge and donate $10.

This is funny to me because most people seem to be more worried about posting their videos than actually donating.

We need to be more aware of other people’s needs rather than our own.

Isabella Chrisman

Kansas City

Climate-change facts

In the controversy about whether human-caused climate change is actually happening, we need to rely on what the scientific community is saying.

James Lawrence Powell, a geochemist and former National Science Board member wrote, “If global warming isn’t real and there’s an actual scientific debate about it, that should be reflected in the scientific journals.”

He looked up how many peer-reviewed scientific papers were published in professional journals about global warming and compared the two sides — whether mankind is heating up the planet. Of the 13,950 peer-reviewed climate articles from 1991 through 2012, only 24 rejected global warming.

Could it be that the fossil-fuel industry, which doesn’t publish in scientific journals, is instigating this controversy because company officials are worried about decreased profits if we become enlightened and turn to clean energy?

Mary Helen Korbelik

Mission Hills

Make voting easier

Some say Kansas does not want people to vote. They say it is because the state has a voter-identification requirement.

Well, I have always showed an ID to vote so officials would know who I am.

Kansas has three weeks of advance voting, advance by mail and Election Day voting.

It’s an individual’s choice of when to vote, so everyone who is able to vote doesn’t have an excuse not to vote.

People cannot say they couldn’t get to the voting station on Election Day. They have plenty of options.

In Missouri, you have only one day and about 12 hours to vote on a Tuesday, which is the hardest day of the week to get to voting stations.

It looks to me that Missouri does not want people to vote. Otherwise the state would give people more options to vote.

Most countries where people vote have them do it on weekends.

So people have a chance to vote. Now who doesn’t want you to vote?

Donnie Spencer

Olathe

Charter schools

Recently, the University of Arkansas released a report analyzing the amount of public money invested in charter schools and the student achievement generated, thus determining the economic payoff people can expect.

In Missouri, charter schools receive about 25 percent less funding than traditional district schools, yet the study reveals an astounding return on investment. Despite receiving fewer per-pupil dollars, charter schools are producing greater results and better long-term economic gains.

Charter schools are public schools. Denying charters equitable funding is tantamount to telling parents that when they exercised their right to choose a public school they agreed the education of their children was worth less.

We must set a goal of moving toward funding equity and urge the Missouri legislature to study and consider equity solutions. Together we must ensure equal application of the foundation formula and that charter schools have access to the same local funding.

Finally, we must stop the necessity of using public school operating dollars for facility payments, depleting important instructional resource dollars.

It’s time to move past “stepchild” funding and ensure every public school in Missouri receives equitable funding.

Douglas Thaman

St. Louis

No on Amendment 3

Missourians will be voting in November on a dangerous proposed amendment.

If Amendment 3 passes, it would take away local control from parents, teachers and school districts and hand it to Jefferson City politicians.

It would implement unfunded, state-mandated standardized tests that would have to be approved by the state. This top-down mandate would force local school districts to spend money that would come from already stretched school budgets.

Amendment 3 would implement a one-size-fits-all approach that treats our students like numbers and prevents teachers from treating our students like individuals. By forcing schools to administer more standardized tests that would serve as the main evaluation for teachers, teachers would be forced to teach to a test rather than focusing on actual classroom learning and children’s needs.

Teachers need to have the opportunity to develop students who are good thinkers, not just good test takers.

The proposed one-size-fits-all approach mandated by this proposed amendment is wrong.

Linda McNicholas

Kansas City

Adoption option

What comes to minds when people hear the word abortion?

Do they think of the pro-life campaign? Or maybe the idea that it is a justifiable act under most circumstances?

Our society has been tricked into thinking that this isn’t such a bad thing.

In my mind, abortion is a simple topic. It is murder.

The dictionary defines murder as “the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another,” and I believe that because a fetus has a beating heart, then it is a human being. This is no difference from the killing of any other person on earth.

Murder is murder, and a person is a person. The idea that women have the choice of whether they want their babies to live is absurd.

No matter what the circumstance is, there is no excuse for killing an unborn child.

People need to remember that abortion isn’t the only option.

Some people aren’t given the opportunity to conceive. By putting a child up for adoption, a woman might just make the dreams come true that others have of starting a family.

Ally Ebert

Greenwood

Violence overload

Recently, there was a fatal shooting just blocks from my school. This is not a regular occurrence for us; it’s not as though we’re in a “bad” part of town.

The issue is not the shooting itself, however. It’s our reaction to the problem.

News of a homicide put our school into a state of semi-lockdown, and nobody in the school was freaking out. Nobody even cared, except for how it would affect the ride home.

We’ve become desensitized to the never-ending stream of violence. It comes from books, TV shows, movies, even the daily news. We’re being constantly bombarded with violence, so instead of losing our heads after each new account of people killing other people, we just take it in stride as a part of everyday life.

Isn’t anybody bothered by the fact that homicide has become a regular part of life?

I suppose it is human nature to grow accustomed to almost anything but I think we’ve become a little too comfortable with murder.

Whitney Ebert

Greenwood

Thankful for Royals

Sitting at home watching the most recent Kansas City Royals games on television where almost everyone in the stands is dressed in blue is stunning.

It makes me feel as if we are almost a baseball city. I only wish the players would always wear their blues — the color of Royal and “We believe.”

Perhaps management could continue the trend of giveaway T-shirts in the Royal blue.

Thanks, Royals, for the journey of 2014.

Elva Sommerfeld

Overland Park

This story was originally published October 4, 2014 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Readers sound off on ALS, climate change, voting."