How about Parisian-style dining on High Street?
Hey City Fathers: What do you think about helping restaurants open up, when the time comes, by temporarily opening up the city sidewalks for their tables?
We all know that attracting guests to confined dining rooms with spaced tables will be difficult or impossible for any number of reasons, and opening up sidewalks will help reduce a few of the concerns.
An added plus would be that customers would dine or drink in the fresh air in Parisian style. The city could close off street parking while students are away so pedestrians could still pass by and stop to chat with friends; that is if recognizable behind those masks.
The two lanes for traffic on High Street would remain open, and the city and state surely have sufficient barriers to separate the strollers from the diners.
I’m sure there are problems I don’t foresee with this suggestion (there always are), but this might be one way to help make our movement back toward “normal” more agreeable.
Of course, a few potted palms and the lovely flowers in those baskets hanging from the lamp posts will brighten our outlook, too.
This suggestion might help in other places, too, like in Sabraton and the malls!
Bob Shumaker
Morgantown
Scientists give advice; officials make rules
The world is a complicated place. So, when pushing terrible ideas, it’s almost always possible to find a situation where they worked. And so it was that The Dominion Post (DP-03-27-20, DP-05-11-20) found a situation where allowing unelected leaders to run a city mitigated a pandemic.
When I think of my scientist friends, the last thing I want them to do is run my city or state, unless they have been elected by the people to do so. I want them to give their best advice, and I want the elected officials to implement their advice as best as possible.
Dr. Anthony Fauci testified in front of the United States Senate on May 12 and gave wonderful testimony in this regard. He was responding to Sen. Rand Paul’s comment that Fauci is not the “end-all” and shouldn’t be dispensing economic advice. Fauci responded, “I’m a scientist, a physician and a public health official. I give advice, according to the best scientific evidence.”
That’s what scientists should be doing. Let Gov. Justice and city officials figure out how to make it work.
Steven Knudsen
Morgantown
In support of Paula Jean Swearengin for senate
I just graduated with a Master’s in Public Administration from West Virginia State University, and I am riddled with anxiety over how to start paying back my student loans.
I simply wanted to make a better life for myself and my family. I wanted to show my son that he could do anything. In order to get an education as an older student with a family, financing options are limited to loans. Schools do not fully explain the financial position you are putting yourself into when you apply for financial aid. It feels like a scam.
Now I understand the hole I put myself in, and I am panicked over how I will pay it back. It wouldn’t be so bad, if not for the insane interest rates we are forced to pay that continue to stack up. An education is meant to help you obtain a better quality life, not to become another barrier. This has to change. The student loan system knows that students today can’t afford an education the way generations before us have, and they take advantage of it.
My education was worth the money I spent to get it, but the student loan process is predatory at best. We need a major overhaul of the student loan system and a forgiveness plan that allows people to escape the predatory interest rates. If banks can borrow money from the government with little to no interest, students should be able to as well.
We need senators and congresspeople who will fight for higher education students and graduates. We need people like Paula Jean Swearengin, who believe that getting an education shouldn’t financially bury people. We need Paula Jean Swearengin to be a voice for students in Washington.
Kaylen Barker
South Charleston
