Readers Write: Food waste, hot classrooms, D-Day anniversary, politics, theater

Opinion editor’s note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Birds of a feather flock together. Regarding the June 2 letter “New trend alert: Bring your own to-go container,” I see I am finally vindicated; I’ve been bringing my own to-go container for as long as I can remember. It just makes sense; why use something just once when twice is nicer?

I have no children to embarrass, just my friends and relatives as I pull out my own bag, box or cup.

The writer raises another point about to-go containers: Think of “millions of those meals every year across the country that are dumped, thrown away, often without even a bite missing.”

It bespeaks ignorance on our part that we are even able to order so much, consume so little and throw away the rest, without a thought to the thousands of workers whose truly backbreaking toil harvesting, canning, freezing, butchering, packaging, transporting, inspecting, cooking and serving that food brings it to our table.

To waste food is to give them a slap in the face. We can and must do better.

Mary Ellen Halverson, Hopkins

Whew! It’s been warm in Minneapolis already this summer, but as they say, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity!” But maybe you didn’t notice how hot and humid it’s been because you weren’t inside a 100-year-old building, on the third floor with no circulation, in a tightly packed classroom, trying to take your final exams with classroom temperatures reaching well into the 90s, even 100 degrees on some days, because you go to school until mid-June — like my daughter — and thousands of other kids in Minneapolis Public Schools (and others).

In a warming climate, with teacher and staff shortages, it seems like an archaic practice to have these old, unventilated buildings without climate control (air conditioning and central heat) installed. My child reports classroom temperatures of 62 degrees to 100 degrees. How are our kids supposed to learn, focus and sit still for seven hours per day and compete with other students’ grades and test scores achieved in comfort?

A 2020 study published in the American Economic Journal looked at test scores of 10 million students between 2001-2014 and found that for schools without air conditioning, for every degree hotter a school is, there is a corresponding 1% decrease in learning that year. Heat makes our young people feel tired and unable to concentrate. They also found that 73% of the negative impacts to learning were offset by air conditioning. Which one of you would take a new job in a building with no air conditioning? It’s time to take care of our kids.

Amelia Franck Meyer, Minneapolis

On June 2, D.J. Tice suggested that “The anniversary of D-Day is a time to ask whether American civilization has passed its peak” (“In spite of an awful war, they ‘had a good feeling about this country,’” Opinion Exchange). He yearns for an earlier time, when, despite the sometimes-overdone carnage of World War II, Americans “had a good feeling about this country.”

But bringing Gaza into this discussion of our war heroes seems a bit gratuitous: “Yet today America, with serene moral certitude, pressures Israel to forgo full victory over enemies sworn to destroy it.”

While Tice cites a WWII Eisenhower reference to “full victory,” Biblical Bibi Netanyahu calls it “Amalek” and the rest of the civilized world rightly calls it “genocide.”

And what has Israel done to Palestinians since the 1940s other than treating them as enemies to be destroyed? Is Tice OK with Israel’s own attempt at a “final solution”?

Perhaps we can best honor our fallen heroes by not having “a good feeling” about this country until it stops prioritizing endless war and devoting most of its “defense” budget to murdering innocent civilians whose countries pose zero threat to us.

William Beyer, St. Paul

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The moral of Dresden and Tokyo is that it is never justified to slaughter tens of thousands of civilians for the sheer aim of inflicting terror. It is upsetting to see that Tice has somehow learned the opposite lesson, as by the end of his article he is criticizing those who exhort Israel “to forgo full victory over enemies sworn to destroy it.” Sir, if “full victory” in Gaza means the starvation of a captive populace, the gleeful destruction of humanitarian aid, the bombing of refugee camps — and all of this continually equivocated away as “mistake” after regretful mistake — then surely this is a travesty of a moral crusade and must be terminated immediately. Those demanding a diplomatic resolution to the insanity in Palestine are determined to make sure Gaza does not become another Dresden or another Tokyo, and while little remains to be saved by this stage, activists should not be condemned for their panicked efforts to prevent any further needless death.

Steven James Peterson, Irvine, Calif.

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Regarding Tice’s commentary, I completely agree that visiting the Normandy invasion site is incredibly moving. I was moved to tears seeing the cliffs that young men were willing to scale knowing that many would die trying. But many historians disagree with his stated number killed in the Dresden firebombing. Wikipedia lists 25,000 and Britannica puts it at 25,000 to 35,000. It was the Nazi propaganda minister who came up with the number of 200,000 to make the Allies look heartless (almost like Nazis).

Mike LaValle, Rochester

More and more we bemoan the increasing stridence, discord, radicalism and divisiveness in our politics. More and more our government bodies become filled by people who have little or no record of — or regard for — actual legislation. More and more, our halls of government are turned into performative arenas for self-promotion and political trench warfare. What to do?

One possible approach to redirecting our legislative bodies toward legislative work is to stop electing people whose qualifications consist largely of protesting, public posturing, identity-waving, social media posting, conspiracy-mongering and finger-pointing. Such people are more importantly useful to our country as contributors to opinion shows, editorial pages and political/social activist groups.

To give an historical example, the distinction I make here was almost certainly the main reason why Thomas Jefferson could work within our newly formed constitutional government while Thomas Paine could not. Yet, both activists made highly significant contributions to the creation of our government.

George K. Atkins, Minneapolis

The Star Tribune’s recent editorial about the Guthrie Theater’s large deficit was fine, as far as it went (”Guthrie’s greatness deserves our support,” May 25). I think the board was remiss in not giving kudos to the smaller theaters, such as Artistry, Latté Da, Children’s, Mixed Blood, Stages, Theatre in the Round, and dozens of other theater, dance and community companies. They are all the lifeblood that keeps the Guthrie going, allowing talent to be nurtured and grow before hitting the big stage. These theaters all have had the same challenges, if not more, but without the endowments and financial support that the “G” has. My fav local theater, Artistry, in Bloomington, is working its way back from a huge financial crisis. The shows are being well received and the lifeblood of any organization — money — is starting to flow again. Others are certainly in similar positions.

So, yes! Support the Guthrie. It’s the big dog in town, it’s known nationally and it draws theatergoers from all over. But the Twin Cities wouldn’t be known as a “theater town” without the bounty of other theaters and businesses that support them. Please support our amazing local arts community and go out and see a play!

Colin Williams, Bloomington

The writer is a theater scenic carpenter.