Other ways to evaluate students than exams
Regarding “UC chief: It’s time to drop SAT, ACT” (May 12): Perhaps one of the few good things to come out of this coronavirus pandemic will be a change in college admission testing requirements.
Frankly, the notion that results from a onetime exam can indicate a student’s future academic success is simplistic and misguided.
Instead, why not look at a student’s background, obstacles he or she has had to overcome, extracurricular activities, teacher recommendations, and high school transcript to get a better indication of his or her potential? Let’s face it, the only real beneficiaries of SAT and ACT exams are test prep companies.
Tanesha Bainbridge, Oakland
Patient’s quality of care
As an almostgraduated family nurse practitioner student, I would agree that the health risks are lower by seeking medical care versus damage from neglecting cardiac symptoms as described in “Afraid of going to the hospital” (Page 1, April 23).
Due to pentup demand, there is no guarantee of readily available appointments once shelterinplace restrictions are lifted.
There is already a shortage of primary care physicians, which contributes to appointment scarcity even during normal times. Highly trained nurse practitioners help fill the care gap as they have done for decades by diagnosing, treating and prescribing for common medical conditions.
Although patients experience high satisfaction with nurse practitioner care, California laws impose physiciandriven supervisory constraints on the nurse practitioner role.
Other states lack these supervisory requirements and enjoy a more efficient, less costly yet highquality model of care. Supervisory restrictions protect the turf of the powerful California Medical Association but do not protect patients.
The successful passage of this bill will improve access, affordability and quality of care in San Francisco and the state of California. I therefore urge you and your readers to ask state Sen. Scott Wiener to support AB890.
Deirdre Power, Oakland
Billionaire bully
Regarding “Tesla defies order, restarts factory” (Page 1, Business, May 12): I’m so tired of Elon Musk. If he fires up his production line in defiance of a county public health directive, then he deserves to be arrested and jailed. Just another billionaire bully using Twitter to try and blackmail the county and state.
If Tesla were a nail salon or lunch counter, they’d throw the book at him and rightly so.
His factory floor could be a superspreader zone that could lead to thousands of new infections. The man is a menace. The county should call his bluff.
Mark Valentine, Oakland
Corporate greed
As the coronavirus pandemic continues and economies struggle to reopen, there’s something unseemly about the news story “Disney theme park reopens in Shanghai with controls” (May 12).
Unlike the the president of Shanghai Disney Resort, Joe Schott, who sees its reopening as a beacon of light across the globe, providing hope and inspiration to everyone, I see it as an example of corporate greed and putting profits over people’s health.
Soshi Yamamoto, Cupertino
Liability of online voting
So, according to “Toward a pandemicproof election” (Editorial, May 12), President Trump has objections to both absentee ballot and inperson voting? That only leaves online voting, which is liable to be hacked by Russians under the guidance of Trump’s pal, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Perhaps our tweeter in chief thinks that his only path to reelection in 2020 is a 2016 election redux.
Suzanne PetersonReed, Santa Rosa
William Barr’s tenure
Regarding “Flynn, Barr and the shallow state” (Editorial, May 11): I was in the Department of Justice under five presidents, as well as William Barr when he first served as attorney general. For the second time, I joined some 2,000 fellow alumni of the department in seeking Barr’s resignation.
We share shock and sadness over the department under Barr. As a United States attorney, initially appointed by former President Jimmy Carter, I served former President Ronald Reagan’s attorney general, William French Smith, as his chairman of the advisory committee of U.S. attorneys. In today’s partisan climate, my role of advising an attorney general of the Republican Party as a Democrat would never happen.
Each chapter of Barr’s tenure is more shoddy than the last. My hat is off to those career justice attorneys who declined to lend their names to the motion to dismiss charges against Michael Flynn.
George Proctor, San Francisco
Keep glasses dry
Regarding “Tip for fogged lenses” (Letters, May 12): I read with interest the letter about our glasses fogging and placing a tissue between your mouth and the mask. I should make a point about the fogging of your glasses. If your glasses are fogging, you are releasing droplets of moisture into the air around you.
This is true of all masks without the metal band at the nose area, which means that everyone is releasing moisture. I have gone to wearing a neckerchief with my nose pads holding the top against my face. A tissue seems like a good alternative and should be used if possible.
I believe the masks should be designed and manufactured with a pad in place that covers the gap between the nose and mask to prevent moisture from escaping.
Daniel DeShazo, Novato