An earned D grade is a valuable lesson
The article (“The disappearing D,” June 25) in Sunday’s paper was disturbing to me. When I was teaching, the meaning of a D was to express to students that they were performing below average. The point is not to insult the student, but to explain the need for improvement. If a D grade is eliminated, how does the college know the student is advancing with a false grade? As an employer, how do I know the student had problems with that subject?
Graduating a student with an earned D is better than changing scores.
Why not consider three grades: an A for excellent students, a P for passing and an F for poor students?
Or to make it easier, consider just a pass —a P grade — and forget all other grades. Dr. Harold Steinberg Santa Fe
Fixing LANL
There is an almost daily saga of dangerous violations for handling nuclear materials on the ground, underground, and now in the air (“Nuke materials shipped by air prompts probe,” June 24). Need further proof privatization doesn’t work — unless you’re an officer enjoying a million-dollar salary paid by taxpayers? Donald Trump is touting public-private partnerships to fix our infrastructure. As with the Los Alamos National Laboratory, that means government pays, and the private sector reaps the profits for shoddy work, substandard materials and sweetheart deals, with big bonuses even when things inevitably go south. Worse, some companies profiting under Trump’s plans won’t be American. Our BFFs, the Saudis, will be big players through The Blackstone Group, a hedge fund with ties to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Toll roads are just one juicy possibility. And a new twist may be nonprofits running some things, which means profiteers won’t pay taxes. Would the government do better?
Unfortunately, not the way government is today, run by and for corporations. We need to fix this. Patricia Victour
Santa Fe
Mammals have feelings
Nothing is more disturbing to me than to see cruelty inflicted on animals (“Wooly rider at Rodeo de Santa Fe,” June 24). Therefore, the photos on the front page and the Sports page of the June 24 New Mexican saddened me greatly — the boy riding a terrified sheep; the man, most certainly injuring the terrified steer. I am most grateful that I was, for nearly 60 years, married to a gentle man. Geraldine Aron
Santa Fe
Susana’s choice
U.S. Secretary of Energy and former Dancing with the Stars participant Rick Perry visited Los Alamos National Laboratory (“LANL climate research may stay,” May 11).
In the meantime, Gov. Susana Martinez visited Hobbs to attend and celebrate the grand opening of the Texas-based oil company’s new Mewbourne Oil office (“Oil firm opens regional headquarters in Hobbs,” June 22). It’s easy to see where the governor’s interest and priorities lies. Gary Eschman
Santa Fe
River beautiful
Another successful Great American River Cleanup Day finished and a Fire and Water Festival was outrageously attended by Santa Fe. The Santa Fe Watershed Association on Saturday helped 80 people complete the riverwide cleaning by removing more than 100 bags of debris from the Santa Fe River.
The river was left in beautiful condition, thanks to the efforts of the volunteers on this perfect day, and at the end of the day, the River Brew tasted great.
The Santa Fe River thanks all of the volunteers — the Santa Fe County firefighters and Santa Fe Brewing who helped make this dual event so special. Also thanks to Quezada Jacobs family insurance agency, the Santa Fe Botanical Garden, Outside Magazine, Iconik Coffee Roasters, Kakawa Chocolate House, the Santa Fe Children’s Museum, Back Road Pizza, the city of Santa Fe, Aqua Fría Village Association, Santa Fe Engineering Consultants LLC, Big Jo True Value Hardware and Santa Fe County for all of their generous donations and support. Andy Otto
executive director Santa Fe Watershed Association Santa Fe