Maybe Trump can reverse crime trends
Milwaukee then: Milwaukee was my home town for 25 years. There was seldom even a thought of danger from my fellow citizens.
When only 5, I was often using Milwaukee buses to go to Grandma’s house. This involved a seven-mile bus trip and a half-mile walk. For the next 20 years, I used bicycles and motor scooters there day and night.
At age 17, I was one of three white lifeguards at an inner city swimming pool. The head guard, pool manager and 95 percent of the customers were black. I was treated very well. Neither myself nor my motor scooter were harmed in any way.
Milwaukee now: Along with the country, Milwaukee has gone downhill and recently has fallen off a cliff. Over the last five years, murders have gone up 66 percent (beating Chicago with its 63 percent increase). Recent riots have greatly harmed inner-cities, even destroying many black-owned businesses. Trump claims he can fix it in four years. Frankly, I’ll be happy if he turns the tide.
Dr. Tom Herzog
Judge Trump by the company he keeps
It is said a person is known by the company he or she keeps, so let’s take a look at some of Donald Trump’s insiders and staffers.
All of Trump’s absurd comments, lies and narcissistic demagoguery aside, his campaign leaders have their own baggage to carry. Take one-time campaign manager Corey Lewandowski – arrested for assaulting a reporter at a Trump campaign rally. Then there’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort – under investigation for secretly transferring $2.2 million to two lobbying firms from a political party supporting the Russian-backed former Ukraine president now in exile in Russia. Roger Ailes, founder and CEO of Fox News – recently forced to resign due to sexual harassment allegations. And finally, Steve Bannon, chairman of the far-right Breitbart News and now Trump’s campaign CEO – called by Bloomberg News “the most dangerous political operative in America.” He is a master of political conspiracy theories and a loudspeaker for Trumpism.
So it should come as no surprise that Trump and his campaign surrogates will turn this election into a slime pit, filthy enough to make any Republican or American want to take a shower.
Greg Williams, Signal Mountain
Teacher mentorship critical to success
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga School of Education deserves a round of applause. A mentorship program for up-and-coming teachers is a smart and proactive reaction to combating the low rankings the School of Education recently received.
Not only is the new mentorship program good for UTC’s public relations within the Hamilton County school district, it shows a direct way to bridge the gap between local educators and the expectations placed upon UTC’s education program.
I think relationship-building between educators and future educators has the potential to inspire trust within classrooms and Hamilton County’s board of education. So much of teaching is applied learning. Giving future teachers the ability to test out the waters of classroom education and learn from some of the best teachers in the area is phenomenal.
I hope to see UTC’s School of Education receive higher rankings in the future, especially bearing in mind their graduates get the majority of the teaching jobs in our public schools.
Abigail Hunt, McDonald, Tenn.