Reader sides with pundit against women in combat

In your February issue (of the Daily Planet) you carried an article by Bill Fishburne headlined “Case against women in combat?”

Although this is based primarily on his own experience in the armed services, I could not agree more with his conclusion.

Granting women equality of rights does not make them equal in physical strength or, most important, mental attitude and values.

The job of women is promoting peace, as exemplified by Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, which opposes war, as do I.

I  have never been in favor of women in the military, though to some it means “jobs.”  We should be guardians of the future, ever vigilant to promote nonviolent resolution to conflicts.

I was really unhappy over the decision to allow women in combat situations.

Leah R. Karpen

Asheville

STEM idea touted as good, but location termed poor

I enthusiastically support Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education in our schools, but there many issues with putting it in the location recommended by the Buncombe County school board.

The school will serve only 6% (400) of our high school students. Why not build STEM Learning Centers in our six comprehensive high schools? Can’t the school board maximize the dollars better to reach more students?

No other options were researched. Could we re-purpose an under-enrolled school? We have excess capacity (over 5,000 empty seats!) in our schools and a five-year decline in enrollment. Why not put it in a nearby college campus as other school districts do? A Science and Math School satellite has been mentioned, but where is the follow-through? What about virtual classrooms?

The current plan doesn’t include music, arts and athletics. The program has four pathways — pre-engineering, computer science, food science/entry level food service certification, biotechnical/environmental science. We already offer some STEM classes in all of our high schools. Let’s add Pre-Engineering Project Lead the Way classes, which are already in our middle schools.

I encourage readers to attend school board meetings. Be there and speak up. It’s your tax dollars.

PATSY WRIGHT GARDIN

Asheville