Respect begins at home, younger voices in Congress
Students on campus at Stony Brook University. Credit: Thomas Hengge
Respect begins at home, not campus
As a former State University of New York fraternity president at Binghamton, I was dumbfounded that students at SUNY claim their institutions can do more to protect them from sexual assault ["SUNY addressing sexual violence," News, Nov. 9]. Such a mindset is naive, and what it omits is troubling.
What have parents done? Have basic morals and standards of conduct been taught at home?
After arriving at a SUNY school, are students, many of whom may already be sexually active, expected to learn for the first time about the behavior of men and women with raging hormones? Enough already.
Lack of parenting could cause a man to be unaware of how to treat a woman and, reciprocally, a woman to be unaware of the realities of liquor, drugs and a man's physical dominance.
If a man has not been taught by his parents to intervene when a woman is physically mistreated, then it's too late to teach him, particularly after five beers.
Larry B. Hollander, Hauppauge
Let younger voices lead Congress now
Put me in the camp of wanting new leadership in both the House and the Senate ["Voters have spoken — now what?," Letters, Nov. 6]. The enthusiasm of new voters and new officeholders could very well be deflated by seeing the same faces come to the microphone at the start of the next Congress.
Whether deserved or not, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are perceived by many as feckless in standing up to President Donald Trump's administration and tied to big-money interests.
We are at an inflection point that could bring great advances for the middle class. It's time for the reins to be turned over to a new generation of Americans who are ready and excited to lead. As an older American, I am ready and excited to give them that opportunity.
Donald Werbeck, Locust Valley
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