Sunday letters: College unrest; spending on RI's homeless

PC has a proud reputation to uphold

As a long-time Providence College alum I am deeply offended by The Journal article "Dogma vs. diversity: Gender rift roils PC" (News, April 21) regarding the LGBTQ issue at PC.

For generations PC has been a mainstay for the solid education of thousands of men and women from all religious, ethnic and racial groups in preparation for lifelong careers. That the college has accepted, though not completely assimilated, the demands of an infinitesimally small group of woke, DEI, and LGBTQ faculty and students is commendable of its tolerance without violating its core value as a private religious institution.

Capitulating to those protests would be comparable to letting the inmates run the asylum. PC has a proud reputation to uphold and should not be subject to the guerilla tactics of a discontented few. It would be more appropriate for that group to vaunt their protests with an institution more sympathetic to their desires.

Guy A. Archambault, Jamestown

Leave the college that offends you

Ok, I will try to understand this ridiculous idea. A Catholic university which teaches Catholic theology should change its 2,000-year Christ teachings because a group of confused students and professors think they know better?

Here’s an idea: leave the college that offends you so much and go to a more secular one. There are certainly more of them than PC which has since 1917 adhered to its Roman Catholic faith. If you don’t like PC and what it stands for, go elsewhere.

Kate Greene, Exeter

Brown president acted in university's interest

I applaud Brown University President Christina Paxson for acting on behalf of the university’s primary mission to provide an education to students that is free of harassments and distractions. Guest columnists Matt Garza and Aiyah Josiah-Faeduwor ("Brown needs to drop charges against 41 protesters," Commentary, April 21) promote chaos and danger, rather than a community engaging in meaningful dialogue to debate difficult topics.

Charging the protesters is a valuable lesson to all about respecting rules. Even better would be a university policy that prohibits all demonstrations on campus, as they interfere with the goals of those students who seek to pursue their academic studies. Students seeking to demonstrate have the ability to seek a permit from local authorities and carry out their demonstration on public property.

Susann Mark, Providence

Spending on the homeless

The State of California has reportedly spent $24 billion over the past 5 years on the homeless crisis there. Latest data shows that at the end of 2023 there were approximately 180,000 homeless in that state.

Let's do the math: California has spent over $130,000 on each homeless person over the past 5 years. After $130K per person, homelessness in California is much worse than it was 5 years ago.

I ask homeless advocates here in Rhode Island to do a similar exercise. How much do we spend on a collective basis on homelessness here? Our homeless population is estimated to be in the range of 1,850 people. Our homeless population has grown about 65% since 2020.

How much have we spent with the best of intentions, while achieving negative results?

Somehow, we are able to ignore the fact that our efforts to help are not working, and may be contributing to further homelessness. We feel great about our service to the homeless as we sit in our comfy homes deluding ourselves that we're really helping.

Virtue signaling at its very worst.

Fred Hychik, Cranston

Crossing the bridge

I’m quite dismayed to read in The Journal that the governor still publicly questions the validity of accounts of extra long commutes. I hope this is not true. It has taken me 45 minutes to reach just the entrance to Route 195 (normally a 10-minute drive) one morning around 8:45 am. One never knows how long the commute will be, even using traffic apps, as the traffic changes without notice.

Because of this I avoid all of the areas on either side of the two East Providence bridges. I challenge the governor to daily travel the commute from the East Bay to Providence in the morning and afternoon for a week. I suspect he will then agree with me that there is no advertising budget that will change Rhode Islanders' willingness to cross the bridges freely. Replace the bridge ASAP!

Ellen Berren, Barrington

Keep RIPTA's para-transit service

From 2018 until 2021 I had vision problems that left me unable to drive. I registered for the RIPTA para-transit service, which was invaluable to me.

RIPTA continues to discuss discontinuing bus service on various lines. As you probably know, para-transit operates only to and from locations that are within three-quarters of a mile of a fixed bus route. While losing these bus lines would be a problem for all their riders, it would be devastating for the disabled who require para-transit service near these bus routes.

RIPTA needs the funding to keep these lines in service. If they cannot be, perhaps they could be considered "temporarily suspended," if that would maintain para-transit service for the thousands of Rhode Island residents who depend upon it.

Tom Padwa, Warren

17-year-olds at the polls

Changes are continually being made to the eligibility of those voting in our elections. I question why our state legislators and our Washington congressional delegation do not see the need to require picture voter ID cards. I hear so much about the security and goal to have fair elections.

On primary day I spoke with a poll volunteer and he raised a concern that many 17-year-olds don't even have licenses to drive. How does a 17-year-old prove his or her address and age when registering to vote? How young will our Democratic controlled state go to justify "civic engagement"? Time will tell.

Kathy Lee, North Scituate

Billions for Ukraine

Five days after Tax Day, on Saturday, April 20, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an aid package containing, among other things, $60.8 billion additional for Ukraine, and $26 billion for Israel. It was a surreal scene on the House floor, with elected officials waving little plastic Ukrainian flags and chanting "Ukraine! Ukraine!"

Aside from that display just being downright embarrassing, $60.8 billion, spread out over the next year, amounts to $166.5 million dollars per day. That is on top of the approximately $200 million per day the U.S. has already given Ukraine since the start of the conflict in February 2022.

Many Ukrainians have acknowledged the corruption of their government officials, and the billions that have just disappeared; and many Americans have questioned the lack of oversight and tracking of these massive quantities of aid. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have died, and we are told over and over that the country is closer to victory.

Is it all about the optics of waving plastic flags and chanting slogans, and keeping the American billions flowing abroad, or can Americans count on actual coherent foreign policy objectives, as if the lives of Ukrainians, and the sacrifices and needs of our own citizens, actually matter?

David Floyd, Wakefield

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Sunday letters: College unrest; spending on RI's homeless