In his English 112 class, Virginia Peninsula Community College adjunct instructor Shawn Day teaches how effective persuasion can play a role in civic engagement and policy advocacy. To demonstrate, he offers his students a chance to earn extra credit at the end of each semester by submitting letters to the editor to local papers.
For the spring 2024 semester, submissions from four of his students were published in the Virginian Pilot/Daily Press.
FASFA Concerns
Salma Hassan of Toano called for fixes to the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) program:
FAFSA blunders have caused unnecessary stress and uncertainty for college students nationwide, including those in our community.
Many students feel abandoned and helpless because of the U.S. Education Department’s less-than-transparent messaging, damaging trust in the financial aid system. The Education Department needs to take immediate action regarding this matter.
Higher education is critical to our community’s future success, and students should not be denied access to financial aid due to bureaucratic errors and delays. The Education Department needs to take immediate action to resolve these problems and restore trust in the financial aid procedure. Ensuring that students receive timely and accurate financial assistance information is one of the main objectives, as well as determining the root causes of the problems and enhancing communication with schools and students.
The impact of these blunders on students’ goals and well-being is significant and cannot be ignored. As a community, we must demand prompt and decisive action to address this issue and hold the Education Department accountable for its shortcomings.
I urge every member of our community to unite in calling upon the Education Department to prioritize students’ needs and restore trust in the financial aid process. Our collective voice is crucial in ensuring that every student has fair and equitable access to the support he or she needs to pursue higher education and achieve his or her goals.
A Letter About Cannabis
For Logan Driscoll of Newport News, the subject was the cannabis market:
Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vetoed two pieces of legislation, House Bill 698 and Senate Bill 448, which aimed to establish a legal retail market for cannabis in Virginia. The governor expressed concerns about the potential adverse public health impacts of legalizing cannabis. The current laws, or lack thereof, passed only perpetuate an unregulated cannabis market that could further harm Virginians.
The issue of legalizing cannabis in Virginia is a significant concern that Youngkin recognizes. However, he has not proposed feasible solutions to rectify public health concerns. I urge Youngkin to prioritize public health by regulating Virginia’s legal cannabis market instead of actively avoiding it.
Making Gun Violence Prevention a Priority
Chantiana Ward of Virginia Beach addressed gun violence:
Re “York County sheriff’s deputy shoots teen during standoff; 16-year-old critically wounded” (April 15): Shooting first to injure or kill is not always the right way. The article describes an incident that occurs frequently throughout America. Though the teen in the article is armed and considered dangerous to society, firing a firearm at someone cannot always be the answer.
Time and time again, we see these cases everywhere where a child is involved in a shooting by an officer because the child may have been a threat. Sometimes, they don’t even have a gun; it was just a false assumption. Tamir Rice is one case where a 12-year-old boy played with a toy gun in a Cleveland park. Police were called to the scene, and after (police arrived), he was shot and lost his life.
It breaks many hearts to think that some of the lives lost by police hands are children they are trained to protect. These children are America’s future. They won’t feel protected if we keep scaring them with these incidents. Those who are watching from the outside won’t feel protected either. As Americans, there have to be things done better. If that means tasing first and then shooting later if things get bad, then so be it.
How to Stop Spam Calls
Ukneeka White of Newport News wrote about scam calls:
Re “Uber is helping investigators look into account that sent driver to Ohio home where she was killed” (April 17): In Ohio, Loletha Hall, a 61-year-old woman who drove for Uber, received a request to go to William Brock’s residence. Brock told police he was being threatened for money over the phone and thought Hall was part of the scam. He shot her multiple times, according to a criminal complaint, and she died at the hospital, CNN reported.
This is a terrible story and a situation that should never have happened. We must do something about the scammers to prevent the elderly community from being taken advantage of. The amount of “scam likely” phone calls that are received daily is ridiculous for anyone. Thankfully, we have that feature to help sort through calls, otherwise, there would be even more risks of being scammed.
There needs to be more done to track and stop these perpetrators and hold them accountable. I, for sure, am completely frustrated with the calls I receive and often think about people who are unaware of this.
For more information on VPCC, visit www.vpcc.edu.