The cost of service

The US system of debt-for-diplomas is fundamentally unjust | Sept. 20

I commend columnist Lacina Onco for answering a calling to serve others. I also see an excellent opportunity for readers (especially younger ones) to gain an important lesson in proper planning. When planning to dedicate one’s life to service, one should be fully aware of the cost of that service, including any required education expenses. If the typical compensation for performing the service is small, the person should expect to live a life that may not include some of the comforts and conveniences that others may want. That is part of the reason that we hold such people in high regard. Aspiring students should also consider a different way of financing their education. Can some of the learning be achieved in lower-cost settings such as community colleges or through an apprenticeship? I know several individuals now serving their communities who spread out their training in order to work while learning. It took one of them nine years to complete his master’s degree, but he got through school debt-free. We all must make choices in our life that not only fulfill certain ends but also provide the means for supporting ourselves and our families.

Wil Davis, Tampa

GOP failed to fix it

Questions multiply on migrant flights | Sept. 17

The 1986 Reagan Amnesty Act granted more than three million migrants who had entered this nation illegally the right to remain, probably accelerating the numbers crossing the borders. All these years later Congress has failed to enact meaningful, humane border policies. Other than separating children from their families and talking about building a wall that the GOP Congress refused to finance, the Trump administration deported fewer undocumented immigrants than the Obama administration. Why didn’t the Trump administration reform immigration policy while Republicans controlled both the House and the Senate? Instead, for show, Republican governors are now shipping weary migrants around the country at taxpayer expense. This is poor stewardship of tax dollars, childish behavior and more cruelty.

L.J. Phillips, Brooksville

Medicare works

Keep the feds out of health care | Letter, Sept. 20

The federal government administers Medicare. It is effective and efficient. Without Medicare, a large number of senior citizens would meet an early death. Heath “care” in this country has a plethora of problems. Government-run programs is not one of them.

Fern Williams, Zephyrhills