Over the years, many of you have sent us your thoughts and reactions to news you hear on our air. On occasion, we’ve broadcast them. Today, we begin what we hope will be a regular feature on listener comments. New Hampshire Public Radio’s Jon Greenberg has a sampling taken from our web site and our email.
Our series on lead paint drew this story from Gretchen Lafaso. She wrote:
I became a landlord two years ago when I purchased a three family home in Manchester. The previous owner had failed to comply with the law mandating disclosure of lead hazards. As a result a three year old child was seriously poisoned. We have, on our own, replaced all the windows. We have not found it the least bit difficult to make our rental units safe for our tenants or to educate them on the remaining hazards. I believe that all landlords should be held to higher standards.
We have an update on lead paint legislation. Yesterday Governor Lynch submitted a budget that includes additional money to enforce tougher standards on lead poisoning.
When The Exchange did a segment on defining an adequate education, Bob of Nashua wrote that he hates the idea that a debate over adequacy will distract us from the need to insure that every kid should get the basics and that not every kid has the same capacity to learn. He said:
Even the best schools under the best conditions cannot repeal the limits on achievement set by limits on intelligence
The goal of school is to try to maximize everyone's potential. In other countries, kids are separated. We don't do that in America because we all believe that our child could someday be President. No one else in the world thinks like that.
When we try to define "adequate education" as a "one size fits all," we end up with unrealistic Lake Wobegone "wishes" that totally miss the facts about today’s students and educational system.
And finally, Gregert Johnson sent us this cautionary note on the use of words of French origin
In a story this morning about the rescue of an ice climber in Crawford Notch, the announcer referred to a "cashay" of equipment. The French word meaning a stockpile is pronounced "cash"; there’s a completely different French word signifying superior status and it is pronounced "cashay". This reminded me of an incident years ago in which a friend was told by a lady he had evidently offended that he was "go-shay"; my friend clutched his breast and responded, "Toosh!"
Here at NHPR, listening is our forte – or maybe that’s fort. In any event, we welcome your thoughts and comments. We invite you to use our listener line, our web site, or regular mail. Please include your full name and your town or city. With this edition of listener comments, I’m Jon Greenberg.
