Longwood students harmed, but . . .

I am pained by the story about the four young honors students at Longwood High School who seem to be victims of an unintentional but still harmful misstep [“District faces $12M suit,” News, Jan. 9].

This teacher takes this picture every year. In this case, four African American honors students were the subjects. Is it possible that in our unabated lust to turn anything into something we have now added an educator to the list of aggrieved parties?

Sensitivity training? Yes.

A personal apology to the students? Sure.

A public flogging attached to a specified dollar amount? Ridiculous.

We can only hope that our sense of fairness and justice will grow and we will treat each other with the respect, empathy and dignity that each of us deserve.

Tom McAteer,

West Islip

Borden bankruptcy filing not surprising

The story about Borden Dairy Co. filing for bankruptcy was really not much of a surprise [“As milk consumption falls, Borden files for bankruptcy,” Business, Jan. 7]. However, I don’t think the cause of the company filing for bankruptcy protection is mainly due to shifting “consumption habits of Americans,” as the article proposes.

I think it’s more of a health issue related to the fact that most conventionally produced nonorganic milk is laden with harmful antibiotics and hormones that have been shown to cause a variety of detrimental health effects from increased estrogen levels to increased incidents of certain types of cancer. For example, as a male over 50, my doctor warned me against drinking milk due to its potential to cause the prostate gland to grow unchecked.

And while a quick scan of supermarket shelves shows that milk alternatives such as almond, soy, and newcomers like oat and hemp are definitely grabbing their share of sales, so are organic and grass-fed dairy products, including milk, that are being driven by smaller, locally focused and often organic-first dairies.

Alan Krawitz,

Bellmore

Clavin is saying all the right things

Don Clavin said all the right things at his swearing in as the new Town of Hempstead supervisor [“Clavin: It’s ‘time to govern’,” News, Jan. 8]. “How you govern is with your colleagues . . .” he said.

It would have been nice if Clavin had advised the town board of that sentiment after Laura Gillen was elected supervisor. The people spoke for change when she was elected but the board turned a deaf ear during most of her term. Hopefully, we’re not going to see business as usual from another Republican-led town the next few years.

It sure will be easy for Clavin to work with a majority Republican board.

Phil Cicciari,

Westbury

Nassau tax phase-in not the answer

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran’s proposal to “blunt the impact” of real property tax increases with a five-year phase-in won’t fix anything [“Curran seeks tax phase-in again,” News, Jan. 10]. Gimmicks that attempt to mask what is happening make things worse, artificially throwing relative assessments out of balance and adding to confusion.

Our local finance system screams out for simplification, not more patchwork.

Right now, nobody really knows what will be in their tax bill until they open that dreaded envelope from the county. The real property tax was never intended for a modern suburban economy with a wide variety of land uses, frequent property turnovers and markets that fluctuate by neighborhood from season to season.

Even a perfect reassessment is out of date the moment more properties are sold.

Our best hope is to reduce our overreliance on real property taxes in favor of more taxes that reflect the actual ability to pay.

We may not be able to do away with real property taxes completely, but replacing the county tax would be a good start. We need a system that is fair, equitable, transparent and understandable.

Michael A. Miller,

New Hyde Park

Trump was right to kill Soleimani

When did we become a nation that says we won’t punish you for killing Americans, and for planning to kill more, because we are afraid if we do you may kill even more?

What would we tell the families and friends of Americans killed in the future by Iran Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani? “Sorry your loved one died, but it’s acceptable collateral damage so even more don’t!”

Everyone knows the power of our military, especially the leaders of Iran. Yes, another murderer will pop up and take Soleimani’s place. That is no excuse for not killing them. Iran will figure out one day that with a President like Donald Trump, theirs is a losing strategy.

And don’t think North Korea didn’t take notice.

Tim Gallagher,

Seaford