It’s time for SC to speed up reopening the state — and Gov. McMaster should do so

On reopening SC

The State has recently reported on criticism of Gov. Henry McMaster’s reopening order for South Carolina; among others, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin implied that McMaster failed to make his decision based on science and data.

That criticism is inappropriate.

Benjamin supports a guideline that calls for 14 days of diminishing cases before relaxing restrictions, but in reality that guideline is arbitrary and unscientific. In addition, that guideline gives no weight to the rising economic costs of effectively locking down a state, and South Carolina’s economy is a reasonable factor to weigh.

Since McMaster’s original order to place restrictions on activity in South Carolina, we have seen much evidence to favor loosened restrictions. For example, the widely cited Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation model now projects fewer than 300 cumulative coronavirus deaths in South Carolina; earlier it had predicted more than 1,000 deaths.

The fact is that the coronavirus pandemic has been less severe in South Carolina than elsewhere, and all of the current evidence we have supports moving toward less restrictive policies.

Henry Chappell, Columbia

Chappell is a professor emeritus in USC’s Darla Moore School of Business.

On Congaree Pointe

I wanted to respond to Andrew Caplan’s recent piece titled “Lawmakers spent $575K to a nonprofit tied to Richland Co. senator. So where did it go?”

In the piece Caplan asked why lawmakers would help pay for the construction of a private neighborhood, yet it didn’t appear as though Caplan had interviewed any of the residents in Congaree Pointe. That’s why as a resident of Congaree Pointe, I’d like to answer the question raised by Caplan.

When my son was a baby, his dad and my husband — a police officer — was killed in the line of duty. At the time I lived in Saluda, and the community embraced me, my son and my family during that difficult time.

But this tragic event left me a single mother responsible for raising a son, and while my son’s grandfathers played major roles in helping him to become a man, I realized that my son also needed the influence of younger, positive, spiritual role models.

So despite living in Saluda, I began to attend Bible Way Church of Atlas Road because of the many opportunities the church provides for the community, which include mentoring programs, recreational opportunities and spiritual guidance for boys and young men of single mothers.

In order to make sure my son could participate in these programs, I and my father took turns making two-hour round trips — two to three times a week — for about six years.

Before my son started high school, I decided to move to Columbia in order to be closer to Bible Way Church and to his mentor. I also wanted my son to attend Dreher High School due to the excellent educational opportunities it provides. I needed to find affordable housing to make this move, and Congaree Pointe was the perfect option because it was close to the church and Dreher High.

I am proud to say, and to God be the glory, that my son graduated from Dreher High in the top 10% of his class and is now a sophomore at USC It was because of the Congaree Pointe neighborhood that my son was able to have a new beginning in life.

With my experience in mind here is my question to Caplan: Why wouldn’t lawmakers help pay for the construction of a “private neighborhood” like Congaree Pointe?

Shelia Myers, Columbia

On beaches

Gov. Henry McMaster wants to open the beaches, but any public official who wants to do that right now needs to watch the movie “Jaws.”

The only difference is that what’s lurking in the water isn’t a fictional great white shark — it’s the real-life coronavirus.

Ronald Andersen, Winnsboro

On schools

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the extra time that will be needed to help students catch up when schools reopen in South Carolina

Here is my relatively simple solution to that problem: just eliminate the costly and time-consuming state testing program — and devote the massive number of hours usually spent on those tests to providing actual instruction.

If there are concerns about accountability, just administer a national test that’s less expensive and time-consuming. Let’s just use some common sense here.

Frank Morgan, Camden