SC officials should think carefully before banning books

Careful what you censor

The governor has ordered a book pulled from school libraries because of its “pornographic and obscene” prose.

Educated people know that censorship represents what Thomas Jefferson called a “tyranny over the mind.”

Censorship in the schools can stifle inquiring minds from exploring their world, seeking reason, looking for truths, and, most importantly, developing critical-thinking skills. We need books that will meet students where they are and help them grow both emotionally and intellectually.

The works of Nobel Prize winners, including William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, and Toni Morrison, have been pulled from some school libraries. Also banned have been Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

Adults who censor books must be able to recommend appropriate substitutions and explain how they serve the same purpose. People have varying opinions of what offends community standards. Look for redeeming social value in questionable works.

After all, we still read the Bible with all of its sex, violence, slavery, and stories that can lead to nightmares. How about the Old Testament book “The Song of Solomon,” or has it been censored out of your Bible?

Elizabeth Jones, Columbia

Runoff voting works

If you lived in Portland, Maine, you’d have a new mayor by now! That’s because Portland, like many other cities in this country, uses Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) for its elections.

Instead of just voting for one candidate, IRV allows every voter to rank all the candidates in order of preference. Then, rather than waiting two weeks for a runoff, officials can calculate the winner immediately.

If no candidate receives more than 50%, the ballots for lowest vote-getter are redistributed to their second choice, and that process continues until someone gets over 50%.

IRV saves money, saves time, and allows more voters to decide elections.

Columbia is spending more than $50,000 conducting an unnecessary runoff election. The runoff for the statewide primary in 2018 cost the S.C. Election Commission $830,144.

Columbia voters will waste time and gas money going back to the polls for a second time. And the runoff election will most likely be decided by significantly fewer voters.

What’s the solution? Have one election instead of two. IRV is already allowed for voters traveling overseas, so why not make it available to everyone?

David Whiteman, Columbia

Stop the double-talk

A hearty bravo to those brave, constituent-minded Republicans who voted for the infrastructure bill that recently passed Congress. Shame on those Republicans who didn’t.

In the parlance of many party regulars, (largely Trump cultists) this bold minority are traitors to the cause, especially as they apply to wise public policy that benefits most people.

Like every state, South Carolina has major infrastructure issues that need vast infusions of federal money.

One in the Columbia area is the oft-sited “Malfunction Junction” that is both a cruel joke and horrendous headache to the multitudes who travel the roads to and from the city.

G. Kent Krell, Columbia

Thanks, Nephron

Thank you for providing the COVID-19 vaccinations for my husband and me. We both have underlying health conditions.

In February there was a frenzy trying to get the vaccines, but you came through for us. I called my local health clinic and was informed that they would not give any more first-time vaccines until May. They also said they only had enough on hand for individuals receiving their second dosage.

On that same morning I saw Lou Kennedy from Nephron Pharmaceuticals on the news and she was speaking about the vaccines being administered there. So my husband and I went to Nephron Pharmaceuticals.

We have now received our first two vaccines and our booster from Nephron. Again I say thank you to the Nephron Pharmaceuticals family for being that vital part of the community and for coming through in a time of crisis.

Betty M. Trapp, Winnsboro

This story was originally published November 14, 2021 at 6:00 AM.