Several readers have written letters acknowledging the fine columns by Whitney Azoy, and while I agree, I feel some even better work has been overlooked. I am referring to the columns by Seymour Papert and Dr. Erik Steele.

I don’t know all the benefits to giving laptops to our students and neither does Papert. No one does. I do know they will open doors for a lot of kids, and adults. I have seen the effects of uninhibited computer access on a child’s imagination and desire to learn and it can be incredible. We don’t even know what we don’t know, but the kids will show us, if they get the chance.

I also don’t know how well a single-payer health care system will work, but if you take the Canadian system (which we could) and spend an additional $1,000 per person, per year (which we, as a nation, do) and raise that money through an equitable tax system (which we could), it would be better than the mess we have now.

If the feds could stop bailing out big business, cut the pork projects, cut that stupid missile defense thing and bring the defense budget down to earth we wouldn’t even need new taxes.

Walter Kumiega

Little Deer Isle