Letters to the editor for Saturday, May 24, 2025

The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative is holding elections from May 16 to June 13 to fill expiring Board positions. Cooperative members can vote for the candidates by mail or online. Given the importance of focusing on competitive rates, reliable electric power and access to the lightning speed of NHEC’s Broadband, I urge you to vote for John Goodrich. I have known him as a colleague at Weidmann. His value to the Board is enhanced by his executive experience with Weidmann, the largest single high voltage electrical insulation supplier to the needed transformers which step power voltages down for use by NHEC members. John has also served in the past on the Central Vermont Public Service Board which before its sale was the largest utility in neighboring Vermont. John continues to volunteer in local activities such as the Littleton Budget Committee and spearheading the monthly blood donation drive in Littleton each month.

A Yankee Notebook: On the differences between Bach and Mozart

By WILLEM LANGE

It’s difficult to complain about the length of a flight to Europe when you consider what our ancestors went through to get here. Their tears at the sight of the Statue of Liberty weren’t just from inspiration; they were overjoyed to get off that boat.

Column: The cracked crucible of higher education

By O. SAMI SAYDJARI

A university isn’t a sanctuary from discomfort — it’s a crucible for growth. Just as muscles grow by tearing and rebuilding, the mind strengthens through challenge, contradiction and offense. When universities prioritize emotional safety over intellectual rigor and challenge, they risk producing graduates unready for the real world — where ideas clash, stakes are high and no one curates your experience for comfort.

Column: Longing for the past isn’t always healthy

By WAYNE GERSEN

Earlier this week, as my wife and I headed for a weekly jam session with fellow amateur musicians, we both felt a wave of nostalgia as we passed the town common in Norwich where we saw young children playing T-ball watched by parents and grandparents sitting on bleachers. It didn’t seem like it was that long ago that we were rooting on our own children and, for me, it didn’t feel like it was that long ago that I was one of the ballplayers. But in fact, it was nearly four decades ago that our children played T-ball and seven decades ago that I played first base on the peewee league team in an era before T-ball had been invented.

Editorial: Brave judges hold the line on democracy

In rebuffing legally dubious propositions advanced by the Trump administration, several federal judges have provided eloquent reaffirmation of first principles of American democracy, as well as lessons in history and civics. Lest we forget.

Forum for May 17, 2025: Hartford assessments

Until a few years ago I held a Vermont real estate license after teaching English at Hartford High for 24 years. I suspected this year’s Hartford property reassessment might increase my homestead value 50% and was holding my breath in preparation for such a hefty increase.

A Yankee Notebook: Not all border crossings are challenging

By WILLEM LANGE

My oldest child, Virginia, turned 65 this past week. This sort of thing usually evokes, on social media, the comment, “Goodness! Where did the time go?” I shall avoid that; I know perfectly well where the time has gone since that sunny spring day in Keene Valley, New York, with robins hopping on the green lawn among the dying snowbanks. It’s been a long, adventurous, sometimes slogging career from there to here (you may read “career” in any sense of the word you like).

Forum for May 13, 2025: Lawmakers, listen

Here’s a detail everyone should know: Regardless of your wishes as a voter in New Hampshire, a big majority of Republicans won’t listen to you. They are beholden to multiple national libertarian, right-wing organizations, including Young Americans for Liberty (a Texas-based, billionaire-funded group that contributed to Republican campaigns last year), the Koch Brothers’ Americans for Prosperity and the Liberty Alliance (the political arm of the Free State Project). Their goal is to defund all public services including public health, schools, and environmental protection.

Column: Restore federal funding for the arts

By DENA STAHLHEBER

I want to appeal to the wisdom and hearts of this nation’s leaders to propose a rationale for the continued federal support of the arts.

Editorial: Graduation wisdom from a legendary American

Graduation season is almost upon us once again, and commencement speakers no doubt are honing their annual messages of hope and glory, in which they will urge newly minted graduates to be passionate and compassionate; to follow their dreams wherever they lead; to be grateful to their families, teachers and coaches for their unwavering support; to treasure the good friends they have made; to consider the road not taken; or take the road not considered. And so on.

Column: Vermont lawmakers must act on homelessness

By MICHAEL REDMOND

As Vermonters observed Homelessness Awareness Day on May 6, the urgency of our state’s housing crisis has never been clearer. More than 4,971 individuals, including more than 1,105 children, experience homelessness nightly in Vermont — a number that is an undercount, as it reflects only those who engaged with our state’s coordinated entry system. In Orange/Windsor North, the district in which the Upper Valley Haven is the lead agency focused on homelessness, at least 333 of our neighbors are homeless, including 73 children.

Forum for May 8, 2025: Hanover needs housing

I’m writing to enthusiastically support the Town of Hanover’s Article 2, which would allow house-scale residences with up to four homes per lot in our town. This modest shift — in line with historic small-town development patterns and already embraced by many forward-thinking communities — aligns with our town’s Sustainability Master Plan that prioritizes inclusivity, environmental stewardship and smart growth.

Column: New Hampshire bill supports moms

By SUE PRENTISS

Right Patient, right place, right time. This is a phrase commonly used in emergency medical care, and applies to the needs of moms in New Hampshire.

A Yankee Notebook: Let’s show some respect to our neighbors

By WILLEM LANGE

Of all the numskull, hammer-headed, misguided, ham-handed, tin-eared ideas floated by our current president (and there have been many, by my count), the one about annexing Canada as a 51st state has got to rank in the top 10 world-wide. His supporters claim he was just joking. If that’s so, it’s the first joke I’ve ever heard him crack. Plus, the Canadians ain’t laughing. Pretty much in response and against heavy odds, they elected another Liberal, a former banker whose response to Trump’s casual condescension has been the classic gesture often seen in heavy traffic.

Forum for May 6, 2025: Diversity for whom?

I can’t argue with a basic principle raised by Bill Hamlen’s recent column (“All but a few political donations from Dartmouth go to Democrats”; April 23): society is better off when people have space to freely and safely voice their opinions and to debate in a civil fashion.

Forum for May 5, 2025: Extreme views

Bill Hamlen points out that more than 99% of political donations from Dartmouth College employees (excluding dining hall staff) went to Democrats versus Republicans in 2024 (“All but a few political donations from Dartmouth go to Democrats”; April 23). His only concern seems to be that Dartmouth’s ideological homogeneity threatens academic freedom. Nowhere does he question why his own views — and those of the Trump Republican Party — are so extremely different than those of Dartmouth employees, who are highly educated and informed and generously contribute to society, both locally and around the world. Relative to Dartmouth employees, Hamlen’s views are as extreme as those belonging to the 1% of Americans who believe that Hitler “was a completely good person” and more than 10 times as extreme as those belonging to the 10% of Americans who believe that the Earth is flat.

Editorial: Dartmouth should join the fight

The president of Dartmouth, home of the brave space, has been notably absent from the list of college leaders speaking out against the Trump administration’s all-out assault on academic freedom and free speech.

Column: A time for bravery

By O. SAMI SAYDJARI

It is no longer enough to be good; it is time to be brave.

By the Way: Donald Trump, higher education and the folly of appeasement

By RANDALL BALMER

I have no brief for Harvard University; my institutional loyalties lean toward Princeton, where I did my graduate studies, to Columbia and Dartmouth, the two schools that employed me for the past four decades, and to Yale for several delightful years as a visiting professor. But it appears that Harvard understands the cardinal rule of the playground: It’s impossible to appease a bully. The only acceptable response is to stand tall and, if necessary, fight back.