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Readers write: community college; resettling migrants; help for domestic violence survivors

Letters to the editor for the Sept. 28, 2015 weekly magazine.

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Sara Miller Llana/staff
the abandoned village of O Penso, in northern Spain, includes four homes and several barns, as well as 100 acres of property. It is on the market for 210,000 euros.

Yes to free community college
“Obama’s vision for ‘free’ community college: Lessons from Tennessee” (CSMonitor.com, Sept. 9) highlights the importance of affordable higher education. If states adopted versions of President Obama’s plan for tuition-free community college, the American workforce could be built to the highest levels in the world – especially in advanced manufacturing. This should have been done decades ago. With free community college, the United States would have the most advanced high-tech factories and health-care programs in the world and a highly educated workforce.
Glen W. Spielbauer
Dallas

Find creative ways to resettle migrants
Regarding two One Week articles in the Aug. 31 Monitor Weekly: Wouldn’t it be just wonderful if some of those seeking asylum in Europe (“Denmark hardens stand on migrants”) were able to move into these very villages that sit empty in Spain (“Want to buy a village in Spain?”)? Surely there would be plenty of employment options both in rebuilding the villages and then running them. This truly would be evidence of one country’s abundance meeting another’s need.
Claire McArthur
Hamilton, Scotland

Help for survivors of domestic violence
The July 23 online article “Georgia murder-suicide underscores challenge of domestic violence intervention” (CSMonitor.com) documented the challenges in protecting children from abusers in domestic violence situations. When spouses are abused, they are often financially dependent on the abuser. While it has been shown that the most effective way for the state to protect a child in a spousal violence situation is to protect both the child and the victim, Child Protective Services often lacks resources. There is another option. Civil protective orders offer legal protection by awarding custody to the victim and ordering the abuser to stay away from the victim. Legal aid organizations such as Georgia Legal Services help domestic violence survivors seek child and spousal support, health care, unemployment benefits, and subsidized housing to become independent.
Vicky O. Kimbrell
Georgia Legal Services
Lilburn, Ga.

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Dear Reader,

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