close

Editorial voices from elsewhere

4 min read

Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad as compiled by the Associated Press:

It is now legal for gay couples to marry throughout Florida. It is a difficult issue for many, one that can bring into conflict individual rights, religious beliefs, cultural traditions and rapidly changing social attitudes.

It is useful to remember that only a little over six years ago, more than 60 percent of Floridians voted for the amendment that limited marriage to a man and a woman. Views dramatically changed since then, and it is doubtful it would receive that kind of support now.

In any event, the courts found, understandably, that gay citizens are entitled to the same rights as all others and the ban on gay marriage violates the “due process” and “equal protection” provisions in the U.S. Constitution.

The marriages began Monday in South Florida. That should represent no threat to anyone’s personal faith and can be seen as a healthy development if you believe stable, committed relationships are good for society.

The Obama administration took on the admirable but tricky task of rating colleges based on real-life factors might matter the most to working families. If they’re going to scrape up the money for a four-year education, these families tend to worry foremost about how much it will cost, whether their children will graduate and get a job, and whether the new graduates will be able to pay off student loans.

It was obvious from the start, though, that a government ratings system would run into complications that might render it meaningless or unfair. Unfortunately, a preliminary sketch of the system, released to solicit public feedback, does little to allay those concerns.

The U.S. Education Department is rightly trying to avoid what one official called “false precision” – parsing minor variations among colleges and universities make no real difference. But as a result, it is going so broad the ratings would be all but meaningless. It intends to divide schools into three categories, essentially: excellent, bad and in between. Most colleges and universities would fall into the in-between category, which means that very few would receive a low rating. In other words, the only information families would get is that most schools are fine. That may be reassuring, but it isn’t especially helpful.

The Obama administration pledged to avoid simplistic comparisons that don’t reveal the real value of a college education. That’s to its credit, but so far, the ratings appear to oversimplify complex information and compare too many apples with oranges and bananas.

The United States measure to slap new sanctions on North Korea in response to the communist state’s alleged cyberattack on Sony Pictures may be a reminder to Seoul officials of the need to moderate their response to a recent peace overture from the North.

In his New Year address, Kim suggested he was ready to hold summit talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, if the right atmosphere and circumstances were created.

Seoul appears to be seeking to use a possible resumption of family reunions before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February as momentum for beginning the process of building mutual trust it hopes could eventually lead to a third inter-Korean summit. But it is likely to find it difficult to offer substantial incentives to Pyongyang in the course of carrying forward inter-Korean talks when the United States is tightening its sanctions on the communist regime.

A wiser choice for Seoul now may be to cautiously gauge Pyongyang’s true intent and sincerity toward change before making significant concessions to press ahead with inter-Korean dialogue.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today