Letters: Know who to contact for social distancing violations; The cost of political correctness?

Know who to contact for social distancing violations

See something? Say something! On a recent weekday at 6:30 p.m. I walked down Allen Street wearing a mask, now mandatory when leaving home. All was quiet until I approached a restaurant/bar with doors open, tables extremely close together, and filled with people, many seated waiting for service. I kept walking but couldn’t get that scene out of my mind. So I did some research. Here is what I learned. The Borough of State College Division of Health and Food Safety is responsible for guiding and overseeing restaurants and bars in the borough and surrounding townships. With a limited staff of three inspectors, they do enforcement visits at the 450-500 licensed food facilities under their jurisdiction on a complaint-basis only, depending on residents or visitors to contact them to report an establishment if they suspect the required guidelines are not being followed. Please do your civic duty and be their eyes and ears. Call them at 234-7191 or email them at healthdept@statecollegepa.us. They will follow up and work with the establishment to become compliant if they wish to remain open for table service. Be aware that table layouts, including chairs extended when a customer is seated, must be at least 6 feet apart. No more than 50% capacity of fire code allowance including staff is allowed. For more information read FAQs on COVID-19 Safety Measures at www.statecollegepa.us/DocumentCenter/View/22468/State-College-COVID-FAQs-06042020. Together we can help support our local restaurants, and do everything possible to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The cost of political correctness?

The Centre County in which we live was part of the land purchases legally bought from the Six Nations in the Treaties of 1754 and 1768. It was not until after the American Revolution that settlers immigrated in large masses to the area. They then adopted names of the Native Americans who once roamed here to name streams, valleys and mountains. During the 1920s Bellefonte adopted red and white as their colors. In 1935 the Centre Daily Times first coined the phrase “Red Raiders” which students in 1936 officially adopted as the school mascot to honor the Native American Indians who roamed the area. Since then, the district has done a great job in honoring those who came before us in a respectable way.

Now some want to change it, and while I respect their views, they fail to understand the enormous amount of money it would take to replace it or how long the process would take. If passed, the board will first form a committee to determine the costs of replacing mascots, equipment, uniforms and anything else with the logo. Then they will take bids which will take time, then they will have to determine if it is worth it. If sued, it could be in court for years. All the while board members who voted for it will be replaced.

Are they willing to pay for the costs required to change everything? My guess is no. We will be left to deal with the costs because of political correctness.

What will it take to get people to wear masks?

In reading the article in Tuesday’s CDT about the White House again stating there would be no mandatory requirement nationwide to wear a mask during the COVID-19 outbreak, it brought to mind a statement that I thought was very appropriate. The statement is as follows: “It took ‘Click it or Ticket’ to get people to wear a seat belt. I wonder if ‘Mask it or Casket’ might work to get people to wear masks?“