A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a Best Rate Guarantee case in which Marriott refused to match with a third-party site that sells the same room at a significant discount.

Readers are encouraged to email us with questions, comments, or opinions, Facebook, Twitteror Instagram. We will try to cover them here several times a week.

You can access Marriott’s Best Rate Guarantee program page here.

CONTINUE READING: Marriott Bonvoy Rate and Bonus Points Offers

Email from reader

I have traveled extensively over the past 40 years, with over 5 million miles on airplanes, a thousand nights at Marriott hotels and so on. I recently had several inconsistencies with Marriott’s Rate Guarantee (on their home page with links to policies and forms to fill out). One is particularly noteworthy.

The King Kamehameha Courtyard Hotel in Kona is one of my favorites in the world. I live on Maui and enjoy visiting family and friends on the big island which is based at this hotel. I was looking to book a few nights July 8-10 and was surprised at the prices on the Marriott website (unusually, points weren’t even an option). I found a list with prices ranging from $449 to $529 per night. The best rate for two nights was $898 to $1089.

I went kayaking to see if I booked the same nights. Kayak connected me to SnapTravel where I got the rate of $206 per night. I called Marriott and they told me to fill out their rate match form. I did. As promised, I received an answer within 48 hours. They wrote that they could not confirm that a lower rate could be reserved for an equivalent room. That “…after extensive testing, we have determined that this website does not accurately reflect pricing and availability and therefore we cannot approve your claim.”

Then they wrote:

“We do not reauthorize any claims (sp)SnapTravel.com.”

It then states, “Marriott reserves the right to deny a claim if it cannot independently verify the availability of a comparable fare at the time the claim is processed.”

So I put my 8 year old on my iPad and he booked the reservation on Snap Travel at the King K Hotel, nights reported in about 3 minutes for $206 a night. I replied to the first mail merge with a copy of the booking which they said they couldn’t do.

I would also like to point out that nowhere on their website or in any of their advertisements that tout the benefits of booking on Marriott.com with their rate guarantee do they exclude any supplier, and certainly not SnapTravel.com in particular.

There was then a response to my sending a copy of the booking. “I appreciate you taking the time to provide screenshots of the confirmation (note: I’ve attached a PDF of the reservation, not a screenshot). While guest-provided screenshots can provide valuable clues as to how prices are doing, they do not provide sufficient information to approve or deny claims. We must be able to independently verify the availability of the competing fare at the time the claim is evaluated.”

Apparently they need to hire more 8 year olds.

To improve my understanding, they continued: “…It will be helpful to know that we have a specialized team that is investigating the suitability of the competing websites we use and that team has advised us that Snap Travel is not a legitimate website for us is to be used when processing the claims we have received. Please note that this is a decision made at the corporate level and we must comply with any claim made through this website.”

In summary, I saved over $500 on a two night stay by booking with Snap Travel. My reservation has been confirmed (and updated) by the hotel. Nowhere on their website does Marriott exclude SnapTravel from their price guarantee. I, like many other loyal Bonvoy members, have been fleeced by their company policy. I noticed this a few times driving across the country in June of this year……but this was the most extreme example.

Kayak search:

I decided to do a kayak search for the same hotel.

A two night stay on Marriott’s website would set you back $1,089.97.

And the same room on an OTA is only $711.36. Marriott’s price is 53% higher.

The SnapTravel site that the reader is referring to was not available when searching Kayak (the OTAs shown are market specific and I was searching from Austria).

SnapTravel was priced even lower at $524.97, including all taxes and fees. That Marriott’s price is 108% higher!

Marriott Best Rate Guarantee Rules:

Marriott only lists the following websites that are ineligible for the program:

Prices on auction sites, sites that do not disclose hotel brand until reservation is complete (such as Priceline and Hotwire), sites that require login or a specific credit card to view or book, or sites that do Do not offer instant confirmation (e.g. an “on request” rate) will not be accepted. Prepaid, prepurchased, or non-refundable fares on Qunar, eLong, Meituan Travel, Ctrip/Trip.com, Ctrip/Trip.com Affiliate Sites, or Flggy are not eligible. All rates on WeChat are not eligible.

Conclusion

As I said before, these Best Rate Guarantee programs that all hotels offer today are just marketing promises and not real guarantees.

You can almost always find the same hotel at a lower price on an OTA than on branded websites.

Hoteliers believe that consumers who book on their site are not price conscious and sticky. So why should they offer them the lowest prices?

Also, it is becoming easier and easier for hotels to dispose of excess inventory via OTAs. Guests with previous bookings can also be upset when rates drop if they’re locked into higher non-refundable rates.

The reader is cautioned that the OTA SnapTravel is NOT listed on Marriott’s website as not being eligible for the “Guarantee”. I guess they don’t want to promote sites that keep selling their hotels at a significant discount?

Taipei —

An artificial intelligence (AI) institute in Hefei, in China’s Anhui province, says it has developed software that can measure the loyalty of Communist Party members – something that if true would be considered a breakthrough, but public ones sparked outrage.

Analysts said China has upgraded its AI-powered surveillance, using big data, machine learning, facial recognition and AI to “penetrate the brains and minds of its people” and build what many are calling a draconian digital dictatorship.

Clever Thought Education?

The institute released a video on July 1 titled “The Smart Political Education Bar” to boast about its “mind-reading” software, which would be used by party members to “further strengthen their determination to be grateful to the party.” to consolidate, listen to the party and follow the party.”

In the video, a subject was seen scrolling through online material promoting party politics at a kiosk, where the institute said its AI software monitored his reaction to see how attentive he was to the party’s thought education was.

However, the post was removed shortly after sparking a public outcry among Chinese netizens.

Hung Ching-fu, a political science professor at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan in southern Taiwan, said the Communist Party has misused technological advances to serve its own political interests.

“She has used cutting edge technology to bolster her party state. China has switched from early facial recognition to AI programs that try to get into brains and minds (more) than the eye can see. Adopting advanced AI will reinforce its total control,” Hung told VOA over the phone.

Hung added China’s AI-powered police state will strain its population, who are likely to censor themselves or live in fear.

digital oppression

But he placed little faith in what he called China’s digital oppression, which he says is likely to put the Communist Party in the “dictator’s dilemma” — a political term used to describe a government leader’s failure to protect the hearts and minds of his people to win.

“The higher you build your wall [of power], the further one is cut off from the people… This is what we call the “dictator’s dilemma” in politics. This means that despite their enormous power, dictators keep in touch with the people. I don’t think political systems that go against human nature will endure,” Hung added.

Calls and emails from VOA to the Hefei-based institute asking for comment went unanswered.

The so-called mind-reading software is just the latest digital control China has implemented.

China has reportedly used facial recognition in Xinjiang to keep tabs on ethnic Uyghurs and has upgraded its surveillance in recent years with “one person, one file” software to help track its population.

Late last year, authorities in Henan province reportedly implemented a similar system to track what they see as “suspects” of journalists, foreign students and women. At the same time, prosecutors in Shanghai have reportedly adopted AI prosecutors who can charge eight felonies, including credit card fraud and charges of initiating disputes and provoking trouble.

Chinese online newspaper The Paper reported that as early as 2017, a Sichuan Communist Party school had developed “Smart Red Cloud,” which could already monitor party members’ response to their political education and “calculate” their loyalty.

Victims of China’s surveillance system

Several lawyers and activists told VOA, on condition of anonymity, that they were victims of China’s digital surveillance system.

A human rights activist from Wuhan, Hebei, said he was once taken away by police, who were able to identify him after a roadside camera captured his face while he was on the street.

A Beijing-based lawyer complained that he could not post online news or register online due to China’s strict censorship and digital tracking system.

Another lawyer revealed that Chinese police illegally collected biometric data from the eye pupils, fingerprints and urine samples of those in their care to step up what he called “precise but vicious” surveillance.

However, China’s widespread application of AI technologies is stimulating the sector’s innovation, according to recent research by author Martin Beraja, assistant professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and three other scholars at Harvard University and the London School of Economics and Business political science.

Her research concluded that while new technologies strengthen autocratic power and autocratic demand stimulates innovation, “this mutual benefit could even lead to long-term, sustainable AI innovation in China and create a so-called ‘AI tocracy.’ “

AI tocracy

“In procuring this government contract, they have [AI firms in China] Getting access to this data which of course allows them to innovate for the government application typically related to public safety or crime prevention or the like. This has impacted their commercial innovation as they may either use the same government data or, where constrained, use the same algorithms trained on that data to develop commercial products used in the private sector,” Beraja said versus VOA.

Such commercial software is used in supermarkets, for example, to track consumers as they move down the aisles, the professor added.

However, Beraja expressed concern about China’s AI exports, which his research says are likely to help other repressive governments.

“One thing we observe is that the countries that are more autocratic or relatively weak democracies actually import more facial recognition AI from China, more likely to import facial recognition AI from China than other technologies. And to me that means that in some ways these technologies are actually being used for surveillance and repression,” Beraja added.

Zola, a prominent blogger from China who is now a citizen of Taiwan, said most netizens in China oppose the country’s digital oppression, although their opposition is often muted.

He questioned the sustainability of China’s AI tocracy.

“China may export these technologies to other countries. But in the long run, such a governance model will push a society to go to extremes… and repeat the irrational pattern of policy-making during the (Chinese) Cultural Revolution era. That will lead to his own breakdown,” Zola told VOA.

This article is from VOA’s Mandarin service.

BloomNation Powered by Promenade POS Eliminates the Complication of conducting online and in-store sales separately

SANTA MONICA, California., July 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — promenade group today announced a streamlined, integrated business management platform for florists with the availability of BloomNation powered by Promenade POS. Promenade POS complements the acclaimed capabilities of BloomNation’s e-commerce storefront solution and eliminates the complication of conducting online and in-store sales separately. BloomNation powered by Promenade POS acts as a single platform, enabling florists to run their flower shop with a full set of management solutions for ordering, delivery, billing, quotes and more.

Originally called BloomNation, Promenade Group has worked with local florists for 12 years and understood what shopkeepers need to run a successful business. Promenade POS was built from the ground up specifically for florists – the complete platform provides the tools to manage online and in-store orders, build relationships with customers, run back-office business and generate repeat business.

“Florists are creative artists who focus on designing beautiful arrangements that touch people’s hearts and celebrate everyday and special occasions,” he said Farbod Shoraka, co-founder and CEO of Promenade. “Promenade is committed to providing solutions that simplify and streamline the tasks of running a business with a tightly integrated POS and e-commerce storefront, allowing florists to focus on what they do best.”

The Promenade POS solution empowers florists to better manage inventory, response time and the fulfillment process with one place to store, organize, search and process e-commerce and in-store orders. The POS system is designed to improve efficiency and simplify back office operations for florists. Additionally, it provides a solution to quickly respond to changing market dynamics with a cloud-based solution managed and continuously updated by Promenade.

Promenade’s tightly integrated POS solution and online storefront gives florists back power and time, allowing them to do what they do best – impress and delight customers with creativity and service. Promenade POS and the e-commerce storefront enable florists to:

• Take orders anywhere, anytime and on any device – in store, online or in the back office
• Accept any debit/credit card (Visa, MC, Amex, Discover) or accept contactless/NFC, magstripe or smart cards with the Promenade POS card reader in store
• Easily manage house accounts and bill monthly or as needed
• Organize and send detailed invoices to customers with online payment options
• Create branded, customized quotes for large events and weddings, then issue an invoice
• Manage customer data in a sophisticated, integrated CRM system
• Provide data security and privacy with Stripe integration and private cloud deployment

BloomNation powered by Promenade POS is now available. For more information visit www.getpromenade.com.

About the promenade group

Promenade launched in 2010 as BloomNation with a clear vision to empower local businesses with technology, knowledge and support to attract and retain customers with a superior experience. Promenade’s e-commerce platform provides an intuitive online selling and shopping experience for thousands of neighborhood businesses across the country. From flowers to groceries to spirits, Promenade gives small business owners the tools they need to reach new customers, increase online sales, and easily manage both online and in-store orders. For more information visit www.getpromenade.com.

SOURCE Promenade group

Revolut said its card reader will allow businesses to accept payments anywhere with fast speeds and competitive transaction fees.

Revolut has announced plans to launch a card reader in the UK and Ireland, the company’s first hardware device on the road to personal payments.

Called the Revolut Reader, the device comes with a battery and accepts transactions using debit cards, credit cards, and contactless payment methods like Google Pay and Apple Pay.

The British neobank said the card reader will enable businesses to accept payments anywhere, whether their business is “in person or on the go”.

According to Revolut, the card reader takes less than five seconds to make payments and allows customers to accept, process and store payments within a single account. The British neobank also promises competitive transaction fees.

According to Revolut, the card reader can be adapted to other POS systems within a company. The company also plans to create its own POS option in the coming month to give larger businesses more flexibility.

The company said business accounts can be connected to Revolut Reader to get free access to smart Revolut Business tools like IBAN for global transfers, payment requests, expenses, subscriptions, payroll and corporate card management services.

“When developing new products, our team always has the customer needs in mind: a fast and easy-to-use solution that doesn’t slow down business, easy access to funds and faster payment than the industry standard of 2-3 business days,” said Revolut product owner Maria García Marti.

“Plus the security and long battery life of a small, pocket-sized device that can streamline operations without having to manage multiple accounts and systems,” said Garcia Marti. “That’s exactly what Revolut Reader offers our business customers: unlock real business growth,”

Revolut has over 18 million personal customers, with over 1.7 million in Ireland and over 500,000 corporate customers worldwide. The neobank has dared leaps into new areas in recent months.

For example, Revolut recently shared plans to launch a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service in Europe, despite having to compete with Klarna and a growing number of other providers.

The company also expanded its banking services in Ireland this year. Revolut Bank launched deposit accounts for its Irish customers last March, after launching its personal lending feature in Ireland the month before.

10 Things You Need to Know, straight to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily shortSilicon Republic’s Digest of Essential Sci-Tech News.

Your July horoscope for Sagittarius

July will place a heavy emphasis on handling money, and although as a Sagittarius you would prefer to devote your free time to other activities, such as reading, sports, travelling, listening to music, discussing interesting concepts of great philosophical thinkers, or having a lively political debate with a friend, instead, you probably find yourself at home at your calculator, banging away numbers.

Devoting yourself to money management doesn’t even make it onto your top 10 list of activities. Unfortunately, before we can buy a loaf of bread with a poem or buy a carton of milk with a drawing, sooner or later we have to engage in some degree of money management.

As you step into July you will see what I mean – the new moon, which actually fell two days before the start of July, on June 28th, will affect you for weeks to come. This New Moon will motivate you to look at your finances and find ways to keep more of your money as well as ways to make more. Is there a way to improve your credit score? There are apps for that – you might like one. Would you like to delete some recurring charges on your credit card, e.g. B. for some streaming services that you rarely use? If yes, then this is the right month for it.

If you have a retirement portfolio, you might want to talk to your advisor about tweaking to see if you can get a slightly better return on your investment, or to protect yourself against the upcoming volatility in the markets that will come in late October and early October could occur November. You may also want to review your insurance needs, e.g. B. Your health insurance, car insurance, or renters or homeowners insurance. It’s always a good idea to ask your broker what is and isn’t insured from time to time, as your insurance needs can change over the course of life.

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter keeping readers up-to-date with the most important news from Texas.

Texas students’ standardized test scores in reading and math were nearing pre-pandemic levels after falling the year before to levels not seen in a decade, according to results released Friday by the Texas Education Agency.

Each spring, Texas students take the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, test. In mathematics, 40% of all students in grades 3 to 8 reached grade level or above this year, an increase of 5 percentage points from last year. In reading, 52% of all students reached at least the grade level, an increase of 9 percentage points compared to the previous year.

“This gives you a picture of what’s been happening across the state in terms of student ability and it’s largely a story of recovery. It’s a story of hope,” said Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. “It’s a testament that we have extraordinary people working in Texas public schools.”

Brian Woods, superintendent of San Antonio’s Northside Independent School District, credits the return of students to their physical classrooms and the work teachers have done despite disruptions over the past year caused by the spread of COVID-19 for the surge of scores too.

“Let’s give credit where credit is due,” Woods said.

Friday’s announcement comes two weeks after the release of results for high school students, which showed a slight improvement.

The STAAR had a 98% participation rate among all students this year. In the senior year, STAAR exams were optional for students, and districts were not graded on results. This year, however, results matter and school districts are ranked according to results. Accountability results for school districts are scheduled to be released in August.

The school administration was concerned that last school year’s results would not improve significantly due to school disruptions caused by Delta and Omicron surges. In already understaffed school districts, teachers and substitutes were out due to COVID, prompting many districts to ask parents to fill out.

While the 2021-22 results showed improvements in math for third through eighth graders, current math levels remain 10 percentage points below 2019 math levels. Texas has had successful progress in math since 2012, when only 34% of students reached grade level or above math results made.

Reading was different, as this school year’s results surpassed those of 2019 and the past decade.

By Race, Hispanics, that matter More than half of Texas’ 5.4 million public school students also saw gains, as 44% achieved grade level or above in reading, a 9 percentage point increase from the previous school year and a 4 percentage point increase from 2019. In math, 34% achieved grade level or higher, an increase of 8 percentage points but still 11 percentage points below the 2019 level.

Among black students, 25% achieved grade level or higher in math, an increase of 5 percentage points from the previous year. In the same subject, 34% matched or exceeded their grade level in 2019. In reading, 40% of students reached grade level or above, an increase of 8 percentage points and 5 percentage points from 2019. Black students make up about 13% of all Texas public school students.

English learners, special needs and economically disadvantaged students also improved their reading and math scores.

In mathematics, 30% of all economically disadvantaged students reached grade level or above, an increase of 7 percentage points from the previous year. However, this is still an 11 percentage point drop from the 2019 results, just before the pandemic broke out.

In reading, 41% of all economically disadvantaged students reached grade level or above, a 10 percentage point increase from the previous year and a 5 percentage point increase from 2019.

Although there have been benefits for these students, there is still a significant gap between them and non-economically disadvantaged students. In mathematics, 55% of non-economically disadvantaged students have reached grade level or above. In reading, 67% reached grade level or above.

Among English learners, 29% were at grade level or above in mathematics, a 9 percentage point increase from the previous year. In reading, 31% reached grade level or above, an increase of 11 percentage points.

13% of students with special education were at grade level or higher in mathematics, a 1 percentage point increase from the previous year. In reading, 17% of these students reached grade level or above, an increase of 5 percentage points.

Morath said the improved results are a result of strong commitment from Texas teachers this year and help from the Texas Legislature, in particular house bill 4545, This requires schools to provide students with 30 hours of targeted instruction based on how many STAAR subjects a student has failed. He also praised the state-mandated teacher training program called Reading Academies. Teachers teaching K-3 are required to complete this training as part of an effort to improve student reading outcomes.

Historically, Texas hasn’t been the best at catching up students after a major school disruption. Students affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 did not meet state reading standards until four years after the hurricane, and in math, they never did, according to TEA.

At latest National Assessment of Educational Progressknown as “The Witness of the Nation”, less than a third of fourth graders in Texas at or above a proficient level and only a quarter of eight students at or above a proficient level.

Northside ISD superintendent Woods said the implementation of HB 4545 has been difficult as school districts continue to struggle with staffing shortages. Once school is back without COVID disruptions, Woods believes there will be faster improvement.

“The teachers will just have more time with the students,” he said. “That’s the key.”

Join us The Texas Tribune Festivaltaking place September 22-24 in downtown Austin and hear from over 300 speakers shaping the future of Texas, including Joe Straus, Jen Psaki, Joaquin Castro, Mayra Flores and many others. See all speakers announced so far and Buy tickets.

The latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data showed that 7.68 billion credit card holders spent about Rs 71,429 billion on online purchases, while the amount spent by swiping at point-of-sale (PoS) machines was at Rs 42,266 crore in May .

In terms of the number of transactions, credit card payments were marginally lower online at 11.5 billion versus 12.2 billion offline or at POS machines. (Representative)

Credit card spending surpassed Rs 1.13 crore in May, compared with Rs 1.05 crore in the previous month, according to official data.

Image source: Getty Images

if you use credit cards, you may want to set up automatic payment. This would mean arranging for the money you owe your creditor to be deducted directly from your account each month bank account. When you set up automatic payments, you don’t have to manually pay your card when it’s due — it does the process for you.

Setting up automatic payments on your cards offers some great benefits. But there are also some undeniable downsides. You should consider the pros and cons of paying for your cards automatically before deciding to use this feature.

Benefits of automatically paying your credit cards

Here are some of the biggest benefits of setting up automatic payments for your credit cards.

1. You can make sure you cash out your balance and avoid interest: You have choices when setting up automatic payment. You can choose to only make the minimum payment or pay your entire balance in full. If you decide to cash out your balance, you can ensure that you never have to pay credit card interest. This can save you a lot of money in the long run since cards charge high interest rates.
2. You don’t risk forgetting a payment: Setting up automatic payments ensures nothing slips through the cracks. Forgetting a payment can result in late charges and hurt your balance, but you don’t have to worry about that when auto-payment is turned on.
3. Here’s how to build your credit: If you make payments with your credit card on time each month, those payments will be added to your credit account. Payment history is the most important factor that determines your credit rating. Therefore, your card’s automatic payment can have a big impact on how you get a good review.

Disadvantages of paying your cards automatically

And here are some of the biggest downsides:

1. You may not be keeping a close eye on your spending: If money is only being withdrawn from your bank account each month to pay for your credit card, you may not be fully aware of how much you’re spending. You’re less likely to pay attention to your card balance if you don’t have to pay for it manually, and you’re less likely to check your statement to see what you’re spending and look for ways to make cuts.
2. You could overdraw your bank account: If you sign up for your card’s automatic payment and you end up not having enough money in the bank to cover it, it could result in an overdraft on your account. This leads to high fees that can set you back financially.

Is automatic payment for your cards right for you?

Ultimately, you need to weigh the pros and cons of setting up Auto-Pay. If you’re concerned about overdrafts or think paying automatically on your card will result in less responsible spending, you may not want to continue. But if you’re sure you’ll have the money and will still stick to your budget, setting up automatic payment is a great way to ensure you never face consequences related to paying late just because of something slipped through the cracks.

Check out The Ascent’s best credit cards for 2022

We firmly believe in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are solely ours and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offerings on the market. The Ascent’s editorial content is separate from The Motley Fool’s editorial content and is produced by a different team of analysts. The Motley Fool has a confidentiality policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

LincTex Digital, a Chinese company that makes virtual try-on technology for fashion retailers, has raised $100 million in a new round of funding.

As Reuters reported on Thursday (June 23), the funds will help the Hangzhou-based company expand internationally and move further into the world of digital fashion.

Founded in 2015, LincTex’s flagship product is Style3D, a software and hardware developer for the fashion industry. Originally launched as a virtual try-on and 3D body scanning tool, Style3D has since expanded to provide services for apparel designers and manufacturers, allowing them to leverage big data to create fashion collections.

The company has also begun venturing into the Metaverse with a digitally simulated fabric designed to mimic the look and movement of real clothing.

Read more: Amazon Adds Virtual Try-on Shoes

In recent months, a number of companies have introduced virtual fitting technology. Earlier this month, Amazon launched Virtual Try-On for Shoes, an interactive mobile experience that lets customers see how a pair of shoes will look on them.

The tool will “better inform purchasing decisions,” Amazon said in a blog post, noting that US and Canadian users can use it “from the comfort of their own home or on the go” through the Amazon Shopping app on iOS.

Virtual Try-On for Shoes offers thousands of sneaker styles from New Balance, adidas, Reebok, Puma, Superga, Lacoste, Asics, Saucony and other footwear brands. After customers have chosen a shoe, they can tap the Virtual Try On button below the product image and point their mobile device camera at their feet to see how the shoes would look on them.

Read more: Sally Hansen, Perfect Corp Introduces Virtual Try-On Tool

And in February, using Perfect Corp.’s AgileHand technology, beauty brand Sally Hansen introduced introduces a virtual try-on tool that allows shoppers to experience hundreds of Sally Hansen nail color options in augmented reality.

In 2021, Coty, the parent company of Sally Hansen, entered into an agreement with Perfect Corp., a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) beauty and fashion technology solutions.

Editor’s note: Star Tribune Opinion published letters by readers online and in print every day. To make a contribution, click here.

•••

When Title IX was signed by President Richard Nixon 50 years ago, I was 15 years old and ready to begin my sophomore year at Walter Johnson Senior High in Bethesda, Maryland. My twin sister Jane and I played with the WJ girls. Field hockey, volleyball, track and field and softball teams. Because of our skills in field hockey and track and field (I threw the javelin and shot put; Jane threw the discus), we played on these teams at the University of Maryland.

Title IX has spurred a great tide to improve the field for girls and women, not just in sports but in all aspects of educational efforts that have received federal funding. While my family has had a lot to do with the person I’ve become, it’s also because Title IX has opened up so many more doors for me and my teammates.

Title IX continued to open doors for my daughter and her soccer teammates in Winona. Being on a sports team has taught us all the life skills that we carry into our daily lives. The social and emotional support of being on a sports team has contributed immeasurably to our well-being, especially during those rollercoaster years of high school and college.

The Star Tribune editorial called Title IX “an example of what good government can do” (“Title IX was a US Victory,” June 21). Title IX has forever impacted every aspect of my life’s journey, as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, as the District Attorney of Winona, and as a single-minded member of my community.

Karin Leonard Sonneman, Winona, Minn.

ROE V. WADE

The dominant narrative tells us that Christians in this country witnessed the overthrow of Roe v. support Wade. However, in a pastoral way message Speaking before the churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on May 17, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton made it clear that abortion is illegal in all or most circumstances and is inconsistent with ELCA doctrine. Like many faithful Christians, we recognize the complexity of this issue and believe that criminalizing abortion neither protects life nor seeks justice. We support reproductive rights because of our beliefs, not because of it.

We believe that every pregnant person has the moral agency and authority to decide what to do. We also recognize that while choice is personal, decision-making often takes place in the community—with God, family, partners, friends, health care providers, and pastors. We respect and support each person’s journey to discernment.

While we long for a future with fewer abortions, we believe that criminalizing abortion is not the right way to achieve this. We reject both the total lack of regulation of abortion and laws criminalizing abortion in most or all circumstances. As people of faith, we also oppose laws that create barriers to accessing safe and equitable reproductive health care. To that end, we will continue to work boldly with others to promote public policies that ensure reproductive rights for all.

Pastor Jeff Sartain and Pastor Anna Helgen, Edina

The authors are pastors of the Edina Community Lutheran Church.

•••

Two recent letters to the editor about abortion capture our current dilemma perfectly (Readers Write, June 17). One, by a well-spoken high school student, is brimming with certainties of adolescence: It’s blindingly obvious that abortion is wrong; Black is black, white is white and any idiot can see the difference. The other, by an eloquent pastor (probably well into middle age at least), shows what happens as you move through life—it all gets complicated. Of course, a fetus is “life,” says the pastor, but that is precisely the dilemma we face – each of us must figure out what that means on our human journey, because the life represented by this tiny collection of cells will, sometimes conflicts with the lives of undeniable people.

The point is: We humans do not have consensus on these matters; this is not science, this is moral and spiritual reckoning. So why would we want the state to make that decision for us? We wouldn’t do it if we were as honest and thoughtful as the older, wiser letter writer. As someone who thought Ayn Rand was great when I was her age, I suspect the 17-year-old writer will be surprised at what she believes in a few years. Perhaps one day she will be glad to live in a state where the views of the good pastor are (fortunately) enshrined in our state constitution.

Stephen Bubul, Minneapolis

WEAPONS

I appreciated Gregory Hestness, the deputy chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, in his statement “If only we have held America’s arms race in check” (June 17).

His 40-year police career, combined with his experience as a pistol shooter, qualifies him as someone who sees through the politically motivated objections to responsible gun safety policies. His gun history lesson (the AR-15 was intended to replace the M1, the standard WWII military rifle) was helpful and only confirmed what so many of us already suspected: guns meant for the military don’t have to be available to the military stand general public. Recreational athletes, hunters, and those who care about home security don’t need semi-automatic weapons like AR-15s; There are other firearm options that will do the trick. Why would anyone need a sporting or home security gun designed to “deal as much tissue damage as possible”, kill people quickly and in large numbers, as opposed to a gun that simply has “stopping power”?

Hestness was referring to the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, which tragically lapsed in 2004. It is significant that in 1994 he supported Senator Paul Wellstone’s support for an assault weapons ban. It is no coincidence that mass shootings decreased between 1994 and 2004 compared to before and after.

With due respect to Hestness’ belief that “the train has left the station” regarding the possibility of banning private ownership of assault weapons, I believe we cannot give up on enacting changes that reduce the risk that the presence and availability of offensive weapons in our communities constitute for our security.

Lisa Weisman, Minneapolis

•••

As the Star Tribune reported on June 13, the Senators’ tentative agreement on new gun restrictions (“Senators Strike Deal on Gun Control”) does not include raising the age for purchasing an assault rifle from 18 to 21, although it does have guns , bought by 18-year-olds, were involved in the killings of 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, NY and 21 people at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Apparently Republicans can’t tolerate making 18-year-olds wait three years to buy an AR-15.

Can someone please explain to my granddaughter why Republican senators believe that protecting an 18-year-old’s right to an assault rifle for just three years outweighs the decades-old right of schoolchildren to a better chance at a full life? I can not.

Bill Kammerer, Edina

HOMELESSNESS

I see him out of the corner of my eye, still inhabiting a small space by the chain link fence at the corner of a street and a freeway ramp. A cardboard storyboard tries to explain why he is there and not at home with loved ones or behind a desk somewhere where he is productive.

He has a plastic Menards bucket to sit on while still being exposed to the weather and judgements. A black garbage bag hangs on the fence for packaging and bottles, which some passers-by thought were better than cash.

I’ve had endless debates with friends about what’s best — a few bills that get squeezed in dirty hands, require eye contact, or impersonal credit card donations to the Salvation Army.

I think smugly of challenges I’ve encountered and been able to overcome. But I know I didn’t have to walk in his tattered shoes.

Instead of dollars, he throws doubt in his path, my hand hesitantly hovering over my wallet. But the traffic light comes on and I’m allowed to drive past, ferried to Damascus in my own lane.

Steven M. Luke, Minneapolis