Recently in our school, we had a false hostage situation call. This happened after school when there were still students present for extracurricular activities. However, our police liaison officer leaves at 3:05 (when school is over). This means that there is no extra protection, leaving the school in jeopardy. This poses an open spot in the school's security entrance system. Such systems are set up so that no one can get in, but if someone is already in the school and the officer leaves, that system is not doing us any good. I am asking that officers be required to stay there until all activities are over and no students are left in the school. Also, they should be among the first to arrive in the morning, preventing that time period from also becoming subject to a security breach.

Spencer Rosar, Ham Lake

The writer is an eighth-grader.

IMMIGRATION

Tsk-tsk to those who tsk-tsk the president

If we can believe what we read in the newspaper, bipartisan support already exists for the immigration reform bill passed by the U.S. Senate. The problem seems to be that, despite majority support for the bill in the House, Speaker John Boehner refuses to bring the bill up for a vote. I appreciate Tim Penny's and Jim Kolbe's effort to appear thoughtful and reasonable about President Obama's executive action on the matter ("Immigration: right goal, wrong means," Nov. 25), but I think they seriously miss the mark.

Stan Deno, St. Louis Park

• • •

Penny and Kolbe write: "Mr. President, we largely agree with you on the immigration issue. But we question the wisdom of taking executive action to implement your preferred policies, while snubbing Congress and the legislative process. We wish you hadn't done it."

"Snubbing Congress"? How — in exercising his lawful, recognized authority in a way that Republican presidents have done before him — has the president snubbed Congress? He has, in fact, repeatedly invited Congress to pass a bill obviating the need for his executive action. Congress has had years to take up this issue in a meaningful way and pass immigration reform, but the Republican contingent has continually obstructed or ignored the issue. After all this time, when the problem has reached such a critical point without any substantive solutions from Congress, the president has acted in the best humanitarian interests of people who stood to suffer real harm.

If Penny and Kolbe agree with the president on immigration, they should be chiding Congress for its persistent and irrational refusal to proceed on any meaningful issue: clean energy, the budget and the economy, or immigration.

Guy Hardy, Minneapolis
FERGUSON REACTION

What we ask of police is no easy task

Speaking as a lifelong antiracism activist, and as a friend of police, here is what I saw this week: No police officer is paid enough to perform to required standards. They are expected to always get it right, just like we expect from doctors. Doctors can't be that good, either, and the same applies to grossly underpaid bartenders and food-service workers who are expected to regulate the effects of alcohol on customers. It's all wrong.

America is a country full of screaming racists like those who detest the president. No one can blame black Americans for outrage on that issue alone. The decision required of the grand jury was stunning in its detail. Our legal system is heavy-duty. Is that good or bad? I listened to the police officer explain his actions. I felt very sorry for him. I think that it's true that we need high-quality body cameras for such an important public service. All citizens must respect and obey demands of police officers, and officers need daily reminders that all the people are their boss in the end.

Robert Perschmann, Chaska
THANKSGIVING

An earlier date would be a better experience

This week we should have been dreaming of a white Christmas, not suffering a snowy, slippery Thanksgiving. We should have been driving to Grandma's house, not calling AAA for a start or a tow from a ditch. We should not have been bombarded with Black Friday ads that started a week earlier, nor should we have gotten up from the table to head for a store.

Traditions are hard to change, but is it not obvious that the middle of October would be a better time for Thanksgiving? Canada shows that an earlier holiday works well. It moved the date for its Thanksgiving several times before settling in 1957 on the second Monday in October. We would want to be later, and either the second or third Thursday in October would be fine.

Is it possible that a changed date is something on which Congress and the president might agree? If so, we could be done with cold and snowy Thanksgivings and avoid the problem of Christmas giving Thanksgiving the spirit of a spending spree.

Ronald Palosaari, Maple Grove
FREEWAY LIDS

See? Shortsighted plans must be undone

It is encouraging to hear politicians and planners talk of placing a cover over parts of freeways that slash through our neighborhoods ("Urban coverup," Nov. 23). It may somewhat restore what was lost because of bad decisions made in the 1950s to route highway traffic into heavily populated urban areas.

More important, it is a lesson in how decisions made today can have sometimes devastating effects in the future. In 1954, the Twin Cities also scrapped a streetcar system that was at one time considered the best in the country. Picture how modernizing and revamping it could have made the metro that much more livable today.

We should always be aware of politicians making policy in a frivolous and shortsighted manner, and we should always call them on it.

Frederic J. Anderson, Minneapolis
ADRIAN PETERSON

Time away from game could be time with kids

Are we ignoring the elephant in the room as we wait to hear the results of the Adrian Peterson situation (as the NFL players union appeals his suspension)? How is it possible for the father of several children with different mothers to be a present and involved parent and role model?

Maybe with enforced time away from football, this gifted athlete, a hero to many, can take time to focus on his parenting commitment and consider the critical impact of the daily presence of a loving father.

Jackie Nesbitt, Bloomington
SARTORIAL SENSIBILITIES

Young men, you'll have to field this one

I have a question — well, in fact, I have several questions, but this one will do for now:

Why do young men think that looking at their underwear is attractive?

Elizabeth A. Mische, St. Paul