Readers Write (April 17): Minnesota's budget surplus, student loans, Medtronic and complications, domestic abuse

The wisdom gained from a student with huge debt ("Let the student beware: A story of college debt," April 10) was best summarized by her plaintive conclusion: "I wish someone had explained to me — in words I could understand — about interest, credit and how the decisions I'm making will affect me in the future." She is lamenting the consequences of her well-intended college loan decisions.

Actually, her sympathetic and easy-to-understand problem is similar to the challenge our Legislature has. The April 10 editorial on the cover of the Opinion Exchange section phrases the so-called dilemma prophetically: "How to divvy a $1.03 billion state surplus."

Before we spend any of that so-called surplus, let me act like the adviser our frustrated student requests. I am among the many who say: "Give it back — it isn't yours." I'll add that the editorial's consequences would be additional, perpetual and unrelenting bureaucracy. The so-called onetime expenditures add to an already out-of-whack spending spiral.

I must give credit to the Star Tribune Editorial Board, however, for creating the graphic that shows its recommendations. It details the millions — yes, more than a thousand million — in spending. The tyranny of large numbers makes the individual requests of "merely millions" seem small.

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I appreciated the editorial's synopsis statement that "[n]ot all of it should be spent, but the opportunity to strengthen the state's future mustn't be missed." As a school board member in St. Louis Park, I have struggled with school budgets for the past 14 years. The state has a lot of needs, but the Legislature really needs to step back and look at our schools. Our students are our future — they are our best investment!

This is a nonfunding year, so I don't think we will get much school funding from the Legislature. Some legislators will say that they gave a lot last year — 2 percent. The modest increase to the funding was generous based on the past increases, but funding for special education has not been increased by the state (or the Congress) in a long time. In a year with such a surplus, now is the time.

I could not have said it better. HF 2448 is a special-education bill that is nonpartisan and benefits all of our students by reducing the "cross subsidy" that costs our district $4 million per year.

The article about student loans describes the travails of a 24-year-old woman who, after six years of college attendance, has no degree and $140,000 in student loans. She claims she was misled and ignorant about the consequences of such debt. This leads me to write a letter to all my grandchildren and yours that includes the following advice:

Join the National Guard or Army Reserves. They will pay all college tuition plus a monthly income. After two years of service — post-college — the GI Bill pays for graduate school.

If unable or unwilling to serve your country, attend one of Minnesota's exceptionally strong community colleges, then transfer to a four-year college. This will save more than $25,000.

Treat colleges as merchants that charge grossly inflated tuition. Complete your degree in four years or less.

Work 20 hours a week. This income will pay for books and fees and keep you out of bars and coffeehouses.

I graduated from the University of Minnesota with no debt and an officer's commission. I worked 28 hours a week. I had a "B" average (OK, 2.8).

Listen to your elders.

"The Medtronic Fusion Database Study of Adverse Events" was misfiled internally, not to be rediscovered until more than five years late ("Question of risk: Medtronic's lost study," April 10). The reasons given: "Employees collecting and cataloging patient complications [adverse events] were not sure what to do with them" and "whether a review [the retrospective study] is covered, is probably something we were confused about." It was discovered only after a team effort led by an outside expert found the study in 2013.

A librarian could have saved Medronic time, money and reputation. The job included someone with a firm knowledge of the alphabet, the discipline of adding and retrieving information, and cross-referencing intelligently and creatively. Even if a study is deliberately hidden (God forbid), a research librarian would direct the user from the real to the fake entry.

A 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://tinyurl.com/cz4g6fj ) found that men were actually the majority of domestic violence victims when the term included slapping and shoving. When only injury-causing violence is included, men are still 40 percent of the victims. This study also found that men are much more likely to report emotional abuse by their partners.

The overwhelming silence on this issue reflects our deep-seated prejudices against men in this culture. Men are taught at an early age that it is never OK to strike a woman; when are women taught that it is never OK to strike a man? In our media, violence against men is portrayed as humorous or justified. In the recent Lily Tomlin film "Grandma," Tomlin's character kicks a young man in the genitals and the scene is played for laughs. Can you imagine the outrage if instead an older man kicked a young woman in the genitals and it was played as humorous?

This idea that violence against men doesn't matter results in a system where half of all victims are men and yet not one shelter exists for male victims of intimate partner violence. Men have no support available. If men try to discuss abuse, they are told to "man up" or to defend themselves against their physically smaller partners. Most men do not defend themselves in this situation, in part because the prohibition against striking women is so ingrained and also because when men do defend themselves, even just by restraining their partner, they are the ones who end up in jail.

Please, in the future, keep in mind that domestic violence affects all genders. Until coverage changes in the media, it will be difficult to overcome our cultural biases and get help to all victims of intimate-partner violence.