Readers Write (April 28): Earthquake in Nepal, education funding, Met Council and housing, justice in America, Jell-O

I have a bad habit of falling asleep with my phone right next to me. On Saturday, I was awoken by a series of pings notifying me of new text messages. I was not surprised that they were from my mum, but I was not expecting the message. "Did you hear what happened in our ancestral country of Nepal? It's devastating."

My family has a simple yet complicated connection to Nepal, emigrating from there in the early 20th century to the other tiny Himalayan country of Bhutan, responding to job opportunities. So when my grandparents and parents speak of home, they remember the mountains of Bhutan. They recall the farms where they grew oranges, cardamom, you name it. But for my sister and me, Nepal is the country we think of when we say "home." You see, when she was 3 years old and I was only 2 months old, we became refugees. When about 100,000 ethnically Nepali people were exiled from Bhutan in the early 1990s, it was Nepal that provided us refuge — and let us stay for more than 20 years.

Nepal is an impoverished country. But what it lacks in economic power and political strength it makes up with the overwhelming kindness and generosity of its people. So when I see the people of Nepal becoming homeless following Saturday's earthquake, I want to do all I can to help them. The people you see on the news are part of a community that greets strangers with open arms.

One U.S. dollar is approximately 101 Nepalese rupees. Even a little goes a long way. If you haven't already, please consider making a donation to help with the relief efforts.

I applaud the Star Tribune Editorial Board's support of increased spending for preK-12 education ("A budget plan to aid all of state's students," April 24). However, a 1-percent-per-year increase in the general per-pupil education formula presents difficult choices for school districts. Based on a 170-day school year, the House proposal is equal to about 19 cents per student per day. The Senate and governor's proposal equals about 34 cents per student per day.

Is this how we value our children and our future? A 3 percent increase would equal approximately $1 per student per day. Less than that allows no funding for inflation and will result in teacher layoffs as well as other reductions in many districts. The formula needs funding at 3 percent or greater to maintain our class sizes and retain Minnesota jobs.

The writer is a member of the Spring Lake Park school board.

I am extremely disappointed that Republican lawmakers decided to amend the education bill to require students to use bathrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms in accordance with their birth gender. Every day, transgender youths face an incredible amount of judgment, bullying and hate in order to be themselves. It is our responsibility as a state to create environments that are safe for all people, especially those who face violence and hate. This amendment perpetuates discrimination.

Many have argued that enforcing gender-specific bathrooms is for the safety of their children. However, this is not a burden that should be put on trans youths. Instead the safety of children should always be the responsibility of the community. If anyone would use this opportunity to bully other students or to use the bathroom of the gender they don't identify with as a joke, they should be held accountable. Such action is a form of harassment, which is far different from a person who identifies as female simply using the girls' bathroom at school.

As an employed, disabled American and formerly homeless person, I was excited by the Metropolitan Council's s efforts to increase affordable housing as a way to reverse racial and economic segregation. I was ecstatic that friends of mine who have waited almost a decade may finally receive a Section 8 voucher. When I was homeless back in 2005, I gave up on getting a voucher, much less trying to find a landlord who would accept them in a safe and healthy community.

But while I am thrilled at this effort, building healthy communities is not about simply removing people from the impoverished inner city and placing them in a suburb. What is the accessibility to health care, employment, education, grocery stores or places of worship? Creating affordable housing in places where you have to walk miles to a bus stop or where mass transit ends after rush hour will not create healthy communities. Healthy communities for all, whether poor, middle class or wealthy, have to include accessibility and affordable, safe housing options, whether they are in downtown Minneapolis, Edina, Brooklyn Park, Crookston or Litchfield.

Thanks, Met Council, for your efforts. It just isn't enough to stop there.

1) Retired Gen. David Petraeus was sentenced to probation for disclosing classified information to his mistress and lying to officials. (A colonel would be in prison, and an enlisted person would never see the light of day.)

2) RBC Wealth Management was fined $1 million for selling unsuitable notes to risk-averse customers. This was the third offense in six years. No one goes to prison.

3) Deutsche Bank pays $2.5 billion to settle with U.S. and British authorities for manipulating interest rates. No one goes to prison.

These examples are from one day of news.

Oh, no! "The end-o of Jell-O?" (Variety, April 27) suggests that Jell-O may be on the endangered product list after the Kraft-Heinz merger. Jell-O has been a staple food in my family for generations.

Today most of our younger "grands" choose meat and rolls on the buffet table and eye the other concoctions with suspicion. Individual bowls of plain Jell-O at the end of the line bring smiles. The older "kids" enjoy all the selections and still add Jell-O (a good palate cleanser), and my husband hides a few bowls at the back of the refrigerator for a leftover dinner.

I will hug my Jell-O cookbook today and go shopping for lots of the wiggly treat. I'll stop short of hoarding, but there will be Jell-O at the next family gathering.

Note to Kraft-Heinz: You could drop the hyphen, but please keep the Jell-O product.