I am outraged that you ran the ridiculous article on the coronavirus by Douglas Zork in the October Shuttle. 

Of course, people have a right to their opinions, but to print this article without a similar-sized rebuttal is a huge error in judgment. You should have either stated that the management is not endorsing his opinion or found someone to write a rebuttal. 

The way the article prominently appears, with no editorial comments or disavowal, gives the impression that the Co-op management is endorsing this viewpoint. It might not be so bad if the topic were climate change, where we are talking about the future. But we are talking about a current pandemic, which has already killed 210,000 Americans and is still killing almost 1,000 more people every day. 

I say to Douglas, “Do you know of anyone who has the coronavirus?” I do; my friend was in intensive care for over a month and it is taking her many more months to recover. And I have friends who know of people who have died. 

To give opportunity to naysayers is completely irresponsible. We already have enough falsehoods from President Trump, who said, “Don’t be afraid of COVID. Don’t let it dominate your life.”

In a recent issue of the New York Times, Harold Schmidt, assistant professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, was quoted as saying about Trump’s statement, “This is crazy. It is just utterly irresponsible.” The Times added that Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, called Trump’s message “dangerous” because it encourages people to ignore basic recommendations to keep themselves safe. 

“It will lead to more casual behavior, which will lead to more transmissions of the virus, which will lead to more illness, and more illness will lead to more deaths,” Schaffner said. 

Allowing Douglas to state his words and ideas without challenge shows a lack of good judgment by the Co-op management. I am disappointed and disillusioned. Remember — we are talking about peoples’ lives!

— Eric Corson