In a July 9 letter to the editor, Timothy Case of Middlebury presented a strong case to prohibit Middlebury College resuming in-person classes. Some institutions of higher learning have been very successful at distance learning — online education — even prior to the COVID-19 epidemic. The decision by Middlebury College not to build such a system at a time like this is not only its failure to plan and prepare for its own future, but it constitutes an insult to the people of Addison County, who naturally have as our highest concern our own safety. 
Consequently, why are not public officials at all levels but especially locally in Middlebury requiring Middlebury College to reverse that decision? As a voter, I want to know why. Are there not measures which these officials — who, after all, represent the public and not the students who are mainly from outside Vermont — can take which will incentivize the College to do what it should do for its own future, and what it must do for the people who live here full-time and permanently? Why are they not doing it?
Eric Zuesse
Whiting