Readers write: Would it increase fraud if police didn’t respond to every fender bender?

Accident reporting

In his Jan. 10 column, Dion Lefler asked “Why do we have to wait for a blizzard to streamline auto accident reporting?”

In a single word “fraud.”

Though I agree there could and should be a means to streamline minor accidents, the idea of not having officers respond at all may not be that easy.

By having an officer on the scene and reviewing the accident, gathering the information, and preparing a report, there is less chance of someone trying to commit fraud to succeed.

The IDs are checked, insurance verified the best they can at the scene, and actual damages are witnessed.

This prevents the uninsured driver from claiming that someone else was driving, or the parent of the under-aged driver that was not insured claiming that it was them behind the wheel.

Officers are also trained to pick up on clues when the driver may have been impaired that the regular citizen would have missed.

I am all for streamlining the process, maybe having a dedicated traffic patrol that only investigates accidents, but removing officers from the equation will remove protection that we need in this litigious society.

Internships boost students

This summer, we were chosen to participate in the Bank of America Student Leaders program. Through this program, we were given the opportunity to spend eight weeks working with Goodwill Industries of Kansas, where we created meaningful industry connections, grew as young professionals and learned invaluable lessons about ourselves and the world around us.

Over the course of our internship, we were able to work on multiple projects and attend educational events. During a typical day, we would have the opportunity to help with various tasks, such as overseeing operations in stores, working with clients, collaborating with the marketing team and spending time at events.

Not only did these projects help us to learn more about how nonprofits, businesses and the government work together, but it also gave us the chance to strengthen our multitasking skills — a valuable ability in all these industries. Additionally, our communication skills grew stronger as we continued our internship and learned how to become better team players.

We didn’t just learn about nonprofits and businesses – we had the opportunity to learn more about managing our personal finances. Bank of America shared its Better Money Habits with us, including financial tips and tricks that we’ll carry with us forever. As we prepare to graduate high school next year and begin our college careers, these tips will help to set ourselves up for financial success.

As part of our eight-week internship, we had the opportunity to attend the national Student Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. There, we met with over 300 of our fellow student leaders from communities across the U.S. It was great to be surrounded by other community-minded young adults, hear from notable speakers and visit our nation’s capital. While there, we were immersed in the importance of civic engagement by connecting with Kansas elected officials and experiencing the potential global community leaders and young adults have to drive positive community change.

The opportunity to complete a paid summer internship while gaining real-world experience working with nonprofits has been extremely rewarding. In the future, we look forward to applying the experiences and skills we’ve learned.

AI in school

It feels like even with time we see more flaws with the modern education system.

With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, like Chat GPT, being used for cheating in school, I cant help but think that modern students are put in a system that gives such dull, mind-numbing , and tedious work that a literal robot could do it.

But on the other hand, its a system that’s been in place for decades and it hasn’t seemed to slow down the progress of America in the slightest.

Even if we came to a decision on weather the modern education system is flawed, what steps would have to be taken to change thing, or is it even possible to change.