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To the Editor:

Re “North Carolina’s District Maps Thrown Out” (news article, Sept. 4):

People of all political stripes should welcome this ruling, which tossed out North Carolina’s gerrymandered district maps. This decision is a step in the right direction to ensure that people’s voices are heard equitably. If Republicans had faith in their ideas, they would develop policies that encourage equal participation and representation instead of devising new and creative ways to tilt the playing field for their benefit.

Edwin Andrews
Malden, Mass.

Oversight on Landlords

To the Editor:

“$500 to Apply for an Apartment? Isn’t There a $20 Cap?” (news article, Sept. 3) is a perfect illustration of the lengths actors in the real estate industry will go to evade new laws to maintain a competitive advantage. If anything, it supports the need for more oversight and reform to clamp down on an industry that has policed itself for decades.

Legislation pending at the New York City Council would explicitly target brokers and cap fees on what they can charge for and how much. But the monetary penalties on each of these bills must be increased so they are not shrugged off as a “cost of doing business” but something meaningful that will definitively change behavior.

Albany recently passed some of the most historic and desperately needed reforms to our broken housing system that will benefit thousands. Landlords — unhappy with this change — will continue to try to circumvent these laws.

Our state and city lawmakers must remain vigilant and respond with more legislative action to build on the successes of those reforms to wholly root out exploitive practices used by landlords.

Robert Desir
New York
The writer is a staff attorney in the Civil Law Reform Unit at the Legal Aid Society.

The Value of the Myers-Briggs Personality Test

To the Editor:

“Questioning Personality Assessments,” by Quinisha Jackson-Wright (Smarter Living, Aug. 26), points out valid issues of assessment misuse, but comes to the wrong conclusion, that these assessments have no role in the workplace.

Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or M.B.T.I., tool for any kind of selection, including hiring, promotion or team assembly, goes against what it was intended for and is unethical. But this unfortunate and occasional misuse shouldn’t cancel out the positive effect it delivers in thousands of companies, universities, government agencies and individuals when used correctly — for leadership development, conflict management and team building.

Regarding reliability, the most recent data on the Global M.B.T.I. assessment show that comparatively it is well within the bounds for a psychometric assessment.

The article says “personality assessments are too broad to judge people by.” I agree that the M.B.T.I. assessment should not be used to judge people at all, but instead to build self-awareness and appreciation for personality differences.

Rich Thompson
Sunnyvale, Calif.
The writer is senior director of research for the Myers-Briggs Company.

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