PUBLIC FORUM SUBSIDIZED EDUCATION.Re ``Teachers learn too,'' (Viewpoint, April 29): One point I noticed is that public education in China is not free. This is the key ingredient that propels parents to get seriously involved. If our educational system required all parents to pay, I am certain that the climate of our public schools would be very different. In fact, I propose that President Bush replace free public education with subsidized public education. Maybe this is the way to solve many problems: to reduce the tax burden of property owners; to make parents responsible for their children; to heighten awareness in students' perspective on learning; to enable public schools to compete with private schools. - Christopher Chui Canoga Park Shortcomings Re ``Coaching the coaches,'' by Carolyn Whitehead (Public Forum, May 1): Fact is that we do understand. The Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. is a highly biased caste system, where the children are mere pawns in the establishment of a political and financial behemoth behemoth (bē`hĭmŏth, bĭhē`–) [Heb.,=plural of beast], large, fanciful primeval monster, like Leviathan, evoking the hippopotamus mentioned in the Book of Job. . Where else is it understood, and readily accepted, that less than half of the administrative staff are qualified for their positions, and irresponsible and unqualified teachers are retained despite their shortcomings? The establishment of another layer of unqualifieds merely reinforces the agenda. Roy Romer and the current school board stand as role models in this environment. - Dennis Barney Burbank Vet to vet Re ``Vietnam Veterans'' by D. Acevedo (Public Forum, May 1): Thank you from the depth of my soul for your thoughtful and caring comments about Vietnam vets. Kind comments have seldom been said about us. As one who volunteered to fight over there and was nearly killed by a rocket-propelled grenade in 1970, I arrived home at LAX, exhausted yet proud of my service, only to be taunted by a small group of teen-agers yelling ``baby killer'' to my face. You have helped erase some of the pain felt by that moment. Your heartfelt thanks project a true depth of patriotism for this mighty nation and for those of us who have ``laid it on the line'' so others wouldn't have to. I salute you and all World War II and Korean vets for making great sacrifices for us. As one vet to another, God bless you and all vets. We can stand proud of what we have done. - Ronald Moen La Crescenta It works Re ``Court-ordered drug rehab won't work,'' by Amy Peikoff, (Opinion, May 2): Ayn Rand Institute
 b·jekˑ·ti·vizˑ· , yet its senior writer neither was objective nor factual in her article regarding ``poor'' Robert Downey Jr. (``Can't we let him recover in peace?'') If she would have checked the facts, she would know that rehab treatment and 12-step programs work. Just ask the millions of men and women throughout the world who are clean and sober today because of rehab and self-help programs. I happen to be one of them. - Dean Gautschy Chatsworth Throwback throwback see atavism. The argument against disease model and 12-step treatment for addiction in Amy Peikoff's ``Court-ordered rehab won't work,''(Opinion, May 2) was a throwback to the late 1800s, when proposed treatment for addiction ranged from forced VD infection and nearly lethal quack cures to castration castration, removal of the sex glands of an animal, i.e., testes in the male, or ovaries and often the uterus in the female. Castration of the female animal is commonly referred to as spaying. . I would compare the ego of the author to that of someone who, having never had cancer, attributes that fact to having made up their mind not to - thus condemning all cancer victims for their lack of willpower. I sincerely hope that Robert Downey Jr. finds himself in the care of people more interested in treating his disease than improving his willpower. - Jack Carpenter Sylmar High octane I remember my dad telling me that during the Depression, everyone made whiskey in their bathtubs. They saved some for drinking, but they used most of it to put in their cars. He had a Model T, but why can't the same thing work today? - Bonnie Andonie Burbank Reality programs Well, here we go again. Two more ``reality programs'' coming to this fall's TV season along with repeats of current ``Survivor''-type programs written and produced by people who don't have the common sense to flush a toilet after relieving themselves. How much more do we have to put up with? Then there are the sponsors of this trash, who only do it for the money that people will spend on their products and services. The imbecilic im·be·cile n. 1. A stupid or silly person; a dolt. 2. A person whose mental acumen is well below par. 3. programming being shown on TV today only goes to prove the IQ level of people who produce and show it has deteriorated. For us intellectuals out there, we will be reading more, taking in educational pursuits, watching less TV, thereby helping the energy crisis by turning off our TVs more often. - Nelson Leverage Northridge Junk TV I agree with Earl Horwitz (Public Forum, April 24), that we must have enough morons to create an audience for junk TV, and that the TV moguls shamelessly exploit that audience with scripted and contrived programming in which no one is in any danger of surviving any perceived threat. Yes, the networks are focused only on the Nielson ratings and are not concerned with the negative effect that such programming produces, but if we blame the networks for the negative effects of junk TV, we might just blame the food companies and the restaurants for the epidemic of obesity in this country. Junk TV and junk food junk food n. Any of various prepackaged snack foods high in calories but low in nutritional value. junk food are in the same category; if it's there, people will watch it or eat it. - Harlan Campbell Tujunga They don't discriminate Re ``Reparations reparations, payments or other compensation offered as an indemnity for loss or damage. Although the term is used to cover payments made to Holocaust survivors and to Japanese Americans interned during World War II in so-called relocation camps (and used as well to ,'' by Jerry Perttula (Public Forum, April 25): Many hard-working people in America today are unaware that they, too, are victims of involuntary servitude Slavery; the condition of an individual who works for another individual against his or her will as a result of force, coercion, or imprisonment, regardless of whether the individual is paid for the labor. . It's a sad but true fact that much of the fruit of our labors is confiscated con·fis·cate tr.v. con·fis·cat·ed, con·fis·cat·ing, con·fis·cates 1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury. 2. To seize by or as if by authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. adj. under color of law The appearance of a legal right. The act of a state officer, regardless of whether or not the act is within the limits of his or her authority, is considered an act under color of law if the officer purports to be conducting himself or herself in the course of official by the IRS An abbreviation for the Internal Revenue Service, a federal agency charged with the responsibility of administering and enforcing internal revenue laws. . Instead of focusing on the victims of involuntary servitude of the 18th and 19th centuries, we need to focus on what's happening to the workers of America today and how we can petition our congressional representatives to stop this plunder TO PLUNDER. The capture of personal property on land by a public enemy, with a view of making it his own. The property so captured is called plunder. See Booty; Prize. of our labor by our current slave masters, known as the IRS and the Federal Reserve System, and return to constitutional principles of taxation and a money system of substance. - Celeste Celeste is a woman's first name. Celeste may also refer to: in Music
Northridge First 100 days George W. Bush's record in his first 100 days in office reads like a page out of the biography of Genghis Kahn. War against women's rights The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns. The women's rights movement began in the nineteenth century with the demand by some women reformers for the right to vote, known as suffrage, and worldwide. War against the Violence against Women Act. War against American with Disabilities Act, war against organized labor Organized Labor An association of workers united as a single, representative entity for the purpose of improving the workers' economic status and working conditions through collective bargaining with employers. Also known as "unions". , war against the environment. Saber-rattling against China, implying the use of military force. It appears that the right-wing Supreme Court has not appointed a president, they have appointed a war lord. - Zachary A. Charles Burbank School shootings When I was in school during the 1930s and `40s, we students carried our books under our arms. What books we did not need for a particular class we kept in our lockers. Students bringing guns to school was unheard of. Now, students carry backpacks in which they can keep their books and whatever else they feel like stashing in there. Perhaps doing away with the means to carry drugs or weapons to school might be one solution to help keep our children out of harm's way beyond the danger limit; in a safe place. - Latimer. See also: Out . If one child's life was saved, wouldn't it be worth it? - J.G. Martin Granada Hills |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion