Letters

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to letters@ocweekly.com, fax to (714) 708-8410 or send to Letters to the Editor, c/oOC Weekly, P.O. Box 10788, Costa Mesa, CA 92627-0247.

BLOWHARDER

I want you to know how inoffensive and wimpy your cover was this week ["Where Have All the Blowhards Gone?" Nov. 14]. It was so entirely benevolent that I was uncomfortable looking through your fine publication without ripping it off the rest of the paper, drawing a big "do not do this" circle with diagonal line across the photo of an American flag ripped, torn and abandoned on a manhole cover. Maybe your next cover could show a guy with a net-covered khaki-green helmet signing "peace," with flower-power stickers and saying "velly intellesting . . ." How absolutely unimaginative. Wow, was I unoffended.

Barbara Sandefur doesn't want to "allow" her son to go back to Iraq with his military unit [Steve Lowery's "It's the Peace That's Killing Her," Nov. 14]. Sorry, liberals. He's a man, an adult. It's not Barbara's call, is it? Isn't it funny that liberals are always intoning maturity and wisdom for women, letting them think for themselves. But Kenny Sandefur doesn't fall under the feminist purview of protectionism.

ON PRINCIPAL

Everything else Gustavo Arellano wrote about Lathrop Middle School ["Principal Gone Wild!" Nov. 14] fell apart in his statement that "Lathrop is located in a rough neighborhood even by the standards of Santa Ana's barrios, so rough many teachers take computers home with them for safekeeping." Lathrop is located in the northeast corner of historic Wilshire Square, one of the safest neighborhoods in Santa Ana. Criminal activity here is on a par with most of South County. Your car is more likely to get stolen from the parking lot at South Coast Plaza than in our neighborhood, and prices for the homes in the neighborhood are in the $225-a-square-foot range, again about average for Orange County.

If Arellano can be so cavalier in showing that Lathrop is such a horrible place that he needs to try to trump up the teachers' discontent by adding such simple fallacies about the school's locale, I must question many of the other "facts" in his article. The fact as I have heard it is that Lathrop has long been a bastion of many malcontent teachers, which may better explain why there have been five principals in five years and ridiculous test scores. Dumping a principal because she's pissing off a few malcontent teachers will serve no purpose.

Gustavo Arellano responds: Brian Bist is technically correct—Lathrop is located on Main Street in the lovely Wilshire Square District. But just across Main Street—about four traffic lanes—are the barrios from which Lathrop pulls the majority of its students. Bist lives in Wilshire Square; presumably he knows this.

FAT CHANCE

In regards to Matt Coker's item "Do You Feel a Draft?" [A Clockwork Orange, Nov. 14], would Darth Rumsfeld be able to find any teen physically fit worthy to draft? With the way PE classes in public schools have been slashed and the rise in childhood obesity, I'd think the pickings would be slim (no pun intended).

PRETTY VACANT

I recently read an article by Rebecca Schoenkopf where she claimed "San Clemente is a pit" [Commie Girl, Nov. 14]. She based this on the fact that she visited Big Helyn's and Coconuts. She also claimed that she heard San Clemente had beautiful people but didn't see any. If you visit boot-head bars or burnout hangouts, and then claim erroneously that San Clemente is a pit, you are only illustrating your lack of research or even the need to verify your own statements. You would know that using Big Helyn's as your basis for San Clemente beauty is like spending the day in the Disneyland parking lot and saying "Disneyland is boring." As for San Clemente being a pit, perhaps you should drive around the gang-infested areas of Santa Ana or Orange, visit the white trash in Brea, or just drive around the mostly scummy areas of Huntington Beach or Garbage Grove. Rebecca, please continue to think San Clemente is an ugly-filled pit. Your absence improves this problem greatly.

THE JEWISH QUESTION

First Buddy Seigal writes about the greatness of the Righteous Brothers ["Wiggers With Attitude," Nov. 7]. Bam, one of them bites the big unchained melody. Next, he covers Simon and Garfunkel at the Anaheim Pond ["Jewboy Salvation," Nov. 14]. Suddenly the show is canceled due to a sick Paul. Maybe Seigal should cover the Sugar Ray show at the House of Blues on New Year's Eve.