Letters to the Editor: Sad case of former OCC student illustrates wasted resources

Re. “Ex-OCC student facing charges over disturbances is arrested again after failing to appear in court”: That Orange Coast College has to expend so much time to defend its handling of what appears to be a very troubled former student lasers on the problem with our education system.

Imagine how much time his chemistry instructor would have to spend were she to grant every single student dissatisfied with his grade a special exam? Imagine how much disruption he has already inflicted on the instructor’s classroom?

And why should this student be qualified for college admission if what his attorney said about him is true, that he is “unable to comprehend the significance of a restraining order.”

The major problem with our education system is that our teachers are forced to spend more and more time defending their actions at the expense of real teaching. Coddling our students creates only more problems for them in the real world.

John T. Chiu

Newport Beach

Voters need more details on health plans

Now that Sens. Bernie Sanders and Lindsey Graham have each submitted a new health insurance plan, why do we voters not have the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score for each new plan?

It would stand to reason that any newspaper that printed an article about the two plans would include a comparison of relative CBO scores. How can anyone see the difference between the two plans if all we hear are phony-baloney, bumper-sticker, talking-points like: “Death Panels” and “Big Government Takeover,” which, though proven false, are still bandied about today?

Mike Kelly

Huntington Beach

Sept. 11 attacks remain a painful memory

Monday’s 16th anniversary of 9/11 is as painful today as it was in 2001. Not only did we lose nearly 3,000 people that fateful day, the nation lost its sense of security.

Who could have guessed our shores were such easy targets for terrorists? Certainly not my mom and dad or two older brothers.

The sad truth is, my three children, ages 37, 25 and 22, hardly have known a time when U.S. forces weren’t fighting somewhere. This includes sending troops into battle during the 1991 and 2003 Gulf Wars, as well as separately into Iraq and Afghanistan.

Coupled with the ongoing deteriorating relations with Iran, these later wars were the launching pads for the terrorists who attacked us 16 years ago. Their successors, known today simply as ISIS, still want to inflict grave harm to America.

Life as we knew it changed forever on 9/11. It’s our duty to honor those who died that terrible day in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. We must never forget their sacrifice.

At my age, I know how lucky I am to live in America. I hope and pray my daughter and her two older brothers will be able to say the same thing 30 years from now.

Denny Freidenrich

Laguna Beach

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