Bail for Accused Teen

* Re “Teen Pleads Not Guilty to Bomb Charges,” May 4, about requested reduction in bond for Jose Carlos Herrera.

Hello . . . anybody home?

He makes bombs, but he’s not a threat to anyone.

His bedroom door was equipped with an alarm. He’s blown up toys, pumpkins and household items as a “hobby,” but he’s not a threat to anyone.

The police found many explosive materials including eight pipe bombs in his home, but he’s not a threat to anyone.

Maybe he is a straight-A student--but he still makes bombs. Don’t bombs kill people? Aren’t bombs against the law?

Keep his bail high. His classmates and neighbors have a right to be safe.

BARBARA LYNNE

Thousand Oaks

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* Re “Lessons from Columbine,” Times Ventura County editorials, May 2.

Everyone’s trying to psych out the killers, but what about the psychology of the victims?

After the initial terror and mass exodus from the building, was no one inside resisting? Just sitting there pleading or waiting to be shot? When approached by a single gunman, did no one try to get up and run, flail out at the guy, make a mad dash away? Did no one try to rush him from behind? What’s going on?

Was it an entertainment, even to the victims? The TV passivity syndrome? Did the victims somehow feel guilty and deserving, a kind of “Apocalypse Now” or “Last Judgment”? If so, guilty of what?

Does anyone have any idea of the amount and power of sexual guilt in our boys today and the inner depression and rage it can produce, not to mention the amount in our collective unconscious, and what it takes to expiate it?

ROY R. KULJIAN

Simi Valley

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* I am sure no one would disagree that the tragedy in Colorado has impacted us all.

I am a native Californian who spent the past 4 1/2 years in Colorado developing a program for expelled students. Prior to 1993, students were rarely expelled in Colorado. A law mandating expulsion for certain behaviors caused a 290% increase in the expulsion rates.

I worked with a community that operated by the motto: “Throwaway kids--not in this town.” I was fortunate to work with a dedicated staff that embraced those students who had been rejected by the system. These students were not easy to work with and, yes, some had been expelled for being on campus with a gun or other weapons.

In this program, students were held accountable for their behaviors and education. This was a foreign concept for many students and families. The stereotype of the “bad’ kid did not hold true, in my experience. We served students whose parents were highly educated professionals and who maintained a 3.5 grade-point average, as well as students who rarely attended classes and whose parents had to work two or three jobs just to keep a roof over their heads.

For students to be admitted, parents or guardians had to participate in various activities. Traditional educators were surprised at our level of parental involvement.

I am not suggesting that this type of program has all the answers. It is one of the many answers to our societal ills. Schools are just a microcosm of our society. What messages are we adults modeling for our youth? It is ironic that at the same time our president is saying we must teach our children that violence is not a solution--, we are bombing Kosovo.

CAROL LYNN NICKELL

Ojai