Dana Parsons Columns: A Miss and a Hit

* As the parent of a 14-year-old son who attends school in Yorba Linda, I take great offense at Dana Parsons’ July 21 column criticizing the Stanford 9 test.

Contrary to his belief, there are a lot of children who try their best when taking these exams.

Also, there are a lot of parents who encourage their children to do well on the tests and actually read the results when received to better determine how they may help their children to improve.

My son consistently scores each year in the 90th percentile in reading, in the mid-80th percentile for math, and slightly lower for language. In fact, this year he had many perfect scores.

The girls that Parsons referred to obviously don’t have parents who read the test scores, much less hold their children accountable for the results.

I go out of my way to make sure that my son has had enough sleep and a good breakfast before he takes these exams. I tell him to try his best even though it may not count toward his grade.

Believe me, my son is no “nerd” or any angel; he certainly rebels against plenty of things. But he knows that I care, so he does his best.

If those girls’ parents cared about the results and encouraged their children to do their best, Parsons would have gotten a different response from them.

Don’t judge the value of the Stanford 9 testing on the “confessions” of these three irresponsible girls and their parents’ failure to teach them right from wrong and to have pride in themselves for doing a good job even if it doesn’t “count.”

Their attitude is tragic, because in the greater scheme of things it does count--toward building their self-esteem and moral character.

Also, with respect to Parsons’ conclusion that these tests result in “bogus” scores, I sincerely doubt, as a parent, that what these girls told him was even true. To me it sounds like some young girls trying to act tough.

LISA GERAURD

Yorba Linda

* Interesting that on the same page of the July 23 Times there is Dana Parsons’ always on-target column about Disneyland and an equally interesting article about our own little pastoral summer event, the Festival of Arts.

Well, to most of the residents of Laguna, summer is no festival.

When 225,000 “visitors” show up during a two-month period, it is a nightmare for the locals.

The tourists may spend $6 million on snacks and trinkets, but we are forced to bravely head out to parts north or east to make our necessary purchases.

The option of driving on Pacific Coast Highway is no longer available. It is gridlock, as Ken Auster so aptly depicted in his recent painting.

Crosswalks mean nothing, traffic lights mean nothing. Road rage takes on a whole new dimension. Locals are livid as tourists block our driveways, throw trash wherever, look into our houses as though we are Disneyland attractions.

So perhaps the answer is that we need something even bigger than the festival. Perhaps the ever-shrewd moguls at Disneyland would consider putting up an attraction in Laguna during the summer that simulates a cultural event but brings in even more money and more tourists so that we could at least be financially compensated as a city for the travails of our residents.

Let the festival go to San Clemente. We’ll all be waving on the roadside as Mickey brings his traveling circus into town.

PAMELA BOBIT

Laguna Beach