A teacher’s fight; the Austin, Texas, plan crash; King Tut’s death

A star teacher

Re “A tug of war over a teacher,” Feb. 15

Thank you so much for your article about Gerald Freedman’s struggle to stay at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Freedman was one of the best teachers I ever had, and hundreds of other alumni have signed petitions and written letters to those in charge at L.A. Unified to keep him at the high school.

When a teacher has been at the same school for more than 20 years, has won numerous teaching awards, and hundreds of students and parents cause an uproar when his position is threatened, perhaps that means we have found an amazing teacher and shouldn’t push him away because of a technicality.

I would hope that the people in charge of our public schools would think more of what is best for the students (and the acclaimed teachers) rather than what is best for the budget.

Kirsten Hopkins
New York

Thank you for covering the plight of my beloved former history teacher.

He inspired me to put passion and commitment into every action and decision I make. With opera, musical theater, film and other exciting afternoon classes, the morning academic classes always seemed a necessary evil until I began AP history with Freedman. His class was a rite of passage for juniors moving toward graduation. To imagine a Los Angeles County High School for the Arts without him is not imagining the school at all. That a school has to fight to keep its best teacher every few years is a saddening reality; the only upside is seeing students and alumni exhibit passion for an educator.

Dara Fineman
Northridge

I attended LACHSA in the early 1990s and was fortunate to have Freedman as a teacher. He was an inspired instructor, able to animate history by showing its relevance to politics and culture.

He also is well suited to the unique challenges of teaching LACHSA students, who can be precocious, independent, creative, strong-willed, curious, anti-authoritarian and irreverent.

In addition to brilliantly preparing me for the AP history exam and the rigors of an Ivy League education, he was one of the influences that pushed me to become an educator myself, and I am now in my fifth year as a university professor.

It is absurd to unilaterally return this 69-year-old teacher to a city classroom when he is so clearly effective in the path he has taken. I’m sympathetic to the LAUSD’s need for veteran teachers, but Freedman has given years of exceptional service.

He deserves to finish his career at the school he loves.

Sarah Kanouse
Iowa City, Iowa

Terror from the sky

Re “Flight of fury,” Feb. 19

Considering that we live in a continental nation and that most of it, geographically, is outside cities or metropolitan areas, why not restrict civil aviation from those areas?

The death and damage that these small planes loaded with fuel can cause to multistory buildings is too great.

In another time, we were able to accept the presence of private planes and their airports in cities. Now, with skies already crowded with commercial aircraft, and in this age of terrorist attacks, economic distress and constant incitement of borderline personalities by talking heads on radio and television, we had better clear the air above densely populated cities.

Jack Eiden
Pico Rivera

Joe Stack is already a hero to the right-wing “tea party” movement.

It is strange that the young man who was arrested on Christmas Day for his pitiful attempt to bring down a passenger plane was immediately labeled a terrorist. But now, listening to talk radio, the right-wing media are in spin mode and are proclaiming this loser a hero. These Kool-Aid merchants are saying that Stack speaks for the average American. But what would these same merchants say if he’d had a Muslim surname?

Stack may have had some legitimate complaints, but he went about it the wrong way. My prayers go out to his family and to the victims that were harmed.

Russell J. Givens Jr.
Los Angeles

In one stroke, Stack has shown how impossible it is to win a “war on terror.”

Francis X. Fashing
Palm Desert

Wave of the future

Re “No ink, but a big deal,” Opinion, Feb. 14

I can check out my own groceries at the store, order clothing from my laptop and even place an order at Chipotle on my iPhone.

It makes sense that I would be able to actively participate in government by signing a petition electronically as well.

Those who contest the onset of electronic signatures don’t have much of an argument. Sure, electronic signatures open up a new door to forgery, but it’s not like pen and paper come complete with airtight security.

As part of the younger generation that is known for dismal participation in government, the idea of being able to do so from my cellphone is appealing.

If an app on an iPhone gets my generation more involved, than I’m all for it.

Jennifer Jones
Panorama City

King Tut’s life and death

Re “King Tut’s mundane death,” Feb. 17

The breakthrough surrounding the death of King Tut is quite amazing. We now know that King Tut died of malaria and had no disease that increased his feminine features.

A new tool for working with mummies is the cause of these discoveries. Not only is this new analytical approach to mummy investigations -- molecular Egyptology -- creating fresh twists for the history books, the report states that “DNA analysis of mummies can provide valuable insights into their lives.”

Tyler Alexander Cook
Sherman Oaks

Commanding respect

Re “Frederick Weyand, 1916-2010: Led U.S. forces in Vietnam War,” Obituary, Feb. 15

Ah, the 50-year-old memories.

In 1959, then-Col. Frederick Weyand was the head honcho of the 3rd Battle Group, 6th Infantry in still-occupied Berlin.

For a war-games training exercise for the grunts in Berlin’s Grunewald Forest, I was assigned as a radio operator for the umpire to accompany each of a dozen units as they went through the drill -- always in contact with the colonel, who gave directions and wanted to know how his boys were following through.

(They ran it once. I ran it 12 times, with the old-fashioned heavy battery pack on my back.)

As the last unit finished, I was summoned to report to the colonel. He complimented me for my work and arranged a three-day pass.

That’s the kind of man he was, and I’m sure his morale boosting was a big reason he rose so high in the military. He will be missed.

Ed Bresnan
Long Beach