Rave casualties; Robert C. Byrd; welfare fraud; Sarah Palin

Enraged over a rave

Re “Girl, 15, dies after rave,” June 30, and “Scores injured at music festival,” June 28

If I am reading your article -- or at least its emphasis -- correctly, a girl died after attending a downtown rave because she managed to slip in underage.

Thousands of teenagers crash movies, concerts and other age-restricted events throughout America every day. They don’t all die. The raver did not die because she was 15. She probably died because, according to preliminary tests, she took Ecstasy.

Please do not blame the Coliseum or the party organizers, as your article suggests some are already doing. (Do I hear “lawsuit”?) Place responsibility for the girl’s unfortunate death where it lies.

Tom Ogden
Los Angeles

Who could not notice the glaring juxtaposition of the stories of two young girls on the front page of Wednesday’s LATExtra?

One of the girls, 16-year-old Abby Sunderland, had just returned home from the middle of the Indian Ocean where she had been rescued from a de-masted sailboat she sailed there, alone.

The other, 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez, will never come home again from a rave she had attended with thousands of others. It was just across town at the L.A. Coliseum.

Many questioned and criticized Abby’s solo attempt, at age 16, to sail around the world. Ironically, 15-year-old Sasha’s fatal presence at the rave that night poses a much larger question to me.

Steve Switzer
San Pedro

The rave that attracted 185,000 people and sent scores to the emergency room also was responsible for disturbing the peace for what I estimate is half the population of Los Angeles County.

For two days, the constant bass thump of the electronic “music” reverberated through our home and bodies. Not a pleasant experience, at all. With the windows closed, from miles away we could feel the vibrations over the sound of our own television, well into the night.

I can only imagine what it did to the ears and other organs of those who were there.

With what we know about the damage loud noises can do, isn’t that enough reason to keep this from happening again?

Terry Snyder
Los Angeles

To attribute Sasha Rodriguez’s death mainly to her attendance at the Electric Daisy Carnival reflects media prejudice against electronic music.

A number of factors potentially contributed to Sasha’s death, including lack of parental supervision, perhaps a fake ID, a dearth of effective substance use education, and peer pressure.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the 120 attendees who required hospitalization over the two-day festival represented less than 1% of total attendance. No mention is made in the event coverage of this low incidence of hospitalizations, nor is a comparison made to emergency room visits at other large-scale events.

I attended my fourth Electric Daisy Carnival this year and enjoyed the fantastic music and largely peaceful crowd.

The Times’ coverage of the Electric Daisy Carnival may lead to the demise of an event tens of thousands enjoy safely every year.

Kari Tervo
Beverly Hills

Remembering Robert Byrd

Re “Robert C. Byrd, 1917 - 2010,” Obituary, June 29

In acknowledging the passing of Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), I light a candle for all those former bigots that renounced their hatred and fear of “the other” and so transformed themselves from hate toward, if not love, tolerance.

My Bic lighter is up. Freebird!

Alex Downs
Long Beach

President Obama told Americans that Sen. Byrd was “a voice of principle and reason.”

This is the very senator who not only wanted to kill the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s but also was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

Does Obama not realize that he wouldn’t be president today had Byrd succeeded?

Salvador Sanchez
Los Angeles

Where the real waste lies

Re “Welfare abuse review ordered,” June 25

Of course allowing welfare recipients to use ATMs at casinos is a terrible oversight. However, the outrage from Assemblyman Martin Garrick’s (R-Solana Beach) office is almost humorous.

His spokesman’s observation that “$227,000 per month is an astounding waste of taxpayer dollars” sounds dramatically less astounding when you look at the truly astounding wastes of money perpetrated by all levels of government.

But oh, yes, these are welfare recipients at the casinos — and everyone knows they can’t contribute to campaigns. None of them want to work, and none of them want to feed their children.

Please. Let’s put our outrage, major investigative efforts and punitive direction where the real fraud and the billions of dollars exist, and not let them ride on the backs of the poor.

Judy Mader
Newport Beach

The Sarah and the pity

Re “Rednecks: all sound and fury,” Opinion, June 28

Alexis de Tocqueville in the mid 19th century noticed that for many Americans equality wasn’t about equal rights or ambitions, but about proving that no one was better than they were. “... A depraved taste for equality ... impels the weak to want to bring the strong down to their level,” he wrote.

As Gregory Rodriguez points out, that lack of aspiration and advancement separates “rednecks” from traditional minority activists who strive for a better life.

I don’t know about you, but when Sarah Palin as representative redneck acts as though she’s as qualified as anybody else to make crucial decisions because no one is better than she is, it scares me. Appealing to the lowest common denominator instead of encouraging ability and accomplishment is never a good choice.

If I need surgery for a failing organ, I want a certified doctor to treat me — not somebody who thinks that they can do it because they are just as good as the next guy.

Chris Fite
Spring Valley

Afghans’ free healthcare

Re “Healing bodies, winning hearts,” Column One, June 29

Maybe the United States should invade the United States.

That’s apparently the only way Americans could get the kind of free, high-quality healthcare that our taxes are providing for citizens of Afghanistan.

James Dawson
Woodland Hills

Where to see Disneyana

Re “Pack rat in the Mouse House,” Column One, June 25

The Times article on Dave Smith’s retirement from the Walt Disney Co. was a reminder of Dave’s considerable contributions to the Disney Archives.

We are excited to hear of possible plans for a new museum. Thanks to Dave and others throughout the company, we have already had the privilege to build an unparalleled collection of Walt Disney’s art and artifacts, now on permanent exhibition at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.

Your story reminded us that the museum would not exist without the contributions of many divisions of the company, including WD Imagineering, Walt Disney Pictures, the Animation Research Library, the Photo Library and Walt Disney Archives.

We appreciate Dave and others like him who have preserved the contributions of Walt Disney and those who followed in his footsteps.

Walter Elias Disney Miller
San Francisco
The writer, a grandson of Walt Disney, is president of the Walt Disney Family Foundation.