A Meg Whitman campaign ad; a scandal in Vernon; and teacher evaluations.

Larger than life

Re “10 times bigger than life,” Column One, Sept. 10

As a professional living in Los Angeles, I read your article with deep emotion. What a masterful piece of journalism and a tribute to a fine example of being a man who loves his children as much as I do. I am forwarding this to all my clients today as a kind of “stop and smell the roses” piece.

Steven Tyre

Temple City

This is an incredible, uplifting article on a man’s successes, caring and thoughtfulness about his family and friends.

It isn’t an article about dying but about living.

What a wonderful trend — appointing godfathers (or godmothers) for the children of a deceased parent.

I was especially moved by the statement, “Life is always messier than you could prepare for.”

This applies to every person — when we remind ourselves that life is not always fair and we have to cope with whatever comes our way.

Jane Brubaker

Orange

Whitman ad: Below the belt?

Re “Whitman ad inaccurate, state says,” Sept. 11

Misrepresentations, half-truths and outright lies — whatever happened to integrity in politics?

As your article says, when asked about canceling an inaccurate campaign ad, Meg Whitman’s spokesperson, Darrel Ng, replied, “That’s ridiculous.”

I think I get the picture. And it makes me less inclined to ever again grace the inside of a voting booth.

But who cares what I or the state Department of Finance think? Obviously, not Meg. Nor any other politician who would intentionally misrepresent, manipulate or spend millions to win an election.

If we let people like Whitman win, then we disgrace our democracy and the ideals of truth and integrity. And ourselves.

Kristina Mason

Los Angeles

Thank you for setting the record straight on Whitman’s deceptive ad accusing Jerry Brown of raising taxes while he was governor.

CNN and Bill Clinton used figures for the fiscal year 1973-74. Your article noted that Brown did not take office until January 1975, and according to the nonpartisan state Department of Finance, taxes declined during his eight-year tenure as governor.

When the Whitman campaign was asked to pull the misleading and erroneous ad, it declined. This says volumes about a campaign that has no regard for the truth.

The ad should be removed. CNN and Clinton should make public statements apologizing for the misinformation they broadcast.

There is a certain irony when a candidate who has not bothered to vote for years asks the electorate to go out and vote for her. Neglecting to vote shows a lack of concern for the state she now wants to govern. Is this belated concern for the state or promotion of Whitman?

Jean B. Rogers

Mission Viejo

For an easy assessment of Whitman, we need only look at her past attitude about public service. We might excuse her for not voting over a 28-year period, when she says she was too busy taking care of her husband and children.

However, we should note her response recently when asked to serve on a jury. This is “not a good time for me to give 100%,” she said.

One might wonder if that would be her attitude about serving the people — at least when it suits her — should she win the election over Brown.

Jim Hoover

Huntington Beach

Tolerance, and its limits

Re “A time for tolerance,” Sept. 11

Teachable moments occur often and — as in the case of a perceived threat, the building of a cultural center and the anniversary of a tragic event, which provide opportunities for developing greater religious tolerance — the outcome will be determined by the level of objectivity and civility that is maintained in the continuing discourse that occurs.

If people will be open to values and accept others’ points of view without exercising judgment, this moment could become a model for exhibiting how powerful dialogue can be in enabling the acceptance and valuing of others regardless of the differences they represent.

This level of interpersonal communication has the potential of helping us transcend fear, which is so often destructive in human relationships.

Karl Strandberg

Long Beach

Am I the only one who is disturbed in that, on the one hand, the media and the rest of the “politically correct” crowd are telling us to be more tolerant of the apparent “peace-loving” nature of Islam while on the other letting us know that any perceived or real slight will be followed by such horrible acts of violence and terrorism that even our military (the best-

trained and best-armed forces in the world) is at risk?

Why is tolerance a one-way street?

Orlando Duran

Alhambra

Vernon story strikes a chord

Re “Vernon officials traveled in luxury at city expense,” Sept. 9

After reading the article, I could not help but have a feeling of disgust and anger.

One can only wonder how many such cases there are throughout the state, draining the public coffers.

I also keep thinking about our latest political invention, the “tea party,” and how people are constantly screaming about government and the public deficit. Maybe they should begin to look closer to home and begin with investigating and cleaning up their local governments.

Steven Gluck

Torrance

The work done by The Times’ investigative team and support staff provides an important public service by shining a spotlight on corruption.

Herb Cohen

Lake Forest

Teachers and their data

Re “It’s all about the learning,” Column, Sept. 11

Sandy Banks is right about kids learning, but there’s something else that needs to be addressed: The teacher-effectiveness data gathered and published covers several years. Many teachers, parents and professors comment that the data are unfair, citing variations of “students are unruly, the parents are not supportive, team teaching, poor principals” — the list goes on and on.

Writer after writer seems to ignore that this is multiyear data. That is key; presumably many of the disruptive elements will be averaged out, leaving valid data for evaluation.

Many teachers write that they want to produce thoughtful, informed and caring students. But, at the end of the day, students have to know how to read and write and do some minimal math.

It is not hard to sympathize with teachers. But this is ultimately not about them.

Bob Harris

Oak Park

Thank you. It’s about time someone started holding teachers and principals accountable for the poor product they are turning out educating our children.

Royal Gardner

Lancaster

Good teachers know that students who have been publicly humiliated rarely thrive in that classroom.

The teachers who felt embarrassed by The Times’ report “value children.” The Times could have given the teachers the “value added” information to help them improve without publishing it.

Banks is right to say that it is wrong to “shortchange students who can’t afford silence.”

None of the teachers cited asked for silence; they asked for information to be given to them. It’s a very different situation, though, to publish information that should have been given to the teachers privately.

Sarah E. Adams

Rancho Palos Verdes