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Marking 30 years of AIDS; easy colleges; the death of Jack Kevorkian

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30 years of AIDS

Re “A mixed picture of AIDS at 30,” June 5

In October 1981, my father had heart surgery; he recovered quickly and began a healthier life. At the time he was a very successful attorney in Los Angeles.

Three years later he started to get sick and had to stop working. Not one doctor knew what was wrong or how to help him. He died in 1987 because of the transfusion of HIV-tainted blood during his surgery.

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My mother lied to her friends and told them he died of cancer because of the stigma of AIDS.

This story is one of many about people who were not gay or promiscuous but were struck down by this horrible disease. Since that time I have supported

AIDS Project Los Angeles and have come to terms with my father’s death. Every time I hear of a new drug or therapy to defeat AIDS, I feel encouraged.

Robert Alschuler

Santa Monica

I remember vividly how Ronald Reagan’s administration chose to ignore this plague. His followers created a poisonous atmosphere by blaming the victims. His indifference was such that he never publicly uttered the word “AIDS” until his seventh year in office.

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The eight-year response of George W. Bush was in some ways a sad replay of the Reagan years. To his credit, Bush championed funding for AIDS research. However, he still advocated abstinence education, as if the only things he could offer suffering Americans were prayer and platitudes.

The political situation today is even more frightening. Republicans see scientific research as something to suspect rather than embrace. Evolution denial is practically a litmus test for the GOP presidential nomination. Is anybody troubled by these developments?

Bob Smagula

Santa Barbara

Taking the ‘try’ out of college

Re “College, too easy for its own good,” Opinion, June 2

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Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa offer a variety of reasons for why student learning is declining at many colleges. But only in the second half of the article do they get to the real root of the problem: the excessive reliance on student evaluations.

I have been teaching at the university level for close to 25 years. I have seen the emphasis on student evaluations grow in proportion to the decline in standards, not only in academic rigor but in attendance and classroom discipline. My colleagues and I often lament this.

When faculty members are evaluated against a “norm” based on their colleagues’ scores, everyone strives to find a way to ensure that their course workload and, thus, their evaluations fall within the norm, even if this means demanding less. The result is a “lowest common denominator” culture.

Gayle K. Brunelle

Fullerton

The writer is a professor of history at Cal State Fullerton.

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Arum and Roksa are naive if they believe that the solution to accountability in higher education rests with trustees and administrators. That’s because their primary mission since the 1990s has been to maximize profits rather than educate students. Skeptics of this view need only ask which goal is more rewarded: a multimillion-dollar gift or a rigorous curriculum?

Like it or not, colleges and universities are now an industry, and each department is a revenue center. As a result, they all embrace a service model.

Walt Gardner

Los Angeles

The writer’s blog, Reality Check, is published by Education Week.

Arum and Roksa miss the bull’s-eye: the abysmal deficiencies of K-12 education and a weird U.S. cultural bias against failure. Both poorly prepare students for what should be rigorous university study but typically isn’t.

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Having taught over the last 30 years at several universities, I can say that academic rigor would produce stunning student failure rates, where student literacy, computational competencies and analytical abilities associated with critical evaluation of knowledge claims are marginal at best. As a result, much of what happens in university classrooms is remedial.

To suggest, however, that failures can be attributed exclusively to institutionalized education at any level is unfair. Educational practices are too often a response to standards that produce a succeed-at-all-costs ethos. In my view, a little failure would be good for the soul and character.

Gregg A. Payne

Orange

When enough is enough

Re “Doctor opened fiery debate on assisted suicide,” June 4

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I have always admired Jack Kevorkian for keeping the issue of physician-assisted suicide in the public discussion. Was he eccentric? Certainly. But that doesn’t negate his basic message.

I want to have the right to determine when my quality of life is such that I no longer want to continue. Maybe I’ll exercise it, maybe not. But I want that right. I do not want a lawyer, a clergyman, a physician and, least of all, a politician to tell me I cannot make that decision.

Barbara Gary

Los Angeles

As a reasonably healthy 80-year-old who welcomes his ability to function independently, I worry — should I become paralyzed, blind or otherwise disabled and unable to care for myself — that I might welcome a death without pain or suffering and a semblance of dignity.

After all, I have led a fulfilling life, and I realize we all die eventually. I would prefer to make the decision on my own terms.

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Gary A. Robb

Los Feliz

Teen waistlines

Re “Lap-Bands and teenagers,” Editorial, June 2

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should take a conservative approach to surgically implanted weight-loss devices for teenagers. The Lap-Band is not the answer to addressing childhood obesity.

A long-term study published recently in the Archives of Surgery found that almost half of the Lap-Band patients it followed had to have their bands removed, nearly 60% had at least one re-operation and there was no beneficial effect on high blood pressure and diabetes. It is unconscionable to expose children to serious abdominal surgery for an elective procedure without evidence of long-term safety or improving health.

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The Lap-Band has been touted as “the surgery that could save your life.” Imagine vulnerable teenagers seeing ads for “the surgery that will make you prom queen.”

Kate Ryan

Washington

The writer is program coordinator for the National Women’s Health Network.

A Volt jolt

Re “Chevy Volt dealers inflate prices” Business, June 3

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First, General Motors goes bankrupt because of mismanagement; U.S. taxpayers bail out the company. Then the company rewards taxpayers by creating a vehicle with which GM can gouge those very same taxpayers. What am I supposed to say? Thank you?

GM should learn a lesson from the Japanese. Nissan is marketing its electric Leaf without price-gouging. Nissan has managed to control the sales price of this vehicle. GM tells us it has no control over its dealers. Really?

I’m girding my loins in anticipation of the next GM bailout.

Marc Berrenson

Woodland Hills

No to foam

Re “Legislators tackle phones, foam, smoking,” June 3

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Getting rid of polystyrene containers is a great idea. They pollute. They decompose at a snail’s pace. They cost us money to clean up.

Consumers have become quite good at bringing recyclable bags for groceries. We could do the same when we go out to eat: take take-home containers with us and save restaurants from having to supply polystyrene containers. We can form new habits, can’t we?

Wena Dows

Culver City

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