Letters to the Editor: Newport Harbor High School should increase public access to football field

I’m a resident of Newport Beach and a student at Newport Harbor High School. It seems absurd that the football field is not open to public use or really any use besides that of actual games.

Seeing as Newport Harbor is a public school, and that the stadium was payed for by taxes and fundraising in the community, it should be open to people of the area to exercise by running stadiums, or laps on the track, and maybe play a friendly game of Thanksgiving football on the field, not just for school events.

Athletes would also be able to get extra reps outside of mandated practice after hours if the field was opened to the public. While I understand restrictions on having dogs or other animals that may hurt the field, it seems pretty backward that a beautiful track and field that were payed for by taxes, and by the families of the area, is totally shut off to the people of the community.

Jonathan Bucher

Newport Beach

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Stage is brighter with Tom Titus on it

I am impressed by the well-deserved respect that Times OC demonstrated for longtime theater critic Tom Titus (“Tom Titus is still reviewing O.C. theater 54 years after he started,” March 24). In the early 1980s I was cast in a play at the Huntington Beach Playhouse — William Inge’s “Bus Stop” — which was reviewed by Mr. Titus. All of us cast and crew members eagerly awaited Mr. Titus’s assessment of our production.

In the review, Mr. Titus wrote that I “chewed the scenery.” That comment stung and stuck with me. Though I went on to win the playhouse’s award for Best Actor in 1981 for that performance, I must admit that Titus’ observation of my characterization was spot on. I’ve since learned the value of subtlety in performance, and to adhere to the old axiom that less is often more in the art and craft of acting.

I no longer act, but I do write a theater column for a community newspaper in Long Beach. I believe that I was inspired to hone my expertise in theater arts in no small part because of Tom Titus’s kind and credible reviews of local theater. Keep it up, Tom.

Ben Miles

Huntington Beach

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Cheating scandal may go even deeper

Columnist Patrice Apodaca was right: As shocking as this whole college admissions scandal is, it’s not surprising (“College admissions scandal should lead to an examination of an elitist culture,” March 18). To many, money is power, and powerful people often use their money for unsavory purposes.

So what if you dig deeper? I’m guessing parents have offered private prep school administrators money if they admit their little prince or princess. You know, wink if you want me to pay for class field trips, buy new band uniforms or renovate the school’s gymnasium. Get the point? As far as these moms and and dads are concerned, paying extra so their sons or daughters can go to an elite prep school is just another step on the corrupt ladder to success.

Denny Freidenrich

Laguna Beach

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