I am compelled to respond to Ms. Robin Flury's recent letter and to her efforts to squelch open dialogue in the classroom. Her suggestion that our high school district is encouraging unpatriotic attitudes in students because a history teacher has posted a collage of photos, including one of a flag being burned, is preposterous, and her efforts to restrict the educational process are dangerous.

Both of our children graduated from Los Gatos High School. My experience is that the current faculty and administration are committed to facilitating an examination of all sides of important issues. Faculty members do not allow their personal beliefs to dictate class discussion, nor do they "advocate their political agendas or religious beliefs," as Ms. Flury would suggest. Students are expected to research issues thoroughly and, through open dialogue and debate, develop their own positions. I agree with Ms. Flury's definition of the educator's job: "To teach our children how to understand what is going on in the world around them as history is being made, helping them to form their own educated opinions and beliefs about the events of the world." To dictate what teachers teach and what students discuss is to threaten the very essence of this educational process.

Our democracy depends on an informed citizenry taking responsibility for our society. We will not prosper if we create an atmosphere of fear and if we allow censorship. The suggestion that at times of war only certain opinions are acceptable is dangerous, threatening the tenets of the very democracy Ms. Flury purports to protect.

Finally, I take exception to Ms. Flury's characterization of Los Gatos High School students as "impressionable" schoolchildren. My experience in working with these students is that they are bright, they are critical thinkers, they form their own opinions, and they are quite able to speak their minds. It is important not to underestimate them.

The privilege Ms. Flury and I have to consider any information, to develop our individual perspectives, and to share these diverse perspectives openly, as we have in this newspaper, is the same privilege we must extend to our young people in the classroom.

—Marsha Palitz-Elliott, Los Gatos


Reader writes 'The Fury of Flury'

There once was a young teacher named Schwartz
Who brought controversy into her course.
She caught herself heat
For rabble burning our flag in the street.
"But it's to stimulate educational discourse!"

There then was a mother named Flury
Who went into quite a fury.
This parent saw red
And with the school system she pled,

"This disgracing of Old Glory's a worry!"

They said to Ms. Flury, "There's no cause for fury"
(Though their reasoning seems a bit blurry).
The diversity crew
Protects each rainbow hue.
(Unless it's the red, white, and blue?)
The mom was now on a mission
"Dang it, I'll start a petition!
I'm mightily offended;
This demands to be mended!
In a letter I'll use erudition!"
The tolerant voices did patter.
"Your offendedness doesn't much matter."
What you call patriotic
Some think idiotic.
DeCinzo thinks you're mad as a hatter.
In this tempest where do we turn?
It's offensive Old Glory to burn.
These stars and stripes
Were paid for with honor, blood and with lives—
That's the lesson we need to relearn.

—Ted Kucklick, Los Gatos


Glad to see that Trader Joe's is coming to town

Trader Joe's coming to Los Gatos—hooray!

—Alan Caras, Los Gatos


We're not less safe; we're just more fearful

I am writing because I take issue with Dick Sparrer's column, "There was a time when we didn't lock our doors."

Yes, there was a time when we didn't lock our doors. Yes, he is right when he says "We were more trusting of others," but he is wrong when he says it's "because we could be." In reality, we can trust each other more than we ever did—we just don't believe we can.

Crime rates have changed very little in this country over the last 50 years. What has changed, however, is the frequency with which crimes are reported and dramatized. The TV news media know that fear sells and so they use it to hold their ratings up. Also, savvy politicians have learned that fear can drive people to the polls, so they use it as an election tool. In truth, we can still trust each other as much as we always could, but we are being brainwashed into thinking that we can't.

Think about it—if you watch TV at all notice how we are taught fear: fear of our fellow men, especially black, shirtless men—thank you, COPS! Fear of road rage, despite the fact that I see many thoughtful drivers every day who wave me through stop signs. The media is constantly reminding me that there is a road-rager out there looking for me. Fear of escalators—oh yes, one news program says they can tear limbs off! Yet our life expectancy continues to increase and I still have all my fingers and toes. People are living longer and healthier lives. Hey, if we're in more danger, how come we're living longer?

I really think Dick misses with his message. It is not that we are less safe now than we were 50 years ago. It's that we're being told, repeatedly, that we're in danger. We're being told by the media because it's good for ratings. We're being told by politicians who shamelessly use fear tactics to help them get elected. The worst part is, we're letting it happen.

We should be aware that we're letting fear take over our rational thought process. Poor decisions are made when people act out of fear and anxiety. I don't know about everyone else, but that's the part that really frightens me.

—Marty Dart, Los Gatos


Are all sides of the issue presented?

I have read with interest the recent dialogue concerning the photograph of a flag burning displayed in a classroom at the high school. Strong opinions were expressed by several parents in the last issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, but I would like to offer a different view in this debate.

To me, and I hope a few more residents in this part of the country, the American flag stands for America—its values, its way of life. The flag honors the millions of men and woman who have served, fought and died to protect those values. The symbol of our flag transcends politics, policies, or who won the last election. Desecrating our flag crosses the line of disagreement with the White House, the Congress or the courts.

Carrying signs, chanting slogans, writing letters, supporting candidates and voting are all means by which we can voice our dissent. These methods of protest are certainly protected in our country, as many of your readers point out. But to me, burning the flag sends a very different message. One reader didn't want to get "our panties in a bunch" over this symbolic gesture. Madame, I respectfully but strongly disagree. In this world there are some whose hatred for our way of life is so deep that they are willing to kill our citizens and destroy our property. These are the people who burn our flag. Anyone who uses this "symbolic gesture" shows a loathing for America and what it stands for.

I am skeptical that the lesson taught in this case made the distinction between valid disagreement/protest and burning the American flag. In this photo display, where was the picture of the Marines hoisting the flag at Iwo Jima in World War II or the tattered stars and stripes being saluted by the fireman and policeman in New York City after the murder of 3,000 innocent people on Sept. 11? Wouldn't that show what the flag means to many of us? What I saw on the wall in that classroom was a picture of a flag burning in the same context as blocking traffic in downtown San Francisco.

I wonder if we are teaching high school students the real meaning of the photos in this display. It is common, however, for those in academia to be more liberal than conservative. Witness recently the college professor who gave extra credit to her students for marching in antiwar rallies or the Columbia University professor, who in a speech expressed the wish for the slaughter and defeat of U.S. soldiers. Both individuals were strongly backed by their university administrations.

I don't know the personal views of Ms. Schwartz, and I believe that she probably tries to keep those views out of her classroom, but how is she presenting all sides of this issue? Students say they can form their own opinions. To form a serious opinion, students need not only facts but several points of view. I chuckled at a recent article in the El Gato with the headline "Protest Turns To Disaster." The student-writer reported that most of those who walked out of class didn't know what they were protesting. It was just a chance to cut class.

Unless we are effectively presenting all views to our kids, as Principal McCulloch says we should, I'd rather take down that picture of the American flag burning.

—Frank Brienzo, Monte Sereno