(Bill Ferguson is the father of Lcpl. Thomas Gowdy Ferguson, who serves as a U.S. Marine based in Rota, Spain, but is now deployed in Liberia.)

As many in Los Gatos know, our son serves in the U.S. Marine Corps on foreign shores. We have been surprised to learn that many of our acquaintances from the past have young sons and daughters serving in many commands throughout the globe.

The son of one of our friends is serving in Iraq, and their squadron commanding officer has chosen to take the matter of getting school supplies (and other useful items) to the deserving Iraqi children into his own hands after seeing the desperate need for supplies, and members of his squadron are asking that friends pass the message on to their friends and acquaintances to seek help for the youth of this country that is under reconstruction and in need of help for their youth.

The following letter from Major Gregg Softy is pretty much self-explanatory. As parents of one serving in the military, we know how much they give, and we thought if the letter from the major was published, the children of Iraq might receive some benefit.

I hope the community can pitch in and help this noble humanitarian effort.

—Bill Ferguson, Monte Sereno

(To view the letter in its entirety, visit the website at http://iraqischools.com)

I am asking for your help in bringing desperately needed school supplies to the children of our zones here in Baghdad. Over the past few weeks, we have been faced with the mission to secure, clean up and win the peace in several large zones in the heart of Baghdad. Among the many tasks associated with this mission is interaction with the local schools (grades K­8 equivalent). Simply put, the conditions are deplorable. The conditions include raw sewage on the ground and in the classrooms, no electricity or water, bullet holes in the walls and on the roofs, broken windows and doors, no desks or chalkboards, and obviously little or no supplies with which to hold classes.

Despite the conditions, they will continue to hold classes. In many respects, the Iraqis put a greater premium and priority on education than we do in the U.S. The problem lies in the lack of resources and infrastructure. Under Saddam's regime, resources were used as a weapon to influence and control the people. Even water and electricity were engineered such that he could turn it on and off as a way of rewarding those who supported him, while punishing those he did not trust.

Our soldiers have had to endure a full spectrum of emotions and feelings, not to mention hazards, while confronting the task of improving the schools. We do what we can with what we have, but it is difficult at best given our situation.

This is where my request comes in. After seeing firsthand the conditions of these schools and the reactions of the children we help, it dawned on me how fortunate we all are and how much we sometimes take for granted what we have. For what I provide my two boys in one year for school, I could outfit an entire classroom of Iraqi children for the year. My soldiers and I quickly realized the need to reach out directly to you all for help.

For those of you who have seen the movie Pay It Forward, we are attempting to start a grass-roots movement to provide school supplies directly from the States to the children and schools here in Baghdad. In doing so, I am asking from each of you a few moments of your time and a few simple tasks. My soldiers and I will see to the rest. Please consider the following: Put together what you can, any school supplies (pencils, pens, paper, markers, rulers, glue, scissors, chalk, erasers, paint, etc.), package it in boxes and mail it through regular mail to me here in Baghdad at the following address: MAJ Gregg Softy, HHT, 1st Squadron 1st Cavalry Regiment, Unit 92841, APO AE 09324-2841.

—Major Gregg Softy, Baghdad


DeCinzo cartoon was 'insulting' and 'unfunny'

I think the vice mayor of Monte Sereno got his statement a little wrong. DeCinzo isn't a chump, he is a puke! The latest piece of crap to emanate from his pen is not just insulting to Arnold, but I find it quite unfunny.

As a veteran of World War II, this S.O.B. doesn't have an idea at all of what a Nazi is! And Arnold doesn't even come close to fitting that description. In fact, that "cartoon" (of quite questionable character) is probably libelous. If this is the kind of crap you are going to publish, I request that you stop dropping your paper in my driveway with this drive!

—M. Forrest, San Jose


DeCinzo's cartoon was 'loathsome'

I find your editorial cartoon of Oct. 8 quite loathsome, and clear evidence of your editorial hypocrisy. You make fun of Arnold's German accent by picturing him as a Nazi sympathizer (based on discredited public assertions), but I am sure you'd raise a major stink if a cartoon made fun of African Americans who say "axed" instead of "asked." I suggest you publish an apology, especially since liberals seem so willing to demand one for every real or imagined hurt they feel.

—Lloyd Nirenberg, Los Gatos


Hearing-loss story didn't tell it all

As audiologists, we were quite happy to see the hearing-loss article in the Oct. 1 Los Gatos Weekly-Times. Andrea Dorey did a reasonable job of presenting an overview of hearing loss and its ramifications and possible remediation; however, there were three notable omissions.

The first is that, although hearing loss can appear at any age, hearing loss among adolescents, teens and young adults is nearly epidemic. The reason, of course, is the pervasive use of personal headphones set at volume levels well within the range of causing permanent damage to hearing. Attending concerts where sound intensity is near the pain threshold certainly is another contributor to irreversible hearing loss.

A second important omitted piece of information is that word understanding can be improved by using speech reading (lip-reading) with or without hearing aids and assistive listening devices. Foothill and West Valley colleges offer classes at community and senior centers in Saratoga, Sunnyvale, Los Gatos and Palo Alto.

Lastly, some items of misinformation need to be clarified: there are three types of hearing loss—conductive, sensory and neural; aspirin may cause hearing loss; and, while individual members of SHHH often test hearing devices, SHHH does not endorse any particular product. Finally, although certainly many hearing-impaired persons are in denial, many persons having a mild loss of hearing may not even be aware that they are missing parts of conversation or misunderstanding similar-sounding words.

—Marcia Fariss, MA, CCC/A, Ellen Mastman, MA, CCC/A, Saratoga


DeCinzo's cartoon was 'offensive'

DeCinzo's Nazi trick or treaters cartoon is outrageous and offensive. It trivializes the horrors of Naziism, and associates Arnold Schwarzenegger with this reprehensible group largely because of his Austrian heritage (even if Arnold did click his heels and run around with a comb mustache in his younger days).

Charlie Chaplin, Mel Brooks, the Marx Brothers, Jerry Seinfeld and the Three Stooges all successfully satirized fascism.

These comic geniuses all made their points and had us laughing, too.

DeCinzo's crude stab at humor is just tasteless and pointless.

—Jeff Fox, Los Gatos