Jun 15, 2008

Letters

Children's Theatre

Dear Editor: Please add my name to the list of people who think it would be a travesty if the city of Palo Alto decides to fire Pat Briggs and Richard Curtis. As a Children's Theatre alum and someone who has held almost every job title in theater production, I can tell you that work in live theater is a 24/7 commitment. It takes a very dedicated and disciplined person to be able to continue working in the field year after year. It takes an extraordinary person to continue to work in theater for decades.

If you are concerned about the accounts, I hope you will hire a person whose expertise is in that field to help Pat and Richard with the immense job they are shouldering. To lose Pat and Richard would be to lose the people who are the primary source of the "magic" at the theater, and that would be a great shame for the city of Palo Alto.

Rebecca Rasmussen,

Pasadena



Creationists won

Dear Editor: The June 11 letter advocating equal treatment for Ben Stein's anti-evolution propaganda film inspired several refutations the next day. But they missed a crucial point: The creationists have won.

Creationism may seem ridiculous to Daily News readers (Earth is only 6,000 years old? Really?), but a majority of Americans believe creationism's claims, as poll after poll shows. And no wonder. Our evolution isn't taught (or is only mentioned half-heartedly) in a majority of American public schools.

A 2007 survey of high school biology teachers (http://www.natcenscied.org/) says "A majority either avoid human evolution altogether or devote only one or two class periods to the topic." And no wonder, since 62 percent of our biology teachers told the pollsters they're either creationists themselves or advocate "intelligent design" (creationism's masked twin). Even teachers who accept evolution often don't teach it, succumbing to relentless harassment by fundamentalist students and parents.

Creationists have largely quit trying to enact their anti-science worldview in state legislatures or even local school boards. Instead they work in the dark, where the national media don't look. Besides bullying individual teachers, they've also cowed all major textbook publishers and state textbook selection committees, which work without public oversight. Consequently everything "controversial" like evolution gets soft-pedaled or deleted from texts and tests. So our government fails in its duty to protect fundamentalists' kids from being brainwashed. And the resulting glossy textbooks are such inoffensive pap that they turn off most other kids to science.

Lee ThÇ

Palo Alto



Impeachment

Dear Editor: Impeachment at last. Finally a Democrat has developed sufficient spine to do the moral thing and attempt to rid us of our war criminal president. Hey, if lying about consensual sex in the White House can get you there, perhaps one of those 35 articles of impeachment just might give George the boot. But then we always have been more fixated on sex than violence anyway. Regardless of the outcome, this shows the world that we do care about international law and lawbreakers. For those who have a bit of time to read them, go to http:// chun.afterdowningstreet.org/ amomentoftruth.pdf.

Way to go, Dennis.

Mike Caggiano,

San Mateo



Plug-in hybrids

Dear Editor: According to Forbes Auto, "Soon drivers will be able to get at least double the gas mileage of a Toyota Prius hybrid, thanks to a spate of new aftermarket kits that convert any car into a plug-in electric vehicle. But they'll have to pay upwards of $10,000 to do so."

For a lot of us, that's a hefty chunk of change - and it's not guaranteed that we can float the loan that would be necessary. The price of necessities is totally out of sight. So, here's a possibility: Make the conversion affordable, and promote the viability of PHEV (plug-in hybrids) as "commuter cars." Not all these PHEVS are small. Toyota, for example, has expanded its hybrid line into some of the "more comfortable" sizes. Those of us who can use the link, can check out Saturn's move to convert the VUE, which is an SUV.

The sooner we can begin to mass produce the kits, the faster the price will begin to drop, the sooner we can save the energy by not driving the guzzlers on our morning commutes and the sooner we can breathe a sigh of relief. How willing, politically, are we in the street to take this on?

Links:

www.calcars.org

http://www.forbesautos.com/news/features/2008/plug-in-electric-vehicles-story.html

Martin R. Flick,

San Mateo