What SMC has on its mind.

Dear Corsair Editorial Staff:

As an alumni of SMC, a property owner, and an employee of SMC, I take exception to your article of May 4, "Arnold and his camp continue to cause damage."

First of all, the $26.00 per unit fee does not begin to cover the costs of a community college course; the fee is less than that charged by most other states for community colleges. "In our parents' day, attending community college was practically free. Back then taxpayers were willing to subsidize education." Taxpayers still subsidize education through state and federal income taxes, and when adjusted for inflation, the current fees are still very reasonable.

"We are making up the education deficit out of pocket while the property owners get rich without having to pay for the academic infrastructure our schools need." Property owners in Santa Monica will be paying for SMC Bond Measures U & S (in addition to Santa Monica Unified bond issues for K-12) for the next 25 to 30 years. Those SMC bonds cost me about $400 a year. Santa Monica homeowners have always been very generous to SMC.

I worked part-time the entire time I attended college; both my parents and I made many sacrifices so that I could get a college education. Many students today rely on Pell Grants, fee waivers and all kinds of free handouts (subsidies) because they feel they are "entitled" to a free college education. A college education is not an entitlement; it is a privilege and may require some sacrifices. Community colleges are still a bargain.

M. Goodrich
___________________________________________________________

Hi, My Name is Adam Vore. I'm actually an El Camino College Student, and I just read the article you wrote about the diving championship. I was amazed by how well written it was, and wished that our school had as good of a writing staff. As a diver, it was a treat to finally read an article on diving that really captured the experience of when you're in the air. I would also like to congratulate Bobby and Dimitri for doing an excellent job, it was a pleasure diving with them this year, and
I hope to see them next year.

~Adam

__________________________________________________________

Men don't need to walk in women's shoes, literally or figuratively, to understand about being a victim of rape (article, April 27). I'm not sure why your reporter seemed to allege that only women and girls can be victims of rape. As in domestic violence, any human being can be a
victim and any human being can be a perpetrator. Men can be raped both by
other men and by women.

As long as we treat every issue with stereotypes and false
generalizations (man-bad-woman-good), we will continue to miss the root causes of
injustice.

Brian Gillin
Stop Abuse For EVERYONE
www.safe4all.org