Letters

LEARNING CURVE

I am a very upset Crawford High School alumni. How can you let someone say the things he said about our high school [“Failed Expectations” by s.d. liddick, October]? I was a white kid who lived on the wrong side of the block [for] going to Helix High School, and I’m glad for it. Going to Crawford will teach you something you can’t learn in [an advanced-placement] business class at Torrey Pines or any other WHITE school. I learned how to survive with what you got, not what you want.

For [Liddick] to say if a student’s family is on welfare or doesn’t speak English we should relegate them to lives as ditchdiggers is plain and simply dumb. Being at this school helped me understand different cultures and customs that helped me in the real world. And [as] for all those rich, non-immigrant kids that go to the GOOD high schools, [they] now work for me.

So please be a little more [cautious] next time you place another story like this in your horrible magazine.

NICOLAS IBARRA
FOOD SERVICE DIRECTOR, ACTIVECARE
POINT LOMA

FOR ATTRIBUTION

As an instructional behavior technician who has worked for several years at Crawford, I feel well-qualified to address the concerns expressed in “Failed Expectations” in your October issue. Unlike the anonymous teacher who came to our campus and presented a snapshot of its defects, I don’t mind identifying myself. My name is Pandra Selivanov, but the kids call me Miss Pandra.

Is the article totally inaccurate? I’m sure if you search our beautifully landscaped campus, you can find “an ugly patchwork of dead grass.” The fences are indeed rusty, and the football stadium is not as spiffy as I would like to see it. Of course, I pay more attention to the delighted crowd watching the football games than the state of the paintwork.

From the very first sentence, where the anonymous teacher complains about the school’s appearance, through phrases like “what fresh hell will break loose . . . when boredom sets in,” that paint our school as a war zone, the anonymous teacher continuously betrays [his] dissatisfaction with the assignment to Crawford. Perhaps [he is] “checking off days until retirement,” as [he accuses] some of our teachers of doing. Perhaps [he] simply [doesn’t] appreciate working at a school that called him. He expresses a distinct preference for what [he calls] “the golden call list,” although, like [his] own identity, the anonymous teacher does not name [his] favored schools [on the list].

Do we have students who don’t care about their education? Like every campus in America, the answer is yes. Do some of the kids have filthy mouths? Again, like every campus in America, the answer is yes. We also have many students who are polite and say things like “Yes, sir,” and “No, ma’am.” We have students who drop out, and we have students who go on to college. Some of our students are proud to be the first person in their family to graduate from high school, and some come from families of well-educated professionals.

Crawford is an exciting mix of cultures and nationalities. I love working here——I learn as much from the students as I teach them. They talk to me about the worlds they come from, the cultures they live in, the struggles they are overcoming and the dreams they have. I have days when I don’t want to come to work, and I would like to give up the whole business of trying to teach kids who are not always receptive to what I have to offer. Then some young person who graduated will drop by, or call, and tell me how they are doing.

Crawford is not a perfect school, and if you look as hard as this teacher did for the bad, you will find what you’re looking for. But nothing compares to seeing [kids] who didn’t believe in themselves realize that the American dream is something they can achieve, with a little help from me and the other dedicated professionals at Crawford.

PANDRA SELIVANOV
ROOM 105
CRAWFORD COMPLEX

The substitute teacher who worked on the Crawford campus is not anonymous. He is s.d. liddick, the bylined author of the article, and was identified as such in the story.
——EDITOR

FEELING LOST

One would have to have known Crawford High when I did——class of 1962——to be as shaken as I was in reading your article on the school’s present situation. The pride we all felt (1962 was the third class to complete three years) in that place continues to this day.

We just celebrated our 45th reunion with plans under way for our 50th.

My mother was called one day, when I was in the 10th grade, because I was wearing below-the-knee, gray wool culottes. She was told she had better bring me a skirt since the divided skirt was “not in keeping with the dress code.” I am pretty sure that wouldn’t be a problem today!

From wearing “school pride” ribbons for Friday football games to the respect and warmth given to and provided by our teachers, Crawford was the ideal place to nurture our futures. Analysts, I am sure, will write tomes, and sociologists will study the community changes that have caused the turmoil that is featured in your story. But for those of us who went to Crawford, it will forever remain an ideal place; a halcyon that is sadly lost and a community that is lost as well.

GAYLE WISHNEK WISE
LA JOLLA

HEARSAY

I heard about your article that has prejudice against Crawford students. I am a Crawford student. I attend CHAMPs [School of Community Health and Medical Practices]. This is unjust prejudice. If you have something against Crawford students, why are you writing an article about them? Do you have something against Crawford students and teachers? If you do, speak now or forever hold your peace.

I am a young woman of dignity. I don’t know what you’re saying, but if you have something against people from Crawford, why did you sub there in the first place? Really makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

JENNIFER BURKHEAD
SAN DIEGO

REVERSING COURSE

I thank you for publishing the fine article detailing the “Failed Expectations” of Crawford High School. But I am afraid that the author fails to acknowledge the many successes by members of the Crawford community. I had the honor of being a teacher at Crawford for five years. I worked with some of the finest staff and students of my career. (Thanks to the flaws of the No Child Left Behind Act, I am no longer able to teach at the high school level.)

There are many success stories that come from this school, and these deserve our attention too. The sense of hopelessness that has spread through our neighborhoods and schools must be reversed. The very idea of adults “bullying” colleagues, thinking this will improve education, is insulting and counterproductive.

San Diego Unified Schools’ only hope of success will come about once competent leaders, dedicated teachers, committed parents and willing student subscribe to being a part of the whole village it takes to educate the child. Every school deserves respect through positive press. Superintendent [Carl] Cohn was our hope and respect so badly needed by our schools. He will be missed.

MICHAEL BROWN
SAN DIEGO

Just after our magazine hit newsstands, San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cohn, quoted prominently in the story, resigned.
——EDITOR

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Click to read past articles:

The Learning Curve, Part I, Part II, Part III

Diversity and Division, Part I, Part II, Part III

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SECOND OPINION

I was impressed by your list of “Top Doctors“ [October]. I couldn’t agree more. On March 8, Dr. Perry Mansfield of the Senta Clinic diagnosed me with a cancerous tumor in my throat. Within the hour, he contacted Dr. Peter Martin at Kaiser. Two hours later, I had a heart attack and was treated at Scripps Encinitas by Dr. Martin Charlat. Dr. Tahir Ijaz was my radiologist. These four doctors were all recognized on your list, and rightfully so!

Each of these doctors was fantastic at every juncture of my treatment, and I’m 100 percent now. The four doctors coordinated services and were great communicators, with fantastic bedside manners. They saved my life and made me feel comfortable and confident every step of the way.

I believe in your list of “Top Docs”——especially these four gentlemen!

JOHN DAVIDSON
CARDIFF

MY CREDENTIALS

In your October issue [“The Uncivil War at City Hall” by Dean Nelson], Mike Aguirre’s characterization of me is unintelligible and completely off point. It fails to take into account that I am an excellent candidate for city attorney.

I hold two professional degrees (in law and chemical engineering), have many years of distinguished service as a lawyer of 20 years, served on the San Diego Park & Recreation Board and, until recently, wrote a well-regarded opinion column in The San Diego Daily Transcript.

These brief facts would have allowed readers to place Mr. Aguirre’s peculiar name-calling comments about me in context. In fairness, readers cannot be expected to discern reality without some factual frame of reference.

DAN COFFEY
SAN DIEGO

A SILENT TRAGEDY

The years have passed, and I am still so grateful for all San Diego Magazine did regarding Open Doors: Vietnam POWs 30 Years Later [“The Rest of the Story” by Cathy Clark, September 2002]. The book was published two years ago this December and has been well-received by the public. And in light of the war, our soldiers need such inspiration, as well as our military families and, simply, the general public. So, thank you.

I just read your story “Elder Abuse Is an Old Story” [by Dave Feldman, September], which really hit home, as my 99-year-old grandfather was abused during his last year of life in a nursing home. Due to legalities, there was very little our family could do. He died a month ago.

I hope this story reaches many, and invokes awareness of the silent tragedies that run rampant throughout nursing homes.

JAMIE HOWREN
SAN DIEGO

ARMY-NAVY

Very much enjoyed your interesting article about the surfing culture [and the Pump House Gang] at Windansea Beach [“Forgiving Tom Wolfe” by s.d. liddick, August].

I would like to point out, however, that Camp Callan was never a “Navy installation.” It was originally an Army coast-artillery post. When it was decided, after Pearl Harbor, that the Japanese Navy wasn’t going to sail up to Point Loma, it was converted to an Army anti-aircraft replacement training center.

I know this, because I was employed at Camp Callan in the summer of 1944.

BRUCE M. MCINTYRE
HOUSTON

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