Lonely is the ombudsman. Whereas most people surely assume we enjoy a life of monkish separation from our peers and devotion to rooting out misplaced commas and wrongly used words, I'm here to tell you that pouncing on the mistakes of others isn't always as satisfying as it sounds. When the Weekly staff throws a pool party, who "accidentally" doesn't get invited? The ombudsman. When the locks are changed at the Weekly bunker, who, through "an oversight," doesn't get a new key? The ombudsman. Who, when the staff is feeling high-spirited, finds a strangled chicken and voodoo markings outside his front door, with a note suggesting, "If you know what's good for you, you'll pack your Strunk and White and leave town tomorrow, Grammar Boy"? Actually, that was my neighbor, Mr. Newby-Higgenbotham -- in yet another easily correctable mistake, the staff targeted the wrong house. Are ombudsmen not human? If you cut us, do we not bleed, and then consider our legal options? All we want is to do our jobs, and help make this a better world, one gently corrected factual error at a time. So, at the risk of finding a large semicolon burned into my front yard tomorrow morning, duty compels me to point out that in last week's edition, the State of the City piece on the Economic Opportunity Board referred to the agency as the Equal Opportunity Board. Tsk, tsk. And in that issue's Music Box feature, we should not have reviewed the latest -- or any! -- CD by Rick Springfield. The Weekly regrets the error, or should. |
Kate Silver's April 1 cover story on the execution of Lawrence Colwell Jr. brought this impassioned response:
Isn't it truly amazing, the eloquence expressed by anti-death- penalty advocate Kate Silver? Her article walks us through the last six hours of Mr. Colwell as if it's The Passion of the Christ revisited. We learn what Mr. Colwell ate, the silence of the death chamber, up to and including his last exhaled breath.
What we haven't heard, though, is Frank Rosenstock's story. You remember Frank, don't you, Kate? ... You don't? ... Well, Frank Rosenstock was Colwell's VICTIM! We don't know positively when Frank took his last breath, but maybe the pathologist knows what he had for his last meal. Oh yes, Frank wasn't put to sleep at an execution, Kate. He was strangled. And THAT'S why Mr. Colwell died in Carson City.
As a former Chicago Police detective, I have investigated many murders, some too horrible to mention. Remember Richard Speck? He slaughtered eight nurses, stabbing and strangling them one by one in a Chicago townhouse. Slaughtered them like so many sheep. Because Illinois changed to a non-death-penalty state, this monster got to live off the taxpayers for another 30 years while the girls (average age of 24) went to early graves.
The reason we feel sympathy for the majority of these killers is that execution is not swift and certain, and after 10 years of appeals, all killers seem to "find God" or become jailhouse lawyers, or write a book. Admittedly after 10 years, many of these individuals may even have redeeming qualities. Unfortunately after 10 years, all the victims are still dead.
My take on the execution process? Immediate execution if the killer is apprehended at the scene. Otherwise, I advocate life in prison with the following guidelines: No parole for the prisoner, no workout room, no TV room, no access to drugs, no contact with other prisoners. These killers can ponder the result of their actions in a one-room cell the rest of their lives. A fate worse that death? Maybe so, but at least they will be ALIVE, Ms. Silver, in the event they are proven innocent. That's more than we can say about the victims.
Ron Moers
Editor's note:
Not to undercut your sanctimony, Mr. Moers, but the article in question wasn't an anti-death-penalty piece. Nor does describing in detail the last few hours of Colwell's life impart to it a Passion of the Christ-like quality. And if you reread the article, you'll see that Kate did, indeed, remember who Mr. Rosenstock was. The point of the story was simply to put the reader on the scene, as best we could, of a newsworthy event.
More Classroom Problems
Our April 8 cover story about problems in the classroom continues to elicit mail:
As a teacher employed by the Clark County School District, I experienced an overwhelming sensation of satisfaction after reading the essay entitled "Five Demons of the Classroom," expertly written by Scott Dickensheets. It's about time the public got a teacher's point of view instead of the one-sided, anti-teacher one provided by the Review-Journal. I feel, however, that a couple of relevant issues were omitted. Therefore, the problems should have been placed in the following order:
Problem Number One: Obsolete Parenting
I concede that many parents are lazy and careless, shoveling fast food down their children's throats in between X-Box sessions and reality-television programs.
However, what wasn't mentioned was the sad truth that most homes contain only one parent, most likely Mom. With a 60 percent divorce rate in Las Vegas, a majority of children begin school at a disadvantage. I would wager that close to one-third of all newly enrolled kindergarten students can't even write their own names.
Problem Number Two: Ineffective, Spineless Administrators
I began my teaching career 10 years ago in Ohio and must admit that I regret leaving. Upon my arrival in Las Vegas, I was accustomed to teachers and administrators working together with parents to solve both academic and disciplinary problems.
Unfortunately, that is not the case in the Clark County School District.
Sue-happy parents have the school administrators scared to death of the bad press, thus reducing principals to gutless worms who will do anything to appease angry parents, including admonishing their teachers.
Problem Number Three: The Religious Right
It is ironic that a city built on every imaginable sin is highly populated by ultraconservative, religious fanatics: mainly Mormons. Attempting to discipline a so-called future god in the classroom can be a very formidable task, especially when you're just a mere gentile. And if you're a minority -- forget it! An equally disturbing situation occurs if your administrator is LDS. After a few years of weeding out the "undesirable" teachers, the school becomes chock- full of Mormon saints who discreetly place their own values on the student population.
Problem Number Four:Systematic Education
It is a shame that Superintendent Garcia is succumbing to and adopting the national policy of systematic education. I guess that when you're a puppet, you have no choice but to act when a string is pulled. It's unrealistic and delusional to think that all students will benefit from a scripted curriculum. Why doesn't the district hire robots -- or better yet, videotape instruction? That would save millions of dollars and eliminate teachers altogether.
Problem Number Five: Las Vegas Is Largely Transient
Unlike "normal" cities that contain stable neighborhoods, Las Vegas residents come and go; unfortunately, so do the teachers. Teaching back East, I was practically guaranteed a set class for the entire school year without new enrollments. I receive and lose more students within a two-week period in my classes than I would over an entire year in Ohio.
With declining health insurance, a useless union, outrageous gas prices and the insane cost of housing in Las Vegas, it's no wonder teachers pick up and leave Nevada for greener pastures. Believe me, if it wasn't for my 3-year-old daughter living here with my ex-wife, I would have been gone years ago.
An Anonymous Teacher