LETTERS

Hi Joshua Longobardy,

Thank you for your candid article regarding teachers' salaries ["Teachers flee!," March 1]. In addition to the decrease in pay lies a bigger problem: the management of Clark County School District. I was a teacher in California for four years before I went back to school to get my doctorate. Upon completing my program, I moved to Las Vegas and had a wait time to get licensed in Nevada. So I thought, why not teach until I get licensed? I have good experience, I'm credentialed to teach science in California from grades six through 12 (by the way, science and math are highly in demand), and I found out that my credential has reciprocity with Nevada. Why not, right? Well, it took over two weeks to receive the application after requesting it.

I had questions on the application, and upon calling the information number for a week, I never reached a live person, and it took over a week to have my messages returned. I finally got an interview scheduled, which went very well. Considering my qualifications and the needs of the school district, I expected to get whisked into a contract within a few days. This is what LA Unified and Culver City School Districts do. I was wrong.

It still took another two weeks before I received in the mail a designated date for training and a huge packet of things I needed to do in four days, which included getting fingerprints, TB testing, forms notarized, etc.

I called the given number and stated that I could not attend the training because I was unable to get the necessary forms completed as per their request.

The woman I spoke to was rude and unable to give me the next scheduled training date. She didn't offer to call me back or send a letter when they had a date scheduled, so at that point, I decided I was no longer going to pursue work for Clark County School District. And even worse, there has never been further correspondence from them about my application. No one to call me to say, "Are you sure you don't want to help us?"

Here I was, a very qualified applicant that the Clark County School District let slip through the cracks because of poor follow-up and poor customer service. The way I see it, they are a failing business, and with any failing business, you either fold up shop or have a complete restructuring.

Maybe the superintendent needs to get out more often, have dinner on the Strip, and see what good customer service can do for a business.

Killer beasts

Dear Editor:

I read this article called "Bad Dogs" by Damon Hodge [February 8]. It left much to be desired.

I would suggest to anyone considering any means of self-defense to get a copy of The Truth About Self-Protection by Massad Ayoob. The author is a police trainer and professional witness.

As for dogs, look at the "Little Rascals." Their dog of choice was a pit bull. The owners decide on training and use of the dog. But if you're going to have a watch dog, get a pretty one. If you bring a Doberman into the court room, a Jewish jury member will think "look at that Nazi dog." Pick a St. Bernard, and people think of that movie Beethoven.

As far as firearms go, he's way off-base. The people who own machine guns own them for two reasons. One is collecting; the other is competition with others who own similar weapons.

It should be pointed out that the people who legally own machine guns are the most law-abiding people.Another thing worth mentioning is that there are an awful lot of competitions that are dominated by military-style riffles and pistols.

As for drug gangs using various weapons, well, any technology that is available to the good guys will be available to the bad guys. No legislation will ever change that.

Hi Stacy Willis,

Liked your "Best of the best classic junk food" list [February 22]. But one thing better than a Twinkie is a Hostess Chocodiles—it is a chocolate-covered Twinkie. Can be hard to find; some convenience stores sell them individually. Haven't found them in a box on the shelf at any local grocery store.

Try one or 10; you will agree it's perfection. Also, Crunchberries are good for you—it's got fruit, doesn't it?

Stacy Willis,

Thanks for mentioning Connie Bennett's book, Sugar Shock, in your Las Vegas Weekly article in praise of really fake junk foods (what, no Cheetos?).Your readers can enjoy your retro prose while still locating aid in case their indulgences leave them near-comatose from blood-sugar boomerang. You'll be pleased to know that Coke is trying to eliminate the term "soft drink" in favor of "sparkling beverage." Sounds almost healthy, doesn't it?

Thanks, again, for including our book in your humorous tribute to junk food.