Today's Letters: A good teacher knows how to connect with students

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published June 17, 2007

Two years at Stillman A three-part series by Bill Maxwell 

I was troubled after reading Bill Maxwell's series on his disappointing two years at Stillman College. I feel that Maxwell is off base in his analysis. If you watch the movie Freedom Writers, the message of connecting with students is of prime importance. A teacher (albeit an actress, Hilary Swank, playing the part of a high school teacher who in real life went on to the college level) eventually motivates a multicultural class in Los Angeles to become eager about learning by presenting materials and lessons in a way that reached out to their backgrounds. They were hooked!

I agree with Stillman's director of public relations, Albert Moore, in his response to Maxwell on June 10 (Stillman: We're better than that) that it does require heuristic devices (stories, metaphors) within the formal educational environment.

Although the movie is based on a dramatization of real events, this educator/character jumped in and removed the detachment felt by students that in the end may have hindered the learning environment.

We are happy to have Bill Maxwell back at the Times, but would like to see some of the negativity dissipate and some of the old glow return again in his columns.

Patricia Haddad, Tarpon Springs

A case of attacking the messenger

Stillman: We're better than that June 10

Albert Moore's assault upon reason begins with impugning the character of Bill Maxwell. Implying that Maxwell spent two years teaching at Stillman College as a "plant" for the St. Petersburg Times is simply ludicrous. It is however a classic example of attacking the messenger when the news is too difficult to bear.

Moore ignores all of the substantial evidence that Maxwell cited in his series and instead offers as proof of Stillman's success sporadic instances of initiatives taken that have produced good fruit.

Maxwell was clear to point out that there were professors at Stillman who were greatly concerned about the progress of their students, even using their own personal funds to enhance the learning environment. He also highlighted the few students he had who attended Stillman to better themselves.

It was very apparent that Bill Maxwell's heart was deeply rent as he labored against a pervasive climate of apathy and stagnation. To malign his motivation makes as much sense as an ad hominem attack upon the physician who renders a diagnosis of congestive heart failure.

Bill Maxwell provided Stillman College with a comprehensive analysis of what ails its student body. Castigating Maxwell as an angry "comic" only ensures the inevitable metastasis of a terminal disease. How very tragic yet historically accurate, that when a prophet arises and reveals the truth, the people he has come to serve rush to pick up stones.

Art Smith, St. Petersburg

Sadness and disgust

Stillman: We're better than that June 10

Bill Maxwell's magnificent expose made me sad. After several weeks, the detail that won't leave me is that most of the students, even those with financial aid, didn't even bother to buy the required books. It is a profound waste when so many people work so hard to see all our young people succeed.

So after reading the defensive response last Sunday from the Stillman PR department, I could only shake my head with disgust that their response included a personal attack on Maxwell. I don't think anyone cares about his motives for writing the piece. And his motive doesn't change the fact that some students won't even buy the books, which Stillman never disputed.

Ginger Watters, Tampa

Our debt crisis

As threat looms they snooze June 10, Philip Gailey column

While this is a matter requiring the courage and focus of both parties, and a president willing to look beyond his shoelaces, I can't help reflecting on the recklessly liberal fiscal policy of the Bush administration. George Bush won his presidency on the notion of major tax cuts, but he didn't have the fiscal courage or responsibility to correspondingly reduce the annual budget of the federal government - so he borrows heavily on the backs of a future generation of Americans.

As we look at the Reagan presidency and the two Bush presidencies, it is clear that Republicans have an undeserved reputation for fiscal conservatism. In the past 30 years Republican presidents have overseen the buildup of a national debt that is nearly $9-trillion.

Interest payments on the debt we now face total more than $400-billion a year - enough to cover most of a major spending program (defense budget, Medicare, etc.). So now we face a pending crisis that will require sacrifices on the part of all Americans, but who will have the character and conviction to lead us through it - certainly no one who is currently running for president.

In the end, I just hope our citizens will come to recognize the party most responsible for this irresponsible, gutless mess and vote accordingly.

R.T. Perry, Treasure Island

Conservative bent

Silenced by good times and Silent Spring, junk science June 10

Two Perspective section articles came together perfectly to illustrate a prime attribute of contemporary conservatism.

In George Will's column extolling the nation's prosperity under the administration's tax-cutting regime, he says, "Well. When in the long human story have economic burdens and benefits been 'spread evenly'?"

In John Tierney's column praising the virtues of pesticides, he quotes I.L. Baldwin: "Mankind has been engaged in the process of upsetting the balance of nature since the dawn of civilization."

In each case, the fundamental principle supporting the argument amounts to this: "It has always been this way. Why bother to think of a better way."

I'm not sure about the validity of underlying arguments, but I'd suggest that in either case, looking for new options for solving economic or ecological imbalances might be more productive than arguing that the way it has always been is necessarily better than the way it might be.

Pete Temko, Belleair Beach

TV can be skipped

The nanny inside your TV June 10, Robyn Blumner column

Has it occurred to these extravagantly concerned parent-lobbyists that nothing is preventing them from not buying TVs?

There is a right to free speech, but there is no right to make people listen. So the lobbyists can homeschool their children with the time not spent silencing everyone else, and the FCC can improve television viewers' quality of life by recruiting screenwriters who can keep people's attention with actual plot and dialogue. Random expletives are boring.

Kathryn Dorn, Tampa

Pawns in the game

Six days and 40 years June 10, Perspective story

Susan Taylor Martin presented a balanced analysis of the Palestinian-Israeli situation in her article. However, one point seems to escape all analysis: At no time during the past 40 years has the Arab world moved in unison to make life better for the Palestinians.

Just think what might have been if Arab oil money had built roads and hospitals for them, not to mention schools and universities. Just think what would have been if those countries had provided the financial support to launch businesses and industries for the Palestinians. Just think what might have been if the Arab world had encouraged the Palestinians to make the most out of a self-governing opportunity in Gaza, rather than use it for a missile launching pad.

Rather, the bulk of what little the Palestinians do have, including their water supplies, electricity and employment opportunities, has come from Israel.

After 40 years, isn't it time for the Arab world to stop using the Palestinians as their pawns of aggression against Israel and to move on a more productive path to peace?

Lawrence Silver, Oldsmar

Property tax relief

Very little help

What a scam by the Florida Legislature. These people went to Tallahassee to give us some relief.

What we get is the news media gushing about how we the citizens of Florida are going to get tax relief.

What about commercial and nonhomesteaded property? The property tax on my mom-and-pop hotel goes up 200 percent over three years and I am going to get a 9 percent break. Thanks a lot.

I guess I can thank my local city and county government for this also. It seems that they spent some of my tax dollars lobbying against giving me some relief. Thanks a lot.

It kind of makes me want to sell and move out of state. Oh, wait, I cannot sell due to the tax situation. Thanks a lot.

John Elliott, Madeira Beach

[Last modified June 16, 2007, 22:03:54]