Columnist living in the 19th century

In his Sunday column, Vin Suprynowicz continues his ongoing tirade against public education (“Locking our children away from the real world”).

While it is true that we Americans have been fortunate to have had some very talented men and women lead our nation as politicians, inventors and captains of industry, it is also true that we live in a different time. To suggest that, as I understand his argument, children do not need 12 years of education, ignores the fact that we no longer live in either an agrarian or manufacturing-based economy.

By and large, children no longer work on family farms in hopes of taking over upon their parents’ death, and the concept that someone can expect to work on an assembly line for 30 years and retire with a comfortable pension has become a relic of a bygone era.

Our economy has evolved into a technology-based marketplace where competition requires an educated work force. Increasingly, employees must comprehend and use mathematics and science as well as have the ability to communicate effectively.

Mr. Suprynowicz says that we’re “locking our children away from the real world” by sending them to school to learn the essentials necessary to compete in today’s world. What would his alternative be? Should parents send their children to work in mines and factories, as was done in previous centuries? I suppose they’d learn, if nothing else, the value of an education.

While Mr. Suprynowicz is correct when he argues there are problems with the current state of public education in America, I would hardly describe them in the fatalistic terms he uses. If he were correct, and our “dysfunctional mandatory government youth propaganda camps” are the norm, how does he explain that every year, many of those who graduated from these “camps” go on to higher education and become the next generation of successful doctors, architects, inventors, politicians and captains of industry?

Joel Rector

NORTH LAS VEGAS

Woman hater

To the editor:

In response to Publisher Sherman Frederick’s Sunday column, “Can Hillary come back?”: We get it. We understand that Mr. Frederick hates Hillary Clinton.

This time he suggested she would cheat to win, which I suppose is an improvement over his Feb. 3 column in which he called her “evil,” ruthless, slimy and akin to Dracula. For this reader, Mr. Frederick’s distasteful misogynist rhetoric has crossed the line of what is acceptable.

Mr. Frederick again puts forth the tired claim that Hillary is “race-baiting.” I see no proof of this, but I see plenty of evidence of his own poor view of women. Why is it OK to talk about putting “a fork in Hillary”? None of the other candidates has been subject to such hateful rhetoric.

If Hillary wins, it will be in spite of pundits like Mr. Frederick, who use their bully pulpits to manipulate the truth, encourage gender stereotypes and spread patently offensive imagery that is insulting to all people. It will be because millions of people who support her can look past the distorted caricature the media have created to see a truly accomplished and capable leader who can lead us to a better future.

JOCELYN GUTIERREZ

HENDERSON

Neighborhood Watch

To the editor:

Recent news stories have dealt with the local burglary problem and how hard the crime is to solve. Las Vegas police Capt. Stavros Anthony was quoted in the Review-Journal saying, “If somebody breaks into a house and nobody sees anything, we have absolutely nothing to follow up on. That’s basically it.”

Neighborhood Watch is America’s premier, proven-effective, citizen crime prevention program. Las Vegas police make available a crime prevention specialist to facilitate the local Neighborhood Watch programs.

Because I was involved in the 1970s with one of the very earliest citizen crime prevention efforts and I had my own security locksmith business, I know from experience that the Neighborhood Watch program is one of the very important steps that community members can take to protect their personal security as well as deter burglary. Knowing your neighbors and them knowing you, through the watch program, can provide for a stronger, safer, crime-free community. It is always better to have a Neighborhood Watch program in effect prior to having problems, rather than wait until a problem exists.

For those concerned about burglary or other crimes, your personal participation is extremely important in order to make a Neighborhood Watch program a success. Think of your participation as cost-free insurance against burglary and other crimes, a chance to meet your neighbors and strengthen your community. Neighborhood Watch is a win-win situation for all of us. Contact your local crime prevention specialist to get a Neighborhood Watch program started.

Martin Koppel

LAS VEGAS