Mailbag - Sept. 2, 1999

As an alumnus of Newport Harbor and a resident of Orange County for

my entire life until I left for college, I am appalled at the reaction

of putting up this wall -- the argument [about] encroaching on the public

sidewalk and hindering a view into the street from the alley (“It will

stay ...,” Aug. 27)

I think a great deal of the people here have missed the point. It’s no

longer about keeping the sidewalks beautiful and wide, it’s about

protecting the children who do not possess the capability to cry out

otherwise.

A child was [killed], citizens. Let us not forget the true issue at

hand. Two families lost children -- a little girl and a little boy who

were bright and shining stars in this sometimes bleak and dismal world.

Yet months later, because it wasn’t your child and it didn’t directly

affect your lives, you are arguing about the wall that will protect

children and their families from the hurt and pain that the Sotos and

Wieners have faced.

I do not personally know the Sotos or the Wieners, and I even admit

that I didn’t know their children, Sierra and Brandon. But having sisters

that age, I can only imagine how it must have felt to experience that

loss.

It’s not about the bureaucratic issue that many make it out to be and

can be boiled down to a few simple words: Keep the children, the future

of our world, safe at all and any cost -- even at the expense of

neighborhood aesthetics and convenience.

I urge citizens of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa to look at the real

issue at hand.

AMIE LAMANTIA

Student, University of Arizona

Newport Beach

I think its great that Costa Mesa and Estancia high schools are one

step closer to getting new athletic facilities (“School board gives OK to

spend for sketches of new sports facilities,” Aug. 26). The stadium and

pool will be a great asset to both the high schools and the city of Costa

Mesa.

However, I would like to see some interest in new performing arts

facilities for the high schools, particularly Estancia High School.

Estancia is home to the best drama department in Orange County; they

continually win major awards and produce top-notch productions year after

year. Yet these hard-working and talented students are forced to work in

an unsatisfactory and, in some cases, unsafe theater.

I know the quality of the program shouldn’t matter, but doesn’t it

seem wrong that our district’s best drama program is forced to work in

the district’s worst theater? The school has been doing what it can to

improve the facility with its SIP funds, but the district needs to take

action and fix Estancia’s crumbling theater.

After the $6 million is raised to build new athletic facilities, let’s

focus on our arts programs for a change. Why don’t we think about

building a second district performing arts complex at Estancia that would

serve all Costa Mesa schools, while the Newport Beach schools can

continue to use the one at Newport Harbor?

Whatever the idea, the bottom line is that Estancia drama needs a new

theater to match the talent it showcases. Perhaps if drama was a sport,

the district would pay more attention to it. But if it were, Estancia

would be winning CIF every year, and they deserve a nice, new theater.

BRET TABOADA

Student, Philadelphia University

Costa Mesa