Strikers conspicuous by their absence from...

Strikers conspicuous by their absence from story

The Daily Pilot owes it to its readers and its own journalistic

standards to present balanced, well researched reporting. This was

not done in the case of the story, “UCI lecturers prepped for strike”

(Oct. 12). It appears that the UC Office of the President’s Web site

was easily accessed to get the official University of California side

of the story. This side of the story was clearly presented.

However, telling the lecturers’ side of the story would have taken

more digging. Lecturers in the UC system have been pushed to strike

for a variety of reasons. Lecturers have been working without a

contract for 2 1/2years because of bad-faith bargaining on the part

of the university system. Lecturers teach almost 50% of undergraduate

courses on some campuses. The average starting salary for lecturers

is less than $30,000 per year. Lecturers have not had a cost of

living increase in over two years. There is no salary schedule for

lecturers that considers level of education, years of experience and

years of service. There are always two sides to every story. The

Daily Pilot must tell both sides in order to serve its community in a

fair, responsible, and credible way.

JOYCE S. CAIN

UCI Lecturer

Newport Beach

Unofficial rulings in judge’s race

Re: “Judge race recalls some old wounds,” Oct. 14.

1. “I think it’s pretty ugly that she’s involved in [MacEachern’s]

election,” Vickie Bridgman said. “There is obvious bad blood there.”

Vickie Bridgman was talking about Jennifer Keller’s decision to

sign on as treasurer to the Kelly MacEachern campaign for the

judgeship, Office No. 22 -- the judgeship for which Bridgman is also

running. Keller had defended Jason Rausch, whom Bridgman prosecuted

for the death of her son. It seems quite natural for Keller to

support an opponent if she does not agree with Bridgman’s positions.

2. Rausch was driving the Bridgman family’s Chevy Blazer, which had a

severe “modification” (jacked up) to the factory-built suspension

system. It would be very difficult for me to believe that a stock

Blazer would have responded to the conditions that night the same as

the “modified” one did.

3. “I don’t think my family got a fair shake” was Bridgman’s

comment about the Rausch verdict and sentencing. “[Rausch] doesn’t

live with the fact that he killed someone. I’m the one who has to

live with that fact. He has never admitted his mistakes.” As far as I

know, Bridgman hasn’t admitted hers either.

4. The quotes from Vickie Bridgman in the Daily Pilot show the

same Bridgman attitude that we saw during the trial in which she

prosecuted Rausch for the death of her son. . I ask myself, is this

the kind of judge I would want to face on the bench if I were ever

accused of a crime?

CONRAD T. TIMPE

Corona del Mar