Tough stance needed on Grad Night 2005...

Tough stance needed on Grad Night 2005

As a parent of a graduating senior at Corona del Mar High School,

I strongly disagree with Jeff Gingold regarding the seriousness of

testing for alcohol and drugs at Grad Night 2005 (“Students should

exercise judgment on grad night,” Wednesday). I believe that keeping

students who are under the influence out of the party and reporting

violators to the police will keep my son and other seniors safer and

will make the party more enjoyable for everyone who chooses to

respect the rules. Many times in the past, grad nights have been

affected by the behavior of students who felt that they could not

have a good time without getting high in one way or another. Students

as well as parents have been notified of the restrictions. Let’s have

our seniors show us now rather than later that they have learned our

lessons and that there are consequences -- yes, I know I have said

the word that so many parents hate to say, much less enforce -- to

their actions. If they want to celebrate, as they so richly deserve,

then they must go to Grad Night sober.

Congratulations to all our graduating seniors. Have a great night!

KATHY DONOVAN

Balboa Island

Airport plan suffered under bad influence

Letter writer Ann Merritt mentions that pilots and air traffic

controllers consider El Toro unsafe (“Why are people still pushing

for El Toro?” Wednesday). However, they only feel that way toward the

flawed county plan, designed to appease the Irvine Co.

For starters, northern takeoffs would have interfered with

incoming approaches to Long Beach and John Wayne airports. In fact,

in 2001, the Federal Aviation Administration even issued an airspace

determination stating that with that layout, El Toro would have

numerous delays, and at best could handle 4 million annual

passengers.

Then eastern takeoffs had the problem of tailwind into rising

terrain. A high-performance fighter jet can handle that. But no sane

pilots would ever try that with a commercial passenger jet.

Unfortunately, far safer and more efficient layouts such as the “V

plan” and “pilot’s plan” were never given the time of day. The only

patterns the administration is allowed to study is what the local

reuse authority, our esteemed Board of Supervisors, would consider.

Instead of implementing a better airport layout, they felt it was

more important to appease the avaricious Irvine Co.

With a buffer zone no longer required for El Toro, the Irvine Co.

will get to add thousands more homes to what is already one of the

densest counties in the nation.

I believe the single biggest factor that led to the downfall of El

Toro was that the Irvine Co.-appeasing county plan could not even

pass the basic laws of physics.

Had equal consideration been given to all layouts -- and had the

advice of pilots and professionals been carefully followed -- then

there is no way El Toro opponents would have had such a field day

pointing out the physical and aeronautical flaws. Perhaps El Toro

would now be open for business today. Who knows? Instead, those with

scientific minds were dismissed -- if not outright ridiculed as

heretics, just like in the Dark Ages.

REX RICKS

Huntington Beach