Kids deserve the spotlight for fundraising project...

Kids deserve the spotlight for fundraising project

“Kids work to rebuild” should have been the headline of the

article published Saturday (“Family works for rebuilding”). The Give

Shelter project is a fabulous example of community outreach. It had

nothing to do, in fact, with my family but everything to do with a

handful of thoughtful children and a generous public.

The record should be corrected that it was the kids who

accomplished this astonishing feat; and it was actually Jack Paal and

Max Newsome, on behalf of all the kids, who handed over the little

gold house filled with $22,434 to the Habitat for Humanity

representative.

These two boys and a couple dozen other students eagerly gave up

their free time to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity to provide a

home for a family ravished by Hurricane Katrina. They were all

courageous and courteous as they faced the uncomfortable situation of

trying to get others to part with their money. These kids were, in

turn, supported by a generous outpouring from the folk in our

community.

With every dollar bill, coin and check that went into the gold

boxes, and every smile and encouraging word from each stranger and

neighbor, our kids learned a great lesson in the heart of giving.

So, to each child who participated and to each giver: Hooray for

you.

CHERYL LAIDLAW

Newport Beach

Trip to airport will continue to get worse

I got a great deal of satisfaction reading the hassles Steve Smith

laid out in his Saturday column, “Analyze this trip.” Even if he

isn’t smart enough to get to LAX without getting lost, he should be

smart enough to know the “madness” he described will only get worse

and, in five years, travel out of LAX will be next to impossible.

(They may even put a surcharge on Orange County residents.) We will

also see John Wayne fares rise significantly. Why? Because they can.

And Smith still doesn’t believe El Toro should be an airport.

How ignorant and short-sighted can one person be?

JOSH WALKER

Balboa Island

Cameras on Newport’s beaches threaten privacy

The idea of cameras on the beach in Newport is obtrusive. The

thought of relaxing on the beach and being watched from a control

room somewhere is haunting. These cameras pose a direct threat to

civil liberties, which are -- with the assistance of growing social

anxieties about safety -- increasingly diminishing. These incipient

cameras support this contention.

Under the guise of “safety,” Charlie Smith of Seven Seas Internet,

a Laguna Beach-based wireless provider, has made his case for the use

of the cameras.

“The benefits far outweigh the privacy issues,” Smith has said.

At $4,000 to $5,000 per camera and a total of six cameras planned,

some financial benefit is obvious. What is not as clear is the

unpredictable, pernicious loss of privacy that will work in concert

with these cameras to forever change the social landscape of

Newport’s beaches.

Let’s stop foregoing civil liberties in the name of fiscal profits

and bogus safety concerns.

ERIC FERENTZ

Newport Beach