MAILBAG:

Many in prison could be working at community centers, and hospitals.

They could learn a trade, and a bonus when they complete the training. We give state colleges $10,000 for each student they help with entrance exams. Many drop out the first year.

Many years ago, the nurses in training lived at the hospitals. You don’t need a degree to be a nurse. Check with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in Massachusetts.

MARY J. MCLAUGHLIN

Newport Beach

Anti-Semitism rankles more than just committee

Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee aren’t the only ones troubled by the conduct of the U.S. Department of Education and its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in how OCR handled the Zionist Organization of America’s complaint alleging anti-Semitism at UCI in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and in how OCR is enforcing Title VI to ensure that Jewish students are protected from harassment and intimidation (“Sens. query racism report,” Mar. 8).

On Feb. 8, the leadership of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations sent its own letter to the head of OCR, stating they were “troubled by your agency’s recent decision to deny the protections of Title VI to Jewish students at UCI.”

The Conference of Presidents urged OCR to confirm that it will protect Jewish students from anti-Semitic harassment under Title VI, and to reconsider its decision in the ZOA’s case against UCI, because it is based on “an overly restrictive reading of Title VI that we believe could have serious consequences.”

Director, Center for Law and Zionist Organization of America

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