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As an avid reader of Willamette Week, I was very disappointed in the article "Land of the Lost" [Oct. 15, 2003]. Although the last half of the article is discernibly less slanted than the first half, the overall portrayal of our school is inaccurate.
As an English teacher in the trenches, I see students who come from amazingly harsh backgrounds overcome the obstacles that life has given them because teachers reach out and create sincere, lasting relationships. Every day that I walk into Parkrose High, I am struck by the sheer magnitude of dedication that pervades here.
Furthermore, last year we had a fourth of our staff retire, and the tone of the building has changed dramatically. We have an abundance of fresh, highly educated teachers who can and will adapt curriculum and programs to educate every student.
When the media latches onto our failures, those of us who are fighting feel discouraged. If, as the last half of the article seems to articulate, Willamette Week has at least a basic understanding of the changing demographics and the challenges that come with them, why beat us down with headlines and attention-getters that make all our hard work obsolete to the public?
Vina Schaeffer
English teacher, Parkrose High School
KATU, BRUTE?
Your brief note about KATU Television [Murmurs, Oct. 1, 2003] dropping the Women's World Cup Soccer game in favor of a gardening show is another in a long list of similar stunts KATU is fond of pulling. I once called KATU when this happened and was told that The Oregonian misprinted the schedule. On that occasion, when I called The Oregonian I was told by them that they do not create TV schedules. They print what the various television stations send them. (By the way, that gardening show was following by a succession of infomercials for the remainder of the afternoon. I kept checking back as I wasn't tuned in when the soccer match started and did not hear any lame excuse they might have offered.)
Now you report KATU told essentially the same thing to you. It would seem that The Oregonian has nothing to gain by inventing TV schedules. But roguish management at KATU might. There have been many instances of KATU not broadcasting the schedule they print in A&E, and the viewer be damned. The obvious conclusion would seem to be that every word printed and spoken by KATU is a lie until shown otherwise. It is not clear to me what moves KATU, but television and service do not seem to come into play. They don't, in my opinion, deserve to hang on to their broadcasting license. Most any high-school class could come up with better.
Michael Novotny
Southeast 48th Avenue
Editor's Note: The Oregonian receives its TV schedules via a New York-based listings service, which was apparently the source of the World Cup screw-up.
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