Pilot overlooked a local legacy for DP...

Pilot overlooked a local legacy for DP 103

I was disappointed to see that the late Dan Donahue, the former

chairman of Donahue Schriber, was not included in the legacies

section of the DP 103 list of the most influential people. Donahue

was very instrumental in making Fashion Island one of the focal

points of Newport Beach.

I was resident of Newport Beach for many years but left in 1973. I

still keep in touch with my old friends and neighbors and read the

Daily Pilot on the Web almost every day. Donahue was a close personal

friend of mine.

BOB HIRSCH

Vero Beach, Fla.

Kobe’s clout in community questioned

Why would you include Kobe Bryant among “the few [and] the proud”

in our community newspaper?

Is someone who has admitted to cheating on his wife worthy of our

recognition along with the real heroes, who fought in Iraq and were

pictured in the same article?

Think of the impression this makes on our children. They are

looking for role models, and it appears that your inclusion of this

adulterer among the real heroes gives an “OK” to infidelity.

PATRICIA FROSTHOLM

Newport Beach

Learning a language is a gradual process

Regarding the recent spotlight on the three Newport-Mesa schools

struggling with No Child Left Behind, I’m worried that we’re missing

the bigger picture regarding Latino children and their process of

learning English.

You can be practically fluent in any foreign language, but sitting

through a math or history lesson in another tongue can be a whole

different ball game. So the fact that test scores are “below level”

shouldn’t be grounds for scolding the school or Latino parents

struggling with English every day -- it’s just a reflection of the

process of learning, which isn’t about instant results.

We tend to have a “just learn English, and hurry up -- darn it”

attitude both in Orange County and throughout the United States,

which is ironic since most American adults can barely recite basic

vocabulary from their rusty high school French or Spanish classes.

Yes, our immigrant community struggles with our native tongue, but

our standards of fluency ignore the reality of the whole enchilada --

which is that language skills take years. Those of us impatient with

the process might benefit from sitting through a day of algebra in

Spanish to fully comprehend what we’re asking of them.

JENNY BIOCHE

Newport Beach