Unbalanced reporting

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, May 5, 2007

I HAVE been puzzled as to what purpose The Argus has in negatively covering the transactions of the Filipino Community of Alvarado and Vicinity board, which controls the Holly House property at 3939 Smith St.

It certainly is not to clarify the situation because I have read all six articles spread over a period of several weeks and I am more confused than when I started.

What the coverage brings instead is a stain on a community that doesn't deserve it. The articles left a bad and lingering aftertaste.

Racism is all about the results, not the intent, and this could be construed as such. Some might counter by saying that "we only report what is there; we do not invent." Agreed, but why only follow stories with negative implications?

Do you cover the activities of other members of the FilipinoAmerican community? How many articles have you had covering the great programs exemplifying the achievements and talents and sacrifices of our Filipino-American youths, like Filipino Youth Coalition and Filipinos For Affirmative Action, for example?

Some balance in reporting will do The Argus well. We are a community of substance that demands and deserves the respect of unbiased and balanced reporting.

Oscar Penaranda

President, East Bay Chapter,

Filipino American National

Historical Society

Misleading statements

AS THE principal of Logan High School, I was quite shocked when I opened my Argus on May 3 and read the Local section headline, "Logan High back to normal after stabbing," since I knew there had not been a stabbing at Logan.

I was shocked and very disappointed when I read the article, too.

The first two paragraphs continued to give the impression that there had been a stabbing on campus. It wasn't until the third paragraph that the reader was told that the stabbing occurred at BART late Monday afternoon.

I continued to read about "swirling racial tension" and that the campus was a "volatile place Tuesday" before it "reverted back to normal."

Here are the facts.

There was a stabbing at BART, about a mile from Logan, approximately two hours after school was dismissed. Thankfully, the student will recover. The person who assaulted the student is unknown at this time.

Yes, there was a brief beginning of a verbal interaction between two groups of students on Tuesday at lunch, but we had increased our supervision in order to maintain a safe campus and the two-minute disturbance was immediately stopped by the adults. It worked the way it is supposed to work.

"Swirling racial tensions" at "a volatile place?" No. "Return to normal?" We were "normal" all week.

Don J. Montoya

Principal,

Logan High School

Fool's paradise

I HAVE three questions regarding the Virginia Tech shootings.

First, how many of the victims returned fire? Second, why not? Third, why couldn't they?

I was under the impression that the state of Virginia had a shall- issue carry-concealed-weapons law. Whose idiotic idea was it that the law is inapplicable on the Virginia Tech campus?

The estates of the victims will have a field day suing Virginia Tech, not for failure to protect, but for infringement of civil rights and violation of state law.

"Gun free zones" are nothing more than killing fields. This should have become obvious when 9/11 provided terrorists with plane- loads of unarmed victims.

The hoplophobes running Virginia Tech are attempting to impose their own religion on their students, in violation of both the First and Fourteenth amendments.

They even have their own version of the 23rd Psalm, which starts with "The government is my shepherd, I shall not fear ...," and ends with "... and I will dwell in a fool's paradise forever."

Andy Breglia

Fremont

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