The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Letters Lamson tragedy urges us to take responsibility I was appalled and disgusted at the community support rallied behind Jeff Lamson. How could the "so called" charm and charisma of a person completely overshadow the unspeakable crimes that he has committed? Crimes that you hope never happen to your child, your wife, your sister or your brother. I commend the two young women for coming forward and holding Mr. Lamson accountable for his actions despite the ridicule they received from some students and teachers. That was the saddest outcome of the case. The lack of support that was shown by the Homestead High School community is embarrassing. It shows a weakness in our morals and values, something that is fading before our eyes. Unfortunately there are no winners in this case, but it is up to us to hopefully create something positive from such a horrible tragedy. It asks us as a community to take responsibility for the society we are allowing to decline. We need to protect our children from child molesters. Fortunately, this case was tried on the facts and justice prevailed. We have the power to ensure that no child has to lose his or her childhood and innocence at the hands of a trusted parent, friend or teacher. So let's use it. Amy Timpe Homestead High School Class of '94 Lamson's victims did nothing wrong I agree with editor Maggie Benson and reader Cory Christian in your Feb. 3 issue. I was outraged to learn that 100 misguided community members wrote to Judge Cordell asking that child molester Lamson not be punished because he is a friend of theirs. Is that a good excuse for his crimes, that he is a "wonderful" guy (except for being a child molester)? Is acting on his perverted impulses OK if his friends and colleagues like having him around? Is he less of a danger to society because he had a positive impact on the life of an autistic boy he coached, or even if he'd had a positive impact on all the boys he coached? I was even more disgusted to learn that people have been harassing and threatening the victim who reported the crime. People, this is not the 18th century. This girl did nothing wrong. She did not cause Lamson to violate her. It must have been brave for her to come forward with her testimony and she deserves our support. In the USA, the criminal should be punished and shunned, not the victim. The victim should be comforted for her suffering and commended for her bravery. I am thankful that Judge Cordell recognizes this. I would be terrified to send my daughter to a school like Homestead where some teachers and parents think molesting children is dismissible. Sheryl Rattner Cupertino Lamson shouldn't take credit for boy's transformation As former president of the Homestead Football Booster organization, I had the great pleasure of witnessing the transformation of Danny Root into a fine young man. Jeff Lamson may have held the door open, but it was Danny's natural charm and sensitivity that was fostered by the friendship and protection of the football team. To attribute Danny's success to Jeff Lamson is just one more example of this individual's need for self-gratification. Bari Holm Sunnyvale Lamson's status to blame for community support As a parent and grandparent, I am sickened to read of the people who openly attested to Mr. Lamson's "character" and asked the judge for leniency. One can only believe that somehow teachers, parents, administrators and citizens are overwhelmed by the status of this man's parents. However, when one considers that, according to polls, more than 50 percent of our country thinks Clinton did nothing "wrong" when he chose to involve himself intimately with Monica, an aide, why should anyone in Sunnyvale and Cupertino get upset over a teacher who chooses to intimidate young girls into performing sexual acts with him! Lisa Lamson is to be commended for staying with her husband, but she is also to be pitied when she blames the judge for breaking up her family. Lisa doesn't get it either--her husband broke up her family--not the judge. And I am sorry to observe that many teachers, former administrators and friends of Mr. Lamson don't get it either. It is still not okay for teachers and leaders to have loose morals and do illegal things. There are still people in our society who have a moral conscience by which we abide. Since Yvette del Prado, who wrote a letter in support of Lamson, has left Cupertino schools, let us all thank God that the former superintendent has departed and is not running the district any longer. As to the teachers at Homestead High who would condone this man's actions, we as citizens and parents must be vigilant in our duties to be aware of any further wrongdoing by the teachers at Homestead High and throughout the Fremont Union High School District. Teaching and coaching positions are not trophies; they are to be earned through education and hard work--not because of who prospective teachers' parents are. Joyce A. Francis Sunnyvale Council set to vote on big homes: Be there Are you concerned about the large homes being built in the older neighborhoods of Cupertino? Are you afraid that a large, two-story "monster house" may someday be built next to your house and that your privacy and neighborhood appearance will be dramatically changed? On Tuesday, Feb. 16, the Cupertino City Council will meet at City Hall to consider changes to the residential R1 ordinance. Our Planning Department has done an excellent and thorough job of comparing our ordinance laws to those of Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Gatos and Los Altos. They found that Cupertino has the most lenient floor area ratio (FAR) of any of these cities. Our FAR is 0.45, which means that a home's square footage can be 45 percent that of the lot size. All of the cities surveyed have FARs less than 0.45 for lots greater than 6000 sq. ft. During Cupertino's housing boom of the 1960s and '70s, few homes were built to this size, but developers today have realized that it is very profitable to tear down an older home and build a new one at the maximum size allowed. There is nothing wrong with renovation and expansion, but we are concerned that the sizes of some of these homes are not compatible with the rest of the neighborhood. It is up to us, residents of Cupertino who love our older neighborhoods, to attend this meeting and show our support for the changes being considered. Larry Mattheakis John Mracek Laima Baltusis Cupertino Board's decision was all politics It's sad that the Cupertino Union School District Board has let politics control their decision to continue the immersion program. After reading the article, it makes no practical sense to continue a program that has limited appeal. It certainly makes no economic sense to use tax dollars to fund a program that has such a narrow focus. Wouldn't it make more sense to use these funds to pay for expanded music programs, science and math programs, sports and fitness. All of these have broad appeal. Now maybe Mandarin is taught at the college level, but not normally at the high school level. Where is the practical application for a Mandarin language program? For those who might argue that it will aid the student in the future, there is no doubt that knowing a second language certainly has its advantages. However, it should be one that can be carried on into high school, college and beyond. English is the language for international business and that's the way it's going to be. Maybe we should spend the money to insure our students can speak and write in English properly. There has been much discussion about how ill-prepared our students are in the basics of reading and writing; a second language is good but it should be the parents' responsibility to fund and manage a program that has very limited appeal and such a narrow focus. Clearly, the Board was thinking of their re-election when they voted for this one. Mark W. Fantozzi Cupertino [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 10, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.