Letters to the Editor

Changing History

I agree with your opinion about removing the 49er namesake at CSULB. I did not attend in the 60s, I was in the mid 70s but I still agree about changing history and there’s nothing embarrassing about searching for gold.

My daughter is part registered Indian with the Choctaw nation, so I have much respect for indigenous people, but I believe that we can recognize the truth about history and appreciate the true history. I am not sure that a shark is a good mascot example.

Maybe the new president will get rid of the shark.

Cathy King

I appreciated and agreed with your stand-up comments on CSULB. 

As a grateful graduate (MS, Chemistry) of CSULB, I came back and supported the school for 10 years as an advisor, as an invited lecturer, and also financially. As a teacher in HS, and then as an adjunct professor at LBCC, I pointed many students toward CSULB.

That changed. Over the past 10 years as the neo-adolescent managerial rot spread into the state universities, my support waned, then vanished, just like it did earlier for my late lamented alma mater UCLA. The demise of Prospector Pete was an important signpost.

On Dr. Conoley’s watch, I wonder if management chose to drift along with the woke tide when more adult educational vision and leadership was needed. Worse, I have started to have doubts about the character, strength and direction of American society itself in failing to push back against this destructive behavior, which is damaging social norms and societal cohesion.

Remember, we often hear the United States referred to the American experiment. We need to keep in mind that, with experiments, the outcomes are not predictable. 

Jim Myrtle

Sanctuary City

Having seen LA Mayor Bass speaking on a local news channel about how LA is updating their sanctuary city ordinance of 2017, strengthening it in the face of Trump’s threats to “round up” undocumented immigrants, it made me wonder if Long Beach is doing anything to protect our own immigrant population.

I hadn’t asked the Long Beach Mayor’s Office for any help since the Broadway bike lane fiasco, when then-Mayor Robert Garcia refused to talk to me. I thought just asking the city for information on its position regarding the state of our 2017 “Long Beach Values” sanctuary city ordinance, and what it does to defend our immigrant community in 2024, should be a simple enough request: this is, after all, a very current and highly publicized topic, as well as an impending threat to our so-called “International City.” After Mayor Bass’ widely televised announcement, one might assume that any city in the shadow of LA would be well-prepared to answer the obvious sanctuary city questions.

Wrong! Instead of answers, I got an embarrassing runaround. After two calls to my Third District Council Office, and three to the mayor’s office – including, from the latter, a promise that “we’ll get back to you” (they didn’t) – I realized that ex-Mayor Robert Garcia’s “do not disturb” sign is still hanging on City Hall.

I was unable to get any information, and was told (when I asked if there was anyone else in the city with whom I could speak) that “everyone is very busy this time of year”: an unacceptable level of rudeness and dismissiveness, reminiscent of the previous administration.

It seems that the musical chairs election in our city has brought no change. When the circus music stopped and the clowns scrambled for their seats, the same attitudes remained in the chairs: another set of city officials who have forgotten (or perhaps never knew) just who is working for whom.

We, the people hold the mallet. Maybe it’s time to hit the gong.

Merry Colvin