Navigating the McCarran parking nightmare

To the editor:

Thank you to Adrienne Packer for her views on McCarran International Airport's total lack of concern for public safety and customer service (Review-Journal, Sunday). The lack of a cellphone lot is inexcusable and speaks to nothing but greed for money from $2-an-hour parking.

Meanwhile, frustrated local residents drive around in circles and have to negotiate a difficult merge entering the passenger pick-up ramp. I have seen three accidents at this location in the past two weeks. One involved six vehicles.

On busy nights, this merge causes backups all the way back to the tunnel. Simply a bad design.

As to the airport traffic and parking workers -- aka the Gestapo -- some classes in customer service and anger management are in order. Oh, and add to that the rude rental car bus drivers who believe they own the airport. God forbid a misdirected driver enters zero level. He will be chased down by the bicycle patrol and harshly scolded or possibly ticketed.

Airport management needs to seriously look at these issues and address them -- especially with the opening of the new terminal, which will only add to the confusion.

David Lyons

Las Vegas

Social promotion

To the editor:

Regarding Bruce Schowers' Monday letter blaming students and parents for school woes: Most of the blame goes to the school system.

While I agree that parents need to be active in their children's education, as long as the system allows social promotion, it is enabling the students who are not performing.

The school system must fail students who do not meet the established standards starting in the first grade. If students are passed without knowing the material of the previous grades, they will not be able to learn the next grade's material, and they will eventually just give up.

By eliminating social promotion, the teachers will be able to teach their students because the class will have the necessary knowledge to learn the material of that class. The teachers are being handicapped by the system as it promotes students who are not prepared to learn the material of their next class.

Tom Jones

Las Vegas

Financial bonanza

To the editor:

In response to Glenn Cook's Sunday column, "UNLV professor's divine buyout": I'm thrilled that Mr. Cook is around to inform us of how universities protect their professors. As a taxpayer, I'm shocked that Martha Watson, a communication studies professor at UNLV, could be away from her campus for two years in order to "revitalize" her mind and "to recharge" her "batteries." And then return to enjoy a $200,000-plus buyout? Now that's pretty outrageous.

I have to agree with Mr. Cook that the university is, in a sense, a "priesthood." For at least one professor, however, it is also a financial bonanza.

David Tulanian

Los Angeles