Math success rooted in the basics

To the editor:

My husband, a retired university mathematics professor, and I, a former biologist and teacher, have been volunteers tutoring children at the Whitney Community Center since the beginning of this year. We tutor all subjects but, as you can probably imagine, mostly mathematics. It does not take a commission to determine what is wrong with the teaching of mathematics here. It is really pretty obvious.

The learning of mathematics is like a pyramid. It needs a strong, secure base before ascending to the next level of difficulty, or it will collapse. Children need to learn the addition and multiplication tables by heart. By the fourth grade, they need to know the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They need to have this knowledge in their heads. If they cannot immediately access this information, they will fall behind, and will never catch up.

It does no good to push them forward, and the farther they are pushed without a firm foundation, the farther they will fall behind, as the Clark County School District's recent semester exams for middle and high school students seem to indicate.

Also, parent involvement is essential, as is greater discipline in the classroom, and more respect for the teachers. Education is not highly valued in this country and, as a result, we are lagging farther and farther behind other nations. This does not bode well for our country.

DORALEE SMITHSON

LAS VEGAS

Who is Doug Elfman?

To the editor:

I was distressed to find that Doug Elfman was rehired by the Review-Journal to be a political pundit. He is a far-left Bush hater who weaves his political views into everything he writes.

That is all fine, if only the Review-Journal would be up front with it and announce that he is a political writer. You make us read his "entertainment" columns so we are exposed to his radical, far-left views. I put "entertainment" in quotes just like Mr. Elfman put "freedom" in quotes every time he used the word in his Monday column about Sean Hannity's Saturday Freedom Concert at The Orleans. It disgusted me to see his review of that show, as well as his Friday column announcing the show by tying it in with the gay pride events.

I will not purchase the Review-Journal again until you are honest about Mr. Elfman's job with the newspaper.

Robert Smith

HENDERSON

Tax amnesty

To the editor:

To help the state's budget shortfall, our governor is considering amnesty for unpaid taxes from businesses (Tuesday Review-Journal). If they pay their delinquent sales taxes, business payroll taxes and license fees, they won't have to pay penalties.

Gov. Gibbons reports that when amnesty was granted to businesses six years ago, the Nevada Tax Commission collected more than $7 million.

What kind of responsible government is this? The Nevada Tax Commission simply allows all these businesses to go delinquent? Vast numbers of businesses simply keep and use the sales taxes we all pay? They ignore paying business taxes and decline to pay license fees? And $7 million is simply from the ones that finally paid.

No wonder our budget is short. It appears the Nevada Tax Commission is delinquent. Millions and millions of dollars worth of unpaid taxes simply ignored? Is anybody paying? Why should they if they can simply keep and use the sales taxes they collect and wait for a delinquent governor to give them amnesty again?

Jerry Sturdivant

LAS VEGAS

Dina! Dina!

To the editor:

I hope you have billed the Democratic Party for the full-page Dina Titus advertisement you published in Sunday's Viewpoints section. The adjacent Erin Neff and Geoff Schumacher columns on her congressional candidacy must have been worth several thousand dollars to her campaign.

Stan Ames

HENDERSON

Foreclosure bailout

To the editor:

Congress is considering bailing out the 2.04 percent of all home mortgage holders who, for one reason or another, cannot make their home loan payments.

We all know that of this 2.04 percent, many were "flippers" trying to make a fast buck. More power to them. Capitalism encourages speculation.

The question is, why should the remaining 97.96 percent of home mortgage holders keep working their backsides off and faithfully pay their loans and take a tax hit for the non-payers (we all realize the cost of a bailout always passes to the taxpayer)?

Because personal responsibility is evidently not an issue in this situation, why not default and get in line for the government payoff? Why not "cram" everyone's mortgage down to a more reasonable level? The federal government is living on fiat money anyway, so there must be plenty to go around. It can just print more, right?

Ginger Swartz

BOULDER CITY