State Sen. Ashburn’s secret gay life; California state college costs; South Carolina’s campaign

Ashburn and his secret

Re “Out and about,” Opinion, June 12

State Sen. Roy Ashburn admits with refreshing though sobering candor to Patt Morrison that, fearful of revealing he is gay, he deceived his constituents for 26 years. He also says that even as he took positions on legislation affecting citizens in their private lives, he still truly believes the conservative philosophy that the government has “no role” in the private lives of citizens.

Contrasted with his lived experience, his philosophical assertion suggests that Ashburn himself embodies a humbling human truth that puts the lie to conservatives’ distinctions between public and private. If we maintain the fiction that government has no role in the private lives of citizens, then how do we account for the fact that our elected representatives sometimes govern in the grip of their private terrors? Does that mean they forfeit the right to run for and hold public office?

Clearly that’s not the case here, nor will it ever be the case so long as we infinitely complex human beings hold democracy’s reins. Fear-seized — and fear-seizing — public officials may govern poorly and dishonestly, but we elect them with astonishing frequency.

Paul Vandeventer

Los Angeles

The L.A. Pride Festival last weekend had me pondering how such pride is best expressed today. Then I ran across Patt Morrison’s interview with the least appropriate subject The Times could have selected for this occasion: another lying politician who’s hidden his sexual orientation for decades under a false guise of “family values.”

Ashburn makes no bones about his career-long hypocrisy, noting that “any measure that had to do with the subject of sexual orientation was an automatic ‘no’ vote. I was paralyzed by this fear, and so I voted without even looking at the content.” Really?

Morrison later remarks, “You’ll probably be regarded as a go-to spokesman for a lot of gay issues from here on out. Are you OK with that?”

I’m not OK with that! Roy Ashburn is no GLBT spokesman — now or ever. What a shame you couldn’t showcase someone who has been a positive force for both the GLBT community and all his or her fellow Californians. This is something Ashburn has clearly never been during a lifetime of service … to himself.

Neilan Tyree

Culver City

Affording state universities

Re “Universities whisper T-word,” June 14

I was sorry to see that the University of California and possibly the Cal State University system were considering moving beyond fees and charging tuition, turning away from the dreams of the great Gov. Pat Brown and the great Chancellor Clark Kerr.

There may be a way to keep the fees low and promote higher education: Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont) proposed AB 656, a tax on oil extracted from the state, to be paid by oil companies and not passed on to consumers. This tax exists in such oil-producing states as Alaska and Texas, and the law would bring California into line with other states.

Some politicians want to tax students to give oil companies a break. AB 656 would correct this and provide help for the UC and CSU systems.

John T. Donovan

Hacienda Heights

Let’s quit complaining and start remembering that our UC schools are on a par, academically, with many of the finest private schools in the country, including the Ivy League.

Try sending your kids to Yale, Harvard or Stanford for $10,000 a year! Our system is still the best deal anywhere.

Bob Guarrera

Laguna Niguel

Fretting over South Carolina?

Re “Carolina conundrum,” Editorial, June 15

Good news for all Californians: Now that the merry band of Times editorial writers have solved all the problems in our golden state, it is time to turn their attention to South Carolina. The good people there must be relieved to know that help is on the way. I am sure they were astounded to learn of their shockingly antebellum racial attitudes.

I seriously doubt if any of The Times’ editorial writers have ever been east of the Mississippi River, much less in South Carolina. Rather than casting the first stone toward the east, how about focusing on more local issues?

Skip Bowling

Studio City

I know you want to appear fair and balanced and are worried that Jonah Goldberg and your apparently endless stream of Cato Institute contributors will tease you around the water cooler, but really: You list three examples of Republicans in South Carolina revealing “shockingly antebellum racial attitudes” and suggest that Greene was a Republican plant, then conclude that “neither camp has much to be proud of”?

Huh? Sometimes there really is a right side and a wrong side.

David New

Manhattan Beach

Who should root for L.A.?

Re “A red, white and blue Brit,” Opinion, June 11

Thank you to Ivor Davis for sharing his dilemma. It’s gratifying to know this city of transplants is full of people with conflicted loyalties.

I, too, am faced with the dilemma of who to root for when my adopted home’s team plays against my birth home’s team. I, too, have spent my adult life in Los Angeles and have grown to love it here. I now love carne asada burritos as much as I love steak and cheese subs. I now love jacaranda trees in the spring as much as I love maple trees in the fall. I now love the Hollywood Bowl as much as I love Tanglewood.

However, no matter how long I live here, no matter how much purple and gold I am surrounded with, when spring rolls around, I cannot bring myself to wear anything but green, and chant anything else but “Beat L.A.”

Christine Angelli

Santa Monica

As a naturalized citizen, whose grandfather proudly played for Hamburg’s HSV soccer team and whose 14-year-old nephew is now elegantly maneuvering the black and white ball across a green field in Flourtown, Penn., I joined Davies and other U.S. soccer fans on Saturday as we rooted for our beloved “home” team: “Go, America, go.”

Carolin H. Atchison

Studio City

Afghanistan’s mineral wealth

Re “Can Afghanistan tap $1-trillion mineral wealth?,” June 15

Now that the Pentagon has discovered vast mineral deposits in Afghanistan, we will never leave that country; or at least not until U.S. mining companies have sewn up all of that country’s mining rights for at least the next 100 years. Now, for the first time, we have a seemingly legitimate reason to justify our presence there.

By the way, why was our military out looking in remote areas for Afghanistan’s mineral deposits? It is ridiculous for the Pentagon to use the excuse that we were only interested in finding some way to rebuild the Afghan economy.

Sheldon Willens

Los Angeles

Jewish academy leaders

Re “A campus’ leap of faiths,” June 9

The Times reported that I said few graduates of the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, wind up leading major congregations of any branch.

What I said was that many of the Academy for Jewish Religion, California, graduates take novel positions in unusual locations, such as the first rabbi to serve in the Grand Canyon. However, our graduates also serve in leadership roles in large prominent congregations in urban centers throughout the United States.

One of the unique features of the school is training of clergy leaders to serve both the affiliated and non-affiliated Jewish community. To suggest that they are not being accepted for leadership positions in major congregations is misleading.

Rabbi Mel Gottlieb

Los Angeles

The writer is president of the Academy for Jewish Religion, California.