The new Robert F. Kennedy schools complex in L.A.; U.S. programs that emphasize drones; Jerry Brown and his joke about Bill Clinton

More than buildings

Re “New campus, built-in history,” Sept. 13

Teachers, staff and educational programs are being cut left and right within L.A. Unified. How can it spend $578 million on buildings alone?

So what if the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools complex is located on a historic landmark? If there was a school built out of the cheapest materials yet with the best teachers, staff and educational programs, would the building or area even matter to the children or parents?

The focus should be on the actual quality of education the students are receiving in the classroom.

This money could have been more effectively used to enhance the quality of how students learn and having them develop into successful problem-solvers.

Christina Garcia

Mission Hills

How about running the same front-page picture of the auditorium again exactly one year from now?

Then we could see if the cost of the plush seating was justified by how the students treat these chairs.

A cost of $578 million? Only in L.A.

Gale McKim

Rancho Palos Verdes

I retired four years ago after 30-plus years at a Los Angeles Unified high school, and I am very impressed with the effort to provide a beautiful new school for the city.

Unfortunately, the reality is that the hundreds of taggers and other assorted felons in the incoming “student” population can’t wait to get in and make a mess out of the place.

Best of luck to the custodial and school security staffs as they begin their never-ending battle.

David Holmes

Santa Monica

Like the Phoenix — the legendary bird that according to legend rose alive from the ashes — the colorful new Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools complex on the site of the old Ambassador Hotel is a sight to see.

The learning center rises upward from the historic complex so as to honor Kennedy, and it will bring new life to the surrounding community.

Kenneth Larson

Los Angeles

Look Ma, no pilot!

Re “Drones are creating a buzz,” Sept. 12

I was shocked to learn the amount of money the government is spending on drone technology, yet I’m fascinated by the advances being made.

The more I thought about it, I remembered that military research has yielded so much technological advancement throughout history — the most famous and dangerous being atomic energy.

In light of that, the billions being spent seem a small price to pay for the safety of our country — especially when the technology could lead to pilotless commercial aircraft.

Sebastian Tillinger

Los Angeles

This story comes after we have been reading how vulnerable we are here to a major earthquake and how many thousands of Californians are living in buildings likely to collapse.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg of our problems. Old bridges, roads and gas lines all need upgrading. Federal aid and thousands of workers are needed here.

Governments in a democracy have a primary obligation to protect the citizenry. Which project is the best use of our tax dollars and our American workforce to meet this obligation: flying unmanned aircraft around the world or fixing the needs we have here at home?

David N. Hartman

Santa Ana

To me, the article on the history of drones was a little short on the significance of Reginald Denny’s contribution; he was a key figure in drones and remotely piloted vehicles.

I purchased my first powered model airplane at Denny’s hobby shop in the 1940s.

At one time, Radioplane’s facilities encompassed most of one side of Van Nuys Airport. It was a big local employer.

Northrop purchased Radioplane in the 1950s, and it became the radioplane division there — and the foundation of the company’s drone business.

Robert Martin

Rancho Palos Verdes

Thank you so much for the excellent articles on Turkey and the Nile, and also on the drones.

These pieces do what a newspaper should: help us understand how our world is working and where it is heading.

Nancy Sidhu

Redlands

Whoopee! California jobs may rebound based on a resurgence of the military/industrial complex receiving millions of federal dollars to build Predator drones for perhaps perpetual war.

At last we are producing something that isn’t

expected to be outsourced.

I am 83 years old and lived through the Depression — never expecting to again live through what painfully seems to resemble it.

Instead of building an economy based on useful products, we are being led by armchair soldiers, neocons and corporations to build an economy based on perpetual war and destruction — sometimes of innocent civilians.

Unless we wake up to those who have a vested interest in war and look to a future of peaceful manufacturing, the billions of federal dollars that pour into California will be only a short-lived revitalization, and our children and their children will continue to pay for these wars.

Frances E. Murphy

Monterey Park

If it’s true that defense contractors “are building surveillance drones the size of insects that can fly through open windows,” then we’d better be careful the next time we take a swipe at that pesky fly or annoying mosquito.

One well-placed blow could cost American taxpayers several million dollars.

Joe Ruszkiewicz

Seal Beach

One of the reasons I voted for President Obama is that during his campaign, he insisted that he wanted to “challenge the mind-set that causes war.”

Instead, we are spending billions of federal dollars building a new generation of weapons.

The only brave president was Dwight Eisenhower, who warned us clearly about the gargantuan appetite of the military/industrial complex.

Mike Rustigan

Laguna Beach

Jerry Brown the jokester

Re “Brown apologizes for jab at Clinton’s character,” Sept. 14, and “Clinton endorses Brown,” Sept. 15

Don’t apologize, Jerry.

You only told the truth about Bill Clinton’s arrogant philandering and weasely lies.

As far as I (a Democrat) am concerned, it was Clinton who alienated voters and set this country up for eight years of George W. Bush, the Iraq war, massive war spending and Bush’s final gift, economic disaster.

I wasn’t sure I would vote for Jerry Brown before now, but how can I resist a politician who actually tells it like it is — and delivers a good chuckle to boot?

Now that is refreshing. Jerry’s my man!

Peggy King

Los Angeles

I’m voting for Brown for governor. He will create jobs, not eliminate them, and he will protect our precious coast. He supports labor and respects Californians. He works hard to make this state better.

Meg Whitman is only interested in being governor to help herself and her fellow Republicans get richer. Just imagine BP oil rigs off the coast of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Malibu, Carmel and San Francisco.

Linda Rollins

Oakland

Brown apparently has problems telling the truth along with knowing how to handle the truth.

Whatever happened to “The truth will set you free”?

Wayne Muramatsu

Cerritos