Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/515703
Y O U R O P I N I O N S A N D L E T T E R S A R E W E L C O M E ! There is a 250-word limit, and all letters will be edited. If you send photos or other materials, identifications and permissions are required. Letters must include your name along with your address, daytime telephone number or email address. Email editor@cta.org. Immunizing students As a school nurse, I get lots of parents with concerns about what vaccinations have done to their children. It cannot be controverted that there is possibility of some medical damage with the thimero- sal in the immunizations, and there is a fund to compensate those families who have medical problems resulting from the immunizations. Some parents are just not willing to take that risk. When I find out there is a child with an outbreak of chicken pox, measles, etc., I usually check to see whether the child has had the immunization in the past. I've noticed that usually they are ones who have had the immunization. As a child, I had these childhood diseases — that is why they are called such. It is just sad that we are slowly losing our liberties, one at a time, in the United States. The comment "Liability should be a factor for those who refuse immunizations and whose choice causes economic or personal loss to others" [in Read Around the World On my recent Ghana trip, the children were elated with their stuffed spiders and the books do- nated by the California Reads Committee. The children received gift bags with pencils, stickers, toothbrushes, and other items which were needed. California Reads and Read Across America have truly gone global. Thank you so much for supporting my charity partner and me in bringing hope to the hopeless. Vanessa Lewis, East Whittier Education Association the March Point/Counterpoint column] is very sad. Should that also apply to those whose child has had an immuniza- tion and gets the disease anyway? That frequently happens and causes others to be exposed to the disease. I hope as I say the Pledge of Alle- giance there will continue to be "liberty and justice for all" (not just for some). Marsha K. Nagel Association of Colton Educators Race and ethnicity As a professor of sociology specializ- ing in race and ethnicity, I was happy to read the April California Educator. Three particular stories caught my attention. "Hazardous harvests" noted the disproportionate impact of expo- sure to pesticide use that Hispanic children face (46 percent more likely than whites). Regarding "CTA presses for eth- nic studies bill," CSU Fresno is one of the few CSU campuses to have an upper-division General Education requirement of a "Multicultural/Inter- national" course. Unfortunately, a 2011 GE Committee ruling exempted the entire Craig School of Business from taking an M/I course. Nonetheless, nearly every student who has taken my Sociology of Race and Ethnicity course has stated how every student should be required to take such a course, how it helped them understand themselves feedback 4 www.cta.org