Igor Bril

Why do some teaching assistants feel aggrieved (Metro, Nov. 6)? After 10 years as a heliarc welder, certified in aluminum and stainless steel, I earned $7.50 an hour at my last welding job. According to my last Los Angeles Unified School District pay stub, I now earn $9.44 an hour at a job that required only that I be a college student at the time I was hired. Teaching assistant has never been a career position.

Why do some teaching assistants feel aggrieved (Metro, Nov. 6)? After 10 years as a heliarc welder, certified in aluminum and stainless steel, I earned $7.50 an hour at my last welding job. According to my last Los Angeles Unified School District pay stub, I now earn $9.44 an hour at a job that required only that I be a college student at the time I was hired. Teaching assistant has never been a career position.

For Alexander Oseichuk, who remembers when Josef Stalin banned saxophones in the 1950s, it was a dream come true to be trading riffs with American sax legend Joe Henderson. Oseichuk and three other Soviet jazzmen, who learned most of what they know of American jazz by listening to records, found themselves recently jamming with the real thing.

At first glance, the group that walked on stage at Catalina Bar & Grill Monday for a one-night-only performance could easily have been mistaken for a middle- or high school musical ensemble, ready to give a recital for friends and family. That is until they played the first few notes, which were striking ear-openers for those in the moderate-sized crowd who had not previously been aware of the Moskats.

MOVIES Lawrence Kasdan's comedy "Mumford" stars Loren Dean in the title role as a psychologist who sets up shop in a small town and who has a surprising impact on the community. He has another surprise in store for them as well. Jane Adams, Ted Danson and Hope Davis co-star. Opens wide Friday. * "Double Jeopardy" stars Ashley Judd as a woman framed for the murder of her husband who emerges from prison determined to locate her son and solve the mystery that destroyed her life.