Inclusion

Thank you for Suzanne Gordon's article ("A Child's Lesson in Care-Giving," Aug. 15) on the inclusion of disabled students in the classroom. In order to communicate with deaf students, my own 6-year-old son Erhan, has been learning sign language in his first-grade class. I am convinced that it is facilitating his own reading and writing skills as well I have observed him signing spelling words for his 3-year-old brother and trying to teach him the phrases he learned at school.

Under the immigration bill proposed by a bipartisan group of senators, Maria Galvan could achieve her dream of opening a hair salon in Southern California. She has spent more than a decade doing odd jobs, barred from getting the required business license because she is in the country illegally. "It makes me happy to know we're being heard," said Galvan, 43, who is originally from Mexico City. "If this happens, it will be such a relief. " The path to citizenship as laid out in the bill is a lengthy one. Jose Cruz, a day laborer from Guatemala looking for work outside a Los Angeles Home Depot, said he was willing to wait.

I read "Special Ed Joins the Mainstream" (Oct. 25) with great interest because I asked that my children, who have no disabilities, be placed in the inclusion class at their school, as did many other parents. Why? Because a well-run inclusion class can be a great experience for any student. Their class was a multi-age, K-1 double class of 40 children who shared two rooms. The staff included a first-grade teacher, a kindergarten teacher, a special education teacher and a highly skilled instructional aide.

Maybe it really is as simple as it sounds. That for the NHL and its players, establishing a partnership with the You Can Play project — which fights homophobia and advocates for the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual athletes in sports — was born of fairness and logic and isn't really a big deal. "In talking to the guys and all the rest of it, I think the basic feeling was this is the right thing to do, so we oughta go do it. And that's the motivation," Donald Fehr, executive director of the NHL Players' Assn., said Thursday.

The Boy Scouts of America may have won their lawsuit but they don't get it. It's about inclusion! RICHARD G. WONG Pasadena

Technical problems at the Associated Press caused delay in transmission of the mutual funds, Chicago and New York options tables past the deadline for inclusion in this edition of The Times.

I take exception with Jonathan Heath [Letters, Oct. 2]. Heath's claim that Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" somehow benefits from its inclusion in the movie "Almost Famous" -- "song and story simply would not be the same without each other" -- is absurd. In this case, the movie is the only one to benefit from this association. The song was already a completed piece of art that was able to stand on its own before its inclusion in the film. The film, however, was not complete until the inclusion of the song.

The Times' article reporting the death of Msgr. Benjamin Hawkes contained many details of his years of loving service to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Unfortunately, with the inclusion of unfounded aspersions, it became in reality a niggling, insensitive insult to the memory of a dedicated priest. Most odious, because it was unsubstantiated innuendo, was the dogmatic pronouncement that "Hawkes lived high." Anonymous churchmen, whose derogatory, mean-spirited remarks were so liberally quoted in a previous article upon monsignor's retirement, should not be the criterion for assessing Msgr.

I'm baffled by the weekly appearance of Callahan cartoons (Palm Latitudes). Any one of the daily single-panel comics in The Times' View section would be more worthy of inclusion than the poorly drawn and unfunny Callahan. BARBARA E. BLAINE Claremont

I postponed everything on my agenda and hastened to offer my congratulations on the inclusion of McGee's response to Snyder's remarks. Not only did it excoriate the "sugary admiration" but with "justice for all, and malice for none," it enhanced on that special day King's dream. JOSEPH GORDON Los Angeles

The budget proposal President Obama released Wednesday sticks close to the themes of increased public investment and middle-class growth that he sounded in his reelection campaign, but it includes one notable new feature. For the first time, Obama lays out the details of the "grand bargain" on deficit reduction he's been seeking in private talks with Republicans. It's not clear whether the change in strategy will produce a deal; Republicans and Democrats are far apart on many issues.

All-inclusive vacation giant Club Med wants you to be happy, or so it says in a new Happiness Sale that launched Thursday. The sale is good for stays through fall at its 50-plus locations worldwide, including premium resorts in Guilin, China , and Belek, Turkey .  The deal: Club Med shows prices starting as low as $749 per person for a seven-night stay, but that's based on staying at its Sandpiper Bay resort in Florida. Still, there are savings to be had from the online check I did of several locations around the globe.

SACRAMENTO - As California Republicans gathered here for their weekend convention, it was difficult to recall when the group that produced Ronald Reagan had slumped so low. The party hasn't elected a statewide candidate in seven years. It is awash in debt. GOP voter registration in the state is at less than 30% - a historic dip. GOP strategist Karl Rove had some blunt advice as the group debated how to claw its way back to political relevance. "My message is this: Get off your ass," Rove told nearly 500 delegates and guests at a sold-out convention luncheon in a hotel ballroom Saturday.

The Kings' minds must have been floating in the rafters with their Stanley Cup banner when the puck was dropped at Staples Center to launch their title defense, so removed was their game from the precise, defense-minded performances they routinely pulled off while bulldozing through the playoffs last spring. The only clean passes they completed Saturday occurred when they relayed the Cup from hand to hand during a pregame ceremony, the last time players would cradle the precious silver trophy before it went back up for grabs.

No surprise: Kobe Bryant made the All-Star team for the 15th time in 17 seasons. Surprise: Dwight Howard made it as a starter too. Plenty of NBA analysts questioned Howard's inclusion via fan voting. So did his own coach, in a way. "Well, when you're under .500 and you have two guys on the All-Star [team], that's kind of like, really?" Lakers Coach Mike D'Antoni said Thursday. "I'm with them a little bit. But I understand it. His injury kept him down and he's coming back from his injury and he's played at the All-Star level the last two or three games, so he's coming on. " Howard was off to a slow start partly because of off-season surgery for a herniated disk in his back.

All nine members of the Legislature's black caucus are urging state officials to scrap parts of a deal that would allow USC to run the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The lawmakers, who said they support the idea of USC managing the Coliseum, where the school's football team plays, object to the inclusion of nearby parking lots they say should be turned into parks in the South Los Angeles neighborhood. USC demanded the parking lots as part of the management agreement. "Your role is not to be boosters for the USC football program," said the letter from the caucus to Robert Stein, chairman of the California Science Center board, which owns the parking lots and the land on which the Coliseum and several museums sit, collectively known as Exposition Park.

Re "Black Radio Debates the Inclusion of White Artists" (Dennis Hunt, March 26): Stations that play only "black" or "white" music are cutting short not only themselves but also their audiences. Perhaps radio is comfortable rolling around in its own form of apartheid. LAURA S. UNDERWOOD Los Angeles

A Dodge ad featuring a chimpanzee has been altered after animal-rights activists protested the inclusion of the animal. Here is more text about it. And here is even more text. Text, text, text goes here. Here is a dramatic retelling of this story:

Over the last four years, airlines have been charging for extras that were previously included in the price of a plane ticket, such as checked bags, food, drinks and pillows. The trend might be reversing, with airlines starting to bundle those extras back together again. American Airlines announced last week that passengers who search for flights on the AA.com website will get several choices, ranging from a basic fare to a package that includes a ticket plus a checked bag, early boarding, an onboard drink and the option to change flights without paying a penalty.

If you like the hassle-free nature of all-inclusive vacations and also are a fan of Hilton Hotels & Resorts, you'll love the newest addition to Puerto Vallarta's Hotel Zone - Hilton Puerto Vallarta Resort, the chain's first all-inclusive property in Mexico .  The hotel, which has a beachfront location, features 259 rooms and suites and offers guests dining options that include French, Brazilian churrascaria and an international buffet....