Name Calling

In writing the other day about a retirement home for rock 'n' rollers, I recalled that the rebellious generation of the 1960s had a slogan: "Never trust anyone over 30." Morgan Spector of Pasadena writes to protest that "Never trust anyone over 30" was not really the slogan of that generation, but merely a remark that the media picked up and perpetuated.

Several law enforcement groups have demanded an apology from state Senate candidate Paula Boland for a campaign mailer that they say characterizes them as "phony" and "radical government unions." Groups representing police in Burbank, Pasadena, South Pasadena and San Marino alleged Friday that they were the targets of the brochure telling voters in the 21st Senate District: "Beware of candidates masquerading behind phony law enforcement endorsements."

The trial of Aaron Emanuel came to an explosive close Thursday, with the defense attorney calling Sharon Hatfield "a liar" and the prosecuting attorney calling Emanuel "a bully." After hearing spirited closing arguments from both attorneys, the jury of nine women and three men deliberated for 3 hours, then recessed for the day. Deliberation in Emanuel's misdemeanor trial, which is being heard in Pasadena Municipal Court, will continue today.

There was a UCLA basketball reunion of sorts Monday at Oaks Christian High in Westlake Village, where former Bruins Jrue Holiday, Tyler Honeycutt and Lazeric Jones came to work out. It was also a pyramid of NBA success, if you will. Holiday is the starting point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers. Honeycutt recently completed his rookie season with the Sacramento Kings. And Jones is an NBA hopeful, eager to hear his name called in the June 28 draft. Jones is not listed on the mock draft boards of draftexpress.com or nbadraft.net, but the 6-foot-1 point guard remained optimistic he would play professionally.

Clark's mother was so tense that her hands shook as she approached Louise Derman-Sparks to ask a question about her 2-year-old son. The boy is enrolled in the nationally respected children's school of Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, and Derman-Sparks teaches there. "Clark's mother told me the following story," said Derman-Sparks, who has written extensively on early childhood education. "She was washing Clark's hair, and when she finished he said, 'Now my hair is white.'

Not long before the calendar turned to Sunday and Mother's Day, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban celebrated the occasion with a verbal blast directed at Lydia Moore, mother of Denver Nugget Kenyon Martin. Moments after his team lost Game 3 of its playoff series against Denver on a controversial non-call just before Carmelo Anthony's winning jump shot, Cuban heard a fan screaming about the Nuggets being "thugs," prompting Cuban to tell Moore, "That includes your son."

For a long time, Sylvia and Yolanda Singh wondered about their heritage. Raised in a Catholic home in Santa Ana where they spoke Spanish and English, the sisters were often asked about their last name, one common to all male members of the Sikh faith from India's Punjab province.

Sexism is discounting the female experience of powerlessness; the new sexism is discounting the male experience of powerlessness. In the past quarter-century we exposed biases against other races and called it racism, and we exposed biases against women and called it sexism. Biases against men we call humor. Human beings have always had the need to find an enemy. As black pride diluted racism, and as women raised consciousness, men became the new enemy.

Regarding Richard A. Serrano's article on Sgt. Hasan Akbar, I strongly object to the suggestion that "as disturbing as the attack was, Akbar's defense is equally troubling" ("Hasan Akbar's Peculiar Military Career," Aug. 3). Akbar's "defense," it turns out, consists largely of the fact that he got his feelings hurt by name-calling and entertained paranoid delusions about American soldiers intending to "kill and rape Muslims." Serrano chronicles Akbar's pathetic life story and then expects his readers to conclude that a culture of intolerance in the military is at least partially to blame for Akbar's murderous actions.

For several years, college campuses have been prominent stages for the "political correctness," or "PC," debate. Its central question--whether enforcement, formal or informal, of politically sensitive speech infringes on freedom of expression--is mostly characterized as a cut-and-dry quarrel between conservatives and liberals. Typically, liberals are portrayed as the driving force behind the attempts to culturally sensitize the language.