LETTERS

Bring back courtesy

Many people say that chivalry is dead, and with good reason. The things that used to be a courtesy are now out of practice and our society has grown colder for it.

I believe we need to bring back chivalry, but not the ideals associated with just the actions. Some would argue that it was a way to show that women were inferior and “owned” by the man that accompanied her; that, however, is a discussion for another day. Holding the door or giving up your seat should not be seen as sexist or depicting anyone as weaker, but as a nice gesture to a person you may or may not know.

I think the fact that it’s sometimes seen as flirting to be courteous is ridiculous as well. What is flirtatious about holding a door open? I’m going in, but you’re either close enough to or coming out of the same door-wouldn’t it be rude to let it shut in your face?

I have noticed a decline in mutual respect and overall politeness since most people stopped doing these things that are acts of chivalry. We can always fix that by adapting a newer idea of what chivalry is and fighting to clear all the extra stuff that has been dumped on top of it to make it a bad thing.

This new idea does not have to be man to woman; in fact, I suggest it be human to human.

CAMERON V. MILLER Little Rock

Positive change in air

This letter will be stating the obvious, but I feel compelled to write about the positive changes happening in Little Rock.

The last few years have altered the look of a rather sleepy midsized city into something that you would find in a big-city atmosphere.

Case in point: the freeway intersection being built at Interstates 430 and 630, also known as Barrel Town. Did everyone but me realize that it was going to be several layers high? And kudos to the planners for the extra artwork involved. Check out the carved frieze of trees on some of the retaining walls. The painted stylized pine cones on the pylons are also unique.

Granted, some sight lines are being affected. At one point, the Embassy Suites hotel disappears, but this is inevitable. Building is going on all over town.

The Main Street revival, new shopping centers (can’t wait for the outlet mall), Bass Pro Shops and great new restaurants all make Little Rock a happenin’ place.

I always appreciated this city, but I never thought I’d say this: Little Rock is hot!

MARCIA FREER ADAMS Little Rock

On that flap over flag

I think I have Eureka Springs figured out: Perhaps the people are so upset over the American flags on display because Soviet, Viet-Cong and North Vietnamese flags aren’t available.

Really, I think the only difference between Eureka Springs and Haight-Ashbury in the ’60s is: In Eureka Springs, the streets are cleaner, the hippies are older and there aren’t as many free VD clinics.

Don’t forget to wear your tinfoil hat to the unicorn races.

MARK D. MORRELL Benton

On teacher education

I am so happy that Barbara Nemko, Napa County, Calif., school superintendent, and Harold Kwalwasser, former general counsel of the Los Angeles Unified School District, wrote recently about teacher education in the Wall Street Journal.

I taught in the Napa School District in 1958. I taught the second grade, but was trained as a secondary English teacher.

I had taught in Arkansas, my home state, and in San Antonio. My students in San Antonio knew more than I did. I graduated from George Peabody School for teachers while my husband was getting his law degree from Vanderbilt. What a contrast. Dr. Riley was my English literature professor and she was excellent. I had transferred from Hendrix College. She would have been competent to have served on their faculty. Now for four hours a week I sat in a class and learned how to turn on a slide projector and use a tape recorder. I was taught how to write on the blackboard and create posters.

We had one semester of practice teaching and this saved me. My guiding teacher was a Vanderbilt graduate who would send me to a class taught by one of the senior faculty. Hendrix was very difficult, and I had difficulty making my grades. I made the honor roll at Peabody. Dean Buthman at Hendrix wrote me that either they had been too hard on me or married life agreed with me.

What a miracle that Nemko and Kwalwasser have been deprogrammed. However, cursive writing is no longer taught, and in some schools, neither is grammar. Their insight and comments should revolutionize education. Our children were fortunate to have been educated in Dallas and it was the best.

DOROTHY Y. WARDEN Searcy

Nothing to see here …

What a relief for the citizens of Arkansas.

The prosecutor looking into one of the circuses at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s Advancement Division found no criminal activity inthe long series of missteps at the office. In the wonderful, wacky world of state-run higher education where it seems irresponsibility and wastefulness are the norm, we are hardly surprised by any of the stories coming from the various universities around the state.

And we are to believe that the firing of a few token participants, including the whistle-blowers, and a few policy changes that likely won’t be followed any better than the previous ones, makes it all good now. Of course, it looks like those up the food chain in administrative and finance positions in both Fayetteville and Little Rock are now free to continue their usual business.

Sleep well, Arkansas-all is well in the kingdom on the Hill. Until the next one-and there will be a next one.

MARK BARNHARD Little Rock