Letters

Won't Step Foot on Madison High Campus Again
This letter is written to applaud your effort in letting the public know about Warner Ervin, the principal of Madison High School ["Power to the Principal," by Shaila Dewan, April 2]. I have two children who graduated from Madison under his reign. I worked and donated my time as a volunteer on campus and held positions in the PTA. I knew for a fact, the day my last child graduated, that I would never step foot on that campus again as long as it was run by an ignorant tyrant who did not have the children's best interest at heart. His attitude when he came to Madison with his prearranged list of teachers to get rid of was that he was the next closest thing to "God" for students and teachers.

Instead of working with and for students on any offense, he would have students expelled and tell them not to return to his campus. There was an increase in the number of students sent to jail during his first year at Madison. Warner Ervin is sly and crafty, and knows how to play the corporate game quite well. He has the full backing of the community and the Ministers Alliance, so everyone (parents and teachers) knew their complaints would go unheeded. He knew he had a rein to do anything he wanted to, from hiring an inexperienced middle school band teacher based solely on his professional dress to firing a band teacher who had the experience but did not meet his personal code of dress. The boys could not wear white T-shirts because it was a sign they belonged to a gang. As long as you went along with him and agreed to whatever he said, you were on his "A" list, which meant you were a keeper. If you questioned or suggested a way of doing it better, your name went on his (you know what to call it) list. He can get away with this because his underhanded dealings and contacts had a way of finding the ambiguous statement in any contract to uphold him. The way the valedictorian was selected one year left a lot of questions, and led to the parents filing a lawsuit. He upholds his "A" list in running the extracurricular activities by making sure their offspring get scholarships and elected as queens. I would love for you to publish my name, but his arm is too long in this city.

Thank you for letting me air some of my rage at this man, and for publishing the article in the first place.

Name withheld by request
Houston

We Didn't Go Far Enough?
Warner Ervin is a much worse person than you portray. He is a backstabbing coward who hides behind his job title and his friends in positions, like Rod Paige, who is no better than he. He is not a good administrator. Ervin not only has caused problems to teachers' careers, but to the potential careers of hundreds of students whose class activity advancement was stopped because he was out for revenge against teachers (in both performing and academics).

He claims to be a Christian, but he is not; he is a hypocrite. The Christian spirit is about love and progress. It's a shame that Rod Paige and the HISD school board of education elected by the people would put people like Ervin in principalship positions and support them when they are wrong. This practice is common in HISD black inner-city schools.

What are they doing to our children's education?
Aubrey Dunham
Houston

Surf Exposure
Loved your article on Gene ["Taking the Waves," by Randall Patterson, April 9]. Thanks for the surf exposure; we need it! Would like to submit photos for future ideas. Check some out at http://members.aol.com/gcxtreme/.

Ronnie Beogler
via Internet

Global Exposure: Thanks to Our Web Site, We Have Readers in Hawaii
I really enjoyed the article "Taking the Waves," on Gene Gore and Rachel Molasky -- the two longboard surfers. What an endearing story! I logged onto houstonpress.com for the first time to check out the story on Gene. It was nice to see him and his beautiful bride-to-be from over here in Hawaii. I have known Gene for over a decade but have not yet had the chance to meet his fiancee -- so the photos were great. Not so long ago, Gene put me up at his place on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii -- a favor that helped me maintain over five years of surf action on the famed North Shore! I am still in Hawaii, but I plan to be at Surfside for the wedding this May. What a great wedding scenario!

P.S. Check out another stoked Texan surfer in Hawaii on-line at http://www2.hawaii.edu/~hilliard/sos.html.

Michael Bronson Hilliard
via Internet

In Its War on Drugs, Does the U.S. Use Perjury Pimps?
I am writing to compliment Tim Fleck for his article "The Hotel Six Joker Turns Wild" [April 9]. It is a sad consequence of the "war on drugs" that the United States Department of Justice uses "perjury pimps" like Julio Molineiro in its attempts to entrap innocent people.