I haven’t wanted to read Pam Linn for a long time. However, a recent letter to the editor (Frank Thomas, Feb. 15) touching on Ms. Linn’s ignorance of how algebra is used in “life after high school” resonated in me. Did Ms. Linn miss the last ten years in business? Is she so myopic in her reading material that she somehow missed the plethora of articles in major publications on how higher mathematics has greatly changed many industries? Algebra and calculus are used to create algorithms in modern business from how to develop more efficient marketing strategies to restructuring a company’s workforce for greater productivity. Sure, Malibu is a small town, but our community is not so backwater that we can’t keep abreast of the way simple math like algebra is reshaping our existence. Ms. Linn’s naïveté only confirms my disinclination to read her columns. Not that Ms. Linn doesn’t have pleasant things to say, she illustrates why we all need to read more widely & cogently.
Sonia Ottusch