From the “we may be dumb but we’re not stupid” department: This Father’s Day more than 200 of us had a great time camping with our kids on the playground at the First Annual Juan Cabrillo Elementary School Father’s Day Campout. It was a terrific idea and was executed magnificently by the PTA committee!

The dinner of tofu, sprouts and carrot juice (actually fried chicken, pizza and hot dogs – only) could not have been improved. Big thanks to How’s Market for the sponsorship. The school cooks and other staff were efficient and having a good time, too. The night’s secret entertainment was a real treat and I hope the Disney lawyers don’t sue.

But as we were standing in the coffee line at 6:30 Sunday morning, it slowly dawned on several of us that the mothers of western Malibu owe us BIG time. For our Father’s Day present, they got to sleep in while we wrestled sodden tents and marshmallowy hair at the school.

Next year maybe we ought to let the moms take the kids on a bonding trip to Disneyland for Mother’s Day, huh? The coaches can leave at 5 a.m..

Hans Laetz

Guest Editorial

The following is a guest editorial by Mory Katz, chair of Response Insurance. Arnold York’s column will run next week.

It’s a fairly common scene. A man is seated talking to his wife, each drinking a cup of coffee. He’s balancing a donut on his stomach and takes a call on the phone. The CD player is turned up and he’s continually trying to quiet the kids and stop them from tossing the football around. It could be your average American living room on a Saturday night. Only the scene is not taking place in their home. He and his family are just two feet away from you–driving 60 miles an hour with 3,000 pounds of steel under him. And the last thing on his mind is his driving.

The auto insurance industry has a special interest in people like him. When distracted drivers absentmindedly veer into the next lane or rear end the car ahead, they cost the policyholders not only millions of dollars a year, but also far too many lives. There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence and much talk in the halls of state and local legislatures regarding the dangers of driving distractions. But the results and analysis of the Response Insurance National Driving Habits Survey have for the first time given credence to a perception among drivers that has been growing over the last couple of years: American drivers are preoccupied and distracted and they are now one of the greatest dangers on the road today.

When asked what drivers fear the most about other drivers, aggressive driving and drunk driving are now taking second and third place to the fear that the other driver is simply not paying sufficient attention to the road. Unfortunately, their fears are well founded. People are putting a higher priority on making better use of their time than getting to their destination safely. The survey revealed that 76 percent of all drivers are engaged in activities that take their attention from the road. In many cases the distractions have resulted in accidents or near-accidents.

According to the survey, 57 percent of drivers are eating while on the road, 32 percent are reading and writing, and 17 percent are combing their hair. Amazingly, 20 percent are so busy behind the wheel they admit to having steered the car with their thighs.

We have all observed the driver swerving from lane to lane without looking, slowing down and then speeding up for no apparent reason, or sailing through an intersection oblivious to the world around them. “What are they thinking?” you wonder to yourself. When you pull ahead to get out of their way, you see the cell phone at their ear and it all begins to make sense to you.

Cell phone use while driving has been receiving much of the attention of late and with good reason. Although the survey revealed American drivers being distracted by many activities, the results clearly point to the inherent dangers of cell phone usage while driving.

Twenty-nine percent of those interviewed indicated they routinely phone and drive and 13 percent of them reported it has either caused or nearly caused them to get into an accident. As the problem becomes increasingly worrisome and commonplace, local and state governments are being implored to act. Many are responding with restrictions, particularly upon the use of hand-held cell phones. However, that response may be misplaced. There is no evidence that the physical act of holding a phone and punching in the number are the principle causes of this current rash of erratic and inattentive driving. Other, more physically challenging activities, such as eating, drinking and combing one’s hair, result in half the number of incidents. If they are being honest with themselves, every driver, whether a cell phone user or merely an observer to the scene, knows that it is the mental distraction of being engaged in a conversation that is the problem. The detached nature of telephone communication demands added attention by the participants. Unfortunately, it is a demand that can have tragic consequences on the road.

This country went through a similar challenge a few years ago regarding drunk driving. Laws prohibiting driving with an open bottle of beer or alcohol and driving over the legal blood-alcohol limit had been on the books for decades. But what began turning the tide in the battle against driving while intoxicated was a massive education campaign by the private and public sector to change the mindset of the public.

There is a new battle currently underway on America’s roads. This one is literally a battle for the drivers’ mind. As cars become extensions of the home and office and continue to be loaded up by automakers with “amenities” that make multi-tasking more accessible, drivers are increasingly engaging in activities that take their hands, and more importantly their focus of attention, off the road. It is a battle that will not be won by making eating, drinking coffee, listening to the radio or talking on a handheld cell phone illegal. The battle will be won by convincing drivers that paying attention to the road is more important than juggling a sandwich, putting every hair in place or even letting your spouse know that you’ll be home in five minutes. This is the battle that all drivers have an interest in winning.

In addition to the above, we have our own pet peeves that people do while driving: Applying mascara or other makeup; painting nails; reading a map; turning to yell at children or a dog; searching for items on car floor; changing a CD or tape after sifting through choices; talking to drivers in another car.

At the June 11th City Council meeting, Beverly Taki and Tom Sorce, two of the founding members of the Corral Canyon Safety Committee, congratulated the Malibu City Council Members and the Malibu Public Works Department, offering special thanks to the Public Works Director, Mr. Chuck Bergson, for their diligent work in successfully obtaining emergency relief funding from the County and State (Office of Emergency Services) for a long-term repair solution of Corral Canyon Road.

Corral Canyon Road is the only method of access for the over 600 residents living in Corral Canyon. The road failed during the recent spring rainstorms and has been reduced to a single lane road along a several hundred-foot section just uphill of the Malibu RV Park. The failed section is located within the Malibu city limits.

For the past two years, the CCSC has been politically active in attempting to secure a real solution to the failing portion of road in the lower Corral landslide area. The previous City Council, in the spring of 1999, voted for a solution, which would have made the lower section of Corral Canyon Road into a permanent single lane road. The CCSC pointed out that a single lane road violated City, State and National Safety Codes and would inherently endanger the residents and recreational users of Corral Canyon. The citizens of Corral Canyon successfully changed the attitude of the City Council members with a vigorous campaign that included repeated presentations to the City Council, a close alliance with the LA County Fire Department and assistance from Zev Yaroslavsky’s office.

A new road alignment above the landslide area has been the preferred solution but a lack of City funding has delayed the construction while temporary repairs, costing the City of Malibu several thousand dollars a month, kept the road passable until the road failure this Spring.

The City Of Malibu declared the road an emergency in March of 2001 when the lower portion of the road failed and set aside funding for repair of the road to the original, legal, non-conforming standard. (The minimum required by law.) At the March 2001 City Council meeting, the CCSC spokesperson, Tom Sorce, requested that the City Council and Public Works Department consider a long-term solution and look into possible assistance from the county and state for funding the permanent road realignment above the landslide area. Mr. Bergson, the Director of Public Works, took on the task and orchestrated a successful campaign by pursuing financial assistance from the OES, MTA and County under the Natural Disaster Assistance Act. Mr. Bergson was able to convince the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES), the MTA and the County of Los Angeles to assist in providing funding for the cost of the repair estimated to be between $500,000 and $800,000. After a formal bidding process, the Malibu City Council awarded the construction contract to the successful bidder at their June 11th meeting.

The CCSC, in a continuation of its’ grass roots activism, is now requesting that the City of Malibu and Public Works Department pursue an emergency permit from the Coastal Commission in order to avoid a costly, several month delay on the construction of the new road while the Coastal Commission requires a three month Coastal permit process. The CCSC has pointed out that fire season officially commenced on June 1st and that Corral Canyon is in a Zone 4 fire hazard area. As the CCSC spokesperson Tom Sorce pointed out to the City Council, “The City, County and State have declared this situation to be an emergency as the road is the only method of ingress and egress for the residents of Corral Canyon. Hopefully the Coastal Commission will see the merit in agreeing with one or all of the governmental entities and grant the City of Malibu an emergency permit to begin the road construction in Corral Canyon.”

In closing, the CCSC and residents of Corral Canyon would like to once again thank Mayor Joan House, the City Council members, the Malibu Public Works Department and especially Mr. Chuck Bergson for all their efforts in obtaining the funding for the permanent realignment of Corral Canyon Road. This is a success story because people chose to work together for the common good and looked past the political boundaries. Let’s hope the California Coastal Commission can also see the common good and expedite construction approval under the emergency permit process.

Let your opinion be known. Contact the Coastal Commission and press them to understand that the emergency permit process is in place for exactly this type of situation. The residents and recreational visitors of Corral Canyon are at serious risk until a new two-lane road is completed. The City of Malibu has done their job, now the start date for the construction of this road will be determined by the Coastal Commission.

Beverly Taki & Tom Sorce

CCSC Founding Members

Last week’s edition of your newspaper carried two letters addressing the anticipated shortfall in Proposition X funds for the promised new Malibu High School gym and theater. One letter, from Mark Benjamin, is informational and thus does a service to the community. The other letter, from a group of parent leaders active in Malibu education, is a flawed emotional response to “editorial letter writers” like myself who have asked for a public explanation of why promises made to the voting public may not be kept. To these well-meaning letter writers and neighbors, I offer these thoughts.

To demand accountability of public educational institutions is not to attack them or the children they serve. To suggest otherwise, as these letter writers do, is to create the divisiveness and animosity they bemoan.

If our schools are “punished by a withdrawal of public support,” it will be because promises have been broken, not because some have publicly asked why.

A public process is vital to our public institutions, but “duly noticed public meetings” after an election do not absolve an institution from its promises to voters, provide the general public with information or disenfranchise those who, for whatever reason, do not attend.

Do not let the privilege of public participation infuse you with intolerance for those who do not. Your reward for public participation is having your voice heard; not the right to scold your absent neighbors.

Since writing my letter to the editor several weeks ago, I have been contacted by several people active in the Prop. X process who have been eager to answer my questions. I am grateful to them for their offers, which I intend to accept. Still, I would like to see public answers to some of the obvious questions. When did it become apparent there would not be enough money to go around? Are the projects currently underway over budget? How much of the shortfall in Prop. X funding is attributable to current estimates for the gym and theater, and how much to earlier projects costing more than originally anticipated? Were choices made among the projects competing for funds, and if so when and by whom? I think we can all agree the voting public has a right to know.

Jeffrey W. Karma

Action by the Governor is needed to reduce the huge costs that blackouts will inflict upon the people of California. Jobs are being lost in California because reliable power is necessary for business. Identifying why these blackouts are occurring can avoid additional blackouts next year.

Three needed actions are:

1. Eliminate some of the reasons for the electricity shortage. During the 1990s, the California Public Utility Commission (PUC) voted to deny our utilities the rates needed to pay off the bonds issued to build new power plants. The PUC misled the public by calling their denial the “Stranded Cost” problem. The Utilities accepted rigid price controls to avoid having to default on these bonds. The Utilities were forced to sell their gas power plants to out-of-state owners.

2. Assign responsibility for avoiding blackouts back to the Utilities or to a non-political State Agency At this time, no one is responsible. The ability of the Utilities to finance and build power plants was destroyed by the politics of the 1990s. The “quickee” generators endorsed by Governor Davis are not low cost power plants. Governor Davis’s price control obsession will increase the number of blackouts. When prices are equal, the generators will sell their electricity to the states that pay their bills. Less pollution and reduced fuel cost can be achieved by replacing old power plants with new high efficiency two cycle designs.

3. Increase California’s supply of electricity by signing contracts with the owners of standby power plants. Means for payment at ISO power rates by the State of California is needed to pay for their higher cost power

Walter A Sauter,

a concerned engineer

STAR POWER

Malibu’s Kelsey Grammer really had something to cheer about, as he became the 2,177th notable to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The three-time Emmy winner is known to millions as Dr. Frasier Crane on the long-running sitcom “Fraiser,” which is moving into its 11th season.

The funnyman was joined by his wife, Camille, at a presentation ceremony in front of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum, where that cozy bar room from the set of “Cheers” just happens to be on display.

“I never thought I’d be here,” said the surprised star. “I am humbled and I would like to thank Fraiser–a strange man who is a product of my imagination.” The good doctor may be strange, but he brings lots of laughs along the way.

KING THING

Goldie Hawn and Gary Busey were among minglers at a star-studded benefit for the Larry King Cardiac Foundation. The CNN host made a dramatic flying entrance suspended above the stage, before he turned the program over to Kenny Loggins and Natalie Cole. King, who has a history of heart trouble, launched his foundation in 1988 to provide state-of-the-art medical care to those in need. After pulling through quintuple bypass surgery, he’s back in the pink and feeling fine, or in Larry’s words, “It’s good to be King.”

LAUGH IN

Malibu’s Cindy Williams joined old-time pals Sally Struthers, and Jo Anne Worley at the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel to help raise money and awareness for the Los Angeles Free Clinic. Humor was the order of the day as 350 guests gathered to hear members of this celebrity panel discuss how and why “Laughing Matters.” The afternoon program was introduced by Improv comedy club owner Budd Friedman and moderated by Renee Taylor. Williams and her co-panelists openly discussed their personal and professional struggles, and the joy of bringing laughter to millions. Proceeds from the event will help provide medical, social and legal services for the Free Clinic.

IN GOOD TASTE

Grantia’s chef extraordinaire, Jennifer Naylor, was working her culinary magic at this year’s food fest to benefit Cystic Fibrosis. The streets of New York back lot at Paramount Studios were transformed into a gigantic smorgasbord for the 12th annual Culinary Evening with the California Winemasters.

The samplings featured everything from sushi, courtesy of Hisahi Yoshiara and Jozu, to Adolfo Gomez’ killer chili from Engine Company No. 28. Of course there was plenty of vino to go with the tasty treats, including a fine selection from George Rosenthal’s Malibu Estate. Proceeds from the event and its noted wine auction raised nearly $1 million toward finding a cure to America’s number one inherited disease affecting children and young adults. Salute!

I hate to bring some common sense, rational thought and logic to the “Malibu Local Coastal Plan Process,” but here goes.

Each City on the Coast is mandated by law to create a growth plan that complies with the “California Coast Act” or with a version that the Coastal staff and other political power will agree that conforms with the Coastal Act.

In 1983 I served as land use chairman for the Malibu Board of Realtors and represented our committee’s views to the Los Angeles County who created a Coastal Plan that was certified by the Coastal Commission as in compliance with the Coastal Act.

The plan created by the County of Los Angeles was a balanced one that took into consideration the needs of the community and those of the environment with a down zone of most of the developable land (95%) of it. This plan was in place when we became a City in 1991.

I spoke before the new City ouncil at that time and urged them to adopt the same plan as the County since it complied with state law. The fine tuning of the plan could be done with the ordinances that implemented the plan. Thus the city could have a plan at little expense by using Envicom Inc. to re-write the plan that they wrote for the County of Los Angeles.

The “Keller Gang” who hated anything that said no! They had and still have their own agenda. So nothing happened, period. They refused for many years to even come up with anything reasonable, they appointed the most unknowledgable individuals to the various commissions and they failed miserably.

There are two opposing groups of thought at this time. One is the eco-socialist group headed by Sara Wan who has maneuvered the current crisis through the extremist John Burton and Peter Douglas. They want “pubic access” to the wealthy Malibu community. They have total disregard to the rights of the members of this community to live in peace with normal neighborhoods and our rural way of life. Sara should recuse herself because of her public stand for public access and not act as a biased activist as president of the Coastal Commission.

Malibu can’t get a fair shake with the current political situation. Malibu must adopt the old Los Angeles County Coastal Plan! The reason why is that it has been certified and as certified can’t be modified to the detriment of our community. We have a plan, a form from which to carefully craft our own way of life and not those of an out-of-control president of the Coastal Commision.

Tom Bates, Land Use chairman (1981-1986)

Malibu Association of Realtors

Infectious sounds of laughter emerged from a retreat in the mountains of Malibu earlier this month, where many participants have never heard the animated tones of their own voices. While the majority might say a world without sound is too daunting to imagine, many of these campers will tell you that communication is a matter of perspective.

Approximately 220 people participated in the House Ear Institute’s (HEI) annual summer retreat for the hearing impaired June 1-3 at Camp Hess Kramers’ woodsy enclave beyond Neptune’s Net.

Common to most camps, the children engaged in a barrage of activities including sports, art, dance, interactive storytelling and what one camper called, “Yummy barbeque.” Unique to HEI’s retreat are the children’s parents and caretakers who are busy attending activities specifically designed for them–professionally monitored workshops, support groups, panels and discussions addressing the often emotional, if not challenging, family dynamic of raising a deaf child.

“It’s a very moving experience to see the different ranges of emotion the parents go through within 48 hours,” said Sheri Hultren, a counselor and coordinator for the last five years who says she is profoundly deaf. “You see the parents’ grief, joy, anxiety, and fear–but it’s important for them to see deaf adults and be able to ask us questions, if only to have a better idea of their child’s options and potential.”

Communication options include American Sign Language, oral communication often assisted by hearing aids, cued speech–a visual representation of English involving eight hand shapes as well as facial movements to supplement speech–reading and spoken language. Said one counselor, “Many use total communication, the simultaneous use of sign and oral language to communicate.” HEI matches hearing-impaired children with counselors using the same mode of communication for the duration of the retreat.

“There are many options out there, and we are examples of those options,” said Elizabeth Peters, 26, a retreat panelist in 2000, now a first-time counselor. Peters describes her hearing loss as “moderate to profound” and wears a hearing aid. “I can’t hear anything except for very loud sounds like trucks and trains. To understand speech I lip-read.”

Peters says she grew up at a “mainstreamed public neighborhood school with itinerant services. I didn’t use interpreters or note takers. I sat in front of the classroom and lip-read my teachers. I didn’t meet a deaf person until I was 14.”

As to any conflict between the “deaf culture” and the “hearing culture,” Peters acknowledges “there is controversy in the deaf community between the manualists (those who primarily use sign language to communicate) and the oralists (those who primarily use spoken language). The debate reportedly stems from the perception of people from both cultures who feel their mode of communication is somehow better. “Parents get caught up in arguing and forget that the child’s needs are what count,” said Peters.

Now in its 16th season, the annual retreat is the brainchild of Howard P. House, M.D., a world-renowned ear specialist and noted pioneer in the field of hearing science, who will be 93 this month. Still practicing, House founded the L.A.-based House Ear Institute in 1946, a “push the envelope” nonprofit research and education facility dedicated to “improve quality of life for people who have hearing loss, hearing disease or related disorders.”

HEI conceived and created the first FDA-approved cochlear implant system, a device many call “a miracle,” reported to have “helped more than 400 children internationally receive sounds and interpret speech.” Howard House is the father-in-law of Malibu Mayor Joan House, wife of psychologist Ken House. Howard’s son, John House, is now president of HEI.

“The camp is designed to involve the entire family in a support system,” said John House, adding that inspiration for the camp emerged “when we were just beginning to work with cochlear implants in children in 1982–yet parents had little peer support and no one to talk to. Here parents network and families keep in touch year after year.”

Christa Spieth, HEI communications specialist, said, “A lot of discussion is centered around school programs–examining options, regulations and paperwork. Finding the right school situation is a primary struggle for parents in dealing with a deaf or hard-of-hearing child.”

Parent Lori Moore knows the score of fighting schools. By her own admission, Moore is battle-worn from past and present efforts to maintain public school funding for special services like note takers and real-time captioning required for children like her son Andrew, 11, whom she says is thriving in a mainstream private school in the Valley, and previously for her other hearing-impaired son, Jason, 18.

After learning Andrew suffered from a profound hearing loss at the age of two-and-a-half, the Moores initially tried hearing aids for Andrew before choosing the cochlear implant, which requires major surgery.

Andrew received the implant at the age of 4 when hearing aids proved unsuccessful. Moore says her only regret is “we didn’t get the implant sooner.”

Andrew received a tremendous amount of speech therapy “because he had to learn sounds from the age of an infant. It took a long time to get him up and running–it was a long haul,” said Moore. For those parents who believe the implant leaves a child without choices, Moore said, “You can choose to remove the cochlear implant and the child will return to being deaf. We wanted to give Andrew the choice to hear.”

Pam Hakker, visiting the retreat from Riverside with her ex-husband, John, and son, Kyle, 9, who is profoundly deaf, has three other children who can hear. Pam, too, says that having a deaf child transforms many self-described “passive” mothers into powerful advocates for the rights of special-needs children.

“I wasn’t a joiner,” said Hakker. “I am a tall, big woman, not rich. I was scared to join, but when I had Kyle I learned I had to fight. I fought the school district for two years to get Kyle where I wanted him. People respect that.” Hakker says her son is now flourishing at the California School For The Deaf in Riverside.

As to Kyle’s report on camp, he communicated through sign language: “I loved camp because I have fun with sports and basketball and loved the dance performance. Some people speak, some sign, some do both, and I think that’s good.”

The film “Sound and Fury,” the provocative documentary nominated for an Oscar last March, was screened for parents followed by a panel discussion on the final day of camp.

Filmmaker Josh Aronson brings the cochlear implant debate front and center by exploring the extreme, opposing arguments of two Long Island brothers, one who is deaf, one not. The film documents the brothers’ wrenching divide when the hearing sibling opts to have his deaf child implanted with the cochlear device, while his deaf brother becomes enraged over his brother’s interference in deaf culture, and a child’s right to remain deaf.

Said Dilys Jones, HEI marketing and communications director, “What this film does is create the most amazing discussion within one family–allowing us to transition between the deaf culture’s perspective and the hearing culture’s perspective, [offering the viewer] some amazingly honest dialogue. I am showing it to these parents because many don’t understand the feelings of those who want to protect themselves against the hearing world.”

At the panel discussion following the film, counselor Christa Lopez, 24, a camp veteran, said she was profoundly deaf when she was born and chose to get the implant at the age of 15.

“I didn’t realize how hard I would have to work to get where I am now,” she said. “The implant is not an immediate fix, you have to go to speech therapy, and listen to your mother say, ‘You need to hear this.’ ” But, she added, “I didn’t realize what I was missing until I had the implant a couple of years.”

Lopez lamented on how difficult it was not to be involved socially in high school. “Now I can hear crickets, birds, running water, my friends and doctors. Now that I am an adult, I can share my experiences with the different families here. I function in both the hearing and deaf cultures. I have the best of both worlds.”