LETTERS

URSULINE: A “PARTY” SCHOOL?

I WAS READING WITH INTEREST AND AFFECTION your assessment of Ursuline Academy [“Class Acts,” April], However, when I reached “Parents Say,” I was incensed! “Word is that Ursuline girls party harder, drink, and make out more than typical private school girls.” Whose word?

I am a graduate of Ursuline Academy and my daughter is presently a senior there. In the four years that she has attended Ursuline, I have met a group of warm, friendly, kind, and very much Christian girls. They arc teenagers and they have a good time. I have never known them to drink, party hard, or overindulge themselves in physical pleasures.

As for the administrative staff, I cannot speak highly enough of them. My daughter has a terminal illness, and the administrative staff has been supportive, always there for her, and in constant contact with me regarding what they can do to make things easier for her and for me. This is what the spirit of Ursuline is about. Why don’t you write about this aspect of the school?

Finally, Catholics “always party better than anyone else”? Please print the name, address, and telephone number of the parent who made that statement, so that the rest of us “non-partying” Catholic parents can have a shot at him or her!

SANDY SKINNER

DALLAS



YOUR ARTICLE SAID THAT URSULINE GIRLS like to “party harder, drink, and make out more” than most girls and also implied that homosexuality was almost encouraged as an alternative lifestyle. As student body president, I can tell you that these outrageous assumptions are not only invalid, but they only reflect the poor judgment that D Magazine exercises in printing such insulting falsehoods. If D Magazine feels it necessary to get the “real” story on what Ursuline is like, I will be more than happy to serve as an accurate source.

ERIN ERDMAN

DALLAS



YOU STATE, “SOME RESENT THE WAY homosexuality is presented in theology class as an alternative lifestyle, instead of a sin, though the school does not condone it. ” When this was read to students in our classes their spontaneous reply was, “That’s not true! ” We feel that it would be indicative of better journalism if you discovered what was actually taught in our classes. Quite obviously, homosexuality is far too complex and sensitive an issue to be discussed in one sentence. In any event, we believe that D Magazine did a great disservice to its readers.

JOHN DEEVES, ANN MIDDENDORF,

PEGGY SANDERS

theology teachers, Ursuline Academy



AS A PARENT OF FOUR, MY CHILDREN ATTENDED three of the schools highlighted in the April issue. Our best experiences were with Ursuline Academy, My association with the school goes back 30 years to when I used Ursuline girls as baby sitters. I have known the young women who attended classes with my daughter and the young ladies who played basketball under my husband’s coaching. I am appalled that you would attack the morals of these beautiful young women in one blanket statement. Stick to the facts and leave rumors to the tabloids.

MARY R. BECKMAN

DALLAS



AS PRESIDENT OF THE URSULINE PARENTS Association, I wish you had contacted me to comment on the “party” aspect mentioned. Teenagers do like to stretch their wings. However, having friends with sons and daughters in other high schools, I realize that this is a universal issue. I would like to see statistics supporting your statement about the social life of our girls.

I spoke to the chairman of the Ursuline theology department concerning your statement on [the treatment of] homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle. All aspects of society are openly discussed with emphasis on love and compassion. There should be no room in any of our hearts for hate and condemnation. The students are taught the dignity of all human life. God calls us all to the same level of mortality. He alone is the Judge. All Ursuline theology classes follow the teachings of the Catholic Church.

MARY BRINKER

DALLAS

EDITOR’S NOTE: The comments regarding Ursuline in the “Parents say.-.” section came from parents with students currently enrolled in the school.



THE HILLCREST HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNITY, teachers, students, parents, and Dallas Public Schools’ personnel were happy to be included in your article highlighting schools offer-ing outstanding college preparatory work. Our inclusion on your list is the result of great amounts of hard work and time spent by scores of people. We are very proud of our teachers, students, and parents who have made a commitment to pre-honors, honors, and Advanced Placement classes. We are continuing to grow in numbers of courses offered and numbers of students in these programs.

LINDA ISAACKS

Principal, Hillcrest High School

DALLAS



WE THINK YOUR HIGHLAND PARK BASHING article was completely unfair. In your negative spree, you failed to mention HP’s positive aspects, which include state soccer cham -pions, Nobel prize winners, an astronaut, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and many pillars of the Dallas community. In the future, try to keep your biased opinions to yourselves.

FYI, Highland Park does not have a choice whether or not we get St. Mark’s “rejects.” Private schools pick and choose their students, while public schools receive anybody.

MIMI TRIBBLE

HIGHLAND PARK



Editor’s Note: Here is the opening line of the article: “This is the school district that has produced a governor of Texas, astronauts, Nobel Prize winners, Heisman Trophy holders, and a number of the top professionals living in the city. “



Sorry, but your authors flunked spelling before they even made it through the information on the first school in their rundown. Episcopal School of Dallas isn’t on Merrel Road, but Merrell.

Gee, do you think I’m being too sensitive about this?

DR. CRAIG MERRELL

DALLAS

THE MYTH OF THE MYTH OF ADHD

“THE SEDUCTIVE DIAGNOSIS” [MARCH] should have been called “The Views of Warren Weinberg.” Dr. Weinberg is well-known in the medical community tor his controversial, and largely unsupported, views on ADHD. I applaud him on his courage to stand up and speak his mind. However, I have serious questions. Why is he the only professional who refers to this cluster of symptoms as “primary disorder of vigilance?” Why are his ideas and research not replicated in any peer-reviewed journal? If ADHD does not exist, why does he give the same symptom picture a different name and treat it with the same medication used to treat ADHD? To say the problem doesn’t exist is ludicrous and insensitive to the frustration suffered by many children, parents, and teachers.

As a clinical psychologist who treats many children diagnosed with ADHD, I also see parents who struggle to understand and to manage their children’s behavior. These parents have worked arduously to counter the discrimination against their children by educating the general public about the nature of this condition. A report like this does little more than set back attitudes. If there was any relevant research or data that could support Dr. Weinberg’s theory, along with a way of treating this problem, then this article may have had some use other than to sell copies. RAY LEVY, PH.D.

DALLAS



WE SAW THE MOST PROFOUND CHANGE WE have ever seen in our 13-year-old son about two weeks after implementing Dr. Weinberg’s medication plan, recommended changes at home, and recommended changes in his individual education plan in public school.

Our son is doing well in school and his self-esteem has just exponentially increased. He wants to do outside activities and is now bike racing, playing on a roller hockey team, and taking drum lessons. Our home life is much more enjoyable. Ourson has seen several other fine doctors over the past eight years who were well intentioned and did their best, but none has had the ability to diagnose and treat him in the complete manner in which he is now being treated. We believe that Dr. Weinberg is simply ahead of the others in his field.

DAVID AND CAROL BLACK

BEDFORD