THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 23, 1996 TAG: 9609200019
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 28 lines
OK. I don't go to the movies very often and I'm a little behind in my viewing. So, after seeing several touching ads on TV for ``Mr. Holland's Opus,'' I rented the video and sat down with my popcorn and my largest box of Kleenex, expecting to be moved to tears of joy and compassion.
I was moved. When the last word was spoken, I felt empty and angry. Mr. Holland, who gave the better part of his life to inspiring young people in the arts, was suddenly without a job. The classes for the arts were being cut from the school.
The problem here is that the arts are the one thing that should be kept alive in the public schools. A student can muddle through the basics of math on his own, but orchestra is a group experience.
How many of us will really need the ability to state whether a sine, cosine or tangent ratio should be used to find x in the diagram?
On the other hand, how many of us sing along with the radio on the way to work, drumming out a rhythm on the steering wheel? Or sing in the church choir? Or the shower? Heck, we even have music in our elevators.
Who will be performing music for us 10 years from now, 20 years from now, if we don't allow our children to be trained in the arts?
SUSAN LEICHTMAN
Virginia Beach, Sept. 13, 1996 by CNB