The answer ([ - ] portion published 5/10)

Sacramento Bee writer, Diana Lambert, in her front page story "History lessons on gays weighed," just above the fold in the Saturday 5/7 edition, asked the question, "Given the diversity of race, ethnicity and religion in California classroms, whose story do you tell?" The answer is obvious -- the American (or California or World) History story. [It should be completely irrelevant to the school what race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation the persons who lived and/or made history were.

History is a record of events, and the public schools must take care accurately to describe what occurred and give credit, by name, to those who were involved. However, if some actions were precipitated by any of the factors enumerated above, it is strictly the responsibility of the parents to interpret that behavior for each of their own children. Observing when parents do not fulfill those duties does not give the schools the right to usurp them.]

I HAVE DISCOVERED the appropriate answer to the annoyingly insincere parroted question often heard at the beginning of many telephone calls, "How are you?" If Woody Allen's response, "Well, I have this herpe on my lip" doesn't appeal to you, how about, "I'm just livin' the American dream?"