Aside from this, what else you got?
<runs away>
Sigh. Tis sad and all, but I have become resigned, if not bludgeoned into insensitivity re this issue. Just this morning, on NPR, a woman(an election official) from Maryland (speaking of people who became confused about SuperTuesday and showed up at polls that were not open) said, “…indicative by their going to the polling places”.
My car lurched for just a second, but I plowed ever forward…
Are you kidding? Or do you not know what functional illiteracy means?
You must have been driving a Prius.
While it’s a very poor piece of writing overall, it’s very, very far from “functionally illiterate.” For all its stylistic faults (which are many) his errors never obscure meaning, which is more than you can say for a great many people. If he were an English teacher, this letter would be cause for concern, but for a course that has little to do with writing, I don’t see it as such a big deal.
Of course there’s something wrong with the letter. They left out some important details:
Yes I was kidding.
WotNot, I know I’m supposed to be feeling the bitter blade of irony pressed against my jugular. You’re right, it is purview.
–hangs head in shame-- Damn. I’m not worthy !!!
Ah, but he didn’t say “functionally illiterate”. He said funtionally illiterate, which is a totally different thing.
He puts the “fun” in “tionally”!
Well, you’d obviously abased yourself enough, so I wasn’t going to say anything… but damn it, it’s been rankling: I’ll have you know that I’ve kept my 30-inch waist for the last 25 years thanks to genetic good fortune, moderate exercise and chronic nervous stress. At no time have I had to resort to any form of Bantingism to reduce my weight, and I resent your characterisation of me as “diety”.
Harumph!
Right, lads – what’s the Iron-o-meter showing so far? Two typos and a malapropism? Is that enough or should we see what else we can shake loose?
What’s wrong with using “aside from”?
Oh I hate you all !!!
–shakes fist-- I’ve got MORE IRON WHERE THAT CAME FROM, BUCKO !
Perhaps a glass of wine. Yes. That might be best.
ETA: Thank you for the props, jjimm. You put the prop in malapropism.
Hey - wait - I went to Purdue, and I writes gooooooood! 
“I’ve wrote all of this to say that we also teach the art of steadicam, of which I, aside from my boss and mentor Bill Callison, am the sole instructor for educating these eager students in this technique.”
In my world, “aside from” means “excluding” or “despite”. (“Aside from that, Mrs Lincoln, did you enjoy the opera?”)
So what does the sentence actually mean? “…I, despite my boss… am the sole instructor…” Does this mean that Bill is actually an instructor too? In which case the letter writer is in fact only the sole instructor if his boss is hypothetically eliminated from the picture. In which case, it’s a misleading statement.
Or does he actually mean “in addition to”? “…I, in addition to my boss… am the sole instructor…” Well, that’s nonsense too.
Either it’s:
“I am the sole instructor…” in which case he doesn’t need to mention his boss, or:
“Apart from my boss… I am the only other instructor…”