May 29, 2008

Letters

Parks measure

Dear Editor: As chair of the 2006 Natural Resources Task Force in San Carlos, I had the opportunity to take a very close look at park and open space issues in that community. What became clear was that San Carlos has some wonderful parks and open spaces, but that, like so many communities, it also faces serious financial challenges simply trying to maintain those resources, let alone trying to enhance and expand them, protect the native plants and animals that call them home, or provide more outreach and interpretation for those interested in using them. Ever increasing local populations make such efforts extremely important, yet chronic budget problems have relegated them to back-burner status.

Measure O on the June 3 ballot would help reverse this by providing much needed additional funding for city parks in San Carlos, and throughout the whole county. I urge everyone to support this important measure.

Drew Shell,

San Carlos



Protect the land

Dear Editor: Thousands of years ago, dinosaurs and woolly mammoths roamed the shores of San Francisco Bay.

Their tracks may still be there, preserved in time by layers of salt. As long as 15,000 years ago, prehistoric explorers came across a land bridge from the Asian continent and made their way down the Pacific coast, where many settled on the lands surrounding the Bay. Among these lands and wetlands are the present Cargill Salt ponds, which except for dikes and levees, look much as they did when families of Indians used the Bay as their fish market. We who pass by here are still able to see these lands relatively unchanged from the way they have looked for hundreds of thousands of years.

Today we have the rare privilege of setting them aside and declaring them off-limits to developers.

Those who follow us will be able to hike and bike on these historic acres and will never have to guess at what was there in the long-dim past.

Clifford Pierce,

Redwood City



School bond measure

Dear Editor: California schools rank well below average in the country in per-pupil spending.

Yet, Palo Alto schools remain one of the crown jewels of our city. And concern for our children and our future are strong reasons to support the June 3 ballot bond measure.

But even if you eschew altruistic reasons, think of it this way. Palo Alto is one of the few places in California where home values remain strong. Our schools are a primary reason. So for our kids, for our future, and, yes, for your home resale value, vote "yes" on Measure A.

Janice Hough,

Palo Alto



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Dear Editor: I am a senior citizen who supports Measure A. I have lived in Palo Alto for more than 50 years. My three children attended Palo Alto schools during the "Golden Age" when Dr. Henry Gunn was the superintendent of the Palo Alto Unified School District.

I am forever grateful for all the benefits my children received during their school years. They had benefited from the high academic standard and from all other extra-curricular and cultural programs offered them during that period. They were adequately prepared to meet the challenges of college.

Many seniors may think that they have done their duty while their own children were enrolled in PAUSD, and that it is now time for the younger families to support the needs of their own children. This concept may sound logical as many seniors live on fixed incomes. But Measure A will not increase the current tax rate. It will provide funds to improve academic and structural developments for our schools.

By supporting Measure A, I know I am leaving a legacy, in my little way, for the children of our community.

Misao Sakamoto,

Palo Alto



School pool in bad shape

Dear Editor: As a swimmer, it pained me throughout my years at Gunn High School to hear disparaging comments about our pool. Swimming is one of the most successful sports on campus, but because of crumbling facilities, it is also one of the least recognized. This season, the varsity girls team broke seven out of the 11 school records; alas, none were achieved in the dismal Gunn pool. The last four years brought excitement to the pool, because every year history was rewritten. Yet our facilities are such that in my senior year, we had only one home meet.

We cannot host league championships because of limited pool space; water polo players stand on the bottom to defend their goal and cannot legally host games. During meets, swimmers have no space to warm-up or cool-down because divers must compete too. There is sand in the pool; the backstroke flags are no longer a vibrant red and a rich black, but a pale yellow and grey. Starting blocks shake, the water looks green, and, as a result, Gunn swimming gets a bad name. As early as freshman year, repulsion toward the pool is instilled in students. With new facilities, the Gunn tradition would continue to thrive, as the incredibly strong senior class leaves quite a legacy to be upheld. Swimmers would look forward to practice; freshmen would be excited about swimming during P.E. classes; league championships would return to Gunn. And maybe, just maybe, water sports would be heard, seen, and respected on campus.

Tara Levens,

Gunn Senior and Varsity swimmer



Children's Theatre

Dear Editor: Pat Briggs should not be fired as director of the Palo Alto Children's Theatre. She has given the theater 47 years of her life. There is no other way to describe it - the theater has been her life. The success of the theater under her direction speaks for itself.

If errors have been made, the city should improve its checks and balances to prevent it from happening again.

In this instance, firing people does not seem the humane thing to do.

Nat Hanson,

Los Altos



School funding

Dear Editor: Lee The's letter Wednesday was right on. School funding based upon individual school districts (the parcel tax/bond proposals) is discriminatory, selfish and helps to lock in the spread in achievement between the students from the "well-to-do" areas and those from the less affluent places. Though requiring a fundamental (earthquake-like) shift in tax policy, the solution producing increased fairness and opportunity would require statewide funding based upon ability to pay. The increase in state tax would be offset by reduced local taxes. In the best of all worlds, education should be funded at least countrywide. In that California currently ranks 48th, we would win that one.

Gilwee Walker,

Palo Alto




Photo of school

Dear Editor: As a San Mateo resident and teacher on the Peninsula, I was pleased to read that Hillsdale High School was featured in Newsweek magazine for its Smaller Learning Communities program. I agree that the article that was in the May 24 edition deserved to be front-page news.

It was a disappointment to have the accompanying photo be a part of the article, however. While the photo relates to Hillsdale's exemplary program by showing student Lindsay Handy waiting while her presentation is reviewed, it also shows a bulletin board that is obviously in transition at the school. I am quite sure there were many other areas at the school that could have better complemented Hillsdale High School. To show that bulletin board is like taking guests in your home to the family shed, where you throw everything in right before they arrive. I think the photo editor for this article could have been a bit more thoughtful about where the picture was taken.

Sheila Sevilla,

San Mateo