Jun 11, 2008

Letters

Open space debate

Dear Editor: Recently I was approached to sign a petition to "protect open space" in Redwood City. My initial instinct was to sign this petition. However, a deeper examination revealed a complicated and disturbing picture.

First, this Open Space Initiative disenfranchises Redwood City voters. By requiring a two-thirds majority of residents to approve any development on designated open spaces, an unelected minority can hold the majority hostage to their views without being subject to any accountability. A two-thirds majority requirement is unfair and undemocratic.

We have seen two-thirds requirements in other legislation in California, and, invariably, these laws have stalled progress, increased partisanship, stifled compromise and led to bad government.

Second, the initiative is too expensive. By requiring special elections for affected development projects, the sponsors of this initiative would force Redwood City to pay millions of dollars to gain voter approval for affected developments. In tough economic times, the last thing we need to do is to waste money on these types of elections when cheaper alternatives can accomplish the same goal.

Finally, the initiative is unnecessary. We can protect open space with mechanisms already in our city charter. Pro-environmental candidates can and should run for city council, where they can protect open space. Watchdog groups like Friends of Redwood City can continue to sponsor legislation like the Measure Q initiative when they feel that open space is being threatened.

Protecting open space is a worthy goal that we can all get behind. But we should respect and trust our neighbors by making sure that everyone has an equal voice when it comes to development.

We should not turn Redwood City into a tyranny of the minority.

David Amann,

Redwood City



Shockley article

Dear Editor: After reading Matt Bowling's article about William Shockley ("Shockley Sparks Life into the Valley," Sunday), I find it interesting to have known such an entirely different person than the one portrayed. Dr. Shockley was a patient of mine during the last years of his life. I saw a kind, considerate and humble man not to mention one who was interesting to talk with. He would bring me stimulating books as gifts. I never would have imagined him to be "angry and bitter." I did not learn about his controversial and racist theories until after his death. Nonetheless, I have fond memories of my many hours with Dr. Shockley and suspect that Mr. Bowling might be drawing an unfair and one-sided picture of him.

Ron Dunn,

Palo Alto



Teacher recalls ouster

Dear Editor: Fifty years ago this spring, if memory serves, the front page of Redwood City's newspaper was dominated by disparate souls: Fidel Castro, a hero then, trying to show Batista the door, Lana Turner's daughter, stabbing her mother's lover, and me, tough teacher Sam Di Sibio, trading allegations with the administration of Menlo-Atherton High School, which was trying to show me the door.

The big song of the moment was Johnny Mathis' "Wonderful, Wonderful," and down the road, two young Stanford engineers named Hewlett and Packard were leading the world into the computer age.

So much for the zeitgeist; back to the front page. The other stories, lacking legs, fell away, but my sparring with the board of education held on for two weeks, culminating in a hearing that led to my dismissal.

All those students in the class of 1958 who passed before my ken - and remember the uproar - may be interested, and a little shocked, to learn that I am still here, which is probably not the case with the great array of educators and board members who were fearful of the grades I awarded, choking the pipeline to Stanford, whose publication defended me thusly:

"The hearing before the school board clearly showed that Di Sibio was hard and worked his students fiercely. But apparently they learned English. ... Something must be done to get the Di Sibios into the high schools and keep them there."

Ironic, no?

Sam Di Sibio,

E. Patchogue, N.Y.





Caltrain

Dear Editor: Last Friday, Caltrain delivered me from San Francisco to Palo Alto 30 minutes late. This Monday morning, scores of Palo Alto commuters waited 35 minutes for a delayed train.

With $4-a-gallon gas and increased talk of public transport, I will bet that Caltrain isn't hitting 50 percent rush-hour on-time rates into San Francisco.

As we waited, a man with a suitcase was on the cell phone booking a later flight at SFO. A woman said, "these delays are happening more often than not. I have appointments, my employer doesn't understand 30 minutes late." Two visitors from Japan asked in broken English what had happened to the train. When I explained (there was no explanation), they smiled and shook their heads. One said, "In Japan, this would be impossible, could never happen." Then she said, "and this is Silicon Valley."

After a while, the loudspeaker told us that due to mechanical break-down, the northbound trains would be between 10 and 60 minutes late. You'd expect more in a Banana Republic.

Mechanical breakdown? It's a train, a road of rail, a 150-year-old technology. It's not the space shuttle.

Chris Tucher,

Palo Alto



History overlooked

Dear Editor: The amount of ink given to the loser in the Democratic primary contest is quite high. What this does is make Sen. Barack Obama's historic win a Clintoncentric event. I'd like to see the country, and this newspaper, acknowledge the moment in history we are living in. It is stunning. Sen. Obama has done what many thought could not be done. We should be shouting from the rooftops, analyzing this win in light of the history of African-Americans in this country and congratulating him. I am a boomer woman who would like to see the public recognition this win deserves - for so many reasons.

Ann Bradley,

Palo Alto



Was movie stifled?

Dear Editor: The extremely limited distribution of the movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" tends to prove the film's main point, namely, that challenging Darwin's theory of evolution is not "politically correct" and will be stifled whenever possible.

A week after its Bay Area release, no theater in San Francisco, Marin or San Mateo counties was showing "Expelled." Saratoga was the closest West Bay venue, at the lone theater screening "Expelled" in Santa Clara County.

What's going on here? Does Darwinian evolution rest on such shaky grounds that it can't withstand a playful attack from comedian Ben Stein? What about openmindedness and a balanced approach - especially as regards the basic human question: How did the world come to be?

It's bad enough to ban from classrooms competing theories about the world's formation. Extending the blackout to movie theaters is downright scary.

James Quinn,

Burlingame