Yes on 215
I plan to vote yes on Proposition 215, the initiative to make legal the medical use of marijuana, in memory of my mother who died of cancer one year ago. During her treatments with chemotherapy, marijuana proved to be the only effective drug to combat her nausea. None of the drugs given her by her doctor did any good. She resisted using marijuana for several months on the grounds that it was illegal. Our family ran the risk of prosecution in obtaining the drug to give her comfort. Please join me in giving seriously ill and dying people another avenue for relief. Rachel Goldeen Birch Street, Palo Alto rachel@goldeen.com
No on 209
I have heard several arguments and read a number of advertisements about 209. The argument in favor of it may be stated briefly that it is unfair to give people of color preference in entering higher education or obtaining governmental contracts or jobs. The underlying assumption is that we now have a level playing field and that people of color now have equal opportunities in life. This is an absolutely false assumption. I live in a high school district which includes both East Palo Alto and Atherton. Anyone who thinks that students who live in East Palo Alto have as good a chance for success in life as those who live in Atherton are terribly wrong. They are probably the same people who think we have eliminated racism in the United States. Jack Robertson Lucero Way, Portola Valley
Enlightenment needed
Regarding your article about the police proposal to tighten Palo Alto's regulation of massage establishments (Weekly, Oct. 23): My feeling is that the government has no right to tell consenting adults what they can do in a private place. The laws against prostitution in this country are a sham and they violate the Constitution. Palo Alto's past and proposed new action regarding massage parlors just goes to show the extent to which we live in a police state governed by a puritan ethic. I would like to see Palo Alto take a much more enlightened view, similar to San Francisco's, regarding the question of prostitution and massage parlors and other so-called victimless crimes. Dennis Mitrzyk Maclane Street, Palo Alto (by voice mail)
Manufactured controversy
There is no such thing as a massage controversy in Palo Alto. In the time I've lived here, which has been about four years or so on and off, I've seen no massage controversy. In my lifetime I've had maybe 200 massages, and not one of them has ever been sexual, except if you were to count the time when I was married. I've had many, many massages in Palo Alto for the purpose of healing and I've never had a sexual massage in Palo Alto. It's absurd to even consider having some sort of regulation in Palo Alto as far as massage goes unless there are complaints on that level. I think it's absurd the police would put energy into this area. Why don't they allocate these people to do something else? There's no need to regulate it here. We don't need manufactured controversies, especially in the area of the healing arts. Tony "Toe Knee" Stanger Addison Avenue, Palo Alto (by voice mail)
Guard valuables
Regarding the Byxbee Park car burglaries (Weekly, Oct. 25): It is unfortunate, but you can't leave anything of value in your car while off taking a hike at the baylands. I learned that one year ago when my car was burglarized at Byxbee Park during a lunchtime hike. The police officers who took the theft report told me that cars along Arastradero, Page Mill and Skyline are often broken into while their owners are off on extended hikes. Don't let this happen to you! Leave your valuables at home or take them with you while hiking. S.P. Meade Palo Alto SPMeade@aol.com
An easy cure
Regarding the car burglaries: There's an easy way to cure such problems. They used to do it in the past. It's called a set up, a stake out, where the police put out a target vehicle and sit and watch. If someone comes and breaks into the car they're probably arrested. That seems to be out of favor these days because it may be called entrapment, but it certainly is effective in cutting down such crimes. Kent Price San Antonio Road, Palo Alto (by voice mail)
Getting worse
I hear the jets going over my house to San Francisco starting at about 5:30 in the morning and about every three to five minutes thereafter until about 11 p.m. The big four-engine jets like the 747s are the worst. They seem to be the loudest and the lowest. They are very low over our house. I attended the last meeting of the Airport Community Roundtable and learned that the traffic flow over Palo Alto to San Francisco has been increased and will be increased even further. There's no reason for these jets to be coming over Palo Alto now. They could be guided over the bay, and at a much higher altitude, like they were in years past. City officials in Palo Alto must get involved because this noise is going to get worse and even right now it's unacceptable. Bob Carlstead Walter Hays Drive, Palo Alto (by voice mail)
Effective strategies
It would be interesting to know if the people who complain about "the government" or "the community" allowing the demolition of older homes in Palo Alto (ReaderWire, Sept. 27, Oct. 4), or ending subsidized housing (ReaderWire, Oct. 18), or ignoring the street people in the downtown (ReaderWire, June 21), ever contribute in a planned and on-going way to the private, non-profit institutions and organizations that deal most effectively and efficiently with these problems. Jill Knuth Vernier Place, Stanford Jillcarter@aol.com
Pedestrians stymied
Why is there no way to walk or bike from north Palo Alto to the Stanford Shopping Center and hospital (less than one mile away)? Currently, to walk or bike from my neighborhood to the shopping center, I need to fight with the cars and walk through the middle of a huge parking lot. The solution should be easy, compared with the controversial Sand Hill Road extension, and it would take cars off the road and away from traffic-clogged downtown Palo Alto. There is already a nice trail along the north perimeter of the shopping center parking lot, but no way to get across El Camino. Stanford Shopping Center should welcome its neighbors with a crosswalk across El Camino at Alma instead of only considering people who drive all the way from Atherton and Portola Valley using Sand Hill Road. Elaine Haight Cowper Street, Palo Alto haight@aspen.fhda.edu
Obstacle course
Walkers, beware. There is an enemy on the sidewalks of Menlo Park in the form of cracked, uneven pavement and unswept droppings from trees. The seeds, nuts, fruit and dried leaves create an obstacle course severe enough to cause sprained ankles, broken bones of the arms, legs and hips. Are brooms and rakes obsolete? Are homeowners and landlords oblivious to the filthy sidewalks that surround their dwellings? How about a daily swept, safe walkway for those who travel by foot? Lillian Levitin Glenwood Avenue, Menlo Park
Back up to the Table of Contents Page