Palo Alto has a trend of reducing the quantity of affordable housing in our area. The closing of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park is one example. The most vibrant cities in the world are those that are rich both economically and culturally, and as Palo Alto unjustly pushes lower income families out of the area, it loses some of its uniqueness that makes this a special place to live and go to school. This makes me sad.

Kevin Zhang

University Avenue, Palo Alto

An opportunity to help

Editor,

Thank you for featuring the Sequoia Adult School Scholars (SASS) tutoring program in the Weekly's April 1 edition. I have been tutoring a student through SASS for the past two years. The student is a single mom with two children who is studying at Ca<0x00F1>ada College to earn a certificate in early childhood education. We meet once a week at the Menlo Park Library, but we also communicate via text; she sends a photo of her work and I reply with comments.

Besides supporting her on her homework assignments, I find that the studying and test-taking strategies I developed helping my own children through the Palo Alto Unified School District have been equally important to share. I know there are many parents in Palo Alto whose children are now through the school district and who would have so much to share by being a tutor to the English as a second language (ESL) students though SASS that I hope they would consider signing up.

Lastly, it would be great to see a story on the tremendous effort and trade offs that the ESL students make in order to achieve their goals at Ca<0x00F1>ada College.

Carolyn Williams

El Cerrito Road, Palo Alto

Beyond stupid

Editor,

In a recent letter (in the April 8 issue), the sexual assault of an intoxicated young woman by a young Stanford University athlete was labeled as simply a "stupid" act. The act was way beyond stupid; it was an assault, an assault that will leave more than just a few bruises that will heal in a short time.

"The college culture made me do it" is too easily invoked as a primary cause. Yes, local culture is one source of influence on a person's decisions, but ultimately the individual person makes the decision to act in a certain way. A person can support or act in accord with a local culture or resist the cultural influence. The individual is ultimately responsible. By the time a person reaches the age of 18, the person will have already experienced the choice between protecting or exploiting a weaker person.

Stanford students are not stupid. If any college-age person is capable of analyzing a situation, thinking through the consequences, and then acting in accord with one's core values, surely Stanford students are. The ethical course of action would have been to protect rather than exploit an intoxicated person. Where have "the better angels of our nature" gone?

Lou Moffett

McKendry Drive, Menlo Park

Tackling traffic, going green

Editor,

I am currently a junior at Palo Alto High School. In response to your recent article titled "New carpool service revs up in Palo Alto," I would like to express my support for the new carpool service, Scoop. In addition to addressing the issue of stress in the common commute, Scoop also helps the environment.

I believe that alternatives to driving individual cars, such as the service that Scoop provides, offer a green and efficient way to tackle the rising problem of rush-hour traffic. Scoop and carpooling in general provide environmental benefits that help keep Palo Alto green.

We should be aware of the environmental impacts of our daily commutes, and I am glad to see a startup that addresses this issue in an innovative way.

Jennifer Zhuge

Sharon Court, Palo Alto