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Editor,

My commute involves 20 miles of winding mountain roads. There are 220 turns between my home and my office. Most of these turns are blind.

In addition, the lighting on these roads constantly changes from bright sun to deep shadow. The shadows are not the solid dark that would be caused by a building. They are caused by foliage, and they are punctuated by patches of brilliant sunshine. This is a classic camouflage pattern.

Bicyclists are beginning to understand that they are difficult to see under these conditions, and many of them are wearing solid yellow jackets or jerseys. But far too many still wear clothing that is not much better than battle fatigues for visibility. This makes them potential road kill. They seem to think that advertising their club or sponsor is more important than staying alive.

It does no good to wear a yellow jacket or jersey and then cover it with a dark back pack or fanny pack. Yet I see this frequently. Yellow back packs and fanny packs are available and should be demanded by cyclists who use packs.

Many other cycling items are available in yellow. These include helmets and helmet covers, gloves, seats, shoes, pedals and even bicycle frames and tires. While these are no substitute for the large, solid patch of yellow of a jacket or jersey, they do help to identify the bicycle and rider by shape.

Bicycle tail lights using light emitting diodes (LEDs) are also very helpful. One is good, and several are even better.

Your readers do not need to take my word for any of this. All they need do is to look around as they ride or drive. It is especially instructive to look at a group of cyclists, one of whom is wearing yellow. Robert G. Huenemann Portola State Park Road La Honda
A priceless icon

Editor,

The Sea Scout building is a priceless icon. It is beacon of times past when those of us who grew up in Palo Alto experienced the joys and learning experiences of man and the sea.

The architectural design of a ship's bridge and the feel of a seaworthy vessel from its nautical interior have to qualify this memorable structure as an historic monument. Just a few years ago current Sea Scout Explorers were joined by old salts from as far back as the 1930s in an emotional rededication ceremony of the facility.

To lose a piece of history this building represents would be an unconscionable act and an affront to the devoted dedication of the adult leadership and the thousands of boys and girls whose lives were enriched in this wonderful craft of man. W. Jack Kidder Sloat Road Pebble Beach
Murray family spirit

Editor,

I found it quite interesting that Mr. Borock found it necessary to throw mud at Mr. Murray and his family for carrying on the goals of the Sea Scouts (Letters, May 15). And, by the way, there is plenty of mud in the harbor.

We congratulate a family that, even with the handicap of closing the natural harbor, they have the ability to offer the young boys of the community the opportunity to learn more about maritime life and scouting.

It is fantastic that a man and family give of themselves, their energy and their time to make a more worthwhile life for the youth that have been deprived of this opportunity as in the past years.

Congratulations to the Murray family and thanks to you, Mr. Borock, for giving us the knowledge of true American spirit, shown by this family. Yes, I want to see the Sea Scout building made into a museum. Jeannette Remmel Lincoln Avenue Palo Alto
More AT&T madness

Editor,

For the past two weeks, about 400 AT&T cable-Internet subscribers in Menlo Park and Atherton have had extremely slow or no service. During this time, AT&T customer service representatives (CSRs) have been unable to say when service will be restored.

At times, CSRs say their computer system shows no record of a problem. Meanwhile, AT&T field service technicians have labored long and hard to find and fix the problems.

AT&T's CSRs say they will pro-rate customers' bills once the outage is resolved. This is the right thing to do, but doesn't compensate customers for their lost time or the inconvenience they've experienced.

I personally have spent many days on this problem. I've made many calls to AT&T Broadband customer service. I had Pacific Bell install a telephone line with the intention of switching to DSL. Unfortunately, after much searching, I found I can't get DSL and there really aren't any affordable alternatives.

I've had to buy a modem and purchase dial-up Internet service from another provider. Unlike some of their competitors (and the late ISP Channel), AT&T does not include free dial-up access when broadband connectivity is lost.

This comes at a time when we're reading about AT&T breaking its contractual agreement with the Media Center. If AT&T customers needed more impetus to switch to other companies for television or Internet service, this is it. You can bet that when DSL becomes available in my neighborhood, I'm going to drop AT&T like a hot potato.

There is an Internet mailing list for AT&T cable-Internet subscribers on the old Cable Co-Op system. Point your web browser to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ISPCPACC/.

It's been very valuable for me to see that others are experiencing the same problems. Andrew Evans Oakhurst Place Menlo Park
An air-tight vacuum?

Editor,

This letter is in response to the May 15 "Our Town" column by Marc Igler. Mr. Igler described the newly enacted PTA spending guidelines and also expressed concern that the new policy "while well-intentioned, is far from air-tight."

I don't know by what standards Mr. Igler would consider all PTA spending to be ever totally equitable among the Palo Alto schools. But let us for a moment imagine that we have accomplished that "air-tight" feat, both per policy and in fact. All whom sit at the Palo Alto educational table are served the same piece of pie. All is well. The voices which were formerly raised in protest over the former inequity are now satisfied and silent.

Meanwhile in the "next room," a school in East Palo Alto or a school in an impoverished area of Santa Clara County, the piece is not so generously equal. But the voices in Palo Alto are satisfied and silent.

Statewide, property taxes are the foundation for local school district support. So of course the districts themselves are going to be very unevenly supported. Since we are already so tolerant of general statewide inequity, what is so special about equity within a school district?

So now the extra PTA support will be spread more evenly among the district schools. But will the overall funding now dry up? There is one way this could work. My suggestion is that the school board consider reconstituting humanity itself from the combined DNA of Che Guevara and Mother Theresa.

Donating to others in need is one thing, but for many their generous school donations are based upon the fact that their money and efforts don't fall far from their feet. That's just human nature, and in fact that is why the shrieking cries for equity would fall deaf once inter-district equity was achieved. It's close to their feet.

If the spending equity within the district is indeed made airtight we will have "rich flight." Rather than spend the extra money for their own children's education, many will take the private-school route. To think that the same amount of money will be both now generated and evenly spread within the entire district is at best ignorant idealism.

In my ideal world I would remove property taxes as the source of school funding. I would enthusiastically entertain Draconian laws and enforcement to prevent what I describe in the above paragraph from ever infringing on the remaining educational support for those remaining in the public schools.

But I don't live in my ideal world. And a fight for educational equity should be a bit more global than just within one school district.

After all, what good is being air-tight if it's only in a vacuum? Jeff Whitnack Addison Avenue Palo Alto