I do not think the United States should attack Iraq. I am against war of any kind, but this one in particular is very immoral. The United States has no proof that Saddam Hussein has nuclear weapons, and it's not fair to kill innocent Iraqi civilians just because Bush has a problem with Saddam. America has always been a country that only enters a war after another country's been killing people for no reason. If we attack Iraq with no proof that Saddam Hussein has nuclear weapons, it would be bad.

—Bryce Wilson, age 11, Cupertino


Crossroads is reverse engineering at its worst

I applaud the city council's vote to postpone the decision on the Crossroads plan. I feel the plan as currently presented (and Plan C, now on the table) are not what Cupertino needs.

I understand the desire to beautify the Stevens Creek corridor, but frankly these plans would not accomplish the goal. Stevens Creek is too busy and too wide to give the European ambiance that the plan strives for (but cannot deliver). Narrowing the lanes of traffic will not decrease the number of cars using the street and will cause more traffic congestion than the citizens of this town should have to put up with.

A grand boulevard has been the dream of city planners for years, and I feel that more work and less dreaming are needed to create what is wanted. This area of Stevens Creek is just not the right place for a cafe lifestyle.

It is just too bad that city planners did not create a city center from the start. This plan is reverse engineering at its worst.

Even after the changes there would still be the Mervyns, the car dealership and Target throwing off the cohesive, unified look of a European boulevard. It would look haphazard and unplanned.

There is not enough community support for this plan to go ahead as proposed, and I hope the council will honestly listen to the people of this city.

—Gail Lee, Cupertino


Task force photo in story gives wrong impression

I am writing in response to the March 5 cover story in the Courier about the attempt to recall two Cupertino Union School District board members. I was one of the members of the Teacher/Employee Recruitment and Retention Task Force you named and pictured in the article.

Given the size and placement of the picture, imagine my surprise when none of the findings or recommendations of that task force were even mentioned. The task force gave a report at the Feb. 25th board meeting. The report was based on months of hard work, focused on tough issues, and we reported many findings and recommendations, none of which your reporter bothered to mention in the article.

Furthermore, the article, by the placement of that picture, gives the impression that those pictured are behind the effort to remove Dr. Bragg and the two board members.

I cannot speak for individuals, but I do not support the recall, and such irresponsible reporting belittles the hard work of people who care about making positive changes in the district. Dr. Bragg and a majority of the board members are trying desperately to move forward for the good of the entire district.

The Courier seems only interested in digging up old dirt for the purpose of dragging good people through the mud. I know it is easier to just keep on reporting old issues, but you are doing a great disservice to this community. Dr. Bragg and a majority of district officials have already moved on‚ and it is time for the Courier to do the same.

—Mary Ann Kurtz, CUSD parent


Fourth of July fireworks at Monta Vista dangerous

Therese Ambrosi Smith, of the Cupertino Parks and Recreation Department, addressed a letter dated March 12 to residents neighboring Cupertino High School about the city's proposal to hold the 2003 Fourth of July fireworks display at the high school.

I live in the Fairgrove neighborhood, the Eichler development located about two blocks south of the high school. I am opposed to the city's proposal.

Cupertino High School is a relatively small campus surrounded by residential areas, except on the north, where there is a small business center along Stevens Creek Boulevard. I believe this area is too small and too densely built up with housing for a 20-minute display of fireworks to be safe.

Granted, the school sets off fireworks to celebrate the victories of its football team. But those are ordinarily of a few minutes' duration.

A 20-minute display, with its usual closing bursts, is too dangerous for a residential neighborhood. I can't imagine who in the city administration could have thought that such a display would make sense.

I would think that a far more suitable location for the fireworks would be the vacant lots on the northern side of Stevens Creek Boulevard, which I assume are now the property of Hewlett-Packard Co. Surely the city could approach the owner of those lots and try to work something out to allow their use.

Liability would, of course, be the big issue. But I would think that any question of liability the owner of those lots might bring up would pale in comparison with the liability that the city would face in setting off 20 minutes' worth of fireworks, in the hot, dry summer, in the middle of residential neighborhoods.

—Edward A. Jajko,Cupertino

Connecting with our hometown troops

As a weekly newspaper, The Courier does not have a fast enough turn around time nor the resources to be covering the Iraqi war and the controversy surrounding it in a timely way. We are, however, the community's newspaper and want very much to reflect in some heartfelt way what residents in Cupertino are experiencing as this war wages on. In that vein, we would like to print names and short profiles as well as pictures of anyone from Cupertino who is serving in Iraq. You are certainly welcome to use our letters-to-the editor section as a forum to express your pride and your concerns about the war. We will make every effort to print them all.

—Sandy Sims, Editor