The Lunar New Year Unity Parade Committee would like to set the record straight!

The mission of the Lunar New Year Unity Parade was to bring our community's broad spectrum of cultures together. The founders also wished to improve cross-cultural interaction and understanding.

Our first parade was conducted March 8. Our committee had almost 50 members, consisting of Caucasians, African Americans, Latin Americans, Indo Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Chinese Americans and others.

We had a great success and our own survey showed that 85 percent of the responses were positive (good, very good or ecstatic).

Two weeks prior to the event, we recruited more than 100 youth and adult volunteers for all the activities on the event date. All of the cultural booths needed volunteers. On the day of the parade the American booth was ably staffed and was a highlight of the event.

We appreciate and encourage anyone to call for more information about the 2003 or 2004 parade and festival.

—Michelle Hu and Richard Lowenthal, Lunar New Year Unity Parade Co-Chairs 2003 and 2004


Street barricade history gives other perspective

I would like to add an additional historical perspective to the issue of the barricade at Bollinger Road and Kim Street in response to the letter from Peter Tadin published in the July 9 Cupertino Courier.

Peter raises the issue that the barrier is "a non-state-sanctioned barrier in a right of way."

I live on Erin Way and was present during the Cupertino Council discussion to resolve excessive traffic through the Bollinger Road to Kirwin Lane route on Kim onto the neighborhood streets about 15 years ago.

The traffic was coming from commuters using this route to bypass stoplights on De Anza Boulevard and McClellan Road from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

In the original housing development plan for this neighborhood, Kim was never intended to be a permanent right of way along the Bollinger Road to Kirwin route.

There are no homes requiring entry for this short section, and this route was intended to be temporary for construction convenience. The route has minimal use for the neighborhood.

The neighborhood position was that this route should be closed in accordance with the original development plan. The Cupertino Council compromise was the 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. barrier. I believe an earlier comprise consisted of the one-way control.

The council compromise was a reasonable control of excessive commute traffic. However, if historical background regarding this route is being referred to to try to delete the barrier, the affected neighborhood has the right to reassert that this route should be totally closed.

Let's leave well enough alone. The barrier has worked well for years, commuters get to their jobs and neighborhood traffic is reasonably mitigated. Any proposed change will galvanize neighborhood residents to search out further legal fine print to protect the neighborhood streets. A reasonable compromise takes precedence over legal fine print.

—Larry Harrison, Cupertino


Ethnic celebrations not as important as the 4th

I am distressed about the cancellation of the Fourth of July fireworks. It's my favorite holiday. I usually have friends over for a barbecue; then we go to see the fireworks.

There are no presents to buy, no large dinners to fix, no religious celebrations, no ethnic celebrations.

It is a 100-percent American Holiday and well attended by all variety of people who now live in Cupertino.

I taught history at Homestead High for 31 years and love to see patriotic celebrations enjoyed by family groups, not just seniors or teens or children but the whole family.

I suppose those who made this decision will use the money they saved for an ethnic celebration that is not as important as celebrating our own USA.

—Mary Lou Lyon, Cupertino


Fireworks cancelled because of construction

I'm afraid that the whole story of the fireworks has not been communicated.

Unfortunately, due to construction at De Anza, we were not allowed to present the community event that we so much love.

The college was simply unavailable to us. The only alternative location we could find was Cupertino High School.

We could not get permission to allow people to park at the school, or even to go there for the event.

Residents would have had to watch from their homes. All of this precluded the spectacular community event that my family has so loved every year.

The question to us was, given the extreme budget situation that we face, should we fund a very compromised fireworks show? We decided to keep all the community aspects we could.

I just attended the Optimist's pancake breakfast, the children's parade, and the sing-along, which were wonderful. But just to be able to see the fireworks, with no way to hear patriotic music, or even hear the fireworks, didn't seem worth spending our very limited resources on.

Let's all work together to find a location for next year's fireworks, a location where we can sit on the grass as a community and share in a traditional American experience.

—Richard Lowenthal, Cupertino City Councilman


If Davis is recalled the lieutenant governor will take over

Political pundits tell of gloom and doom if grayer than Grey is recalled, as though the constitutional succession to the Lieutenant Governor didn't exist or was meaningless. But in democracies the people are permitted to make mistakes AND unmake them! Only in dictatorships are the laws perfect, and THAT'S THE LAW!

On a new and more important subject—Buddy Ebsen died the other day. I can't remember coming away from anything he did without a smile on my face and in my heart!

—R.A. Blais, Cupertino


Residents would have given money for fireworks display

I heartily agree with the content of Mr. Frolich's letter "City messed up when it voted no funds for the Fourth" in the July 2 Cupertino Courier. He hit the nail on the head.

Nowhere have I read anything in the paper that said funds were needed for the fireworks on July 4th.

I'm sure most residents would have contributed to a fund for the fireworks.

We have lived in Cupertino over 30 years and are saddened that the fireworks were cancelled this year. Perhaps next year the fireworks can be reinstated and one of the other festivities can be cancelled.

—Barbara Johnson, Cupertino


Some are using no-fireworks as an excuse to raise racism

I, too, missed Cupertino's fireworks this year. But unlike Gordon Frolich, I refuse to use this nonevent to once again raise a false ghost of racism.

If the decision to transfer these funds had been a head-to-head vote against something like the Cherry Blossom Festival, I might understand his comments, even without agreeing with them. But that was not the case.

The fireworks and their surrounding celebration weren't going to be at De Anza anyway, as I understand it, because of the construction there. So the use of the money to help support even a portion of the library was an interesting and useful alternative.

As for the "snipe" about the library being a free babysitter, I attribute that to the writer's anger and misinformation.

I, too, have donated to a fireworks fund in the past and would again if that were how the fireworks celebration could be returned to De Anza, once that site is available.

And I continue to hope (and expect) that the citizens of Cupertino can evaluate events (and nonevents!) with logic and tolerance.

—Sylvia Kyle,Cupertino


Naturalized citizen is proud to celebrate birth of country

Hip, hip, hooray, and applause to Gordon Frolich regarding his opinion that the city messed up when it voted no funds for July 4th in the July 2 Cupertino Courier.

As naturalized citizens we are appalled by this decision as we have in past years taken great pleasure and pride in joining our fellow citizens in celebrating the birth of our adopted country with fireworks on Independence Day.

It is shameful indeed that we in Cupertino can find the considerable funds for a fancy new library, numerous parades of all kinds, and the innumerable art and craft fairs seen in Memorial park, but we can't seem to find the funds to celebrate the Fourth.

While most of the country is staging more elaborate fireworks displays than in previous years as visible support for our troops fighting terrorism oversees, the Cupertino City Council has seen fit to de-emphasize this visible patriotic support in favor of keeping the library open on Sundays.

This is a poor judgement decision considering that the $55,000 price tag for the fireworks display is probably much less than one percent of the cost of the new library, and that without an Independence Day there might be no library at all.

Perhaps City Council should return to the classroom for a refresher course in American history and citizenship to better appreciate the significance of the Fourth with its prominent displays of the Flag, patriotism, and fireworks.

—Gail and Fred Eatock, Cupertino


Ten bucks says we'll have fireworks as library opens

Cupertino had a beautiful library with lots of books, videos, and elbow room. There were tables here. There were tables there. There were even comfortable chairs to sit in everywhere.

We had study areas. We had computers and copiers. We had it all.

And now we have nothing.

Those in power now took our library; they took our waterfall; they took our huge lawn away too! And then they stole the Fourth of July. Did we vote for all this?

Here are questions I would like someone to answer.

Question 1: How anti-American is it to take away our fireworks, especially now?

Question 2: Did we vote for a new library so that they may increase our property taxes, thus increasing what we owe on our homes, thus increasing our real estate values?

Question 3: Will our new library still offer Mandarin language internet classes for free while our English speaking minority group will still not be provided with similar services? I wanted to sign my mother up but they said, "No, we don't offer Internet classes here in English."

Then where?

And for free?

I'm Hungarian, I want my Hungarian Internet class, my Hungarian language signs on every store front. I don't want other non-Hungarian speaking people to go into those stores. I don't even want others to know what goes on in those stores. Hungarian only please. Koszonom (thank you—sarcastically speaking).

Question 4: Is the Cupertino Library's name still for sale. Did I authorize this with my vote for a new library? If my government property is being rented out or sold, I want my share of the profits!

Ten bucks says that we'll have huge fireworks when the new library opens! But who will be there?

—Gregory Nagy, Cupertino resident of 22 years


Marianists support so much more than retreat centers

The article on the closing of the Marianist Center in the July 2nd issue of the Cupertino Courier, reported that I said that besides the Cupertino center, there are only about five other Marianist facilities in the United States. What I actually said was there are only about five other Marianist retreat facilities in the United States.

The Marianists in the US, in fact, operate several high schools, colleges and parishes in the United States as well as many other ministries. Additionally, the Marianists in the United States support ministries in countries around the world—including Latin American, Africa, India and Korea.

The Marianist Center has made a unique contribution to life of the Bay Area for 15 years as a retreat and spiritual center.

The center has often been referred to as "the best kept secret in the Bay Area" by new visitors.

The Center has been building the Marianist spirit of hospitality, service, inclusiveness and social justice for people and communities in the Bay Area.

While we often served as a conference center for big business, much of our concern, time and energy was directed towards making the Marianist Center a place that supported churches of every denomination, synagogues, agencies that house the homeless or feed the hungry, organizations that tend the environment or care for people living with HIV and individuals who just needed some days or even hours of quiet.

Our challenge in our sadness at the Center's closing is to remember that the success of that ministry is not to be measured in whether it continues as a retreat center or not—but in the creativity, nurturing, healing and community-building that happened when visitors and friends sat and talked and prayed and napped beneath our trees.

—Kevin Dincher, Director, Marianist Center

Circle the Date

The Cupertino Courier presents "A Time to Talk: A Cupertino Forum" on Saturday, Aug. 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. Jude's Church, at the corner of Stelling and McClellan roads.

Shawn Spano, who has worked with the Cupertino community since he and the Public Dialogue Consortium initiated a process for discussing community issues in 1996, will facilitate the forum. Members of the community are invited to participate in a candid discussion about changing demographics in Cupertino.

According to Spano: "Through our earlier work in Cupertino, a process has been developed to create a comfortable environment for people to express themselves. Our goal in this forum is to take the dialogue to the next level."


Reporter Jennifer Zhang is leaving the Courier

Sadly, our Cupertino reporter Jennifer Zhang is moving on. She and her fiancé, their three rabbits and puppy are settling in Santa Rosa where her fiancé has a teaching job.

I have enjoyed working with Jennifer immensely. We all have.

Her integrity, her logical mind, her kindness and her wonderful sense of humor will be sorely missed.

Jennifer, who by nature shies away from confrontation, courageously took on difficult stories and reported them with the kind of thorough professionalism that makes a good name for journalism. In fact, she spent some long nights here at the office struggling over some of those stories, after which she drove all the way home to her apartment in Livermore.

Jennifer is looking forward to spending a little deadline-free time with her animals in her new place before heading out for her next job, whatever that turns out to be.