I was quite offended by Fremont Union High School District Superintendent Steve Rowley's comments to the editor of the Wall Street Journal regarding the "White Flight" article about Cupertino and its schools.

It seems full of racial undertones and innuendoes of ethnic tensions between white and Asians as well as within the Asian community itself. Rowley commented that the article " ... presents a set of facts not justifiably tied to its title." Rowley's own remarks present a set of presumptions not justifiably tied to facts.

There may be a few instances of tension between whites and Asians, but they are often based upon Asians moving into their neighborhoods.

As for inter-Asian tension, this is no more present than among any other Americans with diverse religious, political, cultural and moral beliefs.

To imply that Asians are especially divisive among themselves is very racist and un-American and contrary to the very principles embedded into the Constitution of this great nation.

America prides itself upon its freedoms. Asians especially value and appreciate this freedom in such short supply elsewhere.

Asians are no more divisive amongst themselves than white or any other ethnic group in America.

To make a point of emphasizing all our differences to the world in the WSJ implies that this is a problem specific to the Asians of our community. That is absolutely unfounded, untrue, absurd and totally inappropriate for a district school superintendent to even think.

How can he effectively serve our community and our children with such an attitude?

Frank Geefay

Cupertino

A, B, C defeat not a mandate;
minority needs to be heard

As a staunch opponent of Measures A, B and C, I was pleased with the election results and appreciate the support our campaign received from our entire city council and the many Cupertino residents who joined us.

Thanks especially to the Courier for your editorial support and publishing all those letters, pro and con.

However, I do not view our 53-58 percent majority as a "mandate." and trust the large minority supporting ABC will continue to be heard. I also hope the Courier will continue publicizing development proposals before decisions are made.

Anne Ng

Cupertino

Election results a clear
message to city officials

After reading the article, "Measures lost, but backers say their voice was heard" in the Nov. 23 issue of the Courier, one might think the slate of mandates swept to victory in the recent election. "We're pleased...We have been asked (by city council) to come up with policy changes in line with our objectives," claimed one of the slate campaigners.

In fact, all three measures lost by from eight to 18 percentage points. The CCC candidate for city council lost by a two-to-one margin to both of the incumbent city council members who were re-elected. The Courier states: "The votes were close" and mentions the 6,000 votes for the slate, but forgot to mention the almost 9,000 people who voted against Measure C.

I see the 0 for 4 results on the CCC slate of mandates and its candidate as a clear message from the people of Cupertino to their appointed and elected officials. Given the opportunity, the voters of Cupertino rejected the divisive, unnecessary special election promoted for years by the few people who run the CCC.

And when the city council seeks residents to serve in appointed positions on city committees, I expect them to consider people who represent a majority of Cupertino voters, not just the small circle of CCC organizers.

Charlie Ahern

Cupertino

How can defeated CCC go
to council with demands?

It is remarkable the Concerned Citizens of Cupertino, having been trounced in the recent election, would begin the unity process by submitting a new list of demands to the Cupertino City Council.

During the campaign the CCC was thoroughly discredited. Its members claimed their initiatives would not impact Hewlett Packard and Apple Computer.

Our major employers disagreed. They claimed their initiatives would not make traffic worse. Studies by the city and Sierra Club found the opposite. The CCC maintained the initiatives would not prevent affordable housing. Yet no affordable housing could have been built.

Finally, the CCC alleged all opponents of their measures were "outsiders." Yet, Advocates for a Better Cupertino's led by Cupertino residents Roberta Holliman, David Greenstein, Charlie Ahern, Rod Brown and Ann Ng (partial list), and they are just a few of the over 8,000 residents who voted against the initiatives.

How many times can an organization be wrong before they are completely discredited?

The initiatives were rejected by the largest number of voters in Cupertino history. The no vote was higher than any candidate for city council.

Considering the CCC began its campaign with nearly 4,500 supporters based on their petition drive, that means opponents won roughly 76 percent of the voters who had not taken an early position.

Throughout the campaign the CCC used discredited messages, even after they had been fully debunked by hard evidence. To claim a moral victory after an electoral trouncing by declaring a "substantial minority" believed your unsupportable arguments is hubris.

Attempts by members of the city council to bring people together are laudable, but the new CCC demands are an affront to democracy. If the CCC wants to be included in decision making, they must begin by working within a good government process.

Rich Robinson

Cupertino

Shopping in strip malls
much easier than malls

Sandy Sims' editorial (Letters & Opinions, Nov. 30) calls Cupertino's strip malls ugly. Well, I happen to like them.

I like how I can park my car near the store I want to go to. I like being able to see what stores are there as I drive by. I hate Santana Row, Vallco and those other giant malls. I hate having to park my car in a dark, monster parking garage, where being mugged is always a concern, then having to walk miles to the store I'm looking for and then schlep packages those same miles back.

Give me a good old strip mall any day. I suppose they could be made more attractive, but that ugly monster the city put up at De Anza and Stevens Creek boulevards won't get any of my business--where the heck am I supposed to park, across the street in the strip mall? It's just not user-friendly.

Give me a good old fashioned store with a parking lot you can see any day, otherwise I will, and have, taken my business elsewhere.

As for creating a downtown, well, the Crossroads is not the place to put it. As Sims says, it's a place to drive through on the way to somewhere else. Go put it over by city hall and the library where all you folks who like to can walk all over the place or sit and drink your coffee.

But don't take away my easy access to shops.

Peggy Kopf

Monta Vista

Those unhappy with planning
need to get involved in process

Excellent commentary (Opinion & Letters Nov. 30) on the defeat of Props A, B, and C and what the residents, city council and planning commission of Cupertino should do in the future.

In my opinion, if the residents of Cupertino don't like how the planning commission and city council are handling both commercial and residential development, the voters should elect new city council members and/or volunteer for membership on the planning commission. (Yes, I think that the location of the hotel at Stevens Creek and De Anza is downright dumb, if not idiotic. This is not the Chicago Loop or Manhattan, where space is really at a premium.)

A matter of style: There is a growing and very annoying tendency in the media, and unfortunately, by public safety personnel as well, to use the term "citizens" when referring to residents of cities, counties, and states. This is incorrect, as we are citizens of the United States but residents of our cities, counties and states.

F. Vernon Hudnut

Cupertino

Wrong protestors arrested
while anarchists go free

When I first heard reports of protestors being arrested at De Anza College during a speaking engagement by Colin Powell, my impression was that anarchists who were engaged in vandalism and throwing rocks at police had been arrested.

Apparently these culprits had a hit and run strategy: spray-painting cars, smashing windshields, throwing rocks, initiating disorder and then escaping.

Unfortunately, none of the real anarchists were arrested. Some students, however, were arrested and manhandled at the end of the event as they were leaving.

No one should condone violence or of putting law enforcement officers in danger, but I do have concerns about students participating in a legal protest possibly being swept into legal jeopardy for the violent and criminal acts of others.

Also disconcerting is the fact that all or most of the students arrested after the event were of Arab or African descent, even though most of the large crowd of unruly protestors were not of that ethnic background.

Law enforcement is a tough and dangerous job, but care should be taken that justice is fairly served.

President Bush has been traveling around the world promoting freedom and democracy. Our soldiers are sacrificing their lives abroad defending freedom and democracy. These concepts are compromised when and if political protesters are unjustly criminalized.

My regret is that the anarchists and perpetrators of the violence and vandalism are not suffering the consequences of their criminal actions but instead are willing to let a few students have their lives messed up with dubious criminal charges, while the anarchists are free to create havoc at the next public protest.

Ann Shirkey

Cupertino

DeCinzo cartoon is racist;
doesn't belong in paper

Considering Cupertino is a community that promotes diversity, I'm surprised the Courier allowed DeCinzo's Nov. 23 "Cartoonist View" to be printed.

The prejudicial and racist display of DeCinzo's viewpoint, as displayed to everyone through his caricatures in last week's edition, doesn't belong in the newspaper.

Dean Plank

Cupertino

Residents must pay new fee to park in front of their home

About three weeks ago, our family received our yearly renewal for our automobile parking permit waivers and two guest parking hangers. We were surprised to see a $45 fee assessed per family who reside on these parking permit streets. Many of my surrounding neighbors, friends and I were perplexed, as we were never asked to pay such a fee in the past.

We placed our postage and were ready to enclose the application when we noticed the dollar figure towards the bottom of the page.

You see, it's just out of habit to return the form with our name, address and registered auto license plate numbers. It read something along the lines that a resolution was passed April 19, 2005, assessing a "household fee" for parking permits.

First, the resolution wasn't detailed in our letter so many of us questioned what this $45 fee was going to cover. Second, as neighbors, why weren't we notified earlier when the resolution was being discussed? Third, we didn't have to pay this fee in the past; why now? How did city cover the expense in the past and what has changed that city is asking residents to pay?

If the city wants the cooperation from residents to accept resolutions that impose a fee, then there needs to be an effort to better inform residents who are directly affected.

Who's to say another resolution won't be passed that raises our $45 fee to $50 or $60. I hope there's a cap, or there'll be no end to fees.

As many of us are aware, the chances of fees increasing over time are greater than fees going down.

I guess a positive way to look at it is, is it's better than parking meters planted in front of our homes. (Trying very hard to be optimistic.)

Sandra Murata

Pepper Tree Lane

Police mainly arrest
dark-skinned students

The Courier clearly wasn't at De Anza College during the events on the night of Nov. 11 and should be careful about taking the story from Terrence Helm at the sheriff's department.

I was there.

To begin with, the "rocks, ice and objects" were eggs. Ten dozen organic eggs from Whole Foods down the street were intended for Colin Powell's car. I was there.

The Courier quotes Helms, "despite the property damage, there were no injuries," and the majority of those arrested "asked to be arrested and used passive resistance techniques."

Helms apparently wasn't there either, because six of the eight arrested not only had no idea why they were arrested, but I have seen the injuries myself. One was choked by police until he passed out and an ambulance had to be called.

There are lots of pictures of these "arrests" on www.indybay.org.

Yes, as Shelley Leiser points out, the gauntlet of police officers in riot gear was scary, but much more so for innocent dark-skinned students outside who were beaten than for little old ladies inside the auditorium. I was there!

Finally, Helms lied because most of those sent to jail on charges of "resisting arrest" and several were accused of assaulting his officers. I saw the paperwork. The reason for his lies? Because Helms knows six minorities were beaten and arrested for nothing, and he's in trouble.

Karen Maleski

Former longtime Cupertino resident

Indicator of progress
falls back on schools

Joe DiSalvo's column ("Report cards are overrated as an indicator of progress," Nov. 23) in The Sun questions the importance of report cards. I liked DiSalvo's idea of specific feedback, but why aren't teachers doing that now in addition to the letter grades?

The example of the student who scored 100 percent on tests but gets an F because of a lack of participation in class and homework doesn't make DiSalvo's case. In fact it is an example of where the grade helps the high school or college admissions gate keeper decide against this student.

While the specific feedback on this student might say the child has a perfect grasp of the subject, the disrespect for the class in general results in a failed grade. This is why we need a system like grades, so that others may judge a student against the larger group they will compete against. Ah, there it is, "competition."

We do our children a disservice if we insulate them from the real world of competition. Many teachers, especially in union-controlled public schools, don't get this because they live in the competition void and meritless union system.

Let us not forget we also need student grades as a way to grade the school curriculum and teachers. Public education in California is broken and change, big change, is needed.

Students, and the grades they make, change every school session. What remains the same are the administration, teachers and methods. The taxpayers have no way to know who the ineffective or apathetic teachers are due to the road blocks the elephantine school system administrations and the teachers unions impose.

It's pretty obvious to those of us sending our kids to private schools what needs changing.

Steve Yankovich

San Jose

Grades are not archaic;
they're part of a whole

I look forward to more of Joe Di Salvo's education columns. Di Salvo's column on report cards had apt insights, but a few points did not ring true with me.

Report cards (and A-F grades) are not "archaic" because they are not precise, take the teacher time to develop, or lack specific feedback functions. The report card has a place for specific feedback that is only one part of the parent-teacher-student communication process, and has served my children and me well.

Teachers, parents and principals should be comfortable with Fs for students who do not participate or complete any assignments yet ace their tests and quizzes.

In the nonacademic world, we expect people to meet deadlines and complete assignments, even if they find it routine. Society does not highly esteem the lazy genius who lets others down because proving knowledge is inconvenient. We call them a mind wasted, not ones deserving of an A.

An F for such a student sends the right feedback; it says attitude and effort should change. Knowledge should be proven and applied for it to be truly useful.

If a child is under challenged in a school setting, the parents and educators should question the appropriateness of the curriculum and seek alternatives. We should not throw out report cards because of the exceptional cases.

James Allen

Sunnyvale