—A.J. Nespole, M.D., Monte Sereno


Paseo Lado needs a good housecleaning

A drive down Paseo Lado from Quito to Gene's Market will take you past rundown homes, yards that haven't seen irrigation or maintenance for years, junk and trash in front yards, stored or abandoned cars, trucks, vans, motorhomes and boats, an ATV hanging from a tree, a skull on a roof, and one really nice house--Gordon Tefler's. This area certainly isn't the Golden Triangle, but Paseo Lado is so despicable that the rest of El Quito looks grand in comparison. I believe it should be the Teflers complaining to Saratoga to enforce the residential policies as they apply to this neighborhood instead of busybodies complaining about a house that makes theirs look even more shabby by comparison. This is one time where Saratoga screwed up and it turned out for the better.

—Jim Adams, Quito Road


DeCinzo provides good reminder

Great cartoon by DeCinzo in the Sept. 11 issue of the Saratoga News!

Cloaking disagreements between peoples in religious garb, rather than doing the harder work of finding common ground for agreement, has apparently become the norm in the world today.

Religion can give some people comfort and guidance in their lives, but the principle of living together peacefully must be worked out by the people themselves, right down here on earth. The United States is a good current example. We have more weaponry by far than the rest of the world and are apparently planning to use it to resolve some of these international issues. At the same time, we are spending less time and money in the area of diplomacy, where we could be learning how to resolve these problems by nonviolent means. However, that's harder to do. It's easier to just send in the Marines.

I hope DeCinzo keeps reminding us how far we have to go in figuring all this out.

—Terry Zaccone, Anza Drive


Service was appreciated

I would like to express my appreciation to the Ministerial Association of Saratoga and to St. Andrew's Church for the sensitive and moving service "In remembrance of those who died on Sept. 11, 2001." All of the participants should be commended.

—Marcia O. Kaplan, Sevilla Lane


Let's stick to peanut butter!

Although Dick Sparrer's commentary on school lunches (Saratoga News, Sept. 18) seemed to be in jest, it behooves me to comment. I, too, have memories of the chipped beef, turkey parts and peanut butter sandwiches of yesteryear. However, the real and immediate issue is the decline in the nutritional food provided our children through school lunch programs today.

Sparrer is misguided and living under a grave delusion. The "less tantalizing foods" Sparrer refers to, albeit tasteless and repetitive, were prepared daily in the cafeteria and provided the protein and complex carbohydrates needed by a growing youngster.

Today's cafeterias are substituting important protein and vegetables with bagels, chips, cookies and, yes, the Hostess cupcake. Today our medical journals report serious increases in child obesity and diabetes while our schools continue to serve what highly visible and persuasive marketing dictates. Pizzas, tacos, chicken nuggets and tator tots filled with salt, fat, sugar and other ingredients we can't even pronounce are precooked and delivered frozen to our schools. They may be our children's lunch of choice, but that doesn't mean it's the right choice.

Our children's lives depend on those choices, for children are what they eat, and they are our future. I admit, I have not seen the menu at Argonaut Elementary School, but I am hopeful about the creativity of some who can prepare both aesthetically pleasing and wholesome foods. I trust our nutritionally aware readers have seen the folly in Sparrer's envy of today's school menu. Mom's peanut butter, egg salad and tuna sandwiches are still a far better choice!

—Sandra Politi, R.N., former school health aide


Cartoonist owes an apology

I read DeCinzo's cartoon weekly and I am often humored by his witty yet sometimes rude cartoons. Editorial cartoons are meant to stir us and make us think. I thank him for his often enlightening illustrations. I am, however, taken aback and upset by his cartoon depicting the Los Gatos Sept. 11 remembrance, where he ridicules the people of Los Gatos for having religious memorial services on that day.

The first section of his cartoon is really right on, as many worldly acts of violence have been justified "in the name of God." All intelligent people—both people of faith and not—know that acts of violence cannot be justified by religious beliefs. DeCinzo has, however, really missed the point of why these memorials are taking place, and in turn has shown his ignorance of the true meaning of faith.

His cartoon depicts these memorials with the wording "Religion Will Save Us!" Does he really believe that this is why the religious memorials are taking place? Does he really think intelligent people do not realize that we could all be obliterated from this world in a split second? Does he really think we pray and hope that God will save us from terrorists' harm?

People of faith go to church and pray together not to ask to be saved from future violence but to pray for some end to this violence. They are praying on Sept. 11 for those innocent people who lost their lives and for their families left behind. They are praying for you and me.

DeCinzo depicts people of faith as unintelligent people who think God will save us from all harm. Based on his cartoon, I assume he is a person who does not have religious beliefs, and that is fine. However, because he does not, he should not assume he knows why people of faith and even those who do not believe have decided to have religious memorials on Sept. 11. He has lost my support of his editorial cartoons because he has chosen to degrade a good number of people with the last part of his cartoon. I've lost respect for him. I believe he owes the town of Los Gatos and those who have chosen to pray together on Sept. 11 an apology.

—Marlene Johnson, Los Gatos