Kudos to you and Saratoga High for featuring the drama department's production of The Laramie Project ("Celebrating Diversity," March 16). Granted it's controversial, but all the more important to explore what lies behind hate crimes and discrimination against homosexuals. Perhaps it will assure that Saratoga will never become another Laramie--thus providing our youth with a true and vital education.

Vic and Barby Ulmer

Paseo Presada

Public library is well
worth the investment

I remember when I first came to the United States 30 years ago and was so amazed with the public library facility and the services it offered. As a graduate student living off campus with my sister's family, I spent a lot of time at the local library doing my studies or simply enjoying the quiet and relaxing atmosphere there.

I moved to Saratoga 20 years ago and have been going to our library on a regular basis: taking my sons for storytelling time, signing them up for the summer reading programs, borrowing tapes and books for the family and, most of all, being in an environment that encourages and facilitates learning.

As a parent serving on the boards of local school districts for almost 11 years, I truly appreciate the value of our great library, especially with the wonderful renovation of the facility--paid fully by the bond measure passed in 2000.

It has been such an attraction to our children and adult members in our community. As a CPA and treasurer for two local school facility bond measures passed several years ago, I know the difference between a facility bond measure and an operating fund measure, as measures A and B are. They are for operating funds and are different from the previous library facility bond measure.

I am disappointed that the library is now only open 50 hours a week (down from 58) due to the recent loss of state funds. If we don't pass library measures A and B, the library could be open only for 36 hours a week starting July 1.

For less than $4 per month, we can invest in our library, our children and our community (including the value of local real estate). As a CPA, I understand the value of rate of return and hope you agree with me about my analysis. Please mail in your "yes" votes for measures A and B now to ensure one of the best investments we can make!

Cynthia Chang

Member, Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees

Protesting the sale
of the North Campus

This note is written to protest the sale of the North Campus. There are many reasons to support the protest. Among them is a moral obligation to keep the North Campus for community needs. This obligation stems from an informed agreement with the church that sold the property to the city.

A sale would imply that agreements with the city can't be trusted. Accordingly, future agreements that could be the source of gifts to the city would be much harder to obtain.

Saratoga is a wealthy area. Senior centers abound in adjoining communities where income and wealth are quite modest in comparison.

The nation's aging population means that there will be a need for a substantial increase in facilities to accommodate the baby-boomers projected to retire in the future.

It is a known fact that Saratoga is a desirable place to live. This stems from the good schools and other educational facilities supported by well-educated people. That includes retirees who contribute their wisdom and experience to help continue the development of a quality community. All of the forgoing will be lost if there are no facilities to accommodate these people.

Robert Cancellieri

Cody Lane

City council supports
library measures A, B

The Saratoga City Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution in support of library measures A and B, and, as mayor, I would like to reinforce this resolution in our paper. I have been asked many questions by residents that I would like to respond to in this letter:

* Why don't we charge non-residents using our library? Funding from the state for libraries is partially based on usage. If more people use our library from outside our county library area than we use libraries outside our county library system, a net positive usage occurs and we receive additional state funding. Revenue from this source is over $1 million to our county library system this year. Of course, if the measures do not pass and our hours are reduced to 36, we are not likely to see this funding anymore.

* Why don't we charge non-residents an additional fee? State law does not allow us to charge for basic services to any of our residents and if we charge to non-residents, we would lose the above mentioned fee.

* Why should I vote for both measures? I believe in local measures. Dollars for local measures stay local. Bonds and parcel taxes passed locally have not been taken away by the state.

Our city passed a bond a few years ago to build our new library. My family pays approximately $120 a year in additional property taxes to cover that bond. Two years ago, our library was open 58 hours a week; now it is 50 hours. If these two measures do not pass (costing $46.66 a year), our hours will be cut to 36. My family is in the highest tax bracket and we receive approximately $60 back of that $170 total on our federal taxes as a property tax write-off. The initial library bond investment will be reduced in value if our hours of operation are reduced by 20 hours a week.

Do people move to Saratoga because of its rural atmosphere or because we have some of the best schools in the United States? I believe it is due to our schools, and a library enhances the education around it. Our Santa Clara County library system has ranked No. 1 in the nation for its size for the last four years.

My youngest is a special needs child, and he may never learn to read. Reading is not a given advantage each of us receives automatically but a privilege we give each other. I believe we must supply our children with every opportunity we can to allow them the enjoyment of books.

Kathleen King

Saratoga Mayor

Problems with comments
on 'The Laramie Project'

In characterizing The Laramie Project as a poor choice for a Saratoga High theatrical production (" Laramie Project strange choice for Saratoga High,") April 6), Serena McFeif makes the sweeping statement that "no sane person, religious or otherwise, would condone brutal murder, and any fanatic who does is no more representative of Christians than predatory child molesters are representative of all gays."

There are several problems with her comments. I will point out two of the most egregious:

First, it is well documented that large numbers of otherwise "sane" people have consistently condoned brutal, organized murder during many different historical periods. Here are three examples:

The residents of Salem, Mass., in 1692 were not "insane" but nonetheless managed to execute several people they thought were witches.

The inhabitants of the American South in the period 1607 to 1865 were not "insane," yet nearly all of them conspired to trap millions of African slaves in brutal, often fatal bondage for hundreds of years.

The German nation of the Nazi period was not "insane," yet, as a society of sane people, it cold-bloodedly killed millions of victims in concentration camps.

Second, Ms. McFeif's statement about child molesters not being "representative of all gays" wrongly implies that only gay people are child molesters. This is an ignorant and bigoted comment. One look at any statistical breakdown of male versus female molestation victims shows this is not at all the case.

Any suggestion that young girls are not a consistent and widespread target of heterosexual molesters is dangerously uninformed. This statement of McFeif's is just as logically contorted and biased as those who would remark, back-handedly, that "predatory child molesters are not representative of all priests."

The subject of The Laramie Project is religious bigotry and how religious bigotry can--and historically has--led to violence on small and large scales. Whenever a majority ideology promotes or tolerates bigotry against a minority and goes out of its way to mischaracterize such prejudice as a social "norm," it must be confronted--the earlier and louder the better.

William Lorton

Los Angeles

William Lorton is a 1988 graduate of Saratoga High School.

North Campus site
should not be sold

I have been a resident of Saratoga for 45 years and have witnessed its growth and development. I am disappointed in the city council's recent decision to sell the North Campus site in an effort to balance the budget.

The site at the North Campus provides an opportunity for a variety of uses that would be an asset to the community for years to come. It is located at a convenient site that has easy access and ample parking. The plans for the site to be used for a senior center could have been expanded to include a variety of other uses for the city and community groups.

There is no doubt that there will be a need for significant upgrades for the facilities to meet code requirements and the needs for its use. This is an issue that has clouded the real opportunity presented to the city when the site was first obtained a few years ago.

At the time the site was obtained from the church, at a price far below the market value, I understood there was a commitment by the council that the site would be used for city and community needs. The current council should honor that commitment. One member of the council made the comment that they were not bound by the commitments of previous councils' decisions--a very disturbing statement.

The council should honor previous commitments; otherwise, what kind of faith can we have in our elected officials?

There is limited land space available for future city needs. The civic center is already congested. There will be future needs to expand services, and there will be future budget issues. Where will land be found to meet these needs?

The cost of land in Saratoga is at a premium, and there is no way the city can obtain a comparable site to meet its future needs without placing a heavy burden on future taxpayers. The North Campus site should not be sold to help resolve the current budget crisis; it will cost us dearly in the future if we expect to meet the needs of our community. I encourage the council to take another look at this issue and recognize the burden that will be placed on the community and future Saratoga taxpayers.

Edwin Stafford

Woodside Drive