The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Opinion Neighbors' fence issue shows need for park I read the story about "City fences in neighbors until December," and I have to ask: Who is acting more like children, the surrounding neighbors, city councilmembers or the kids themselves? There is a flag that has been sent up by the children of Sunnyvale and no one is paying attention! That flag says, "We, the kids of this area, need a park." That area sounds like it would be a great place for a skateboard park, maybe a small playground. Clean up the weeds, plant some grass, put up a ramp--if safe enough to do so--and then make it a park that closes at sunset. Get the kids from the surrounding neighborhood involved with the renovations or have them provide their visions of what could be. Sunnyvale councilmembers are always asking what they can do to improve life in Sunnyvale (for everyone). Well, those kids are Sunnyvale residents and they are telling you what they need. Work toward the positive, not the negative. Sunnyvale, you have a chance to shine; don't let it slip by. Instead of automatically labeling bored teenagers as terrorists and delinquents, look at why they are getting into trouble and fill their voids. Give them positive direction with good leaders and they will follow. Teresa R. Saldivar Sunnyvale 'Innocent until proven guilty' is not a reality I would like to personally thank the Sunnyvale Public Safety officers and the district attorney acting on behalf of the City of Sunnyvale, for helping to teach me a very valuable lesson. I would like to share that lesson with the public, as I suspect there are many people who currently suffer from the same misconception that I have recently been freed from. In the fall of last year, a public safety officer came to my house and after a short discussion, charged me with vandalism. The details of this case are not interesting enough to describe here, except that the case (which never should have been) was recently dismissed, after a year of several pre-trial conferences. I began this case believing that I was innocent until proven guilty. However, in the months that it took to get this case dismissed, I learned that just the opposite is true. The fact is that anyone who is arrested for anything in the U.S. is assumed by all persons involved in the so-called "legal system" to be guilty. This perspective was most succinctly expressed by the attorney that I employed who said, "police don't arrest innocent people." Please stop for a moment and consider the implications of that statement. If this is true, then why do we bother with the time- and money-consuming process of a trial? If police are incapable of making any errors in judgment, then we could save a lot of time and money by allowing them to execute judgement and sentencing right on the spot, without any need for due process. We have a legal system for many reasons, not the least of which is that police do make mistakes and arrest innocent people. I do not know how we have arrived at the condition we are in, but I can state that everyone that I interacted with during my case did assume that I was guilty. And this would not be very significant, except I believe that this condition is not limited to the Sunnyvale court system. Rather, I believe that it is ingrained in every court in the United States. Since you are assumed guilty you will have to spend a considerable amount of time and money working to prove otherwise. If you believe you are innocent, then two basic paths exist: First, you can hold to your belief and fight for the principals in the matter. This course will be the most expensive in terms of time and money. Second, at some point the court system will offer you a less expensive option, usually pleading guilty to some lesser offense (that you did not commit). This is the course that most will choose after being beaten down by the system. You will have already spent a lot of time and money, but you will eventually get sick of dealing with it and do whatever you can to just be done with it. So remember, no matter what they teach you in school, the practical reality is that you are guilty until proven innocent, and you bear the responsibility of proving your own innocence. David B. Signor Sunnyvale Mothers decide when time is right to wean I would like to thank The Sun for its generous coverage of the La Leche League of Northern California/Hawaii area conference. While Michelle Ku's article reflected most of my comments accurately, there are a couple of important points that require clarification. La Leche League International is in complete agreement with the American Academy of Pediatrics recently revised recommendations regarding breastfeeding. The AAP statement says in part that the human infant should be breastfed "exclusively for about the first six months after birth, after which time iron-enriched solid foods can be added to complement the breast milk diet," and that the AAP "support[s] human milk as the preferred feeding for the first year of life and longer as mutually desired by mother and child." The "controversy" to which I referred in my discussion with Ms. Ku was with the decision that some mothers make to breastfeed beyond the end of a child's first year in a culture where many infants are weaned from the breast before leaving the hospital and most before the end of their first year of life. La Leche League does not believe, as Ms. Ku quoted me as saying, that "a mother has to allow the baby to nurse until the baby outgrows the need." Rather, La Leche League believes that each mother makes decisions that she feels are right for herself and her own family based on her beliefs and family situation, including when to wean her child. La Leche League provides support and information to women who want to breastfeed for any length of time including mothers who make the choice to allow their children to nurse beyond the average few months and to wean in their own time. As my comments in the article reflect, breastfeeding and involvement in the La Leche League have been very important to me and my family. I am grateful to The Sun for the opportunity to share this enthusiasm publicly. Chris Sullivan La Leche League Leader The president and congress should lead the charge in war I wonder how Clinton can send young people to fight in Bosnia's civil war when he refused top fight in Vietnam's civil war? If it was wrong to get involved in Vietnam's civil war, why isn't it wrong to get involved in Bosnia's? Clinton and those who want to get involved should volunteer their services and leave us alone. It should be mandatory that congress, the cabinet and the president lead the charge on the battlefields with the troops. I bet there wouldn't be many wars. Tony Di Leonardo Sunnyvale [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 4, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.