I enjoyed very much reading the article in the Oct. 15 issue of The Sun on Muslim women's clothing and the modesty that the women adhere to.

The sight of Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu women wearing their colorful and fashionable modest attire is a refreshing change from the slut look that many young women, and some older ones, wear in public.

It takes me back to my youth in the '40s when women who wore provocative clothing outside their homes were looked upon as being "loose" and immoral, and today's fashions would have been considered illegal acts of indecent exposure that often prompted arrests.

Too, it was considered indecent and irreligious if a woman attended church services without a hat or scarf on her head.

I urge everyone to give these admirable women an admiring smile and a kind greeting as we pass by them.

—Yousef Salem, Sunnyvale


Local residents want to to share Ortega Park

Approximately 300 citizens near Sunnyvale's Ortega Park have signed a petition seeking a change in the city's policy that currently allows a very small number of people to unfairly dominate the use of the Ortega Park athletic field on Sundays.

Currently, a cricket club occupies the entire multipurpose field 9 a.m to 5 p.m. on 18 of 25 Sundays from April through September. That is grossly unfair to Sunnyvale families who would like to have access to their neighborhood park and who are forced to go elsewhere for athletic activities.

Our local park has been turned into a cricket stadium.

A single cricket game requires a great deal of time and a huge amount of real estate. The large Ortega multipurpose athletic field has two full-sized baseball fields as well as additional areas for other activities. But on Sundays, the entire field is consumed by only 22 players in a single six-hour game! Consequently, the average use of the field is incredibly small—three people per hour.

All other sports hosted at Ortega allow families and other sports to simultaneously enjoy a portion of the field.

Our neighborhood parks are funded by us taxpayers to be shared fairly by sports activities and local families, not to be turned into sports venues.

Almost unanimously, local residents agree that the situation is unfair and want the field to be shared on Sundays. The best solution is to open one-half of the field to public use (without needing a permit) from noon to dusk every Sunday. For those periods, no full-field permits will be granted and no organized activity will consume more than one-half of the athletic field.

We ask our city council to support the policy change and take action on behalf of residents interested in fairness and sharing.

—Chuck Clark, Sunnyvale


Locals endure building, wonder if city cares

I have unsuccessfully attempted to alert the city planning office and building safety office to the travesty that is occurring in our neighborhood.

As I write this note on a Sunday afternoon, the encroachment continues unfettered and without regard to the surrounding neighbors.

Construction that has gone on now for over 14 months continues, most times six and seven days a week, and with no end in sight. Neighbors who are students cannot study, people whose lives depend on income from home offices cannot work and neighbors with medical conditions are continuously agitated to the point of making their conditions worse.

And it seems that the people in charge of the city planning office either have no understanding of personal privacy, property value and obvious steps toward building-code violations or they are simply not interested.

To enforce some semblance of a city code is to use common sense, personal attention, and understanding of a situation and uniformity in the application of the laws and guidelines. This I, and many of my neighbors, feel is severely lacking in the existing planning and building safety offices as evidenced by the application of code in our neighborhood. It seems that there is no common sense or uniformity when it comes to the review and approval of building and planning permits.

—Brian L. Friesen, Sunnyvale


Will project affect privacy and noise pollution?

I reside at Frayer Condominiums on Mary Avenue. They are building new homes in the Manor Market location.

I have a question about the project:

What is the name of the complex going to be? What about having a contest to pick the name? Is the property owner planning to make the wall that separates Frayer Condominiums taller?

I am a bit nervous about noise pollution and privacy.

In the interest of Sunnyvale, I am taking pictures of the ongoing project. I took pictures when Manor Market was still up, when it was leveled and now as the structures go up.

I thought the city might be interested in publishing them?

I will keep the negatives.

—Frances Pessolano McMurtry, Sunnyvale


Article about super teens positive for other teens

As a parent of three fine sons who graduated Fremont High School in the 90s, I would like to compliment you on the fine article "Super Teens" featured on your front page (Oct. 29).

It is imperative, in my opinion, to continue to publish such articles as often as possible. This type of coverage has to have a positive effect on other teens.

—Linda Hoff, Sunnyvale