Thank God those who think, stereotype and judge others the way Bernard Forster did in his sensationalized letter to the Cupertino Courier on April 20th are the exception rather than the rule. He has stereotyped all VTA bus operators and administrative staff as heartless, thieving, economic racists as the result of one bad ride on the late-night 22 line.

The vast majority of VTA's personnel are understanding, customer-focused, courteous and courageous. I know this to be true because I've worked for VTA since 1988 as a bus driver and a supervisor.

So why does this articulate-sounding writer attack an entire organization based on an encounter with one individual in the middle of the night? Is it ignorance, anti-establishmentism, or is he simply trying to teach us that it is OK to judge all people by the the few?

Is this how they do things where he comes from? I highly doubt it. It's certainly not the way we do things in this "affluent" part of the world.

A rational person would likely call VTA's customer service line and inform VTA of the incident.

At that point, Supervision would be dispatched to ride the bus undercover. If this type of behavior were substantiated, the operator would be counseled, re-instructed and then periodically monitored for compliance.

Our operators are trained to react differently than the way Forster says he witnessed that night. And they successfully interact with countless passengers that may be a "few pennies" short each and every day and night of the year.

In the most disturbing portion of his letter, Forster compares the events he supposedly experienced to the reintroduction of the restored bus upon which Rosa Parks made her stand against the racist establishment of the south in the 1960s. This is a disgrace to her courage and selfless sacrifice, and is obviously a sick attempt to spin his story with the specter of racism.

Shame on you, Bernard.

John Cross

San Jose

Thanks to good person
who stopped to help

I would like to publicly thank the good Samaritan who stopped to assist me on June 10 after I took a nasty fall while bicycling along The Dalles.

She offered bottled water, handi-wipes and paper towels to help my husband and me begin cleaning out the ugly wounds on my arm and leg.

Fortunately, there don't appear to be any long-term consequences from my fall, but her generosity in stopping to help provided great comfort and much-appreciated immediate treatment.

Suzanne Gunther

Menlo Park

Junior Achievement can
be taught by parents, too

As a parent, I was absolutely delighted to see The Sun's coverage of the junior achievement program at Nimitz, ("Trading Spaces," June 1).

During the last couple of months, some of the parents had joined hands at the Collins Elementary School in Cupertino to offer the Junior Achievement program as a "before-school" activity for second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-graders. We think the content, and the curriculum, is absolutely wonderful and enriching. It is well thought through, quite relevant for the grade level and at zero cost. Not much else could beat that.

The article pointed out that many schools are requesting these programs, but there are not many companies who can provide the volunteers. In my humble opinion, this is something that can be taught by almost any parent with only a hour or less of preparation time. The experience for both the parent volunteers and the students was so rewarding that this program should perhaps be offered by parent volunteers during regular school hours to all the children, and to those not just at the elementary school level but also at the middle school and high school.

Vipin Samar

Cupertino

Filtering chloramine out takes special filter, time

I am really concerned about the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission adding ammonia to our water from Hetch-Hetchy Reservoir last year.

Chloramine is a combination of chlorine and ammonia. Many have been complaining of skin rashes, respiratory problems, asthma and digestive problems since then.

Because it is not as good a disinfectant as chlorine alone, the World Health Organization recommends that water used for infants under 6 months, the elderly, those with an impaired immune system and those with kidney problems should be boiled first.

I used to be able to easily filter out chlorine from my drinking water using a carafe filter. However, in order to filter out chloramine, one must use a special slow flow carbon filter plus a reverse osmosis system that is very expensive. A household system can cost $11,000 to $15,000 to install plus $1,200 annual maintenance, and it would probably triple or quadruple one's water use since the reverse osmosis process discards about three to four times the water used.

If anyone is experiencing similar problems since February 2004, please email me at CCAChloramine@aol.com or call Denise Johnson-Kula at 650.328.0424. We are trying to get this information to our lawmakers and decision-makers to protect our drinking water.

Claudette L. Main

Foster City

Wagner article brings
to mind a very old quote

Your enjoyable article "Listening to Wagner turns into a quirky folk holiday" in the June 8 issue of The Sun about Bill Baldwin's local Wagner mini-festival brings to mind something said by the great 19th-century American humorist Bill Nye: "I have been told that Wagner's music is better than it sounds."

John Kacergis

Sunnyvale

A while back

In The Sun's Feb. 2 article "Residents are fighting much higher power in churches," the quote "I do not like commercialism's long arm, with its long fingers reaching into our residential areas," should have been attributed to Judi Na.