The Sunnyvale Sun

Letters & Opinions

Speak Out

Cartoon ridicules the horror of child abuse

I am outraged by De Cinzo's March 15 cartoon regarding Teri Hatcher's acknowledgement of sexual abuse as a child. The cartoon portrays Teri as woman who would do almost anything to further her career, including use her childhood abuse to her advantage.

I am sure that DeCinzo has no idea of the pain caused by sexual abuse and the struggle victims have in coming to terms with the issue in their lives.

DeCinzo has ridiculed the horror of abuse and has done a serious disservice to all those who have suffered abuse as a child. I hope he can live with this on his conscience.

Your paper deserves better than this.

Gordon Kruger

Sunnyvale

Article about housing brings both hope, despair

When I read the March 15 Courier article "Thousands may line up for low-cost housing list," and learned that the Santa Clara County Housing Authority will be accepting applications for their housing voucher, I was filled with joy and anticipation that my family may finally get into affordable housing. At the same time, I was filled with despair because I will be competing with many families in the same homeless situation as myself.

I wasn't always homeless. I worked for the county of Santa Clara for 18 years, and I was in the process of buying my first home, a rent-to-own arrangement, when I lost my job in 2001.

I lived off of my savings until I depleted it in 2003. I had a hard time providing for two children as a single mother on my disability income. I became delinquent in all of my bills. I had to make the tough decision to move my family into a shelter, just to make ends meet. Currently, we are staying at Sobrato Family Living Center, which is transitional housing.

Getting into a more permanent housing solution, like Section 8, would make a huge difference by allowing my family the continuity of remaining in one place.

Every time I move my grades suffer, slowing me down (but not stopping me) from achieving my goal to finish school. Similarly, it affects my children's ability to learn.

I would like to thank your newspaper for bringing the story and the needs of low-income families such as myself to the public's awareness.

Julie Loredo

Santa Clara

Colleges keep on building; and now want more money

Drive up to Foothill College, and the amount of building and construction you see has been going on for over a year. Go to De Anza College, and the same sight will meet your eyes.

Finding parking and avoiding the potholes is difficult. New buildings abound everywhere.

So here we go again with the college board putting a bond measure on the ballot. More money that, of course, homeowners must pay because more is better.

Didn't we pass a bill for construction just last time that included community colleges as well as high school and elementary schools? Oh, that's right. They want more. Let's stick the homeowners again.

Let's not.

M. Falk

Sunnyvale

The Community Newspapers are getting an online facelift and new features, thanks to a partnership between the Community Newspapers and Artsopolis Marketing Partnership, a program of the nonprofit Arts Council Silicon Valley.

While the content of our online pages remains the same, our new website features an interactive events calendar, which includes an advanced search function, event images and user-friendly event listings. Additionally, selected events will offer direct ticketing and discounts through Artsopolis.com.

Our home page (www.com munity-newspapers.com), as well as the home pages for our individual newspapers, boasts a new design and layout that will help visitors find information about their community faster and more efficiently. The transition to the new pages will take place over the next few days.

We are delighted to be able to bring our readers expanded arts and entertainment coverage through this online partnership, and we hope readers will be pleased with the new look of our Community Newspapers website.

--Dale Bryant,
Executive Editor

Buying a house?

With the high cost of real estate in Silicon Valley these days, we would like to explore how young couples are managing to buy their first home and then how they manage their mortgage debt.

Some couples we know of are finding their income is stretched quite thin, and unexpected expenses create a major problem for them.

If you are interested in being interviewed for this story, please contact Sandy Sims at 408.200.1055 or ssims@community-news papers.com or write to Sandy Sims, Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, 1095 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126.