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Speak Out
New editor should take better care of our local paper
I was surprised and disappointed at the poor quality of writing in your June 14 cover story, "Hicklebee's picks best kids' lit."
Those of us who are avid readers and appreciate Willow Glen's two independent book sellers read on with much anticipation. We were however, disappointed that the first paragraph contained two grievous errors in word-choice which reveal the writer's ignorance of the definition of the words "tradition" and "annual."
The first paragraph reads: "Hicklebee's children's book store started a new tradition on June 1, by selecting the store's Book of the Year. And because the store's recommendations carry so much weight, staffers will give the annual award twice a year."
It is impossible to "start a tradition," as by definition a tradition is "the passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication," or "any time-honored practice or a set of such practices" (American Heritage Dictionary).
A tradition becomes a tradition only after it has been going on for a number of years, perhaps for generations.
Secondly, "annual" refers to something done once a year. An event or award given twice yearly would of course be referred to as "bi-annual."
I trust that more editorial care will be taken with our local paper in the future.
Margaret Kvamme
District isn't saying that new school is for non-WG students
I was interested to read the article regarding the groundbreaking ceremony that recently took place for the "new" Ernesto Galarza Elementary School.
The article is well-written. However, I have a problem with what Superintendent Linda Murray had to say.
Murray said, "The vision to build a new school in the District began three years ago when district officials decided to stop busing children to elementary schools out of their neighborhoods. Instead, officials chose to build a school in the neighborhood to keep children close to home and give parents more opportunities to become involved."
Hooray. I'm all for no busing and more parent involvement in the schools. However, I don't think that the people of Willow Glen realize that this new school will not be for their children. Rather, it will be a neighborhood school for the children from the downtown attendance area.
The last time I looked at the map of redrawn boundaries, and if my memory serves me well, the new Ernesto Galarza School boundaries would cover territory from Alma and Minnesota avenues (west) to Bird Avenue, (south) and encircling Pine Avenue (east). That's it.
So, a family living directly across the street from the school on the West Side of Bird Avenue would not be able to send their child to this new school.
Also, I am bothered by the fact that if the school district is so worried about eliminating busing children outside of their neighborhoods, then why is it that the same Latino children will be the ones to be bused to yet another school?
This makes no sense to me.
It's really sad that the district didn't do its homework in a timely manner as it should have. Maybe if the district had been on top of things, these children from the downtown attendance area would have had a new school built within walking distance of their homes.
Alicia V. Cortez
Dean Avenue
The coffee shops should help keep Lincoln Ave. clean
Jan and I frequently ride our bikes down Lincoln Avenue to have coffee and snacks at the various coffee shops on the avenue. Our rides and visits usually take place on weekends. On Saturdays and especially on Sundays we have observed overflowing trash containers in front of the following locations: Starbucks (not usually a problem lately), Noah's Bagels and Peet's.
All of these fine establishments have great products but the managers and employees do not accept the responsibility of pulling full trash liners from the city-provided trash containers on weekends.
The employee attitude is that the dumping of trash is a City of San Jose responsibility and they refuse to address the problem.
Duh. The city doesn't pick up trash on weekends on the avenue. I have made the effort to call a customer service number for Noah's but the overflowing trash containers continue on weekends in front of Peet's and Noah's. Peet's employees state that their responsibilities are limited to making coffee drinks only. The Peet's employee job description apparently does not cover exterior trash removal and cleaning responsibilities--a questionable policy.
Eugene and Janice Gimelli
La Mirada Drive
Cunningham works hard for Willow Glen
Janet Gray Hayes' letter was a hoot! The only time we see Ken Yeager is when he is running for office. Kris Cunningham has continuously worked for the betterment of San Jose residents. She has the support of our councilman, Vice Mayor Frank Fiscalini, our county supervisor, Blanca Alvarado, and our state assemblyman, Mike Honda. Why? Because they have gotten to know Kris through her generous work on behalf of us, the people of District 6. She's been doing city council work for years--I believe it's time she got paid for it.
Lupe O'Malley
Richland Ave.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
