In response to the Oct. 23 opinion piece by Tom Myers regarding Measure F for the San Jose Unified School District, I would like to make the following observations.

It is a matter of public record that Mr. Myers' wife, a member of the school district board, voted to support Measure F. She voted for the language in Measure F, and she supports Willow Glen High School receiving $2 million from the bond to be used on the "repair/upgrade or construction of facilities for specialized instructional programs."

Furthermore, Mr. Myers refers to Lincoln High School using $2 million in start-up costs for a 500-seat, $10 million theater because Lincoln is a performing arts magnet school. I have talked with the Lincoln administration and confirmed that they are simply exploring the idea of a new theater.

Since a theater is still in the exploratory stage, Mr. Myers' quote of a 500-seat, $10 million facility is ill-founded and inappropriate.

I agree that the community for each school should be involved with any special projects that are part of the bond measure or any other fundraising that takes place for capital improvements at a school site.

As a Lincoln alumnus and a voter in the district, it certainly seems to me that a theater for a performing arts magnet school qualifies as a "specialized instructional program."

—Todd Kaiser, Kirklyn Drive


Citizens create their own traffic problems

I attended the Nov. 14 traffic-calming meeting hosted by Councilman Ken Yeager and the city staff. All the comments made at the meeting had a general theme—that traffic, speeding, pollution and noise do not belong on "my" street; it belongs on "their" street.

People need to realize that we have nearly a million people in San Jose—nearly three times the number of people that were here when I moved here. Gee, traffic has increased.

I don't like the traffic. I don't like the speeders. And I don't like the noise, but I choose to live here. This is my choice, and with that choice I have accepted some of these problems as being inevitable.

Politicians and city engineers cannot resolve some of these problems. Maybe a building or population growth moratorium is the answer, but it is also a free country.

As Pogo—the cartoon character created by Walt Kelly—said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

People need to realize that we are the problem. We make up the volume of traffic. We speed through the neighborhoods. We are the ones who have two or three vehicles for ourselves and another for each of our teenagers. We are the ones who don't leave early enough for work and then speed in every area we can to get to work on time. We are the ones who shun mass transit because it isn't as convenient. And we are the ones who are impatient with all the traffic, somehow maintaining the idea that only we should be on the road.

Working to divert traffic from "my" street to "their" street is selfish. We all want less traffic, fewer speeders, less pollution and less noise, but we never step up to the plate to make a difference except to complain to the city.

The fact is, San Jose will continue to grow, and the problem will only worsen unless we change our own habits.

But I've heard that South Dakota traffic is very light.

—Stephen Schrag, Willow Glen


Christmas angel comes early for one resident

I am a Willow Glen resident and would like to share a "Christmas angel" story with our community.

I am a single parent caring for my beautiful nine-year-old son, Nathaniel, who has cerebral palsy. And he is seen often at Willow Glen's Bramhall Park with our respite caregiver.

Like many single parents, I find it challenging at this time of year to juggle unexpected expenses. I recently changed jobs and was looking at purchasing a new CD boombox for my office. I struggled with the idea of making an unnecessary purchase, as it was the holidays and we all know how quickly money is spent. I searched high and low for the best price on a boombox and decided to go to Circuit City on Stevens Creek.

I was carefully checking out the boomboxes when a gentleman walked past me and greeted me as he took note of my son in his wheelchair. He later approached me and asked if he could ask me something. I assumed he was going to ask me about my son's disabilities, but he surprised me by asking if he could buy me a present. I, of course, thought this was unusual and asked him why. He stated that there are not enough people that do good things for people and that he would like to do something special for me.

He insisted that he wanted to buy me a present and that it was from my son. He gently placed folded currency under the boombox, wished me a merry Christmas and walked away.

I would like the Willow Glen Resident to print this story in the newspaper so I can thank this "Christmas angel" from the bottom of my heart!

—Herlinda Acevedo, Willow Street


Kudos for library story

Just wanted to thank staff writer Amy Jenkins for the great article on the Willow Glen Library in the Nov. 20 issue of the Willow Glen Resident. We greatly appreciate the support the paper continues to provide in making residents aware of how the library is growing and changing to meet their needs.

I'd like to correct just one item for future reference. The story mentioned that the library "held a children's reading program..." In actuality, the program expanded two years ago to invite participation from all ages.

While our primary target is extended families with children and/or teens, adults without children may participate if they wish. This year we expect to enroll 27,000 citywide.

Thanks again!

—Lorraine L. Boac, The Willow Glen Library