Letters: Graduation letdown | Gun control lead | Better than blight | Down the middle | Seuss untruth | Balanced news
Mercury News Letters to the Editor for April 4, 2021
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SCU drops COVID ball
with virtual graduation
It is with great disappointment that I’ve learned that SCU is only allowing in-person graduation for the students of the class of 2020. No, no parents, no friends or family. Their compromise is a meaningless virtual graduation.
This university has dropped the ball on managing COVID at every turn. While hundreds of universities have had weekly testing and continued an in-person experience, as well as continuation of collegiate sports, SCU has been narrow-minded, unimaginative, and avoided a meaningful stance, other than shuttering the school.
To cancel a meaningful graduation for students that have already been robbed of their senior year is unacceptable. I am not advocating for unsafe practices, but really, not even allowing vaccinated people to attend is hysterical and not a science-driven approach. Outdoors, socially distanced, with masks, with vaccinated guests in attendance. Come on SCU – do something right this year.
Stacie Wilson
Anchorage
States must take lead
on enacting gun control
States have their own laws regulating public safety and do not need to wait for the federal government to provide the level of gun safety we want in our state. Our state can lead the way by adopting requirements for licensing and insurance of gun owners, registration of guns and ammo, and fees for renewal sufficient to fund the administration and enforcement of these laws.
When guns are legally regulated, the outlaws who flaunt those laws will regret it, because of the penalties they face. Licensing includes a background check, periodically repeated, as well as verification of safe storage and competence testing. Registration can start with the gun sellers to reduce the pool of unregistered weapons. Anyone who can pass licensing requirements and pay required fees may own a gun, but there must be clear standards for temporary suspension of this right and for restoration of this right.
Vanya Matzek
Cupertino
Niles Gateway project
better than current blight
The Niles Gateway project will provide a community where there would be easy access to restaurants and shops. Currently a chain-link fence and exposed concrete foundation welcome visitors traveling from Mission Boulevard onto Niles Boulevard. Until the fire, in May 2008 the site was home to vandalism, trespassing and other illegal activities literally in the backyards of the homes that border the site.
Many concessions were made by the developer insofar as reducing building heights and the number of homes. Denying housing to potential, professionals (like myself) and families gentrifying the site while the residents would prefer a potentially toxic abandoned site all to preserve their contorted “view” of the hills is perplexing.
Adam Moura
Fremont
Op-ed calls it right
down the middle
Kudos to the Mercury News for the article on domestic manufacturing capacity on the March 28 Opinion page (“United States must rebuild its technology infrastructure,” Page A12).
While author Robert Morcos has more faith in President Biden than I do, he clearly knows what he’s talking about, a refreshing change from the ideological claptrap that so often occupies this page. A much longer article is required to provide sound guidance for progress in overcoming the current deficiency.
Perhaps this new editorial policy could continue with an explanation of why builders of new manufacturing facilities are not considering California.
Fred Gutmann
Cupertino
Comic out of bounds
with Seuss books lies
I’ve been biting my tongue about the Mallard Fillmore comic strip because I understand your policy of having different perspectives. But when the creator intentionally lies about something, like in today’s strip (Page B15, April 1), I don’t know if we can continue to be tolerant about it.
Dr. Seuss’ books were not canceled by the “woke left,” a bogeyman Bruce Tinsley frequently invokes. The Seuss estate removed a few of his works from their vast collection because they were hurtful to the sentiment of marginalized and minority communities. It was a voluntary act by a private institution.
By allowing Tinsley to spread lies like these without challenge, your newspaper is complicit in the deception. And this is only one of the many examples of the egregiousness of the strip. I hope you will reconsider having this strip in your paper. Pity that this seems to be the most reasonable example of conservative humor.
Vidya Pradhan
Palo Alto
Getting balance news
takes readers’ effort
I was gobsmacked by Scott Mace’s letter on April 31 saying that “these days anyone can report news.” (“Bill amounts to unfair tax on web links,” Page A6, March 31)
Yes, anyone can report news, some of it correctly, some of it incorrectly, but not everyone is a journalist. I rely on professional journalists, working for reputable news sources, to vet the news I receive and to provide context. I scan about a dozen news sources every morning, some national, some international, because I want to understand what is happening in the world. It is just as important to note what is being reported as what is being omitted and by whom.
I would have thought that, following four years of alternative facts, we would have learned a valuable lesson by now.
Joseph Rich
Santa Clara