Santa Cruz Sentinel

Instead, Santa Cruz should lobby the U.S. Congress to federalize education and to subsume the Department of Education within the Department of Defense. Our schools could then simply be transformed into military bases, and would suddenly become awash in funding.

In addition to instantly solving the educational budget crisis, there will be many other potential benefits to society. Schools would have instant access to the latest computer hardware and high-tech gadgetry. The Pledge of Allegiance controversy would evaporate. Affirmative action programs would need no longer be debated as the military has an excellent track record for disproportionately recruiting members of minority groups. The quality of food and medical care would skyrocket. But best of all, school violence will become a thing of the past as every student will be issued and trained in the use of an automatic weapon. (This will prevent future Columbine-type tragedies, as Charleston Heston was quick to point out.) Finally, with military tribunals and the threat of a one-way ticket to Camp X-ray, school discipline problems will become a thing of the past.

Every school would then become a military academy. No child will be left behind.

WILLIAM SCOTT

SANTA CRUZ

Don’t trust Bush
President Bush is the willing victim of a cabal of chicken-hawk advisers who have never heard a shot fired in anger, with the possible exception of the Secretary of State. The war against Iraq has provided Bush advisers with both the excuse and opportunity to advance their agenda for U.S. world domination — and to bind government, the corporate world and national defense into one tightly integrated unit.

President Eisenhower was a World War II hero who warned against a military-industrial complex. President Bush was a Vietnam War National Guard truant who has strengthened the military-corporate partnership which Eisenhower feared.

Americans who oppose Bush philosophically and his leadership agenda should not expect help from the so-called "opposition" party. Democrats and Republicans drink from the same trough.

U.S. citizens almost by definition are normally patriotic and loyal to their country. But under the Bush administration’s concepts of patriotism and loyalty, I am neither. I do not respect or trust Bush as an adequate leader of our country.

For what it is worth, I served for five years under General Eisenhower during World War II and was awarded a Bronze Star. So be it. Will I hear the doorbell ring someday with one of Attorney General Ashcroft’s storm troopers standing on my front porch?

JACK MARSH

SANTA CRUZ

Power to Iraqi people
I am amazed that the thought the U.S. should occupy Iraq after this horribly "fictitious" war is over is even being entertained.

The Iraqi people, and no one else, should rule the Iraqi government. Of course, the U.N. should step in and offer help if asked by the Iraqis. By occupying Iraq and setting up Americans to head each of the 23 ministries, our government will only isolate and alienate the U.S. more than we already have been (by the leader of our nation, a man who didn’t even win in the election, a man who doesn’t listen to his own people screaming out against this war that is just wrong). This will lead to a new wave of terrorism primarily targeting the U.S. The U.N. must be included in the post-war planning. The U.S. must step aside and let Iraq take shape after we try to sweep away our horrible war.

KARIN JERDEE

SANTA CRUZ

Beach gateway needed
Santa Cruz may need a permanent skate park for its youth. If so, the land between Highway 1 and Gateway Plaza is the most appropriate location for the skate-park. There’s also enough land to develop park-like youth facilities.

The relocation of the temporary skatepark to the Gateway Plaza area (from its current beachfront location), will open up scarce beachfront land for development of a "gateway" connection from the beach front to Depot Park. West Cliff Drive’s restored historic Howe Truss Bridge, Beach and Washington streets define the "Gateway Howe Bridge Park" area.

The Howe Bridge Park will present an appealing tourist access to Depot Park and help improve the city’s current "down in the heel" appearance along the Boardwalk’s Beach Street.

The location was the former estuary to the original large Neary Lagoon and wetlands. The Howe Truss Bridge is a historic bridge located within the early era section of historic Santa Cruz. Lagoon water flowed under the original bridge built in 1849 by Santa Cruz town founder Elihu Anthony. Additional historic town development activity occurred within the immediate surrounding area.

Walking on a trail from the proposed Howe Bridge Park to Depot Park (traveling under the Howe Truss Bridge and to the right of the railroad tracks), the walker would find picnic tables and service kiosks. Further north, the trail would then connect with Depot Park.

The Howe Bridge Park would enhance the image of a historic and picturesque Santa Cruz, increase "heritage tourism" potential revenues, improve tourist amenities and provided needed beach-area access to Depot Park. The panorama from the park would feature the ocean, sandy beach, wharf, restaurants, hotels, city history and Boardwalk.

Howe Bridge Park’s presence will be a long-term cultural and economic enhancement to the beachfront area and Santa Cruz County.

DAVID ESELIUS

SANTA CRUZ

Desalination advice
Regarding your recent article on desalination, I would like to offer the following observation. It is inherently unsustainable to use a nonrenewable resource (fossil fuel) to create a renewable resource (fresh water).

DAVID CARLSON

SANTA CRUZ

Who fired Arnett?
Santa Cruz Sentinel, April 4, "Professor Angela Davis questioned the federal government’s efforts to shape the coverage of the war by ‘embedding’ reporters with military troops, citing the firing of correspondent Peter Arnett as an example of silencing critics."

Peter Arnett was not working for the federal government. He was fired by NBC, MSNBC and National Geographic Explorer.

KEVIN GOTTI

SANTA CRUZ

Don’t close B.C. Rec
Hockey clinics, basketball, parent-child tea parties, hot wheels show and races, remote-control car day, wood-working clinics, the kids building school-bus shelters, pool lessons, table tennis, computer learning, Christmas party — Santa visit, Valentine party, Easter-egg decorating and hunt, popcorn and movie days, Fourth of July picnics at Junction Park, air hockey, foos ball, treats, soda and juice for all the kids, arts and crafts day, microscope and science day, even a water balloon day at the park.

These are just some of the things the Valley Youth Activities program offered to the people of Boulder Creek. This program offered this and much more with a few volunteers, donations from some friends, some of their own money and a small grant from Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County (which paid for the material for the school bus-stop shelters). If a few volunteers can do this with very limited funds, why can’t Boulder Creek Rec District manage to do something this simple with a government budget and staff and the best recreation facility in the San Lorenzo Valley?

The directors of Boulder Creek Rec District should be ashamed of themselves.

ANITA HOWSON

BOULDER CREEK

Dems also untrustworthy
In her letter to the Sentinel published in April 3, Jean Wolff beseeched all Green Party members to vote Democratic in 2004, citing "the peril we face from the current occupant in the White House."

Ms. Wolff is preaching to the wrong group of voters. She should be directing her message to her fellow Democrats. More registered Democrats nationwide voted for Bush in 2000 than the number of Greens who voted for Nader.

Moreover, can anyone be sure a Democratic president would have avoided this war? The majority of House and Senate Democrats voted with Republicans to give Bush authority to wage war. And the Sentinel ran a story on April 4 reporting a poll showing that about 70 percent of Americans, including over half of Democrats nationwide, support Bush’s actions in Iraq.

How can I feel confident a Democratic president would not also have plunged our country into this irrational, immoral war against Iraq?

JEFF ALFORD

SANTA CRUZ

A toast to victory
I have just watched news footage of an Iraqi hospital broadcast showing injured female Iraqi patients with their legs and thighs uncovered.

While this is possibly down to a culturally insensitive MTV-generation editor, I suspect that this is more probably negative marketing propaganda aimed at Muslims; similar to the British making known their punishment of stitching capturing Muslims into pig skin as torture.

It seems that 9/11 has delivered a section of American media that George Orwell’s leader in 1984 would be truly proud of — and, if the media’s own figures are credible, cruelty for a just cause is loved by the majority.

I wonder how many readers feel the "reality TV" approach toward life is unacceptable, or are they of the mind that, similar to the Japanese treatment of captured Allied soldiers during WWII, anything is acceptable in love and war?

I must go now as it’s time for a glass of Victory gin!

PETER MACKEONIS

WATSONVILLE

Thanks for clarifying
"Really what it comes down to is emotions." — SLV School Superintendent Judy Haff, summarizing the case made by concerned community members to keep Redwood Elementary open (Sentinel, April 7).

Wow, Julie, thanks for clearing that up.

And here I thought it was all about this district for once making a prudent fiscal decision and providing the best educational resources for our community’s children in the process.

Then again, maybe I misunderstood the quote. Maybe you meant that, for you, it all comes down to emotions. After all, you are the former principal of Boulder Creek Elementary. Could it be that all along you’ve been hell-bent on keeping your old school open; facts, taxpayers and children be damned?

Sure looks that way from here. And I live walking distance from Boulder Creek Elementary.

MARC MIKULICH

BOULDER CREEK

Shame on B.C. Rec
I am writing to express my opinion on the Valley Youth Activities program offered to the people of Boulder Creek. As a parent of a Boulder Creek youth, I look for programs and special events for my child every opportunity I get. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am to hear that this particular program has been closed to our youth.

In Boulder Creek we have so little for the kids to do on the weekends without traveling miles; Valley Youth Activities provided a service to our children, which both educated and entertained our children for little or no cost. I enjoyed being able to send my child to the Rec Hall every Saturday where she could be with her friends and play safely for a few hours. Boulder Creek Recreation District should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for not taking this opportunity to support our youth. If a few volunteers can support such a program so successfully, I don’t see why it cannot be done through our district. With all that is happening with our children’s schooling, the last thing they need is their opportunity to socialize and play locally taken away. I’m extremely disappointed in our community, especially the directors of Boulder Creek Recreation District, for not taking more interest in the socialization and entertainment of our youth. We voted these individuals in to improve the recreation in our small town, which includes our children. This program had it all for our kids and they let it go. I hope something can be done in the near future to correct this extremely discouraging display of disregard for the youth in Boulder Creek.

SAMANTHA ANDERSON

BOULDER CREEK

U.S. is dangerous
If we allow the Pentagon to dominate the reconstruction of Iraq, it will be but another step toward the administration’s goal spelled out in the Project for a New Century (PNAC), namely "a plan for permanent U.S. military and economic domination of every region on the globe, unfettered by international treaty or concern." (Jay Gookman, "The President’s Real Goal in Iraq," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 9/29/02; article and PNAC can be found on Internet.) This quote is not left-wing propaganda. Our administration’s behavior up to this point proves it is fact.

So I ask: Do U.S. citizens really want our nation to become the hated dominator of the world? We send this message if we reconstruct Iraq alone rather than work cooperatively with and use the knowledge and resources of the United Nations. To continue the current unilateralism is to multiply international distrust and hatred of us. We must urge our elected officials to challenge the administration’s dangerous plan and to embrace a model of international cooperation rather than that of dominator versus the oppressed.

GRETCHEN PHELPS

FELTON

Cops need better priorities
In response to Cops and Courts on April 4 (Job seekers cited at Kmart parking lot): It is disheartening to hear that the sheriffs in this county can find nothing better to do than cite people for such minor infractions as "pitching coins" to pass the time. Enforcement of domestic violence, assault and other crimes is vastly understaffed, yet the sheriff’s office seems to think it necessary or useful to persecute people who are trying to feed their families (or their jobless friends). This is a waste of resources and a shameful use of taxpayer money.

Sarah Belden

Santa Cruz

Iraq for Iraqis
I am extremely concerned that a U.S. occupation of postwar Iraq could incite anti-American hatred in the Arab world and could breed more terrorism.

Major humanitarian organizations believe the Pentagon’s leadership could put relief workers and starving and malnourished Iraqis at risk.

U.S. control of the reconstruction process might further alienate our already estranged allies, and could create a permanent rift between us and the countries we rely upon for cooperation in the war on terrorism.

The amount of money available for the rebuilding of Iraq will depend on the degree to which other countries feel included in the decision-making process. A U.S.-only process could lead potential donor countries to drop out.

The U.N. is equipped to build democracies; the United States government has neither the expertise nor the long-term political will to see such a process through. Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon want a U.S. occupation of Iraq. That could have disastrous consequences, not only for the U.S., but for the future of democracy in Iraq. As Prime Minister Blair said, "Iraq in the end should not be run by the Americans, should not be run by the British, should not be run by any outside force or power. It should be run for the first time in decades by the Iraqi people."

Douglas Dilfer

Santa Cruz

Keep an open mind
Patrick Works’ letter touched on something important — the lack of meaningful debate or discourse on controversial issues, particularly politics and the war.

Often we talk with people who agree with us on an issue, in which case we just restate the same opinions in a variation on a theme.

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to break away from that for a few hours. Six of us gathered at a local winery for food, wine and conversation. The only real common ground shared by the group was that one of each couple writes regularly for one or more of the local newspapers.

I’m against the war, and I don’t like Bush and his issues. I’m also an environmentalist, so I’d be labeled a liberal if I were to stand still long enough to allow someone to affix a label to me. The others in the group would likely carry labels ranging from moderate to conservative. The majority were to some degree in favor of the war, each for his own reasons.

Certainly the war came up in the three-hour conversation, as did the flowering meadow, the writing life, family histories, enjoyment of fine wine and moments that make life worth living. Regarding the war, we agreed to disagree in a cordial way, knowing we weren’t likely to change each other’s opinions in any substantial way.

The important thing is we listened to each other’s points of view and learned some of the reasons for those views.

Shouting, waving signs and talking only to those in one’s camp will do little to change anything. Dialogue opens the door to compromise, and compromise brings about changes in attitude. These slow changes won’t affect the current war, but the war has too much momentum to respond to any force for change.

We talk now, personally and internationally, not to affect this war, but to affect the war yet to be conceived.

Meade Fischer

Corralitos

Don’t shut out the world
As described in the April 2 edition of the Los Angeles Times, a big controversy is brewing over what will happen when Gulf War II ends. Conservative ultrahawks like Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle envision a protracted U.S. military occupation of Iraq, directed entirely by the Pentagon and with only minimal, if any, participation by other countries and the United Nations. Their scheme calls for setting up a provisional government in which Americans head each of the 23 ministries.

From what I can see, the U.S. State Department, the CIA, Prime Minister Tony Blair, the major humanitarian relief organizations, France, Germany and most of the rest of the countries in the world disagree with this plan. They’d like to see the reconstruction of Iraq as a collaborative, international effort led by the United Nations. Most of them believe, as I do, that the Pentagon plan is a recipe for disaster and needs to be softened by United Nations control that will lead to a more reasonable and equitable long-term solution to the problem of Iraqi’s post-war transition to self leadership.

Attacking Iraq without U.N. sanction was an illegal and horrible transgression. Let us not continue our mistake by leaving the rest of the world to rightly believe that the United States is making a military push toward global domination as part of the Bush family "New World Order."

Ben James

Santa Cruz

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