Apr 26, 2008

Letters

Open space debate

Dear Editor: Over the next few months, we can expect to hear a lot about "preserving open space" from the anti-growth crowd in Redwood City, who oppose any new development of our saltworks. I find their "green cred" somewhat suspect, not just because a lot of them live quite nicely on former open space themselves in Emerald Hills (which once was grasslands, oaks and redwood forest), and put their share of CO2 into the atmosphere getting up there, but because their "housing not high-rises" campaign of 2004, which had the net effect of preserving a row of auto dealerships and a boat-storage lot, exposed their true concerns: preserving "their" city from the threat of new residents moving here in large numbers.

To more open-minded Redwood City residents, I'd like to point out the saltworks are not public property, and short of a huge infusion of public cash, restoring it all is not an option. The options we do have are to let it continue to be a saltworks, or accept something along the lines of the 50-50 proposal of the saltworks owners (50 percent developed, 50 percent restored and made available for recreation). I think it's a good deal, and we should take it.

Nicholas Kibre,

Redwood City



Editor remembered

Dear Editor: Thanks to columnist Matt Bowling for remembering Elinor V. Cogswell (April 20). Because newcomers never read the late, lamented Palo Alto Times, later swallowed into the feckless Peninsula Times-Tribune, they missed the Iron Butterfly, California's first woman newspaper editor.

She exemplified the newspaper's values and style, espousing the causes of clean government, humane treatment of animals, smog control, preservation of open space, civil rights for minorities and freedom of speech and the press long before most others.

Other "small pet causes" of hers were spring wildflowers, public toilets in business districts, stray puppies and lost kittens, curbside benches for seniors, landmarks and reminiscences of early days.

She was so honest that in a column she confessed to getting a traffic ticket when the car ahead of her halted at a stop sign and she followed it without stopping. (I worked at the Times in the early 1950s.)

Vic Befera,

Palo Alto



Use of language

Dear Editor: [Columnist Helen Thomas] is correct in stating "words do count" in the opinion piece on old-style letters published in the Palo Alto Daily News, April 17.

However, the words are the same whether handwritten or typed on a keyboard. The personal letters of first ladies were hand written because of the technology of the day (quill or fountain pens) or because they couldn't type. Today, nearly everyone can use a computer keyboard to write thoughtful personal letters.

The real issue is a lack of appreciation for the language. The shortcuts in text messages and e-mail do not convey the nuances that real words do. Perhaps parents and English teachers need to emphasize formal writing. The technology of writing should make no difference in the quality of writing.

Howard Selznick,

Palo Alto