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BART project shouldbe re-evaluated
Re: “Extension plan price continues to balloon” (Page A1, March 12).
Here we go again. The BART extension through San Jose has increased in cost by over a half-billion dollars. Considering the many past price increases, is anyone surprised by this? I didn’t think so.
The price drivers were labor and material costs. Does anyone think these costs are going to be stable over the next 13 years needed to complete this project? I didn’t think so.
When will someone display some common sense, political courage and good old-fashioned guts and say stop? As currently configured, we cannot provide this project at anywhere near the cost and timeline projected 10 years ago and need to go back to square one. Anyone? I didn’t think so.
Tom DarbySan Jose
Let’s stop tragediesbefore they happen
Re: “Mom facing murder may be released without bail” (Page A1, March 19).
The mother being charged with the murder of her 18-month-old daughter is heart-wrenching.
Being a member of the Bay Area community makes me uneasy at times due to the overwhelming amount of drugs in our cities. It is particularly alarming that the mother is expected to be released from jail without bail. This raises concerns about public safety and reoffending, considering the severity of the charges.
The need for more drug addiction resources to get people off drugs is under-looked. Drug addiction isn’t an easy thing to overcome, instead of relying on extreme punishment, focus on ways to combat the behavior to end the potential of reoffending.
I hope that this letter will spark further discussion and action to address the systemic issues highlighted by this case.
Amaya ReynoldsVallejo
Willie Brown’s historyof equity is impressive
Re: “At 90, Willie Brown still dominates a room” (Page A6, March 19).
A tribute to Willie Brown’s active pursuit of cultural equity in the most important places: When I was a student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing in the late 1960s to early 70s at a local university, a lecturer specializing in nutrition criticized the diets of the Black, Latino and Asian cultures. She made clear that only a Eurocentric diet was healthy.
A handful of minority students and I disagreed and sought a correction from the School of Nursing’s administration. They supported the lecturer.
We brought the issue to the attention of a social activist group on campus, which put us in touch with Assemblyman Brown. He met with us and agreed that it was a case of bias that must be corrected. He met with the school’s administration, confronted the bias and advised them to make the correction or lose some state funding.
He was effective. The course was modified to be equitable.
Delorme McKee-StovallSan Jose
Glass containers oneway to ween off plastic
Re: “Share water bottles? Use refill shampoo pouches?” (Page C7, March 20).
I’m glad to see an article on reducing plastic containers in the United States, which was written about in the March 20 business section.
I love the idea of the Kadeya bottling plant vending machine that provides water in reusable, stainless steel containers that are sterilized and reused. I’m disappointed, however, that the beauty industry is considering refill pouches. Why? Because the pouches are plastic, albeit less plastic than the typical product container.
I wonder, how about going back to using glass? It worked for years before plastic was introduced.
Barbara CoatsSan Jose
College hardships maycost potential students
College is tougher now than ever. Most of us college students need to worry about getting at least one part-time job to pay the bills because tuition prices are constantly going up and up.
Society would benefit from more professionals in the community because we need teachers, doctors, engineers and so many other professionals to keep our society running.
However, who’s going to want to go to college if all they hear is hell from the students who attend?
Alejandra GalloSan Francisco
Economic flex couldend Ukraine war
The quickest way to end Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is to tell Vladimir Putin we’re going to triple our military aid to Ukraine in the coming months.
Since Russia’s economy is a fraction of the size of the U.S. economy they could not begin to match us. If Ukrainian soldiers are willing to risk their lives, the United States and EU countries should be willing to put up the money before Ukraine runs out of soldiers.
It’s the only way to stop Russia from launching other wars of attrition in Eastern Europe.
Ed KahlWoodside
