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Rendon failed to honor
parents’ rights at work
After national outrage, California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon has issued an apology to Assemblymember Buffy Wicks for denying her the right to a proxy vote while she was on maternity leave to care for her four-week-old daughter(“Lawmaker brings newborn to Capitol after being told she can’t vote by proxy,” Sept. 2).
Speaker Rendon’s behavior was unacceptable. Nevertheless, Wicks graciously accepted his apology. Going forward, I hope Rendon will do everything in his power to assure the rights of parents in the workplace.
It will take that and more if he expects to live down the anger and frustration of working parents and especially women who have often experienced the insensitivity and callousness that he has so ably demonstrated from his high office.
Judith Hurley
San Jose
Girls’ pursuit of education
should be recognized
Certainly, it is unfortunate that not everyone has the equipment and adequate access to the internet to support online activities – and especially so for our children faced with online learning during the pandemic.
And it was especially telling in the viral photo of the two young girls using the fast-food restaurant’s Wi-Fi in Salinas in their parking lot.
What was unsaid was how proud we should be of these two young girls being so determined to get their education, that they did not let obstacles deter them.
They should be commended for their resilience, their ability to improvise or innovate, and their sheer determination to succeed where they could have easily used their lack of resources as an excuse to simply skip school.
As a community, we need to do more for them and others like them – but in the absence of that they deserve our praise.
Gary Miller
Saratoga
Children’s COVID book
has good advice for all
I enjoyed reading ““School Coronavirus Do’s and Don’ts” (“Milpitas teacher’s pandemic guide written to make children feel safer,” Sept. 1) as a high school student, even though it was intended for elementary school kids and teachers.
Helping kids (actually everyone) understand the negative impact of COVID-19 and the benefit of wearing masks and social distancing can be a daunting task. Written with light-hearted humor and colorful illustrations, the advice Adrienne Barber gives stayed with me. My favorite line? “Do mute yourself sometimes. Don’t mute your cat” when using Zoom.
Sophia Horng
Saratoga
Plant-based diet can help
in climate change fight
It was gratifying to read that smart minds are thinking about power grid solutions (“Bay Area is fighting blackout culprit – climate change,” Sept. 2). I agree that we owe it to future generations to do our very best to fight climate change by thinking and acting differently and letting go of systems that may not serve us anymore.
While the article was focused on power grid solutions, I’d like to offer a gentle reminder that fighting climate change is itself a multi-pronged approach. Individuals did a great job cutting back on electrical usage during the last heatwave. Something that individuals can do right now (and ongoing) to realize a big climate-positive impact is to transition to a plant-based diet. According to Drawdown, plant-rich diets help humans by providing a healthier diet which can lead to lower rates of chronic disease and help the planet by reducing emissions.
Let’s continue to do our part.
Tina Morrill
San Jose
For election guidance,
look to your memory
Let’s take a memory test. Repeat after me: “Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV”. Got it? Close your eyes and repeat it again. How’d you do? Congratulations, if you got all five correct, you are now qualified to be president. We have set the bar so low that almost anyone is qualified to run this country.
Here’s another memory challenge. Let’s go back to where you were in November 2016 when the media declared Trump as our next president. Try to recall how you felt at that moment and the days to come. Not a pleasant memory I’m guessing.
Now imagine it is November 2020 and Trump somehow wins a second term. Do you think you and our country’s democracy could handle another four years of Trump? Here’s the bottom line; are you willing to get involved to prevent this outcome? Now remember these five words: “Volunteer, Donate, Vote for Biden”.
Rene Wise
Fremont
Can we see US future
in Belarus unrest?
Belarus is seeking democracy, its people demonstrating in the streets trying to depose an autocrat who has ruled them for 26 years and fixed the most recent election. Russia is looking on hungrily, threatening to intervene if protests continue.
Questions: One — where is the United States when one dictator (Vladimir Putin) threatens to overrun another country? Answer — nowhere to be seen; and two — will we be in the streets ourselves in several months if voter suppression and phony legal maneuvers threaten us with a rigged election? Only your vote can tell.
Ed Taub
Mountain View
