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We should celebratelandlines’ removal
Re: “Editorial: Reject AT&T bid to shed its landlines” (Page A8, March 10).
The editorial is off-base. As an electrical engineer, I’ve long called for the removal of obsolete landlines.
Overhead lines require maintenance, but no company takes responsibility. When PG&E reluctantly clears branches from high-voltage wires, any discussion of disentangling limbs from phone wires is met by: “You’ll have to contact the company responsible for those wires. Who’s that? I have no idea!” Yet it may well be phone wires that cause poles to topple in a storm.
Will unmaintained wires and switch boxes save you in an emergency? I’ll take my chances with redundant microwave towers. Cellular is available from my car, even in remote areas. When was the last time you found a pay phone?
And thick wire bundles are an absolute blight! Our brains often “tune out” their ugliness, but neighborhoods with underground wiring are pleasantly remarkable.
I applaud the removal of overhead wires.
Thomas BattleLos Altos Hills
Postpartum contraceptiondeserves our support
As obstetricians at Stanford University, we support the introduction of AB 2129 by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, to improve access to postpartum contraception.
Access to contraception decreases unintended pregnancy. Notably, 70% of pregnancies occurring in the first year after delivery are unintended. These short-interval pregnancies are a risk factor for adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Many patients do not attend follow-up visits, thus it is critical we introduce contraceptive care plans before they are discharged home.
Access to contraception postpartum is limited by a lack of consistent method for payment. I, along with my colleagues Doctors Natalie Spach, Samantha Kruger, Isabel Beshar, Lauren Tostrud, Ravali Reddy, Pamela K. Meza, Tim Gemesi and Samantha Wagner, am concerned about how differential access to postpartum contraception leads to possible reproductive coercion. Similar to Medi-Cal, AB 2129 would allow for reimbursement for contraception initiated during birth hospitalization for those with private insurance.
Dr. Sarah OwensPalo Alto
Schools stepping up onstudent mental health
Re: “Schools making students’ mental health a priority” (Page A1, March 9).
I’m a graduate student at San Jose State University’s School of Social Work. The growth of wellness centers in local schools is heartening. Building mental health and coping tools into schools’ infrastructure gives our community’s children power over their struggles, better equipping them to handle stressors as they come.
School can be mentally exhausting, particularly for those who face bullying or who don’t always feel supported at home. Despite progress, seeking therapeutic help can be costly, stigmatizing and inaccessible.
Education is important, but it’s not fair to expect students to absorb lessons when they are depleted, plagued by overstimulation or operating within a heightened stress response. When a student is physically ill or injured, they are given time away from the classroom to get better. When a student needs time to recenter or heal their mind, they should be given the same grace. These centers are a leap in the right direction.
Maya ProfioSan Jose
Trump supportersreflect his faults
Re: “Continued support for Trump is confounding” (Page A6, March 7).
Here is an answer to Pauline Chand’s letter to the editor asking “why you would choose a man who has demonstrated racism and misogyny.” Before I answer, let us not forget that he has many more ugly attributes such as being vulgar, impolite, xenophobic, a sexual assaulter and a fraudster (both as established in court), a bully, a bigot, a liar, a propagandist and a demagogue.
People vote for him because they themselves have some of these ugly attributes inside their own characters and personalities, and it doesn’t bother them in the least. They have some of these attributes in large amounts or in minute amounts, consciously or subconsciously, in the open or secretly inside. This is a very hard truth and acknowledging this hard truth was not easy for me to come around to, but it explains everything.
Guy VigierNovato
To invest in America,stop voting Republican
Re: “America has blown almost $2 trillion — make it stop” (Page A6, March 8).
I read with interest Kathryn Anne Edwards’ commentary. This seems to have been written entirely out of context. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is more commonly known as the Trump tax cuts. The way to stop America from funding rich corporations and wealthy individuals and to start really investing in what is good for America is to stop voting Republican.
David CoalePalo Alto
Cease-fire needed toprotect Gaza’s children
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I recently sat down with the Palestinian family of a friend of mine for dinner. As an American who has no stake in the conflict overseas, I always felt uncomfortable speaking up on the war in Gaza.
This family I ate dinner with spoke about their relatives in Palestine, and how they did not know if they would survive another day. After seeing my friend’s family discuss what is happening in the Gaza Strip and how they are impacted, as well as coming to the realization that my tax dollars are paying to provide Israel with the bombs being used to kill children, I know that something needs to change and a cease-fire declared.
Something needs to be done to protect Palestinian children in Gaza.
Samantha AinlaySan Jose