Category: Opinions (Page 6 of 11)

1. Stop all executions. Our government should not use death as a
punishment.
2. Provide health care to everyone. Access to health care is a fundamental human right. We sent people to the moon more than 40 years ago. We can figure out to do this.
3. Restore habeas corpus. No country, especially the U.S., should
engage in the practice of forced disappearances.
4. Overhaul copyright laws to restore some common sense to our legal
system. Listen to Lawrence Lessig.
5. Stop annoying travelers with ineffective regulations that make us
nearly as angry at Homeland Security as the people who try to attack
planes.
6. Get rid of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” If gay people want to protect
our country, we should let them.
7. Legalize marijuana. The criminalization of marijuana use is
wasting money in our courts and prisons. It’s also killing thousands
in Mexico.
8. Stop treating corporations like citizens. Corporations can’t vote
in elections and shouldn’t be permitted to influence them with money.
9. Treat climate change seriously. Sure there are skeptics and there
will always be, but we can take actions now that future generations
will be grateful for.
10. Spend less money on the military and more on research and
development that will benefit all of humanity.

newcampus@sanleandro.k12.ca.us.
I believe that we should name the 9th grade campus after Fred Korematsu, one of the very few true heroes that San Leandro has. Korematsu was a patriotic Japanese-American who volunteered to fight with the Navy during WWII but was turned down for health reasons. In 1942 the US government decided to intern all people of Japanese decent in its own concentration camps – lest they provide help to the Japanese. Interestingly they didn’t have the same concerns about citizens of Italian or German extraction.
Fred Korematsu refused to give up on his constitutional rights and heed the internment order – instead he went into hiding but was eventually arrested in San Leandro. He was tried and convicted. He appealed his conviction but the Supreme Court, in 1944, in one of its most shameful decisions since Plessy v. Ferguson, ruled that military necessity justified the detention of Japanese Americans. Korematsu did not give up, however, and in the 80’s he was finally vindicated in court. Through his life, he continued fighting for civil rights and against discrimination. You can read more about him in his wikipedia article.
Personally, I believe that there is no higher courage than to stand for your rights and beliefs in the face of oppression. It’s so much easier to give in to fear and rationalize your cowardice – something that I’ve done plenty of times myself. Korematsu, however, did what was right and I’m proud that he lived in our city. I cannot imagine a better name for a new school here. Let’s teach the new generations that true courage and true patriotism are best shown by dissent.
If you share these feelings, please e-mail the San Leandro School Board.

which is just f****d up.
I just got a call from a friend who moved a block away from a San Leandro school. Today, the day before school starts, they called her and told her that there was no room for her son in that school and that he had to go to another one. Of course, the school district does not offer any transportation for the kid, and the parents don’t have the necessary transportation. But, according to the receptionist at the school, “that’s not my problem”.
Again, they had the whole summer to figure out attendance to the schools. There is no reason whatsoever that they have to wait until the last possible minute to tell the parents that they cannot accommodate their child, not allowing the parents to even start to figure something out. In this economy, parents cannot afford to be missing work because the San Leandro School District cannot get its shit together.
And of course, the problem starts at the top, with the incompetent Superintendent and the (old) Board that extended her contract.
Anyway, it’s interesting that I’ve only talked to three people today. Of those, both had problems with the school district. The third is a home schooler.

School starts tomorrow in San Leandro (why it starts on a /Wednesday/ rather than a Monday is beyond me), so I just went to check on what class my daughter will be. There are several second grade classes every year.
Well, the lists are not up and won’t be up until 6 PM tonight! That, of course, means that parents that are busy or work at night won’t be able to check them until tomorrow – you can imagine dozens if not hundreds of parents crowding themselves in front of the school door, trying to figure out where to take their kids.
But why aren’t the lists posted today? They are at other San Leandro elementary schools. Are the staff or principal Cher Mott that incompetent? After all, they had the whole summer to figure out which kid will be assigned to which class.
What I wonder, though, is whether they just don’t want to let parents know to what class their children will be ahead of time, that way they save themselves the aggravation of having parents complain about the misplacement of their child. For example, I’ve heard of advanced going-into-second grade students, assigned to 1st/2nd grade combined class, for perhaps dubious (racial? political?) reasons.
In any case, not having the lists posted by the beginning of the day is ridiculous.