Letters: Reaction to latest shooting will be predictably ineffective

Submit your letter to the editor via this form Read more Letters to the Editor Reaction to this shooting will be predictable Re children killed in school shooting Page A Aug Once again we hear of another in an endless string of uniquely American single-shooter mass casualty events this time at a Catholic school in Minneapolis Two children are dead a large number of more are seriously injured and the well-armed alleged assailant committed suicide Related Articles Letters Newsom s talk of democracy reeks of hypocrisy Letters Let s patronage Newsom s counter move to Texas power grab Letters Disenfranchising voters should be a tough sell in state Letters GOP leaves California little choice on redistricting Letters Voters shouldn t fall for GOP megadonor s mailers Initial reports echo the all too familiar responses including absolutely incomprehensible unspeakable tragedy horrific and Pope Leo XIV is praying for the families of the dead My heart bleeds for the families who sent their children to school and will now plan their funerals or sit vigil at the hospitals But please incomprehensible unspeakable horrific Not in America Our leaders our policymakers did absolutely nothing after Columbine Sandy Hook Virginia Tech Las Vegas and the list goes on and on Following a period of political hand-wringing NRA silence and the requisite thoughts and prayers absolutely nothing will happen until the next time What was that definition of insanity Barry Goldman-Hall San Jose Don t turn California into Manhattan Re We need more housing next to mass transit Page A Aug SB aims to remake California in the image of Manhattan The bill increases housing density near dedicated bus train and ferry stops by reaching deep into the neighborhoods around those stops and permitting by right five- to seven-story rental apartment buildings The bill does little to make this new housing affordable and wreaks havoc on the planning efforts made by cities with compliant Housing Elements The bill says nothing about its displacement of established residents and businesses The rush to convert land near transit to high-rise rentals might be justified if housing supply were the issue Supply is not the challenge The problem in housing is affordability the gap between what middle- and low-income residents can pay and what housing costs Residents can help defeat the Manhattanization of California by sending a short email message or calling their legislators Just say Oppose SB Ann Duwe Cupertino State can t afford to purely be right Re Gerrymandering issue to be decided by voters Page A Aug We begin now on the path to combat the Texas scam to move House seats to the GOP Already in the past two weeks my mailbox has had three fliers telling me how wrong it would be for California to follow suit None of the pieces talk about partisan politics the fact that this effort is in response to the Texas action They all appeal to the purity of agenda and I agree with the principle However we have to do this Too much is at stake to ignore this blatant attempt to keep Americans from switching control of the House The Republicans hope we will do what we too often do default to being right rather than winning William Fisher Cupertino Temporary gerrymander will preserve democracy Years ago a competition was held where computer programs fought each other with the shortest effort winning by absolutely returning whatever the attacking venture did to it It was named Tit for Tat making it clear that fighting fire with fire is the the majority effective tactic to win Thus we must fight fire with fire to counter President Trump s instruction to Republican-held states to redistrict gerrymander to put more Republicans in the House of Representatives during the midterms next year As distasteful as it may be for multiple of us we must temporarily gerrymander if we do not want our country to become a white Christian male-dominated dictatorial regime It is obvious that this is the intent of Trump and his MAGA supporters The Republican argument that our gerrymandering would threaten California s democracy is a red herring as Californian democracy is useless without U S democracy Lawrence Koepke San Jose Numbers a testament to SJSU s leadership Re SJSU sets mark for campus numbers Page B Aug As a volunteer scholar at San Jos State University for more than a decade I was proud to see the Mercury News highlight our record enrollment of nearly students This milestone reflects the visionary leadership of President Cynthia Teniente-Matson whose expansion of learner housing and renovation of the International House are reshaping campus life Equally Dean Sheryl Ehrman s modernization of the engineering curriculum positions SJSU at the forefront of innovation SJSU s expansion is more than numbers it is a powerful stake in students and a vital strengthening of Silicon Valley s talent pipeline Professor Baltej Mann San Jos State University San Jose Ignoring principles is the desecration Re Trump seeks to jail people who burn flag Page A Aug The American flag is a symbol that we view with pride while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance Yet it is not the flag but the Pledge that has meaning The Pledge is the commitment that we share as Americans The flag is unnecessary to the Pledge I pledge allegiance to the United States of America and to the Republic One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all Indivisible as in together no matter what Liberty and Justice for all includes everyone All doesn t even acknowledge borders or citizenship The sentiment itself implies that we are under God It gives me goosebumps when I say these words I feel safe and a part of something sacred Not living up to the commitment in our often recited Pledge is the true desecration Lora Riopel Cupertino