Excuse me, but since when does a criminal, and a convicted ex-judge no less, have the right to receive a full pension? What is wrong with this picture and what in the hell is wrong with our system? No wonder the system doesn't work. The criminals get all the breaks and the system breaks down.

Maybe the ex-judge Danser has bargained his way out of what he deserves. It wouldn't be the first time. He should be incarcerated and all his privileges taken away just like any other common criminal. It looks like Danser is still trying to manipulate the system. He is no different, in fact he is much worse than, the common criminal because he was an "honorable judge" who dishonored his robe and his people by all of the corrupt things that he did during his career. This makes his crimes even worse, as the public looks up to judges to set an example of honesty and credibility, neither of which he did.

I have heard for years that the Santa Clara County judicial system has a terrible reputation for being corrupt, and unless Danser gets what he deserves, then it looks to me as if what I have heard is a fact.

As for the "bad cop," I feel he should receive the same punishment, as he is no better than Danser. It's just another case of being deceived by the judicial system and not being able to trust someone who we should respect and look
up to.

Ann Rutherford

Los Gatos

Troops will be
recognized at
Bandstand bash

The Los Gatos Community Foundation is the umbrella organization for several great Los Gatos organizations such as the Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival, the pool, Kiwanis Turn-Around Scholarships, and the Vic Collord Scholarship, to name a few.

Additionally, we provide grants to support numerous nonprofits that provide needed services to our residents.

One of our umbrella organizations is Operation Yellow Ribbon, a local group that is collecting funds to send needed personal items to our Los Gatos troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. We want all of Los Gatos to know that we are proud of these young men and women and will be announcing their names at our Bandstand Celebration on Aug. 28.

We'd like to invite you to come and enjoy a wonderful evening with friends and family and help us recognize these brave young people, and also help support the many local programs that the foundation serves.

The event will be held at the beautiful Lyndon Bandstand in Oak Meadow Park, from 6 to 10 p.m. The event features a barbecue dinner by C.B. Hannegan's and dancing to the sounds of the Mack the Knife Dance Band. Attendees will have a chance to win a Hawaiian holiday for two, including many travel extras. Tickets are $65 per person or $125 per couple and are available by calling the Los Gatos Community Foundation at 408.354.8787.

Paul Dubois, President

Los Gatos Community Foundation

Teacher supports
letter written
by students

(Letter in response to Moe Soto's letter in the July 28 issue of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times)

I am the teacher who supported the children in writing the letter to President Bush that was published on July 21. I did not lead the children into this letter, nor did I "pump" them with information. Over the years, I have encouraged and supported my students in writing and sending letters that cover the entire political spectrum.

These young people came in with this topic on their minds. They were full of information, ideas and opinions. Rather than fight the discussion and try to force my writing topic on them, I went with it, recognizing that they could do some outstanding writing on the subject because they cared so much about it. I admit I was outside my comfort zone, taking on such a controversial subject with the kids. But this was not a group that enjoyed writing. I didn't want to lose them, so I dealt with my own fears and went with it. Sometimes you have to do what's right even if it makes you feel nervous.

This group had such an impressive and inspiring discussion about what they believe and feel about war. In truth, the whole process was a thing of beauty. They listened respectfully to opposing ideas and finally decided that the letter they wanted to compose would focus on bringing the troops home, something upon which they could all agree.

Mr. Soto accuses me of misguiding these children. I disagree. It would have been misguiding for me to say to them, "You're too young to understand, have an opinion, or use your voice. You're foolish to dream of a world without war." Sure, they are idealistic, but if children can't be idealistic, who can?

These children never stated that they don't support the military, either. They care so much about the soldiers, they want them home and out of harm's way. That was what they meant. It isn't fair to distort their words to mean anything else. I compliment the Weekly-Times for publishing the letter. It showed those kids that writing is not just a useless academic exercise, but can be for a real purpose in real life. How motivating!

Yes, Mr. Soto, I am proud of these kids. I asked them if they wanted to write about homework or skateboarding. They did not. They wanted to write about something "big and important," and boy did they! Yes, I'm proud of them--for their audacity, their conviction and their hard work. That letter was not an easy undertaking. But from the experience they understand that, as Americans, they have freedom to speak their minds, even to the president. And that makes all of us love our country. You better believe I emphasized that fact to them.

I was so proud of the depth of ideas, logical organization, effective word choice and respectful and appropriate tone of the letter those kids wrote. I think who they are and what they did is awesome. My hat goes off to you kids. Don't stop using your voice just because some people disagree.

Susan Goei

San Jose

Many reasons
to improve
streets in town

Just as tail fins on cars have gone out of style, so have streets without sidewalks or bike lanes. In the 1950s and '60s it was the height of modern fashion to have neighborhoods where there were no sidewalks. Back then it was assumed that only poor people walked or rode bikes. We certainly did not need to encourage them to walk into our neighborhoods.

As we have now learned, those big lumbering cars were unsafe because they did not have seat belts, headrests or crumple zones. The street designs from the same time period are unsafe because they force pedestrians and bikes to share the same section of asphalt as cars traveling at 45 miles per hour. Those old bad streets encourage aggressive driving and they are expensive to maintain due to the large widths of expensive and short-lived asphalt.

We are now turning the corner on those past bad design practices. Traffic engineers have now learned that streets can be made much safer. Ironically the street designs that work best share characteristics with streets from the '20s and '30s. Well-designed streets have short blocks, sidewalks, and street trees. Those streets are more likely to have traffic move at the speed limit and not 10 mph over the limit. They also have fewer car accidents and pedestrian crashes.

The side benefit of good street design is that it encourages people to get out and walk. This has a huge effect on the health of the nation. People who walk have less heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has called for all streets to accommodate pedestrians and bikes as a way to stem the tide of obesity-related diseases rolling over this nation. It's not just poor people who need to get out and walk, it's all of us.

Egon Jensen in his letter to the editor last week expressed a sentiment that the only reason people are trying to fix our streets is to make them beautiful. If that were the only reason, I would be the first to join him and say, "Keep them looking ugly." But that is not the real reason to fix our streets. The real reason is to prevent the type of accidents that we have seen on Highway 9. The side benefit of making those changes will be to encourage more people to get out and walk and bike ride. These improved streets will be cheaper to maintain. They will be cooler and quieter. They will increase the value of our houses.

The question for the town of Los Gatos is what streets to fix first. We have problems with Los Gatos­Almaden Road, Blossom Hill Road, Shannon, Hicks and Highway 9. This is in addition to the problems with Winchester. I hope that the people running for town council this fall will make it a priority to bring all of our high-speed arterial streets into the 21st century.

Marc Jensen

Los Gatos