Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor (September 03, 2004)

No 'interim' tag for school superintendent

Editor:

Thank you for prominently featuring the news of Mountain View-Whisman School District these past few weeks as we've had to accept the resignation of our superintendent, Jim Negri, and vote to name a new superintendent. Your prominent stories about these important topics were a real service to the community.

I am puzzled, however, by your utilization of the term "interim superintendent" in relation to Eleanor Yick. Our school board discussed and discarded the usage of titles such as interim, acting and temporary. We voted to name Ms. Yick superintendent of the district. We believed that that title was an appropriate statement to her and to the community that we had confidence in her ability to lead the district throughout this school year.

While I recognize your choice of the term "interim" makes sense from a generic definitional standpoint, I believe it is more appropriate for all of us to refer to Ms. Yick by the title that was agreed to in her contract. In its unanimous vote the board of trustees demonstrated that we have the highest confidence that Superintendent Yick will do an excellent job of continuing the leadership of MVWSD that was begun by Jim Negri.

Ellen Wheeler
Trustee, MVWSD
Brookdale Avenue

More than helmets needed to bike safely

Editor:

In your Aug. 27 article "Police encourage kids to use their heads" about a police crackdown on helmet-less bike riders, he writes that the campaign is a response to complaints "about children riding on sidewalks and against traffic without protective gear."

The real problem isn't the lack of helmets or other protective gear. The real problem is riding unsafely, which includes riding too fast on sidewalks and riding against traffic. Does this campaign teach kids to ride safely, or to obey the same traffic laws that motorists must obey? Or does it just push helmet use?

And no, I'm not an anti-helmet fanatic. I wear a helmet whenever I ride my bike, which includes my regular daily commute. But it's much better to ride safely without a helmet, than to ride unsafely with one.

Darin McGrew
San Luis Avenue

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