Letters to the Editor

Editor:

The biggest safety issue in the Richmond is not murder, rape or other violent crimes; it is pedestrian safety. Geary Boulevard (west of Van Ness Avenue) has been ranked the third most dangerous traffic arterial in the city.

The fatality of a senior citizen in September at 47th Avenue and Fulton Street and another at Park Presidio Boulevard and Lake Street in January point to the pedestrian safety crisis that faces our neighborhood.

We are blessed by our easy access to the Golden Gate Bridge, Ocean beach, Golden Gate Park and the Presidio. Many commuters and tourists as well as local drivers race through the neighborhood on their way to these attractions, or just to get to work and back home.

How do we assure the smooth flow of traffic and also make pedestrians safer?

1) We need increased enforcement of traffic laws. Speeders and red light runners must be stopped. Statistics show that 80 percent of the pedestrian injuries on Geary in our neighborhood were due to driver fault. This is much higher than other neighborhoods. Captain Sandra Tong at the Richmond Station is to be commended for her decision in February to devote one officer a day to traffic enforcement, with 130 moving violations being issued in the first week.

2) We need more effective traffic engineering. We should synchronize lights on Fulton and Geary so that if a driver sticks to the speed limit, one can proceed quickly into town, but if one speeds, he or she will simply wind up waiting at the next light.

3) We need to increase the visibility of stop signs. On streets such as Fulton, we should install larger-sized stop signs and explore putting stop signs on both sides of the street throughout the Richmond.

4) We need to increase the visibility of pedestrian crossings. We should consider installing flashing crosswalk lights at dangerous locations where previous fatalities have taken place and study the effectiveness of yellow striping at crosswalks.

5) We need better safety education of pedestrians, bike riders and drivers.

6) We need better coordination of the multitude of pedestrian safety efforts already in existence.

Join me at the Richmond Police Station on March 16, at 7 p.m., to discuss how to develop a proposed traffic-calming plan on Fulton Street.

Matt Tuchow

Editor:

There are a number of attempts abroad these days to dragoon the authority of science in an effort to lend critical respectability to superstition. One of these is called "Intelligent Design Theory," which is a thin attempt to disguise fundamentalist religion as physics and biology. We see school systems under attack all across the US, as the religious right attempts to infect public school science classes with bias.

Now we apparently have Assemblyman Leland Yee attempting to do a similar thing with Feng Shui (Richmond Review, February) with his Assembly Concurrent Resolution 144.

Feng Shui is not science. It does not partake of geology, astronomy, physics, or even of ergonomics, as Yee apparently has it. It proposes a spiritual energy which is channeled by the association of physical spaces and objects. This is not part of any science, and is not supported by any science.

Legislating this superstition into California building standards makes a mockery of the rational objectivity that should inform our structural codes. Maybe, next, we can legislate that a shaman should shake rattles at every new structure, in order to propitiate other sorts of spirits in which Yee may not believe, but which are an article of traditional and passionate faith to some other group.

Cultural sensitivity does not extend to legislating superstitions, but to eliminating inequality before the law. Where does this end? If the door is opened to one sort of foolishness, how do we close it to others?

Patrick Frank, Ph.D.
Palo Alto, CA

Editor:

I have to take issue with a recent column by Assemblyman Leland Yee.

He refers to Feng Shui as "an Earth science that examines mathematics, physics, geology, astronomy and architecture, among other sciences." According to the California State Framework on Science, "A scientific theory must be logically consistent and lead to testable predictions about the natural world."

The theories of Feng Shui are not part of the scientific body of knowledge. I do not think that it is wise for our elected representatives to undermine the proper understanding of science.

Jonathan Frank
Science Department Chair
Abraham Lincoln High School

Editor:

Sutro Elementary School (K-5) is located in the Richmond District. Due to California's current fiscal crisis, our already meager budget is due to be cut for the next school year. We need to raise $60,000 simply to maintain our current educational staff. Otherwise, we will be forced to reduce our teaching staff or eliminate our paraprofessional staff ­ either of which would have a negative impact on our students. We dedicate ourselves to providing a safe, encouraging, learning environment for all of our 250 children, but we need help to continue to do so.

Please send a tax-deductible donation to: Sutro School PTA, 235 12th Ave., SF, CA 94118. A receipt will be provided for all donations. Any amount is appreciated.

For more information, please call Sutro Elementary at (415) 750-8525.

Sutro School PTA