No more huge trucks on highways, pack those loads on the rails
Dear Editor,
At the recommendation of San Benito County Supervisor Pat Loe, the county transportation governing board unanimously included “truck only” lanes in its approval of Santa Clara County’s Valley Transportation Authority northern most alternative for strategic improvements for regional highways, i.e., “East-West Connector.”
While the Southern California Association of Governments had previously endorsed the same concept, the nation’s commerce and industry have been using a better form of freight transport, i.e., intermodal service. The 75 percent fuel savings, lower freight rates, and highway congestion and maintenance reductions, at truck-competitive service on trans-Mississippi loads induced U.S. industry to switch from trucks to intermodal even before fuel prices reached their current levels. Even the nation’s largest truckers have been tendering truckloads to railroads for long haul moves, improving their bottom line.
So, when Robert Poole, Ph.D., from Reason Foundation, repeated his “truck only lane” strategy at last year’s think tank meeting at the Metropolitan Transportation Associations Oakland headquarters, I reminded the audience that we already have them, and their called “railroads.” Tires on concrete or asphalt cannot compete with steel wheels rolling over steel rails thanks to the coefficient of friction.
So, instead of building highway lanes restricted for truck use only, why not do as former Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta, our Governor’s Goods Movement Plan, and Jim Nicholas, chief, highway programs for Caltrans all say: “we need more intermodal.”
Omitting presently existing technology from transport strategy is why many are calling for termination of the structure in the next highway bill (due out in 2009).
If local leaders truly want to reduce highway deaths and injuries, highway congestion and air pollution, then we must go back to the future, as I’ve been saying for more than 20 years now.
How can we justify higher taxes when we ignore private-sector options? Why are we (Silicon Valley and the Salinas Valley) the largest urban area in North America without intermodal options? If we are now quoting philosophers to local leaders, then how about, “There are none so blind as those who will not see.”
Caveat Viator!
Joe Thompson, Gilroy
Sobrato and Live Oak will always be high school rivals
Dear Editor,
As a Live Oak High School student who has relatives attending Sobrato High School, I try to understand both sides of this rivalry. After reading the letter sent in by the student from Sobrato, I investigated. After checking his statements, I found no factual evidence to support his claims.
To begin, let us talk about press coverage. No one wants to read a boring story. Anything that reporters don’t find interesting isn’t going to gain the front page. Commendable deeds are not always going to be the hot topic of the day, whereas destruction is always going to be front and center. For example, during the weekend of the El Toro Bowl, the Live Oak Emerald Regime was unable to attend because they were competing in Los Angeles, at the Western Band Association Championships. They took first place in their division and eighth overall; however, because the game took the front page, the accomplishments made by the band and colorguard were pushed into obscurity. It may not neccessarily be that no one cared about Sobrato’s acheivements – maybe there was just something that was considered more important to be put in the spotlight that day.
The football stats were completely wrong as well. Sobrato was only undefeated in its own league; anytime they played someone from a higher league, they were defeated. The actual win-loss ratio was 6-4 and 1. That’s only 59 percent, which is good, but not perfect. Live Oak defeated Lincoln as the last opponent in the regular season, which means they were not a wild card team, rather, they earned their spot in the playoffs, and all the way to the championship game.
In addition, the writer declared that Sobrato is “better off academically.” When the 2006 STAR Test results were released, it showed that Sobrato scored higher by exactly 17 points. However, the English Learner Program is at Live Oak, which would understandably bring our score down; they can barely read the test, and they are being asked to comprehend at the level of students who have been reading and writing English for years. When this factor is removed, Live Oak’s score skyrockets past Sobrato’s by 48.5 points.
One topic that is hard to get hard evidence on is discipline, and all the categories that fall underneath it. Drugs, alcohol abuse, and fighting are not just based on how many students get caught with drugs in their locker or how many fights there are. These issues will occur off campus anyway. Since there are more students attending Sobrato (due to the demographics), there is more room for conflict. It seems to stand that if the number of incidents were calculated per capita rather than just counting which school it occured at, Sobrato would be no better, nor any worse, than Live Oak.
In conclusion, it is not a matter of which school is better, because, really, they are about the same. Sobrato and Live Oak will always be rivals and will compete in all possible outlets, whether it be sports, academics, or otherwise. However, having a better football team, or less fighting, or higher test scores does not make a school. What truly makes a school is the congregation of the personalities in friends and faculty, who all come together for the purpose of learning about our world and working towards a better future for everyone.
Shannon Franks
AÂ Senior at Live Oak High School,
And a proud representative of the Acorns!
Socialized medicine just another way to help Americans receive care
Dear Editor,
Have you heard the term “socialized medicine?” How about “socialized police protection” or “socialized fire protection?” Do “socialized public education” or “socialized public libraries” ring a bell? Maybe “socialized Medicare,” “socialized Veterans benefits” or “Socialized Security?”
Interesting. Though none are mentioned in our U.S. Constitution, most are now considered “rights” by all societal standards. Our country has gone from an agricultural, pull-yourself-up-by-the-boot-straps society to a semi-urban, can’t-do-it-alone citizenry.
So what has happened along the way in our non-socialistic country? – 48 million receive Social Security checks; 70 million qualify for Veteran Administration benefits; and 41 million receive Medicare payments with 6 million under age 55. There are 80 million students receiving public education and more than 8 million veterans are recipients of the GI Bills. There were 1.4 billion visits to public libraries in 2005. And, how many have paid for police and fire protection when property and lives have been at stake? Not many.
Our lame-duck President George H. Bush, who some Gilroyans consider the Greatest President of All Time, is quite unconcerned about universal health care as noted in his eloquent quote, “The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans. I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.”
Every time an uninsured person uses the emergency room for preventative care, it costs you and me hundreds of dollars ($560 in 2004 data), and thousands ($3,300 in 2004 data) if minor surgery is required. According to an Institute of Medicine analysis (2003), the U.S. government incurs $100 billion in annual costs for the uninsured. Now that’s socialized medicine at its finest with no return on the investment.
And, the 47 million uninsured Americans (7 million new uninsured since Bush has been in office) continue to charge you and me for their ongoing, socialized medical care year after year after year.
Dale Morejon, Gilroy
