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Published on 07/22/1996 All articles from this issue

Letters to the Editor

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Freedom still won

in Russia

I recently had the privilege of seeing history made. On July 3, I was visiting Syktyvkar, Los Altos' Sister City in Russia. That was the day Boris Yeltsin staged his remarkable comeback to win the first freely contested election for the Presidency of Russia. That was the day the Russian people said no to communism.

To understand what a remarkable event this was, you must first understand what is going on in Russia today. Everyone in Russia knows Boris Yeltsin is sick; he has a bad heart and a serious drinking problem. Everyone in Russia knows Yeltsin surrounds himself with cronies who have become rich at Russia's expense. The streets of Russia, once among the safest in the world, today team with thugs trying to infiltrate every sphere of business.

Most Russian's have seen their personal standard of living deteriorate dramatically under Yeltsin's leadership. Today, people freeze to death in Moscow while others starve in isolated villages because there is little work and no money to pay those who do work.

This is the legacy of Boris Yeltsin's first term in office. But July 3 was not an election between Yeltsin and Gennadii Zyuganov, his communist opponent. July 3 was an election between freedom and the memories of communism. And freedom won.

Russian communism was based on secrecy and lies. It was a system which suppressed opportunity and freedom.

On July 3, many older Russians voted for their memories of false security under communism. But the young people of Russia chose to overlook Yeltsin's flaws and vote for the new freedoms and opportunities he represents.

On July 3, the people of Russia voted for freedom with all its problems.

We congratulate them on their courage and wish them well.

Dick Hasenpflug

Vice President for Syktyvkar

Los Altos Sister Cities, Inc.

An open letter

to the shooter

You obviously have a pellet or BB gun!

A few weeks ago, you fired into the air at two mallard ducks who were overhead in Los Altos.

These two had been dropping in to visit us every day for several months. They would take a swim in the pool, bathe and dine on cracked corn we gave them. We enjoyed their visits very much. We named the drake Daryl and the female Delilah.

One day, we noticed Delilah couldn't eat. She'd put her mouth to the food but she could not ingest anything. We were able to get close enough to see that your pellet was lodged at the back of her beak, forcing her mouth to hang open.

The Wildlife Rescue Center of Silicon Valley was very helpful and said if we could catch her, they perhaps could do something for her. Unfortunately, we were unable to get her, even though we knew she was getting weaker from lack of food.

Three days after your hit, she stopped coming. Apparently in her weakened condition she fell victim to some other predator. Daryl, her mate, continued coming every day.

He stayed at the end of the pool and maintained his vigil from 5:30 a.m. until dusk. After a week of waiting for her return, he stopped coming.

Three weeks have passed since we have seen him. Perhaps you killed two birds with one pellet.

Daryl had not eaten one bite since Delilah disappeared.

Bill and Renee Briscoe

Los Altos

Difference between art

and racial caricature

I had a mixed experience at the Los Altos Wine and Festival Fair on July 14.

One: the unpleasant p[art of the experience was seeing a doll that was a caricature of African Americans modeled after the centuries old demeaning of this race of people that was commonplace in this country.

When I mentioned to the booth proprietors that the doll was racially offensive, one of them replied that she didn't think so. I walked away because I didn't wish to argue what to me what was obvious; i.e., the doll makes a statement of how people saw African Americans at one time in this country's history, or at least, how they fantasized how they saw them. The proprietor also informed me that "Black people buy them." To this, I replied they have their reasons, but it is offensive, nonetheless.

I continued viewing the booths expecting to see someone in charge to whom I could protest the presence of this doll with the expectations of some understanding.

That is precisely what I found in the manager of the fair. She was a warm and sensitive person who was very adamant about not having anything on exhibit that was personally offensive to anyone. She asked me for the number of the booth which I did not have and walked back to note the number. When I did, the doll was gone and I asked the proprietor why she removed it, she said that she sold it and that there are people who appreciate art.

I am delighted to know that the Los Altos fair's management was so sensitive and direct in insisting that this would not recur next year.

The question remains: does art need to be offensive? The fact that a genre started years ago and is therefore an antique does not excuse that fact that, as a caricature designed to demean a race of people, it is just as offensive today as when it was created.

Jean Thomas

Los Altos

Calling on arts lovers - support your theater

At a time when support for the arts is a heated issue in the national dialogue, it is worthwhile to bring the issue home. As a theater producer, I find some realities inescapable. Arts are expensive, especially theater, where large numbers of people are required to create the work.

Actors labor long and hard. The tiny few who make the astronomical salaries are just that, a tiny few. Most of the actors I know work one or more jobs, at all hours of the day or night, to allow them to pursue their passion - live theater.

Their training is expensive, too. Acting, voice and dance lessons are essential, to keep the actor in top shape.

Then there is the cost of production, itself. As I prepare to mount a new staging of Cole Porter's classic, "Kiss Me, Kate," for a July 26 (Friday) opening at Foothill Music Theater, I know how production costs have soared, from the materials - the wood and steel and fabric that go into the sets and costumes, to the royalties charged for the right to perform the show, to the costs of labor for staff, technicians and musicians, to the dollars spent on publicity.

It is an expensive enterprise. Of course, the sight and sound of a satisfied audience on opening night make it all worthwhile and remind us of why we do what we do. But every producer sweats it out, hoping the show will catch on with audiences so that all that money that has been laid out before a single ticket was sold will be recouped.

So, may I encourage you readers to put your money where your "heART" is? When next you write a check for theater tickets, make an additional contribution to the theater of your choice to help them along. They need it! And if you sense an extra little glow on opening night, know that you have joined the ranks of what in the theater are known as "angels."

Oh, by the way, Foothill Music Theater's "Kiss Me, Kate" plays from July 26 to Aug. 18, and tickets cost a paltry $8-12. So give our box office a call: 948-4444. Come see us this summer. And please, support your local theater.

Jay Manley

Foothill Music Theater