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Published on 05/19/1999 All articles from this issue

Letters to the Editor

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One-sided view of Almond overcrowding

Your last editorial on school boundaries presented a one-sided view of the overcrowding problem at Almond School.

Your letter implies that the overcrowding at Almond is due to a large influx of students from the Crossings development, as well as other developments in the northwest corridor of Mountain View.

In fact, most of the Crossings students do not attend Almond, but actually attend their third- closest school, because Almond was already full.

Your editorial fails to point out that the growth in our school district has a lot to do with the changing of ownership of homes in Los Altos to new families, as well as new construction of homes throughout the district. Please don't portray the Los Altos School District overcrowding problem as mainly caused by Mountain View residents. There is a lot of emotion being generated by the impending boundary changes. Please try to present a factual and balanced view.

Ron and Shereen BarMountain View

Clarifying death benefits article

Re: "You can collect death benefits while feeling good and looking great" (May 12 Town Crier):

The article states: "Viatical companies follow the guidelines of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in Kansas City." This is misleading.

California, among other states, requires that viatical professionals be licensed. In most instances, the Department of Insurance is responsible for the licensing of viatical companies.

Also of note is that proceeds from a viatical settlement are state tax free in California and many other states. These proceeds may also be federally tax free if specific qualifications are met: that the seller of the policy have an estimated life expectancy of 24 months or less, AND they deal only with licensed viatical companies. In states where no licensing is required, the viatical company must follow the guidelines set forth by the NAIC for the federal tax exemption to apply.

As of last year, a new product, offered by the viatical industry exclusively for seniors, over 75, has been developed. We follow the same concept of converting life insurance into cash but offer this to seniors with or without health problems.

Fiedler Financial is a national company representing people who wish to convert their life insurance policies into cash. For more information, we may be contacted at (800) 904-0114.

Carole FiedlerPresident & CEOFiedler FinancialMill Valley

Time for campaign spending limits

I am writing this letter as a citizen of Los Altos Hills concerned with the influence of campaign spending on representative government. Editorials in your paper by some of the candidates this year show large disagreements over the figures.

A letter received this week by the Los Altos Civic Association added fuel by accusing one of the candidates of being a sore loser and bad at math. The hostile claims and counterclaims concern me.

To uncover the facts, I went to the town hall and acquired copies of the campaign disclosure statements, signed by the candidates. The data from the summary sheet, form 490, shows that the winning candidates outspent the others by a margin of 3 to 1 when the in-kind contributions were included. Considering that the election was far from a landslide, I can't help but wonder if spending has gotten out of hand, permitting a few large contributors to have undue influence in shaping the town's direction. It is time to establish spending limits for future elections.

Richard LamparterLos Altos Hills

Students should not live in fear

In light of the tragedy at Columbine High School, I have a few things that I would like to say.

These were real people. They lived, they got dumped, they had friends, they went to the mall and the movies; they did everything that all of us do. They died before their time.They deserved a chance at life.

I think the scary thing for people around the nation is that it could have been them.

I live in a suburban neighborhood, similar to Littleton. If you walked around our campus on April 21, everything would have appeared normal. But, if you looked closer, you would have seen the silver and blue ribbons in people's hair, the ribbon around people's arms, commemorating the victims. We know. We're not dumb.

It seems as though everyone is searching for someone to blame. It was the parents, it's society, it's the pressures of life, its the violence in the media, it's the behavior of teenagers, it's the cruelness that results from the hurt of feeling left out. I say, yes, it's all of them.

People don't realize how hard teenagers have it. I don't know how often I've heard a parent say that their children are exhausted because they stayed up until 3 a.m. studying; how many times I've seen someone walk by me in the halls, crying out of sheer frustration and disappointment because they don't feel that they're good enough.

Most of us can handle it. These two young men let the pressure and feeling of neglect eat away at them until there was nothing but hatred left. And then they burst in a murderous rampage that killed 15 people.

Now we can push it to the back of our minds and say that it will never happen to use. There isn't anyone like that I know, and if there was, I'd tell somebody. That's wonderful, but the reason that these people burst is because they weren't noticed. If you don't notice them, how do you stop them? We need to stop this so that no more innocent, ambitious, fun, loving, caring teenagers and teachers die. Guns need to be placed somewhere where kids cannot use them, or they need to be banished. These young men were able to obtain materials to make numerous bombs that they planted around the school. How did they have access to these materials?

Parents need to interact with their children. I realize that so many parents work, but that's no excuse. It takes 10 minutes to chat with your child about his or her day It takes five seconds to tell them you love them.

However big or little of a step you take, make one. Write to a congressman, the president. But this cannot happen again. The children of America should not have to live in fear.

L. White

15-year-old student

Mountain View High School