Biggest concern about confirmation
How scary is it that one of the biggest concerns for women right now is what will happen to Roe v. Wade if Judge Brett Kavanaugh is approved for a Supreme Court appointment? It is very scary given the behavior and attitude Kavanaugh had about trying to prevent or delay a young woman in a detention center from getting an abortion until it was nearly too late.
It is totally outrageous to imagine a guy who has been accused by at least three women of having engaged in nonconsensual aggressive sex activity almost as a sport in high school and college.
I wonder if he ever considered if any of those young female victims ended up pregnant as a result of being raped by a lineup of men. Women do not get pregnant by themselves. Toni Ayres, Berkeley
Truth on victims
Regarding “Majority of sexual assault victims hesitant to report crime to police” (Open Forum, Sept. 27): Thank you Sam Liccardo, mayor of San Jose, for your timely piece in Open Forum.
It’s further evidence of the vast ignorance of our president, as well as the public at large, regarding the truth about the victims of sexual assault.
Virginia Smith, San Francsico
Add an asterisk
Regarding “What Trump is doing right with cyberattack” (Sept. 27): When National Security Adviser John Bolton promises “we will respond offensively as well as defensively” to cyberattacks from foreign powers, does he include Russia in his statement? Even though the FBI has confirmed Russian cyber interference with our 2016 presidential election and hacking into Hillary Clinton’s emails, the Trump administration has repeatedly resisted imposing significant sanctions on Russia.
Perhaps columnist Andrew Malcolm should have added an asterisk to his latest column’s title, referring to this qualifier: Excluding cyberattacks committed by a favorite autocrat.
Henrik Lundquist, Larkspur
Lowell’s standard
Regarding “Admission rules may not pass test” (Page One, Sept. 23): As a proud graduate of and father of three Lowellites, I found The Chronicle’s treatment of Lowell High School quite offensive. Thomas Atkins is quoted as saying “This isn’t England. We don’t have a system based on class.” Lowell has been a beacon of class mobility for nearly two centuries.
More than 35 percent of Lowell students are on free and reduced lunch, meaning poverty or near poverty, compared to far less than 10 percent at most other elite high schools such as Palo Alto High School, Henry M. Gunn High School, Los Gatos High School, Saratoga High School and others requiring the ability to afford an exclusive suburb, or the $40,000 plus private schools many elites buy their kids’ way into. Lowell’s admission standard is based on merit.
The kids who make it into Lowell spend thousands of hours studying, working, memorizing and reading that other kids spend other ways, by choice.
Rich or poor, if you really work hard and get the grades/ test scores, you get in. As to Mark Sanchez’s complaint as a principal his students didn’t get in, maybe he should have done a better job motivating capable kids to study longer/ harder, organizing tutoring partnerships and getting the school’s teachers and parents to convince kids to work harder and reach their potential.
Justin Van Zandt, San Francisco
Eye-opening report
Regarding “Neighbor’s long reign of torment” (Sept. 23): Heather Knight’s report on a mentally ill man’s reign of torment in Cole Valley shined a light on not only the plight of the residents Max is harassing but on him as a human being seriously in need of intervention. Once again, Knight thoroughly examines the inadequate state laws that leave mentally ill people untreated and women and girls to fend for themselves.
Knight continues to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and I commend and appreciate her unfailing expressions based on compassion and concern. She is a fine representative of journalism and we thank The Chronicle for supporting and enabling her reports.
Eileen Malone, Broadmoor Village
A call for integrity
There are two cracked steel beams at the new San Francisco Transbay Transit Center. There is a residential tower that is leaning and sinking. There are rusting bolts, cracked stabilizing rods on the new Bay Bridge. A balcony collapsed in Berkeley. Can’t we build anything any more? Where are the quality-control people?
Where are the inspectors? Have they gone the path of copy editors and proof readers?
Has pride, integrity and doing it the right way been overtaken by the desire to squeeze out every drop of profit?
William McGowan, El Sobrante