Gender equality moves at slow pace

Regarding “California is getting women on board(s)” (Editorial, Jan. 5): It’s troubling that our state had to create legislation just to ensure that women would be guaranteed a place on the board of directors for publicly traded companies in California. When it comes to guaranteeing equality for our gender, this entire country moves at a glacial pace.

Next year will mark only the centennial of U.S. women getting the right to vote, and that event occurred almost 150 years after our country’s founding. In 2019, women are also still experiencing pay inequality in many professions, and still — even in this #MeToo era — being subjected to sexual harassment in many workplaces. Perhaps the best way to address these problems is through education. Make STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and ethics courses a prerequisite for high school graduation, and encourage publicly traded companies to partner with schools to offer paid internships to all interested students. Changing our country’s male-dominated corporate culture requires time and effort, but it can and should be done.

Michelle Wang, Mountain View

Courageous woman

Regarding “Female flier’s name sought on airport” (Bay Area, Jan. 6): Tiffany Miller of Walnut Creek makes a compelling case for naming Oakland International Airport for the late Maggie Gee of Berkeley. Gee’s honorable service as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II, as well as her determination to fight through the racism and sexism that prevailed at her time, certainly merits this honor.

Moreover, Gee’s name on the Oakland International Airport would be a continual reminder to Oaklanders and people everywhere to keep finding the courage to rise above and strive to make a difference.

Michael Traynor, Burlingame

Big Brother forecast

As someone who has downloaded the Weather Channel app, I’m not surprised to read “Forecast: See you in court” (Daily Briefing, Jan. 5), which revealed that this app deceptively collected, shared and profited from the location information of millions of U.S. consumers.

I suspected something Big Brotherlike was going on when my local low and high temperature forecasts, for no apparent reason, kept reading 19 and 84.

Hector Maldonado, Tracy

For the love of dogs

Regarding “Dogs have their day as uniters in our lonely, partisan society” (Insight, Jan. 6): As the proud owner of a spirited and adorable French bulldog, I echo many of the sentiments about canines expressed by columnist Jonah Goldberg.

Not only are our dogs antidotes for loneliness, but they are also sources of true, unconditional love.

And while Goldberg mentions that dogs bridge the partisan divide, he fails to note that our current partisan president is the first in many generations to not have a “first pooch” in the White House. Sadly, President Trump’s inflated ego sees pets as a source of competition. The only time he even mentions dogs is when he uses the word to insult others.

Jean Louis Cook, San Francisco

Health care reform

For a productive 2019, maybe Congress could start having earnest discussions about health care reform. It seems to have gotten lost in all the noise. Pretty please?

Bob Young, San Jose

Absurd remedies

Regarding “Fires put PG&E’s future in doubt” (Page One, Jan. 5): Both remedies to Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s chronic safety problems are absurd. If you were unable to safely operate the two cars in your driveway, would you simply sell one to pay for the ongoing carnage? PG&E’s profit motive hinders its ability to safely operate either the gas or electricity division. It’s time the California Public Utilities Commission makes PG&E a public utility before the next inevitable wildfire or gas explosion.

Michael Dawson, Lafayette

Offer a concession

Regarding “Call Trump’s bluff on border security” (Letters, Jan. 7): Sure to fall on deaf ears: A letter writer’s suggestion for rational compromise on border security to end President Trump’s government shutdown. This overdone impasse isn’t about deciding what logically would be best for our country.

It’s about providing “Don the Con” with an ostensibly positive outcome, however insignificant or counterproductive, one that he thinks can be spun into a “big win.” Perhaps the only way to end the shutdown is for Democrats to offer a concession that Trump can’t resist: deferment of impeachment proceedings, say, for another year.

Edward Alston, Santa Maria

Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle Certain former governors of California understood the benefits of dogs.