Concern over UC Berkeley
Regarding “Fraternity parties lead to 47 new coronavirus cases at UC Berkeley” (July 8): The news of the outbreak of 47 new COVID19 cases at UC Berkeley is concerning for the university, but for the Berkeley community, this outbreak shows how dangerous bringing back students will be for the residents of Berkeley. UC Berkeley is an urban campus built into the city of Berkeley; there is no way to separate students from the community. And it is a pipe dream to believe that students can be stopped from socializing in groups. If or how the campus opens up is not only a university decision. All the sacrifice that the community has made to control the virus, save lives and help the economy will be upended. The residents need to have a voice in how the campus opens up. I hope that our city government will insist on this and that the university will recognize its responsibility to the city that hosts the university.
Henry Gehman, Berkeley
Coronavirus spread rapidly
Not mentioned in the news story “Testing delays as U.S. passes grim milestone” ( July 9), about our country now having passed 3 million coronavirus cases in four months, is the fact that it took only 28 days for it to go from 2 million to 3 million cases! Anyone who believes President Trump’s assertion that this health scourge will simply disappear is living, along with him, in an alternate reality.
Karl Gustaffson, Half Moon Bay
Trump at risk for infection
Regarding “Gender disparity: Why men get sicker and die more often” ( July 9): It’s somewhat surprising to learn that COVID19 wreaks more havoc on men than women.
And if the cause of this disparity is due to a biological factor of higher testosterone levels and the fact that men, in general, engage in more unhealthy and risky behaviors, then a certain junkfoodeating and nonmaskwearing individual in the White House should be placed on high alert for his vulnerability to contracting the coronavirus.
Francine TompkinsOliviera, Berkeley
Send Barron to public school
Concerning “Trump threatens cuts if schools don’t reopen” ( July 9): My question, after reading that President Trump is demanding that all schools resume normal schedules for the fall, and complaining that his own public health officials’ safety guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus are impractical and too expensive, is this: Mr. President, are you willing to send your youngest son, Barron Trump, to a local public school this fall, as a gesture of solidarity with the millions of parents who are concerned about their own kids’ wellbeing during this ongoing health crisis?
Gloria Curazon, Daly City
Classrooms won’t be safe
No good will come from President Trump’s insistence that schools reopen this September. Just like when he announced that states be “liberated” and allowed to prematurely jumpstart their economies, he is being both foolish and wrongheaded about kids returning to campuses too soon. As a former elementary school teacher, I know what it takes to make classrooms clean and safe. The president’s plan is destined to fail. By midOctober, the number of students with COVID19 will require public schools coasttocoast to immediately close. And when that happens, Trump will blame teachers unions. He will say they conspired to disrupt schools two to three weeks before the November election. Nothing could be further from the truth. All he has to do is look in the mirror. That’s right, sir. You and your misguided educational policies will, in part, be to blame for your defeat. Not the tens of thousands of students home sick or hospitalized with the coronavirus.
Denny Freidenrich, Laguna Beach, Orange County
Double standard in policing
Regarding “Suspect in doctor’s slaying hospitalized with gunshot wound” ( July 9): Once again, we see the white perpetrator of a particularly heinous crime represented as “off somewhat” and “had some mental health issues” — and not as a killer who terrorized and murdered numerous innocent people. It was stated that “none of his crimes previously involved weapons.” What does that have to do with the brutality of this crime? He also ran a police checkpoint, where “at least one officer fired a weapon.” Really? Had this identified and confirmed killer been of color, he would have never made it to the checkpoint — he would have been killed by multiple gunshots before he got close. This gentleman is now “recovering” in a local hospital from a gunshot wound.
Jennifer Blackburn, San Rafael
It’s selfish to not wear a mask
Despite the state mandate to wear masks and practice physical distancing, the infection rate continues to rise in California. We are proving to be a nation of selfinterested, irresponsible people who will take the entire country down in the name of individual freedom.
Those who refuse to wear masks are subscribing, perhaps unwittingly, to the herd immunity approach of dealing with this virus. If that is the road we are going to take, then many of those who are older, sick, Black or Hispanic will become collateral damage in a dangerous experiment being performed by default upon the American public.
Helen Ogden, Pacific Grove, Monterey County