Victims who go through long trials deserve more
Metal fatigue may be part of a flight’s engine failure
Metal fatigue has been associated with the type of engine failure experienced with Southwest Flight 1380.
The media suggests that it was unusual for this type of failure to occur at cruising altitude. They questioned why the failure did not occur during takeoff and/or landing. Fatigue is a process of step-wise progression of a flaw in the turbine blade over time. At some point, the flaw becomes “critical” in terms of size, and failure occurs. Critical size depends on the stress on the rotating blade and the size of the flaw. Think about this. Normal engine operation can extend the flaw. A stress can cause a larger, growing flaw to be critical today, that wasn’t last week. Last week the flaw was smaller. Similar stresses were tolerated.
Knowing that fatigue has occurred does not mean that it was causal. Even an undetected minor scratch may initiate fatigue. The cause of this failure is not yet known.
— Patrick P. Pizzo, Professor
Emeritus, Materials Engineering, San Jose State
University
Swift ruling on motorized scooters is a safety issue
Today’s article by Julia Prodis Sulek (“City disciplines ‘spoiled brats’,” Page A1, April 18) shows how the city of San Francisco has reacted so responsibly to the sudden and dangerous appearance of motorized scooters on our city streets.
The vehicles showed up without city permits and without infrastructure and without regulations. They are ridden and parked on sidewalks without any thought to the safety of pedestrians. San Francisco’s city attorney issued “cease and desist” orders against the three companies operating them until rules, regulations and permits can be fixed.
Unfortunately, San Jose is being much more blasé and lenient, giving the city’s Department of Transportation until September to come up with a framework for permits and regulations.
I wonder how many injuries might happen to pedestrians by then to make Mayor Liccardo and the San Jose city attorney realize that something should’ve been done immediately.
Wildfires harm our health and health of planet, too
Regarding the article “Wildfire smoke hurts heart, not just lungs, new study finds” (Page B1, April 16), I am more concerned than ever about the farreaching and multiplying effects on health related to climate change. The burning of fossil fuels directly contributes to heart disease, cancer, stroke and lung disease and also negatively affects children with asthma.
While wildfires are part of California’s natural world, they are occurring more frequently, are more intense and occur yearround instead of seasonally due to hotter, drier weather.
In order to decrease carbon emissions, Congress could enact a carbon fee and dividend plan that would ease the transition to renewables and enable our economy to continue to grow. We need to act now to make the world a healthier place.
“Why didn’t you come forward earlier?” It’s a question many victims of sexual assault are asked when they work up the bravery to talk about their trauma.
But, can you really blame them when so many perpetrators of sexual violence such as ex-Stanford swimmer Brock Turner are let off the hook so easily?
I believe Judge Aaron Persky did irrevocable damage to faith in our judicial system by giving Turner only six months, after putting the victim through a grueling trial.
Please join me in voting yes to recall Judge Persky, and support survivors by demanding a justice system that actually means justice.
City closes road for fringe political event
Traversing downtown San Mateo Thursday, traffic was snarled due to closure of East Third Avenue adjacent to El Camino. This event was not a public one, however, but a “blockchain party” hosted by Tim Draper, and his eponymous “university.”
A web search of this blockchain party reveals grandiose predictions for ” … a new epoch…” that is expressly political in orientation and specifically focused on electoral influence. Draper is the same fellow whose highest political ambition is funding an initiative to create two more red states for the MAGA crowd to celebrate, and which would have the effect of marginalizing our state of California as the national and world leader it now is.
Why on earth the city of San Mateo would provide support for this event, to promote the speculative business and fringe political interests of this enterprise, truly boggles the mind. What were they thinking?