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Council must take lead
on improving shelter
Re: “San Jose’s animal shelter is a disgrace. It needs leadership” (Page A6, Sept. 16).
It was very upsetting to read yet more complaints about the San Jose Animal Care & Services Center.
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I strongly suggest that each and every member of the San Jose City Council take an unannounced, unplanned and unescorted visit to the shelter. Ask yourselves: What do I see? Hear? Smell? Then strike up a conversation with a few of the workers. Ask about upcoming training classes. Ask if they are getting enough donations or what more is needed. Say hello to the rows of kittens off the main room of the lobby. In other words, be like Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard and practice “management by walking around,” part of The HP Way.
District boundaries don’t matter. Your vote impacts them. We must be the eyes and ears for these sentient beings that are in the shelter. They depend on us. We can do better. We must do better.
Tina Morrill
San Jose
Nation’s college grads
need a Marshall Plan
Young Americans are discovering that the old promise of “go to college, work hard, and you will find a good job” no longer holds. For the first time in four decades, graduates face higher unemployment than the general population, The Atlantic noted.
Artificial intelligence is worsening the crisis. CEOs admit AI could erase half of all entry-level white-collar jobs. Entry-level postings are down 35% since 2023, with some firms cutting graduate hiring by 50%, Bloomberg TV reported. Without a first rung, the ladder to opportunity collapses.
California illustrates the strain: unemployment is 5.4%, electricity bills average $186 , and first-time homebuyers are older than ever.
We need a Marshall Plan for young Americans before AI accelerates this crisis further.
Jason Park
San Jose
Trump has used killing
to further divide country
President Bush, on numerous occasions, talked about how we cannot use political violence as a way to further divide Americans by targeting political opponents.
President Obama said that rather than using the weight of the United States government to support extremist views, we need to fight for democracy.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, has used the Charlie Kirk assassination to further divide our country by placing blame on “the radical left” and unleashing his supporting cast to go after political opponents.
I’m fearful of what our country will become with Trump as our president.
Woody DeMayo
Los Altos
Trump policies sacrifice
the First Amendment
So much for the First Amendment. Publicly disagree with the Trump administration and you can lose your job and even face prosecution, as they define any opposition as hate speech. This is “1984” and “Brave New World” at our doorstep.
And these things are happening daily in the face of Charlie Kirk’s death. If you do not revere him, you are traitorous. It’s hard for me to comprehend what’s happening in this country, and I wonder how we will ever redress this disastrous turn of events. We used to believe voting and marches and protests would have an impact on policy. We used to believe that the press was inveterate and free. We used to allow satire and irony and humor in political criticism.
With the silencing of any opposition, I fear for the loss of these inalienable rights that once were ensured by our Constitution.
Claudia Parker
San Jose