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Butterflies’ resilience
a sign of hope for all
Thank you for the great article on the Bay Area Monarch Boom (“A boom of butterflies,” Page A1, Nov. 1). I have been observing a similar phenomenon in the overwintering sites at Santa Cruz over the past few years.
While the scientists continue to promote a theory of entropy, residents have been observing the opposite in the monarch population. While the numbers of monarchs migrating to overwintering sites have declined, the monarch population throughout Santa Cruz has been booming, creating a “Santa Cruz Paradox.”
This supports the theory of evolution into a non-migratory species, by Dr. Anurag Aruwal, an evolutionary biologist at Cornell. He has confirmed my conclusions showing that migration is an evolvable trait, and the monarchs are not under any threat to go extinct, but the migratory phenomenon may be at risk of going extinct.
This is a great sign of hope for this magnificent species, as well as for humanity and the planet. Welcome monarchs.
Fiona Fairchild
Santa Cruz
San Jose should get
tougher on litter issue
I am appalled at the amount of garbage littered all around the city of San Jose.
As I drive around San Jose, I have noticed an abundance of garbage on our city’s sidewalks as well as nearby roads and highways. The illegal dumping has gotten worse as the years have passed. It is disheartening and revolting to see our community littered with garbage.
City officials should hire more workers for regular clean-ups and impose hefty penalties for violators. These efforts would not only beautify the city but also be sanitary for the sake of public health. If the city continues to ignore this issue, the pollution will continue to harm the environment.
The city of San Jose needs to impose stricter laws and regulations on illegal dumping and make a stronger commitment to the cleaning and maintenance of the city.
Suzanne Soares
San Juan Bautista
Vaccinated children
should still mask up
I felt worried after reading that kids 5-11 can be free of masks after getting the COVID-19 vaccine (“Shots for ages 5-11 get CDC approval,” Page A1, Nov. 3).
It was great when the Centers for Disease Control approved using Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids 5-11. However, vaccination is aimed at reducing the risk of COVID-19 infection. That does not mean children won’t be able to get the virus after vaccination. Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has over 90% effectiveness, meaning 10% of vaccinated people get the virus. The fact is that as of July 30, more than 125,000 fully vaccinated Americans have tested positive for COVID, and about 1,400 of those have died. I am one of those thousands of Americans who got positive for COVID-19 after five months fully vaccinated.
How many kids 5-11 will get positive for COVID-19 after vaccination if they do not continue wearing masks? Do not encourage vaccinated children to remove masks because it is dangerous to their safety.
Thu Mai
San Jose
Vaccine attacks virus’s
freedom, not yours
Re. “No, vaccine mandates are not an attack on freedom,” Page A9, Nov. 3:
Mask and vaccine mandates are not an attack on freedoms in America. Rather, these mandates are in place to restrict the freedom of the COVID virus to spread and reproduce in available hosts — us.
So why would you give a free pass to the virus to grow by the millions in your lungs? Being unmasked and unvaccinated gives the virus the freedom to move in and use your body like a parasite uses its host.
And then when it has either overcome your ability to live, or you’ve fought back and beat it down, you may continue to suffer residual COVID health effects.
Bottom line — don’t give up your life to a virus; instead, block the virus’s freedom to attack you and take charge. You and your fellow Americans might end up healthier.
Patricia Faust
Menlo Park
In the age of COVID,
GI Bill needs an update
Re. “GI Bill benefits may be lost for college students who don’t comply with vaccination mandate,” Nov. 3:
I was frustrated after reading the article regarding GI Bill benefits for college students, specifically veterans.
The GI Bill requires veterans to take one class on campus in person, thus forcing them to get the COVID-19 vaccine due to the mandates imposed. Many of these student-veterans refuse to get the vaccine because of their religion. But, if they refuse, they can’t take in-person classes, and so the money they receive to aid them in paying for their housing will be reduced from over $3,000 to just $900.
The GI Bill needs to be changed so that student-veterans can opt to take all classes online and still receive the full aid amount or a reduced amount but still more than $900. Education is key for these people’s futures as well as California’s, and they should be given the proper aid whether that education is obtained online or in person.
Mason Cortum
San Jose
Source: www.mercurynews.com