Traffic is too fast in Bird Rock
Nicole Hadfield is absolutely correct that cars are speeding through and ignoring signs on Bird Rock streets (“Resident behind ‘Slow down’ graffiti discusses motives and backlash,” May 23, La Jolla Light).
I bike through the area, avoiding La Jolla Boulevard, and am often nearly run over by speeding cars.
More enforcement and four-way stops are needed at every intersection, as well as reducing the maximum speed limit to 20 mph. Twenty is plenty!
Hal Anthony
Right objective, wrong approach
While I agree with Nicole [Hadfield] that residents drive too fast and do not observe stop signs, I don’t agree with her method in trying to stop the offenders single-handed.
The written messages and the slurry cover-up has made a mess in our neighborhood and is sending a message that it is acceptable to break laws if you think it is justifiable.
Might I suggest she attend Bird Rock Community Council meetings and communicate directly with Joe LaCava, our City Council representative. I believe this would be a better path going forward.
Joanne Cobble
Time for updated protections on electromagnetic fields
Federal regulations protect us only from the thermal risk from short-term exposure to radio-frequency radiation (RFR). The federal limits ignore the preponderance of peer-reviewed science that has found harmful biological or health effects from exposure to non-thermal levels of RFR on humans and wildlife (“Planned wireless antennas in La Jolla Presbyterian Church tower raise concerns,” May 23, La Jolla Light).
Cell towers were the largest source of environmental RFR exposure in a six-nation study my colleagues and I published in the journal Environment International. For a summary of research on cell tower health effects, see my website saferemr.com.
Three years ago, I helped launch the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields, a consortium of scientists, engineers and health professionals dedicated to ensuring the protection of humans and other species from the harmful effects of electromagnetic fields.
The commission’s analysis of the best peer-reviewed science concluded that “urgently needed are health protective exposure limits for humans and the environment. These limits must be based on scientific evidence rather than on erroneous assumptions, especially given the increasing worldwide exposures of people and the environment to RFR, including novel forms of radiation from 5G telecommunications, for which there are no adequate health effects studies.”
It is time for Congress to update the 1996 Telecommunications Act and require the Federal Communications Commission to adopt RFR standards that protect public, occupational and environmental health from adverse biological effects caused by exposure to non-thermal levels of RFR.
Joel Moskowitz
UC Berkeley School of Public Health
UCSD walkout claims ignore realities
It is hard to find the words to express my anger after reading the reprinted article in the Light [from City News Service] about some students and faculty’s staged walkout at UC San Diego, featuring this unchallenged and untrue quote from so-called lecturer Leslie Meyer: “All people of conscience have woken up to the fact that the apartheid state of Israel, with total U.S. backing, is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” (“UCSD students and faculty stage walkout in call for university to divest from Israel,” May 16).
Israel is not an apartheid state! Israel is not committing genocide! And the U.S. is not backing both lies. However, it is irrefutable that Meyer is parroting radical Islamist and Hamas anti-Semitic hate.
Israel is America’s No. 1 ally and the most democratic of all Middle East countries. Twenty percent of Israel’s citizens are Palestinian/Arabs, with more rights than citizens of any other state in the Middle East.
Israel gave a thriving Gaza territory to so-called Palestinian refugees nobody else wanted in 2005. Hamas turned it into a weapon to attack Israel and started the current war with an unspeakably savage invasion.
They hide in underground tunnels, using Gaza civilians as human shields. They will not release innocent hostages and deny Israel’s right to exist. The war would be over if Hamas surrendered.
Alan Segal
UCSD needs to be a better neighbor
Regarding your recent article about the projected growth of UCSD, it seems the college does what it wants, with no regard to the connected neighborhoods (“UC San Diego increases long-term campus population estimate to 96,300,” May 9, La Jolla Light).
As a native La Jollan, I’ve witnessed the growth of the campus from Day 1. It seems they make plans without local citizens’ input. Traffic, housing, water and environmental are just a few of the impacts the college already has.
Maybe they could also contribute to the local communities to offset their footprint.
Palmer Hughes III
Homelessness count shows need for more affordable housing
The recent Point in Time count reveals a troubling trend: Unsheltered homelessness in San Diego County rose 18 percent over the past year, with over 6,000 individuals living on the streets or in vehicles (“Unsheltered homelessness rises in city of San Diego to nearly 3,500 in latest count,” May 30, La Jolla Light).
This is unacceptable in a prosperous region like ours.
The primary driver is clear: a severe shortage of affordable housing. The San Diego area has underbuilt housing for decades, causing rents to skyrocket. When over half your income goes to housing, homelessness is often one crisis away.
In this context, Gov. [Gavin] Newsom’s proposed cuts to homeless assistance programs like HHAP [Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention] would be a major setback. We should preserve this critical aid in the short term.
However, advocates are also taking the wrong approach by focusing so heavily on emergency shelters. These are a Band-Aid, not a long-term fix.
The real solution lies in building more housing. We need to reduce burdens and requirements for affordable projects, allow apartments to be built in more parts of the county and increase funding for affordable housing. A regional approach is also key, as homelessness crosses city lines.
San Diego has the tools to become a model city where everyone has access to affordable housing. Mayor [Todd] Gloria and the City Council should more aggressively champion policies to accelerate housing developments. By combining short-term aid with an all-out push to build housing, we can make real progress.
Saad Asad
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