Letters: If Trump's extortion of UCLA succeeds, it will affect all of California
This assault extends far beyond UCLA. It endangers vital research and educational programs at UC Berkeley and UCSF that our region depends on for medical breakthroughs, technological innovation and educational excellence.
UC President James Milliken warned that 'a payment of this scale would completely devastate our country's greatest public university system,' compromising research that saves lives and drives economic growth throughout California.
While we face multiple challenges from the Trump administration, we cannot allow this attack on our premier public university system to succeed. The damage would ripple through our local economy, medical institutions and research partnerships.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged to 'fight like hell' against this extortion. Bay Area residents must contact their representatives and demand that federal funding be restored without punitive settlements that would cripple the UC system we all rely on.
The survival of UC's mission depends on our immediate action.
Mary McAllister, Oakland
Strengthen e-bike laws
Regarding '4-year-old boy killed by driver on Burlingame sidewalk identified' (Bay Area, SFChronicle.com, Aug. 11): For whatever reason, the driver who killed the boy may have been startled by an electric bike hitting her car and accelerated across the street into the restaurant.
The Burlingame police said an 11-year-old was riding the Class 2 e-bike, and there are no age restrictions or license requirements for operating them.
I do not lay blame on anyone for this tragedy. Except that there seem to be few regulations governing the use of e-bikes.
What parent lets an 11-year-old ride something that can go as fast as a car?
Elected officials need to pass laws regarding e-bikes that set age limits, regulate use on streets and sidewalks, and require mandatory safety instruction and safety gear like helmets. Parents who let kids ride e-bikes under the appropriate age should face steep fines.
In the name of the families and friends of victims, I ask lawmakers to please enact strict enforcement guidelines in the next six months to prevent any more injuries or loss of life.
Annie Cronin, San Mateo
Denounce journalist killings
I think it's important for the Chronicle, along with all newspapers, to condemn the recent killing of Al-Jazeera journalists in Gaza and the horrendous death toll of journalists during the conflict.
Since October 2023, when the war in Gaza started, 184 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel, compared to the 18 journalists and media workers killed so far in the Russia-Ukraine war, the Associated Press reported, quoting the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Violence against, and killing of, journalists is an attack on the public's right to understand what is happening in war zones. As a librarian who has focused part of my career on promoting media literacy, I think our journalistic institutions need to be clear about condemning these targeted killings.
Gregory Hom, Oakland
History repeats itself
Regarding ''Why did this happen to us? ' Japanese Americans share heartwrenching WWII incarceration memories' (U.S. & World, SFChronicle.com, Aug. 11): Thank you to reporter Ko Lyn Cheang and photographer Lea Suzuki for the timely story about the Ireichō book of names that lists the more than 125,000 Japanese Americans forcibly relocated to concentration camps during World War II.
The Irei Project's book and its two-year nationwide tour to honor every incarceration survivor are a reminder that the Trump administration's current actions are not the first time our government has persecuted innocent immigrants and Americans.
'Oh when will you ever learn?/ Oh when will you ever learn?' The words from 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone?' from the Vietnam War era still hang tragically in the air.
Judith Kirk, Redwood City
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