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Pajaro residents deserve
a real fix to levee
The Pajaro River flood is the perfect case of closing the barn door after the horse leaves.
This river has flooded numerous times in years past inundating Pajaro and Watsonville yet nothing substantial was done to the levee other than minimal repair consisting of rock and dirt. Apathy and indifference prevailed until The Mercury News and other media outlets brought the plight of the residents to light and now the ball is hopefully rolling to rectify the problem permanently.
Sadly, disparity is evident regarding Pajaro. To prevent this from happening again, the offending levee needs concrete embankments similar to a canal or aqueduct. Also, new development in the form of retail such as Walmart will give it a huge employment boost and complement the agricultural jobs.
The Pajaro residents are the salt of the earth and agriculture is the heart of the valley.
Gary V. Plomp
Gilroy
Federal policy set up
SVB for failure
Silicon Valley Bank partly contributed to its failure by buying too many safe securities when interest rates were low. Had rates remained low and inflation subdued, SVB could have sold these securities to cover loan losses.
But when the Fed belatedly raised rates to fight inflation, it increased defaults among SVB’s borrowers that SVB could only cover by selling its low-interest-rate securities at a loss. But they were in good company with the chairman of the Federal Reserve, who thought inflation and rates would remain low despite highly inflationary government spending.
What the days of near-zero rates and excessive government spending gave with one hand, it took away with inflation and higher rates that hurt everyone from consumers to companies and banks.
Ed Kahl
Woodside
Irresponsible SVB
must be accountable
Re: “SVB’s story mirrors tech’s booms and busts” (Page A1, March 19).
Silicon Valley Bank, which was established in the early 1980s, disappeared in a spectacular fashion recently, after a run on deposits, shocking the banking industry, rocking the U.S. economy, and disrupting global markets.
The bank, which focused on the technology sector, was born out of a poker game between two tennis buddies, Bob Medearis and Bill Biggerstaff, and their close friends, including a Lockheed engineer and a Memorex executive, who all chipped in $10,000 each. Unfortunately, mismanagement was rampant in the last nine months, where the bank was left without a head of risk management. While other banks diversified their portfolios to hedge against changing tides, Silicon Valley Bank “bet” big on interest rates staying low.
This is the type of behavior that firms must be held accountable for. Silicon Valley Bank should be liquidated or purchased by more responsible custodians.
Grant Cozzi
San Jose
Apple, county must do
more to house teachers
Re: “Teacher housing on Apple-owned site?” (Page A1, March 9).
In response to Marisa Kendall’s article on teacher housing, at first glance, it is exciting to hear that there is new teacher housing coming to Cupertino. Yet, the housing will not be built for several years.
In the Cupertino Unified School District, the entry-level teacher salary with a BA degree is only $70,925, compared to the $73,103 mentioned in the article. This, combined with the more than $3,000 average monthly rent in Cupertino, only becomes more dismal, making rent account for more than 50% of teachers’ monthly incomes. In fact, the Milpitas Unified School District even asked families to rent out rooms in their homes to teachers because of teachers leaving the area due to unaffordable housing.
Apple should help fund the project as Meta did for Palo Alto. Also, the county needs to step up securing funding; otherwise, we may risk having more teachers leave the area.
Joshua Chinn
San Jose
Changing college life
imperils Greek system
I have direct experience with how Greek life has changed over time as a member of a sorority, and it is evident that this once-popular institution is dwindling.
The evolving views and ideals of college students are one factor in this. Nowadays, many young people choose a college experience that is more accessible and varied than the exclusive, closed-off world of fraternities and sororities. Greek life has a negative reputation due to misconceptions. Colleges and universities are now scrutinizing and regulating Greek life more closely because of this. Greek life has been impacted by the growth of social media and online forums, which have made it difficult for students to feel accepted by their peers.
All of this has led to the demise of Greek life. It remains to be seen if these organizations will be able to adapt and flourish in the shifting social climate of college life.
Abigail Bernal
San Jose
