Downtown changes
We are most concerned about the proposed changes to our downtown Los Altos.
For one thing, why do we need a new park? There is a wonderful park which is heavily used, just across Foothill Expressway. And several other excellent park areas serving all the residents of Los Altos, downtown or otherwise.
Our most pressing concern is parking. We live downtown, and we see every day that 99% of the available parking is full during open hours for our downtown shops and restaurants. This does not vary by season.
What with pressure from the state for the city to eliminate these parking lots in favour of mega-housing projects, and the additional “plans” for the park, we can visualise our downtown dying before our very eyes. Good ecological intentions or not, people will only come here if they can find a parking place. And no one likes an underground garage, or an ugly above-ground parking structure.
We urge the city council to put any major changes to our town to a popular vote.
They fail to act as our elected representatives if they do not do so.
Don and Lizebeth Burch
Los Altos
Issues with federal funding cuts to biomedical research
“How are you?” These are often the first words we say or hear when greeting others. As we age, the answer to this question increasingly rests on health – ours and of those we love. If we can all agree on anything, it’s that we want ourselves and our loved ones to be healthy. Additionally, when we get injured or sick we expect that our care will be optimized with the latest, greatest technologies. We expect that cutting edge advances like robotic surgery, stem cell therapy, immunotherapy, or gene editing will reduce our pain and suffering, accelerate our recovery, and save our lives. Yet, the process by which new, more effective treatments become available doesn’t cross our minds. Who is doing the work? Who pays for the process? How long does it take? Who assures that these new treatments are safe and effective?
Trust me when I say, these advances don’t just fall from the sky. The treatments we benefit from today were initiated years, sometimes decades ago by dedicated scientists and their trainees, working hard within universities and academic medical centers. Consider the development of diagnoses and treatments for osteoporosis, which affects over 14 million people in the US. These medical advances evolved from NIH-funded research on bone biology and biomechanics that began in the 1980s, and ultimately uncovered the critical cellular and molecular mechanisms that formed the basis for current drugs. This academic work not only serves to make the discoveries with therapeutic potential but also trains the next generation of scientists that will continue the work into the future.
I guarantee you that the recent de-prioritization of biomedical research and the funding cuts to universities will slow our progress of translating new therapies to clinical reality and to your benefit. This may not seem like a problem for you now, but just like a choice to not wear a seatbelt when you drive, this is a gamble and could have catastrophic consequences. Your hard-earned tax dollars that go to the NIH aren’t wasted expenses, but investments in our collective future health.
So, when you say or hear “how are you,” please think about how the trajectory of your health over a lifetime extends to include the health of the biomedical research ecosystem. What treatments will you and/or your loved one’s need in the future? Will they be there when you need them?
Our biomedical research infrastructure has been the envy of the world but is now under threat. If we have a weak or sick biomedical research infrastructure, this will inevitably lead to a weaker and sicker population over the coming decades. Please say something. Advocate for your future health via continued NIH funding and support of academic research.
Jeffrey Lotz, Ph.D.
