Letters to the Editor

Editor:
Be the One to Save a Life - Register Now Michelle Maykin is a 26-year-old Bay Area native, a UC Berkeley alum, a loving daughter, protective sister, incredible friend, and now - an inspiring young woman who needs your help to survive.

Because cancer is indiscriminate of age and gender, let alone kindness or warmth, Michelle is a patient with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She was first diagnosed in February 2007, but has recently learned that she is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant by June 21. To survive, Michelle needs your help. She is of Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai descent, and her most likely tissue match is someone from the same ethnic group.

Yet there is a severe shortage of minority donors. Register to be a potential bone marrow and stem cell donor. The quick process requires minimal paperwork and a simple cheek swab. If you are a match for Michelle or someone like her, the donation process isÊveryÊsimilar to giving blood. Because of the critical need for ethnic minority donors, the registration cost is free and a home test kit can be ordered at www.aadp.org. When requesting a kit online, pleaseÊindicateÊin the "additional notes" section, "For Michelle Maykin. To be expedited."

For more information about Michelle, visit the Web site at www.ProjectMichelle.com. For more information about the Asian American Donor Program, call 1-800-59-DONOR or visit the Web sites www.aadp.org or www.marrow.org.
Christine Yick

Editor:
We need to save the outbound 38 Geary Ocean Beach (called La Playa in the Transit Effectiveness Plan, or TEP), and not have it disappear in a new Muni #18 bus line that goes to the Palace of the Legion of Honor. I don't believe Muni understands the Outer Richmond (beyond 33rd Avenue), as they haven't had a meeting here in 25 years.

The Outer Richmond is the end of Muni lines, and it has two summer months with no sun and lots of wind and fog. From Balboa Street and 36th Avenue, the hills to Geary Boulevard are very steep. It takes an hour to get downtown on a local bus. I have found having to transfer on any Muni bus increases the total time by at least 30 minutes. People out here use the #38 Geary - Ocean Beach to go to Presidio Middle School and other schools, work, grocery and produce stores along Clement Street, Trader Joe's and the Kaiser clinic, hospital and emergency room. It is no fun to transfer when you are sick or when you are carrying three or four bags of groceries.

I see children, elderly and disabled on the bus. Muni doesn't quite understand that climbing bus stairs and walking two or three extra blocks is not easy if you have a chronic illness like arthritis. If you want to save the #38 Geary bus, call TEP at 701-4599, write them at 1 South Van Ness Ave., seventh floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5417, or call Supervisor Jake McGoldrick.
Vera Haile

Editor:
I was saddened to see Keith Wilson, an applicant to the Transportation Authority's Geary Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Citizen Advisory Committee (GCAC), attempt to discredit the important work being conducted by 11 citizen volunteers on behalf of their communities in the May issue of the Richmond Review. Geary is a thoroughfare that serves many neighborhoods and many individuals. Consequently, the Authority distributed an announcement of the CAC openings far and wide to ensure that a diverse pool of applicants would be selected.

We were fortunate that so many members of the public were interested in serving, but we were not surprised, given the importance of this project for the 50,000 daily riders of the 38-Geary, in addition to motorists, merchants and residents who use this busy corridor every day. The 11 members chosen by the Transportation Authority's Plans and Program Committee represent a diverse set of interests, including small and large businesses, and include four Richmond District residents. This amounts to more representation for the Richmond District than any other neighborhood along Geary Boulevard and more than the number the Board initially determined appropriate to balance the interests of the wide-variety of Geary stakeholders.

Unfortunately, Wilson and more than 60 other individuals that hoped to be members of this committee were unable to participate in that capacity because the group simply could not function effectively if all those interested were invited to serve. Still, we encourage each of these individuals and other members of the public to attend the Geary BRT CAC meetings and participate in the discussions that take place during those sessions.

In addition, there will be many other ways to be involved in the process throughout this phase of work. The Authority will be conducting a comprehensive public outreach effort to engage any and all individuals who wish to be a part of the process.
Jake McGoldrick
Chair, San Francisco County Transportation Authority

Editor:
Should Ron Miguel seek reappointment to the SF Planning Commission? Miguel was appointed recently to the Planning Commission to serve out the remaining months of Commissioner Dwight Alexander's term. But should Miguel seek reappointment for a full term?

The commission typically meets once a week. Prior to the meeting, commissioners must review the case files for each of the agenda items, which all together can be more than 1,000 pages. Should someone who has long since retired take on a commission appointment which is grueling, both in the short term and in the long term? Eileen Boken