Joyful Seniors Say 'goodbye woodside' - Almanac News

EYES CAN GET SUNBURNED TOO
Like skin, eyes can become sunburned from
prolonged and cumulative exposure to ultraviolet
(UV) rays. This is especially true of children and
adolescents, who usually spend more time in the
sun than adults. The lenses of their eyes are also
more transparent then those of adults, which
translates into more harmful light reaching their
retinas. In spite of these potential dangers, a recent
survey by the American Optometric Association
reveals that 40% of Americans do not think that
UV protection is an important factor to consider
PUBLIC NOTICE
DUMBARTON BRIDGE SEISMIC RETROFIT PROJECT
Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental
Document and Opportunity to Request a Public Meeting
ENVIRONMENTAL
DOCUMENT
AVAILABLE FOR
PUBLIC REVIEW
WHAT’S
BEING
PLANNED
WHY
THIS AD
WHAT’S
AVAILABLE
WHERE YOU
COME IN
CONTACT
28 � The Almanac � June 10, 2009
when purchasing sunglasses. The survey goes on
to reveal that 61% of Americans buy sunglasses
for their children, but 23% do not check to see if
the lenses provide protection against UV rays.
The message has gotten through to most
people that too much sun is bad for the skin. But
the damage from ultraviolet rays is not limited to
the skin. Whether you jog, ride a bike, or sit in your
backyard to read, you need to wear sunglasses. At
MENLO OPTICAL, we carry lenses with UV-ray
protection and designer frames in several different
styles, colors, and sizes. If you are experiencing
eye problems, we can recommend an ophthalmologist
in the area. Call us at 322-3900, or visit
us at 1166 University Drive.
P.S. Good quality sunglasses should block out
99% of UV-A and UV-B radiation and screen out
75% to 90% of visible light.
Mark Schmidt is an American Board of Opticianry
and National Contact Lens Examiners Certified
Optician licensed by the Medical Board of California.
He can be easily reached at Menlo Optical, 1166
University Drive, Menlo Park. 650-322-3900.
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
and the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), are
seeking comment on the Initial Study/Environmental
Assessment (IS/EA) for the Dumbarton
Bridge Seismic Safety Retrofit Project.
The purpose of the project is to address seismic
safety deficiencies and current safety design
standards and to provide a seismically upgraded
vehicular crossing at the Dumbarton Bridge. The
Dumbarton Bridge is part of State Route (SR) 84
and connects the City of Fremont in Alameda
County to the City of Menlo Park and East Palo Alto
in San Mateo County.
Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA), Caltrans has studied the effects this
project may have on the environment. Findings
show the project would not significantly affect
the quality of the environment; the environmental
document is an Initial Study/Environmental Assessment
(IS/EA). This notice is to inform the public
that the IS/EA is available for review and comment.
Caltrans also offers you the opportunity to request
a public meeting on the project.
The IS/EA is available for review at the following
locations:
Caltrans
Office of Environmental Analysis
111 Grand Avenue, Oakland, CA 94612
East Palo Alto Library
2415 University Avenue, East Palo Alto, CA 94303
Fremont Library
2400 Stevenson Blvd., Fremont, CA 94538
Menlo Park Library
800 Alma Street, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Website: www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/envdocs.htm
If you would like to submit written comments on
the environmental document or request a public
meeting, please do so no later than 5 p.m., July 15,
2009. If there are no requests for a public meeting
or comments requiring additional studies, Caltrans
will respond to comments received and proceed
with the design of the proposed project.
Please submit comments or meeting request by 5
p.m., July 15, 2009 to:
Caltrans, District 4,
Office of Environmental Analysis
Attn: Maureen A. Murphy,
Associate Environmental Planner
P.O. Box 23660, Oakland, CA 94623-0660
Email: Maureen_A_Murphy@dot.ca.gov
For more information call Mo Pazooki, Project Manager,
Caltrans at (510) 286-5118.
By Dave Boyce
Almanac Staff Writer
Menlo-Atherton High
School senior Rachel
Brown had expected to
be in Manhattan at this time next
year as she finished up her freshman
year at New York University,
where she’d been accepted and had
planned to major in English.
Senior Stephanie Keith, a classmate
of Rachel’s at M-A, expected
to be a freshman at the University
of Kentucky in Lexington, thereby
fulfilling her dream and that of
her father, who died in 2007.
The recession has changed
things. Both women will now be
going to California schools —
Rachel to the University of California
at San Diego, and Stephanie
to a local community college, they
said in a recent interview on the
M-A campus.
The blows to their plans came
when their parents entered the
ranks of the unemployed.
Achieving differently
In making plans to go to
school in Kentucky as a nonresident,
Stephanie says she’d
been counting on money from
scholarships, grants and her
mother. When a back injury
sidelined her mom from her job
as a dog groomer, Stephanie had
to make new plans.
She had applied to the University
of Kentucky after a monthlong
summer visit with her father
in 2006 in and around Lexington,
which is how she came to her
impressions of the campus.
“It was really nice (and) I was
G R A D U A T I O N 2 0 0 9
Photo by Michele Le/The Almanac
Looking ahead to changed circumstances for their next year in school are Menlo-Atherton High School seniors Rachel Brown,
left, and Stephanie Keith. Both young women have had to change their college plans after their parents lost their jobs.
College, yes, but not where
these graduates had planned
Recession foils out-of-state plans for two M-A seniors
really excited about going,” Stephanie
says. “It was kind of like my
goal to fulfill that dream for (my
father) and myself.”
She had other irons in the
fire. She says she was wait-listed
at Centre College, a liberal arts
school in Kentucky, and had been
accepted to Humboldt State University
in Northern California,
and Dominican University of
California in San Rafael.
Dominican, a private school,
had offered her $30,000 in scholarships,
loans and grants, but
that left $20,000 unaccounted for
— too much, under the circumstances,
she says.
And now? Community college.
“I think Canada or Foothill. It’s
just a decision of which one,”
she says, adding that she plans to
transfer to a four-year college with
no bills, having lived at home.
Attending school locally also
means she can keep her job as a
hostess at a local pizza place, and
not lose her opportunity to become
a server and pull in as much as $150
a night in tips, she says.
“I still have my dreams,” she
says. “I’m just achieving them a
little differently.”
California bound
NYU, a private school with a
“good” reputation, had cachet for
Rachel. “I love New York and it’d
be a really interesting experience
to be somewhere else (besides
California), but it wasn’t worth the
cost difference,” she says.
Rachel was referring to about
$20,000 she would have to find for
her first year’s $55,000 expenses
for tuition, room and board. NYU
had offered her a $5,000 scholarship,
her parents had offered to
pay three-quarters of the remaining
$50,000, and she had planned
to take out a loan for the rest.
Her father is an attorney and her
mother worked for a nonprofit,
and they both lost their jobs in
the same week in February, she
says. NYU raised her scholarship
to $12,000, but with her parents
now in straitened circumstances,
the amount of her loan would
have been unacceptably high.
“Since I currently have a vague
idea of pursuing writing (as a
career) and no solid plans for my
future, I’m very cautious about
loans that I don’t know when
or how I’ll be able to pay back,”
Rachel said.
Friends seemed to ready to
pay a high price. “Some of them
are coming to terms with that
and they’ll be OK with it, but
I donít want to accumulate all
that debt,” she says.
UCSD costs half as much as NYU,
but did not offer her a scholarship,
she says. With her parents’ help, she
hopes to manage the costs.
She works summers as a camp
counselor and has a regular
baby-sitting gig on Saturday
nights. “They’re trying to help
me save up for college,” she says
of the couple who engage her to
watch their children.
With such funding difficulties,
are either of them worried about
finding the money for the other
three years of college?
“I take it as it comes,” Rachel
says.
“We’re teenagers,” adds Stephanie.
“We don’t think that far
ahead.” A