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To the Editor: 

I am writing in response to the article naming my neighbor, Cynthia Papermaster, who I support for the Berkeley School Board. 

Most reasonable people will agree that running an anonymous quote from a clearly angry person on the front page of your paper does Cynthia harm. 

Advocating parents' involvement and power sharing with all levels of the school district is Cynthia Papermaster's clear platform. This clear position inevitably creates fiction and opposition. 

I have known Cynthia since our daughters were born a year apart over 14 years ago. Our daughters are very close friends. 

I have been able to observe Cynthia's unwavering commitment to her daughter's schools and to our public school system for that amount of time. Time after time, I have witnessed Cynthia pour herself into a projec, selflessly and without concern for her own benefit. She is willing to exhaust herself, and risk being short and curt in public. Have no doubt, Cynthia can be single-minded and blunt. Those are two good reasons to put her on the education board. 

I have also known that Cynthia will not speak out on a subject or ask others for support until she has worked in some very direct way with that matter. Cynthia can be direct and aggressive, but I know in her heart she has great passion for what she believes. 

Direct. Honest. Forthright. Hard working. 

If you are among the hundreds of people who know Cynthia through her work with the schools, and if you are so inclined, please help her now. 

John Sloan 

Berkeley