How can we make this more viewable?

Question, both opinion and technical.
We've had a couple of folks complain that one part on our forum is hard to read, especially for the folks in the over 50 age group (laugh, you'll ALL be there someday!) or those using older or smaller monitors. The navigation links, you know forum>this forum>subforum> message or whatever - or the "toggle email notification for this topic" as shown in the example.
I changed the forum colors weeks ago, and they love that, however, the links being blue, don't show up well on the blue background.
Please see image below.....
I've used the CSS file to change the links, however it changes the links EVERYWHERE. Even the links in white, then it looks sort of hoky or bad.
Once a person uses or follows a link, of course the problem is solved, it's red on blue then.
Is there a good color to use that would look great everywhere? Or, can i use a "background color" that would look good?
Where and how to change it........ I'm sure in CSS, but can I change only one, or is there a comprimise color or style?
I've used background colors assigned to text before - define the text color and the background and I could have yellow text and a green background no matter where that text is, for example.
What would you do? and how?