Letters for July 17, 2003

Guns best for kids
Re “Holy smokin’ guns in schools” [RN&R, News, July 3]:

I am a member of the Washoe County School District Police Department who read your article concerning the arming school police issue. Points were made on both sides of the issue, but the major question is, what is in the best interest of the students? Students, faculty members and visitors coming on campus should be afforded a safe environment. School police are dedicated to providing such an environment, and, as many people know, the world around us is in constant change. Foreseeable changes should be dealt with and not handled through crisis management, where the potential to make bad decisions is more likely. The more students who are enrolled, the more incidents of violence will occur. It seems simple to forecast that there will be more incidents of violence in the schools.

What would be a correct course of action, to leave things as they are, or wait until an incident occurs and deal with repercussions?

Name withheld
via e-mail

Your metaphor is fishy
Re “Fishers of money” [RN&R, Editorial, July 3]:

The problem with the RN&R editorial this week is that the fishing metaphor it used did not portray reality as it exists. Let’s look at Nevada from the perspective of a fishing metaphor more closely. Nevada has two very large public fishing holes, one near Las Vegas, and one near Reno. There are laws that force you to fish in those public reservoirs. You are assigned a boat with a bunch of others and sent to a specific spot on the lake, called a district. There you are taught by people in the boat, who work for the Consolidated District Fish Instruction Administrator, that it really doesn’t matter how many fish you catch, so long as you show up every day and pretend to feel good about fishing. You have to buy licenses, obey regulations and give up half your catch for the privilege of fishing in the public lake. The best fishing is where the river enters the lake, but if your district is at the opposite end where there are few fish, you can’t fish the best spots unless you are willing to move your family into a home that corresponds to that fishing district. If you leave the lake entirely, and fish in a private lake nearby, you still have to turn over half your fish to the Consolidated District Fish Instruction Administrator. There is a Washington, D.C., Administrator also, who arbitrarily keeps damming and undamming the river, making fishing more difficult. The local Fish Instructor Administrators were supposed to protect you from all that outside interference, but all they seem to do is take half your fish and write more rules for you to follow. Sound familiar? Then let’s applaud those legislators who are standing up for Nevada by opposing the Guinn Tax Increases.

Brendan Trainor
Reno

What planet are you from?
Re “Ousting Bush in 2004” [RN&R, View from the fray, July 3]:

Do you think Deidre Pike may just be a lesbian? After reading the piece she had in the RN&R, I feel she would love to turn Nevada into another Vermont, or, better yet, let’s get a liberal like Howard Dean in the White House. Then we can turn not only California into a further mess, but we could follow with Nevada. I hate to see the Reno News & Review become a political outlook for campaigning candidates. Howard Dean’s ideas best stay in Vermont.

Ed Bottel
via e-mail

Thanks for noticing
Re “Teens on the run” [RN&R, Cover, July 10]:

I am sure I am not the first one to write about this week’s paper, but I thought I was going crazy when I was missing a page from the “Teens” story. I checked online, and sure enough, the whole story was there. Just wanted to say you’ve got a great paper. Never mind the Bob Grimm naysayers. Whether he’s right or wrong, he is always entertaining. My only beefs are that you took out the recommended places to eat, and “Red Meat” doesn’t have more space.

Paul Carlson
via e-mail