Letters for April 12, 2012

Closed email policy

Re “UNR and library divert email” (Upfront, March 29):

Emails cannot be sent directly to a member of the Board of Trustees of the Washoe County Library, as is stated in the article by Dennis Myers. Due to security concerns of the Washoe County Technology Service Department, emails submitted via a Washoe County web page, including the Library’s website, cannot be directed or auto-forwarded to a destination outside the county network, such as the personal mailbox of a library board member.

In addition, as private citizens who are not Washoe County employees, board members can send emails to county mailboxes, but they are unable to access such mailboxes and view their contents. Because of this situation, in early 2008 the Trustees addressed the issue of enabling the public to communicate with the board by directing first that a county mailbox be set up to receive emails that individuals wish to send to the board; secondly, that a link be set up on the library’s web site by which individuals could send emails to the library board mailbox; and thirdly that the library director be authorized to access the mailbox regularly so that all pertinent emails could be forwarded to the individual library trustees.

Since March 2008, when the county mailbox for the library board was created, the only emails not forwarded by the director are those that are categorized as spam. The library staff is currently examining other options for library board e-mail, but at present the County mailbox is the most workable solution.

The article also made reference to library hours on Easter Sunday of this year. At its March 21 meeting, the board voted to approve closing the two branches on April 8 that are normally open on Sundays. The issue of whether to have libraries with Sunday hours open on Easter in 2013 and future years will be addressed by the library staff and/or the board.

Alfred W. Stoess
Washoe County Library

Not an empowered woman

Re “The naked truth” (Feature story, March 29):

I look forward to reading your newspaper, but I must say that I was very disappointed to see the cover story of March 29 and honestly pissed off that you proclaimed Caitlin Thomas to be UNR’s most provocative feminist. Do you at the RN&R even know what feminism is? I’m a 20-something female UNR student, familiar with Thomas and her so-called knowledge of sex. I do not find anything newsworthy about what she has to say. What has she done in this community that is so great? Did you really think about what kind of message you were sending when chose to put this woman on your cover? Thomas is not what feminism is all about, and she certainly is not a symbol of a progressive woman.

What disturbed me the most is that her story and her persona were highlighted in such a way as to suggest that she is the epitome of female empowerment only because she speaks frankly—and crudely—about sex and paints pictures with her menstrual flow. Her ideas of womanhood are not fresh and new. They are nothing but shallow, old stereotypes of female sexuality that do nothing but reflect a culture that is narcissistic, intellectually shallow and disconnected. Ideas such as hers are part of the reason why female sexuality is misunderstood—something she claims to be fighting against. There are plenty of other female 20-somethings more deserving of recognition that have dedicated their lives to fighting for equality and are trying to make a difference but are overlooked because, as always, sex, attention mongering and the recycling of old news presented in a new form sells, while intellect, having dignity, fighting and sacrificing for others does not.

Marion Sanni
Reno

Here’s to bankruptcy!

Re “The naked truth” (Feature story, March 29):

Sure singular sign of a slow news day at the RN&R: A UNR co-ed feature story, since her exhibitionist, sexploitive column got spiked at the Nevada Sagebrush student newspaper.

Another sure sign of slow news is your misplaced grousing on the Reno trench for rail traffic through town.

Look, Barstow, Calif., has all above-street-level rail traffic—entirely freight without Amtrak, and that’s a planned major stop on eventual high-speed rail from Disneyland/Apple Valley, Calif., to Las Vegas.

So, fess up, you local yokels, neo-Luddites posing as critics of the Reno trench. Would you prefer the status quo ante, the condition existing prior to the status quo?

That means long waits 24/7 at above-ground, street-level railroad crossings? Freight and Amtrak passenger train traffic.

Be honest, now! Would you? Really? Let’s have a show of hands.

Dave Phillips
Reno

Stripped of power

Re “The naked truth” (Feature story, March 29):

Gee, you gals have come a long way, baby, when a sexploitative exotic dancer becomes the spokeswoman for feminism. Now I see why none—or very few—of the college students I teach ever want to identify themselves as “feminists.” On the whole, after perusing the article, I must conclude: The new feminism is really hot! And better yet, feminism has finally found its proper place in the grand ole scheme of patriarchal objectification!

Brad Summerhill
Reno

Even FLoW

Re “Open for business” (Green, March 29):

Thank you for your coverage of the launch of Cleantech Open Nevada. Bringing this international program for accelerating the growth of Cleantech start-ups will be a big help in developing this vital industry in Nevada. I did want to address some misconceptions in the article. First, Cleantech Open is a network of networks that operates as an accelerator beyond just the annual business competition. Second, our Northeast branch merged into us from MIT’s Ignite Group, but the Cleantech Open itself was founded independently in the Bay Area. Lastly, Cleantech Open has a “youth” competition through our International Programs division and allows student teams to participate in the national competition.

Chip Evans
Nevada Director Cleantech Open

The book’s better

Re “Royale with cheese” (Film, March 29):

I really agreed with your review of Hunger Games. I, too, was wondering about the freaky shaky cam. I thought for all the imaginative, mind-blowing events and characters in the book that the movie barely touched what it could have been. The arena actually looked like somebody’s back yard, and the “cornucopia” was a shack/trailer in a tiny grassy clearing. What had transpired in my mind from reading the book was epic and colorful and more … this film is not. Although I did like Jennifer Lawrence somewhat, the rest of the movie fell flat and one-dimensional around her. Some of the motives and the emotional stories were only confused and oppressed in the movie. Some weren’t dealt with at all. I understand that movies can’t satisfy every detail of a personal experience of a book, but this movie really lost out on some opportunities.

Riki Rushing
Austin, Texas

Ninety to go

Re “Top 10 Worst Supreme Court Decisions” (Feature story, March 8):

Next, please develop an article on the 100 worst decisions by the Supreme Court, because 10 just don’t do justice to the scope of the problem. In reviewing the decisions that look so flawed in retrospect, it helps us appreciate the limitations of the current Gang of Nine. I’d like to add Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), a landmark case concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II. In a 6-3 decision, the Court sided with the government, ruling that the exclusion order was constitutional.

Linda Everhart
Pittsburgh, Penn.