Letters for December 21, 2006

Bring in the lights of our life
I always thought of Christmas lights as being … well … friendly, you know, on the warm, fuzzy side of things. That being said, I would like to know what the city of Reno was thinking when it put up that awful display along the Truckee River downtown; a winter wonderland it is not. The lights are more a peculiar blue/white than the warm comforting twinkle one usually associates with the holiday, creating an atmosphere more like Halloween than Christmas. Possibly this would not be so bad if the lights were concentrated on one large tree, say that nice pine in the now very dark Wingfield Park. The city chose instead to take a limited amount of lights and toss them about on some trees. At best, the display is embarrassing; at worst it’s creepy.

Were the lights supposed to impress the League of Cities? I’m quite sure if any of these distinguished visitors found their way to the River Walk after dark they were not awed. West Street Plaza has no tree this year, and overall, the feeling is uninviting to visitors and residents. Holiday decorations should encourage people to stroll along our lovely river after dark, not scare them away.

Elise Russell
via e-mail

Nevada really appears behind the times
Re “College charges in limbo” (News, Nov. 30):

My name is Cara Massey, and I am Lee Massey’s sister. I read your article about my brother, and I thought that it was well-written. However, my opinion is biased. But then, I think that the treatment of my brother by the Student Services Administration was biased as well. I have to say that I was very fortunate to go to college in Michigan as opposed to Reno. I was very happy that my brother was the first African-American “student body president” at Truckee Meadows Community College. However, it does not say much about the school, since this occurred in 2006. I don’t know, maybe there have not been any minorities at TMCC until very recently. However, the outrageous and embarrassing events that happened after he was elected just made it worse. I don’t believe that my brother sexually harassed anyone; however, if the allegations were completely made up just to punish my brother in some way, then it means that the Student Services Administration is a waste of your taxpayer’s money. There is no positive way to look at this situation.

Cara Massey
via e-mail

Your reviewer appears to have expensive tastes
Re “Easygoing pizza” (FoodFinds, Nov. 22):

I compliment Brad Bynum on his ability to correctly write the English language—an editors’ blue pencil can’t do it all—and present that language in a certain number of words.

$7.99 chicken fingers
$2.99 spicy French fries
$13.99 for one medium pizza,
$10.99 for another medium pizza
$9 beverages estimated
$3.30 tax estimated
$10.00 estimated tip, a crummy tip

TOTAL: $58.26 divided three ways equals $20 rounded up each for a load of plonk.

I can’t see it. Maybe I’m outdated as the buggy whip, but I never dumped $20 on lunch during the week.

And by the by, that pong outside the restaurant was just Reno. Bynum smelled Reno.

John Fisher
Reno

Let’s get our service people out of Iraq
Re “Ad hominem memory” (News, Dec. 7):

In early November, an editorial calling for Donald Rumsfeld to be replaced as secretary of defense, showed up simultaneously in the Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times, and Marine Corps Times. Distributed to members of the U.S. armed forces throughout the world, these publications stated that President Bush must “face the hard bruising truth [that] Rumsfeld has lost credibility with the uniformed leadership, with the troops, with Congress, and with the public at large.”

Only days earlier, Bush stated that he wanted both Rumsfeld and Vice President Cheney to remain in their posts for the remaining two years of his administration. As he spoke, more troops were being killed and wounded in a war that has degenerated into a civil conflict between Muslim factions competing for power.

Then, one day after the Republicans suffered what Bush himself called a “thumping” on Election Day, Rumsfeld’s resignation was announced. To replace him, Bush turned to Council on Foreign Relations veteran and former CIA Director Robert Gates, a move that does not bode well for the troops caught in a civil war between Islamic factions. Iraq is no place for American forces no matter who is secretary of defense.

Frank M. Pelteson
Las Vegas