Letters for January 18, 2001
It’s that time of year, when we reflect on the happenings of the prior year and look forward with anticipation to the adventures of the next. The U.S. Supreme Court will figure heavily in this rumination.
Let us not forget that this body also declared that the Shoshone Treaty of 1863 was valid and in full effect, except for seven miles around Yucca Mountain. This prohibited the MX missile system from being based on the Nevada-Utah border but cleared the way for the nuclear waste “suppository” to be built. Perhaps we should have built it, let the boys dig holes and run their Tonka toys underground. When declared obsolete and unfunctional upon completion, it could have been converted to send the accumulation into space.
Shayne Del Cohen
Reno
Shameless plug for a station
Re “Another Damn KTHX Letter” (RN&R Letters, Dec. 28):
I’ve only lived in the area for two years now, and from an outsiders’ vantage point, it’s often hard to distinguish whether Reno is moving backward or forward. I certainly see a city struggling for an identity.
One thing I do know is that the “born and raised” locals are real sensitive to change. Unless you’re comfortable being on the receiving end of a piercing stare, you don’t change the landscape (the Mapes). You don’t change the gas prices, and you certainly don’t change something that fuels the soul. In this particular case: music, via the old KTHX.
While the call letters are strikingly similar, I would like to offer this eclectic alternative to the Reno listeners. It’s KDHX out of St. Louis. I think folks will dig the variety of jazz, techno, R&B, blues, ska, punk, new age, gospel, reggae, folk, garage, surf, jungle, space music, rockabilly, music from the Middle East and, of course, the “Grateful Dead—Deader Than Ever” segment. You can tune-in online at www.kdhx.org. Enjoy the change.
Kevin Karl
Studio Steamboat
Gumption or stupidity?
Re “Tattooed for Life” (RN&R Arts & Lifestyle, Dec. 21):
Congratulations on picking one of my favorite topics: tattoos. You need to get Opus next. It would be nice to see a more detailed photo of the design.
In spite of your optimism, I hope you can still manage a grin 35 years from now. As a seaman who has 35 years on the high seas under my feet, I’ve seen and admired many a tattoo. But I cannot bring myself to permanently alter my body, and I have no regrets. I’ve spent 35 years wondering if I would be sorry I didn’t have the gumption you have, and I’m not sorry. I’ve seen plenty of folks trying to get the things removed. The closest I’ve come to mutilation is when I pierced my ear when I was 22 (a homebrew job, with a wine cork and needle). I removed that earring when my rank got so far up the ladder that it was not the thing to have, and it coincided with the rising tide of piercings in America, so I have no regrets in removing that ring. Don’t like being part of “the scene.” The hole closed up long ago.
I wonder what all those folks with the nose and eyebrow rings will look like in 20 years.
Jon Harrison
via e-mail
Props on the Kids’ Issue
Re Kids Issue by Bernice Mathews Elementary School (RN&R, Dec. 21):
In all of my years of reading newspapers, I haven’t seen a more wonderfully exciting, interesting and amusing special Christmas edition than what the RN&R gave us this December. It is a keepsake! The television coverage on the project was also great.
The creativity that went into this, not only by you and your staff, but the children and teachers at Bernice Mathews Elementary School and the local businesses that participated, deserves an award. The children’s stories are such fun to read, and their marvelous artwork should be published in book form, so the issue can keep giving joy year after year.
I called everyone I knew and suggested that, if they want a good read, to be sure and pick up the RN&R.
Mildred E. Holland
Reno
