Letters for January 2, 2003

While KTVN General Manager Lawson Fox, as quoted in the RN&R, is “proud of his new promotions,” this viewer is looking elsewhere for coverage I can count on. For me the final blur between what’s news and what’s advertising occurred during a recent newscast on his station. The top three stories were as follows: an item about shopping at stores not located in a mall, a piece about the opening of a new restaurant and finally a story about a car dealership that happens to be owned by women. It’s my opinion that by promoting these businesses in lead “news” stories, Channel 2 is unabashedly pandering to current and hoped for station advertisers at the expense of this viewers trust. Honestly, I would see nothing wrong with this practice if Fox would just rename the broadcast to something like “What’s Up Reno?” or “Around the Arch with John and Wendy.” Just please, please don’t call it news.

G. K. Harrison
via e-mail

Health news
Re “Let’s see the sticker” [RN&R, Letters, Dec. 12]:

Jennifer Nelson’s letter implying that secondhand cigarette smoke is harmless boldly defies logic and scientific evidence. Unencumbered by facts, she claims that all of “the 53,000 people who die annually of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease related to secondhand smoke would have developed those diseases regardless [of their proximity to secondhand smoke].” Perhaps Nelson should enlighten doctors and the scientific community about her finding; I’m sure they’ll feel foolish about remaining in the dark all these years with nothing but decades of research to back them up. Sure, some people who aren’t exposed to cigarette smoke will develop lung cancer, but it is much less likely.

Nelson then makes the surprising claim that “the Forest Service puts far more secondhand smoke into your lungs with just one of their out-of-control controlled burns.” She doesn’t say from where she got this “fact,” but I can only presume that, like her other “facts,” its origin has to do with the nether regions of her own anatomy. Besides the fact that out-of-control prescribed burns account for only a small percentage of the total amount of acres that burn every year, they also generally burn trees, not cyanide, formaldehyde, nicotine or any of the other poisonous and/or addictive chemicals put in cigarettes.

Nelson goes on to state that anyone bothered by her smoke can move three feet away and be fine. However, she must be aware that smoke moves, because smoke from a miles-away Forest Service burn bothers her. Or maybe the laws of physics do not apply to smoke from her cigarettes.

Jennifer Sigler
via e-mail

A cry for help
Sen. Al Gore mocked testimony about a terrorist named Osama bin Laden in the ‘80s. President William Clinton rejected an offer by the Sudanese government to extradite Bin Laden in the 1990s. Clinton shut down military bases and raided the armed forces and intelligence budgets. Democrats generally fight for illegal immigrants and keep our borders poorly controlled. George W. Bush is cleaning up the national security nightmare left by liberal leadership. I am proud of our men and women taking the initiative to protect us under George W. Bush. And I know Iraq must be dealt with immediately to prevent the difficulties we already face with North Korea.

Robert M. Moon
via e-mail

That’s incredible
Re “Transplant comments,” [RN&R, Letters, Dec. 26]:

James Calkins may have found 315 people to sign a petition. Once. But no one ever gave him a lifetime proxy. He writes: “The current number of shooters within hundreds of feet of northwest Reno homes is nothing short of incredible.” (That’s “hundreds” of “feet.") Well, yes. Everything Calkins says or writes is “nothing short of incredible.”

Frank Patten
Reno

Close the door
Re “Working man’s blues,” [RN&R, News, Dec. 26]:

When the Great Wave of immigration that brought millions to our shores ended in 1924, two things happened: Wages rose and the middle class was born. Both happened because of what’s sorely missing in today’s America: An enlightened Congress whose members listen to the people who sent them there, and a labor movement blessed with leaders who really care about the well-being of the people they represent.

Dave Gorak
Lombard, Ill.