Letters for September 27, 2001

I, for one, applaud the RN&R staff for moving ahead in the wake of recent tragedies. Jimmy Boegle is right: We, as a nation, need to move forward. We need to show the terrorists that we will not be terrorized. The goal of these attacks was to send us cowering into the shadows, to stop us from living the American Dream. Our best defense is to go on, even though we still mourn the loss of thousands. What better insult to those who attacked us? By moving forward, we don’t allow the terrorists on those planes to die as martyrs; they die as failures, because we keep the dream alive.

Jim Williams
Reno

RN&R excuse was lame
Re “Upward and Onward” (RN&R Editor’s Note, Sept. 13):

Please. That’s the best response you can come up with: “… unduly taxing our small and emotionally taxed staff"? The New York Times and New York Post both had editions on the street in a matter of hours, and I think that they were a bit more “emotionally taxed” than you were. Bigger papers? Yes. Bigger staffs? Yes? Journalists first and foremost? Yes.

If you had included in your response that you had that week’s advertising already plugged in—and to stop the press run would have meant making your advertisers upset—that would have been a far more honest response, however tacky.

There are some of us who read your paper for something more meaningful than the ads and reviews. Think about it.

Peter Walker
via e-mail

Life goes on
Re “Upward and Onward” (RN&R Editor’s Note, Sept. 13):

I thought it was a good choice not to pull the paper from the press and keep with the original plan. This great tragedy is all we’ve heard about, and I understand there will be more developments to come. But I thought it was a great choice to go on with what was planned. Plus, it gave you material for the Sept. 20 edition. I didn’t like the fact that a few people complained about it, but hey, “life goes on.”

Jennifer McCord
via e-mail

Rushing coverage pleases nobody
Re “Upward and Onward” (RN&R Editor’s Note, Sept. 13):

I worked at one time for the now-defunct San Francisco Progress. This locally oriented newspaper was published weekly on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. On the newspaper’s way to bankruptcy, it was decided to start holding the Wednesday press in order to include results of elections, instead of our customary, well-respected local analysis of results in the Friday paper. This costly substitution pleased no one—employees, customers nor advertisers.

When I obtained a copy of the Sept. 13 RN&R, I was not interested in more information or analysis of the terrible events of Sept. 11. Similar to someone who suddenly lost a loved one, I was trying to reconnect with the world around me.

By waiting until Sept. 20 to do an in-depth analysis of the events as experienced in the Reno area, you were doing what you do best in an adequate fashion. No one can expect any more of anyone.

John D. Daniels
via e-mail

Issue provided excellent coverage
Re “Upward and Onward” (RN&R Editor’s Note, Sept. 13):

My entire family wants you to know that we totally agree with and understand your decision to run the Sept. 13 issue as you did. With the 24/7 coverage on the Internet, TV and radio, we were certainly kept informed as the Sept. 11 events unfolded. Your Sept. 20 issue provided excellent coverage from a local perspective. Thank you.

Mary Pedersen
Reno

Anarchy’s conclusions
Re “Anarchy: It’s Not What You Think” (RN&R, Aug. 30):

I applaud Deidre Pike’s effort to elucidate the true nature of anarchism (anarchy means “without a ruler,” and thus it may be considered the purest form of democracy), but her conclusion is ill-conceived and distressingly reactionary. Judging by young Stephen’s perceptions, are we to believe that anarchism is, like body piercing and spiked hair, just another expression of adolescent rebellion that greater maturity will efface?

Anarchism is actually what numerous thoughtful people arrive at once they discover what Swift did long before: that the state—especially the capitalist state—is a conspiracy of the few against the many. Anarchism is embraced because it is one of two great philosophical-political movements (the other is communism) that have sought to realize the ideals of the French Revolution. The tragedy of the left has been not just its constant persecution by the oligarchy (as in Genoa), but its history of fratricidal warfare between anarchists and communists (e.g. the Spanish Civil War).

Leftist anarchism, however, is today a relatively small and powerless movement compared to rightist anarchism. Militarism, not pacifism, distinguishes our society. The ambition of the anarchist right has been to, in Reagan’s words, “get the government off the people’s [i.e., the corporations'] backs.” Leftist anarchists are therefore put in the odd position of defending the government when it is attacked from the right, because we realize that in our present system, it is only the government that has the power to protect the people from predatory capital.

John Smihula
via e-mail

Thanks for more press
Re “Jealous, Aaron?” (RN&R Letters, Aug. 30):

I want to thank letter writer Aaron Alvarez for getting Phat Couch’s name in the paper yet another time. Thanks! By the way, you should have your facts straight before you rant about fellow local musicians, no matter what your opinion of their playing abilities is. Did you know that Steve had to fly back to Vegas and play more shows with Space Zero? They were begging him to stay. His heart is in Reno, and we’re keeping him!

Scurvy Bastards [which Aaron Alvarez is a member of] is great! Keep up the good work.

Nick Ramirez
Phat Couch member

Pot talks to kettle
Re “Jealous, Aaron?” (RN&R Letters, Aug. 30):

“Hello, Pot, this is Kettle—you’re black!” Tell me again the part about the “generic ass,” Aaron Alvarez. Anytime someone actually takes action and pursues making music in this town, it’s a positive thing. Yet time and time again, these musicians get bashed by the same “generic ass,” talentless individuals who are doing NOTHING in this town aside from whining that there isn’t anything to do in Reno.

If memory serves me, aren’t there three other musicians in Phat Couch? I think Steve Foht would be the first to agree that Steve Foht does not a Phat Couch make.

Eve Lewis
via e-mail

Nevada will prevail in waste war
Re “Nuclear Nevada” (RN&R Editor’s Note, Sept. 6):

You have forgotten the old saying, “You can’t fight City Hall,” or in the case of Nevada, “You can’t fight Washington government.” Nevada does not have anything that Washington politicians need. Puerto Rico, for example, had a recent referendum that called for the Navy to stop using part of the island as a military bombing and training range. Bush-Lite, coveting the Latin voters, said that the bombing of the island will stop. What does Bush-Lite need from Nevada?

By holding meetings within the state—and demanding to have the energy secretary come to Nevada to hear things that he already knows—is a waste of effort on our part. We need allies.

Let’s start by recruiting Utah. Advertise in Utah newspapers. Explain that Nevada is the third-most seismically active. Point out that Yucca Mountain is southwest of Salt Lake City, and most winter storms come out of the southwest.

Don’t tell me that we are losing the nuclear dump fight. The fight is not over, and we are not going to lose.

Dewey Quong
Reno

A review with perspective
Re “Delighting the Senses” (RN&R Art of the State, Aug. 30):

San Alessandro and I have the privilege of living on a daily basis with the art of Father Bill Moore. Carli Cutchin’s review provided us with a broader perspective of the artist’s work. Thank you.

Jack Hoyle
Gallery 516

Story and ad were a bad mix
Re “Starved, Suicidal and Surfin’ the ‘Net” (RN&R Arts & Lifestyle, Aug. 23):

I am a longtime reader of your newspaper. I’ve had the utmost respect for the truth that you print—until you printed a story in your Arts & Lifestyle section about anorexia. I was, and still am, one of those scared young girls. The article re-opened a lot for me, but the article is not the problem! I cannot believe that that one of you printed an ad for Romantic Sensations on the same page.

How dare you do this to those of us who have self-esteem problems and eating disorders? This is the most degrading thing that you could have possibly done to us, and to all women! We are not blessed with great bodies, but having it stare us in the face every day breaks us down. You print an incredible article about anorexia, but you print it next to a bunch of half-naked women with great bodies. How would you feel? I know that you will most likely throw this letter aside and laugh, but just know that for some of us, you just set our recovery back by a few years.

Name withheld
Reno

Reporting the facts
Re “Busting Bad Kids” (RN&R News, Aug. 23):

Clarification needs to be made to Brad Summerhill’s story. In Washoe County, misdemeanor juvenile traffic offenses aren’t charged by petition in the Juvenile Court unless they involve DUIs, serious injury or death. Instead, they are handled by the Juvenile Traffic Court at the Juvenile Services Department. Therefore, they don’t appear in the Juvenile Court statistics maintained by the Family Court. If they did, Washoe County would have had 4,450 more reported cases in 2000.

The statistics regarding traffic offenses, as well as the number of juvenile arrests and citations, are maintained by the Washoe County Department of Juvenile Services.

Sue Edmondson
Juvenile prosecutor, Washoe County District Attorney’s Office

Thanks for the help
On behalf of the Reno B.L.U.E.S. Society board members, I would very much like to thank the RN&R and its associates for the opportunity to participate in the Rollin’ on the River concert series. It was a great summer!

It should be noted that our proceeds from the beverage concession are going to our newest endeavor: our Music in the Schools program, which will provide instruments and mentoring for those students who might not otherwise be able to participate in a music program. With the opportunity you gave us, this will now be a reality.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported those sales—the attendees, the incredible volunteers, Sheila and Jeff Cotton of Big Ed’s and, once again, the RN&R.

Linda Ribis
Sparks