13 minute read
Letters
from Aug. 23, 2012
School boy
Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review!
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Nope, D. Brian Burghart didn’t suddenly sprout bushels of hair. The Bald One is taking a much needed vacation, leaving me, along with news editor Dennis Myers and special projects editor Ashley Hennefer, to cover the bases. And I think we’ve put together a good paper, our annual Back to School issue, complete with our Join the Pack guide for University of Nevada, Reno students.
This is a time of year, especially when working on an issue like this one, when I always wax a little nostalgic, fondly recollecting my school days. I’m a product of local schools, having graduated from Galena High in ’98 and UNR in ’03. I can’t believe it’s already almost been 10 years. I still feel like a recent graduate.
I definitely don’t look back at my school years as the best of my life, and even the best parts of those times didn’t necessarily have anything to do with my education, but there is something romantic and appealing about school for those of us who have been out of it for a few years. It’s sort of beautiful when you can measure your progress through life by simple, acheivable goals, one semester at a time. You focus on the tasks and assignments at hand, and with every class you get a little better at it. You think more clearly, develop better work habits, and retain more knowledge. It requires a lot more effort to keep that sort of disciplined, open-minded academic interest away from the ivory tower—though working at a newspaper like this one certainly helps.
Finally, on behalf of everyone at the RN&R, I’d like to congratulate our calender editor, Kelley Lang, on the birth of her third child—and first boy—Ethan, who was born on Friday, Aug 17. Congrats, Kelley!
—Brad Bynum BradB@NewsReview.com
Touching on humanity
The Ryan Ayn Randers are crawling out of the woodwork lately, touting the manifold virtues of Capitali$m. But here’s a list of the things I see Capitali$m is consistently, systemically lacking: Truth, compassion, goodness, honesty, morality, a sense of fair play, generosity, sharing, caring, giving, loving, and ... generally being nice. You know, good ol’ human virtues. But then in the “real” world, these things don’t have a good bottom line. And, the big bad gubbmint is their enemy because it “dampens” profits and restricts their nefariousness. Oh, profit. Oh, great profit, our God. When we trade our Prophets for profits, there’s something buggy-wrong. Jesus was a socialist, you know, and I don’t think he was in error.
Craig Bergland Reno
Combat the profane
Support your community colleges, Nevada. You will do best to become the pioneers in what you have available, namely wind, geothermal and mineral energies. Attract business with your investments in this kind of infrastructure, and you will succeed. Let business have its influence, but also keep the liberal arts.
To say, “Why should I pay for other people’s educations?” is a sure way to shoot yourselves in the feet. That is shortsighted and self-defeating. If we do not fund this we lose our advantage. Don’t let the greedy have their short-sighted way. If they had any value in their investments, they would be wise enough to convert them. Why we are not the progenitors of green energies is beyond me. Given the scope of our resources, it seems a bit somnambulatory to me. We should so invest, and I think it is a wise course to do this in sustainable enterprises, because without those, Nevada has not much else.
What, gambling? Are we that stupid? That is moral, not resourceful!
Invest wisely. Do not forget your pioneering spirit, because every one of your entitlements depends on their continuations. Do not exclude the immigrants who come here to work hard and better themselves, because they better all of us, they represent our future and fear has no place backseat driving is what we want to become. If we look back on our history, we should welcome this influx, because every one of our entitlements depend on a thriving population not given to entropy. Otherwise, we have no claim to the plaque on the Statue of Liberty, or the joy our ancestors felt upon seeing her.
Education is liberation, and our founders hoped we would carry that forward. They depended on our discernment to carry the ideals of this democracy forward, no matter how the power elites (read: addicts) attempt to profane us. No nation in history has ever so valued this, or stood has stood in danger of such Liberty being stripped away via carelessness and apathy.
Scott Harvey by email
On the children
Re “Word games” (Upfront, Aug. 16):
I don’t know much about the welfare/work program. However, I believe that if a young mother is getting welfare for five years, she should be able to stay home and parent her child—not be forced to send the child to day care or some babysitter so she can work at some lousy job that will not give her a foot up when she returns to work.
Children need their mothers. That said, it would be good if the media would stop showing baby mommas as something to aspire to. Maybe we could share the bill for welfare with the media.
Estelle Melendez Reno
Say, what?
Which “God” are you referring to—a supreme being or his original revealed religion founder representatives who came to an era and a people? You have a University of Nevada, Reno president, then there are “teachers” like you, as an analogy. If students fail, is it the UNR president’s fault, yours or the students’?
Where did “energy” itself originate from that the universe and man uses? If a supreme being (God) as the cause of existence does not exist and all of nature has opposite poles to exist, not devil exists either and neither do you.
By your own words you have admitted mankind is not what he was expected to be, evolved. Your collection of quotables disproves mans’ understanding of God. It does not disprove “God”: Furthermore, atheists babble in denial of God, waiting for someone to prove him. Mans’ radio band is tuned to himself, not God. No wonder nothing is heard.
D. Kubiak Reno
Our Mission To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages people to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live. Editor/Publisher D. Brian Burghart News Editor Dennis Myers Arts Editor Brad Bynum Special Projects Editor Ashley Hennefer Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Contributors Amy Alkon, Amy Beck, Megan Berner, Matthew Craggs, Mark Dunagan, Marvin Gonzalez, Bob Grimm, Michael Grimm, Dave Preston, Jessica Santina, K.J. Sullivan, Bruce Van Dyke Design Manager Kate Murphy Art Director Priscilla Garcia Associate Art Director Hayley Doshay Editorial Designer India Curry Design Brennan Collins, Marianne Mancina, Mary Key, Skyler Smith, Melissa Arendt Art Director at Large Don Button, Andrea Diaz-Vaughn Advertising Consultants Gina Odegard, Matt Odegard, Bev Savage Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Office/Distribution Manager/ Ad Coordinator Karen Brooke Business Manager Grant Ronsenquist
Tyrants are atheists
Jake Highton’s diatribe against God makes two invalid arguments: 1) God can’t exist because he doesn’t prevent tragedies like mass murder, and 2) people of all religions behave terribly.
First, I agree that it would be nice if God would prevent all the tragedies in the world, but God doesn’t have to account to us for what he does or doesn’t do. What Jake is saying is that God doesn’t meet his expectations, therefore He can’t exist. The conclusion does not in the least follow from the premise.
On the second point, yes, people of all religions have behaved badly, but as long as governments acknowledged the existence of God, there were limits to how far they could go. Atheism had to precede totalitarianism, but making it possible for governments’to demand their subjects’supreme allegiance, and providing theoretical justification for the murder of millions who wouldn’t “fit in.” Weren’t all the mass murderers of the last century atheists?
Christians recognize that human nature is corrupted by original sin. The bad behavior of Christians—and those of other faiths—is therefore explicable in terms of the Christian view of human nature, but how does Jake explain the behavior of such nice atheists as Hitler and Stalin? Finally, Jake totally evades the logical conclusion to be drawn from his position. If there’s not God, no afterlife, and we’re just leading meaningless lives in a meaningless existence, why should we go on living? Isn’t suicide the only sensible thing to do?
Bill Hamma Reno
Marriage as a political act?
Re “Imitation Elvis and real cash” (Notes from the Neon Babylon, June 28):
After reading Bruce Van Dyke’s column reminding us that the Citizens United Supreme Court decision has put our so-called election system into the hands of the rich and powerful, My first reaction was depression. But depression is not the answer, I told myself. I must take action. So I started making a list: (1.) Spread the truth about Mitt Romney because he has been on every side of every issue. (2.) Marry the first women under 30 who says, “I love you, Brad.” Or maybe the first one under 40. (3.) Encourage everyone to vote the straight Democratic ticket in November. (4.) Remind everyone that President Obama has kept us out of war with Iran. (5.) If Ican’t find a wife, get a dog. (6.) Let everybody know about Romney’s job killing tactics at Bain.
After Imail this letter I will continue making this list and I will work as hard as I can to do what I should. Brad MacKenzie Reno
Executive Assistant/Operations Coordinator Nanette Harker Assistant Distribution Manager Ron Neill Distribution Drivers Sandra Chhina, Jesse Pike, John Miller, Martin Troye, David Richards, Warren Tucker, Matthew Veach, Neil Lemerise, Russell Moore General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley Credit and Collections Manager Renee Briscoe Business Zahida Mehirdel, Shannon McKenna Systems Manager Jonathan Schultz Systems Support Specialist Joe Kakacek Web Developer/Support Specialist John Bisignano 708 North Center Street Reno, NV 89501 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-4572 Classified Fax (916) 498-7940 Mail Classifieds & Talking Personals to N&R Classifieds, Reno Edition, 1015 20th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 or e-mail classifieds@newsreview.com Web site www.newsreview.com Printed by Paradise Post The RN&R is printed using recycled newsprint whenever available. Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in the RN&Rare those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. The RN&Ris not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form. Cover design: Priscilla Garcia Feature story design: Priscilla Garcia
THIS MODERN WORLD BY TOM TOMORROW Ready for summer to end?
Asked at Yellow Submarine, 920 Holman Way
GayLynne McCaw
Homemaker Absolutely. This summer I have health issues that need to be taken care of and the sooner I get through it the better.
Ryan Kandell
Events producer I am ready for winter. I can’t wait to ride the powder. It’s awesome. That’s why we live in Tahoe.
The dollar value of your vote
From what spotty information I’ve been able to gather, it is estimated $6 billion to $8 billion will be spent on the 2012 election campaigns at all levels. In the presidential campaign alone, it’s estimated the Obama and Romney campaigns will each spend about $800 million. This is just the campaigns, and does not include spending by special interest groups, PACs and SuperPACs, which will push the totals far, far higher thanks to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. by Here’s where things get interesting.
Mike Bohling There are about 150 million registered voters
Mike Bohling is an in the U.S. At $6 billion in spending, we’re talkoutdoor enthusiast ing $40 per vote. Gallup’s daily tracking poll who has lived and shows the number of undecided voters in the worked in Carson City presidential race hovering between six and eight since 1992. percent, so we’re looking at approximately nine to 12-million undecided voters in the 2012 presidential election. It is to these “undecided voters” that the $6 billion is directed. The majority of dollars will be spent in eight Have a comment? swing states (populations in millions noted in
Express your views parenthesis, followed by percent of U.S. populain 475 words on a tion), including Colorado (5.0/1.61), Floridalocal topic of interest. Send an e-mail to brianb@ (18.8/6.02), Iowa (3.0/.97), New Hampshire (1.3/.42), Nevada (2.7/.86), Ohio (11.5/3.69), newsreview.com. Virginia (8.0/2.56) and Wisconsin (5.7/1.82), giving this group of states a total population of approximately 56 million. Applying the 50 percent “registered voter rate” we see in the general U.S. population, this gives us roughly 28 million registered voters in the swing states. Applying the six to eight percent “undecided” factor gives us somewhere between 1.62 and 2.24 million undecided voters in these states. These voters will decide the presidential election.
Now, let’s attach a dollar amount to each of these undecided votes. Using what I believe to be a modest figure, let’s say $4 billion will be spent on the presidential election attempting to sway undecided swing-state voters. That comes out to between $1,785 and $2,469 per vote.
Consider this, and allow it to sink in when contemplating the figures above: Over the past week, I’ve asked about 40 friends and acquaintances, people from all walks and political persuasions, how much money they’ve contributed toward local, state and national elections this year. The grand total was one contributor who gave $25 for a local election.
Ask yourself and your friends the same question and see if it has an impact on how you feel about campaign spending in America today. Elected offices are being purchased in this country, and it ain’t by you and me.
It all boils down to this: If you think your vote is worthless, think again. On a national scale, it’s already worth $40. If you live in a swing state like Nevada, it’s worth up to $2,469. You wouldn’t flush $2,469 down the toilet, would you? Avery small handful of people put a very high price tag on your vote. They’re betting they can buy it because you are “too uninformed” to keep it and use it wisely, and they’re betting a lot. Ω Ronde Allen
Jewelry maker I am ready for summer to be over, ready for winter and snow and hopefully a bigger season of snow, because I’m ready for the mountains. I get to ride snowboards.
Jason Simpson
Construction framer No. I’m still enjoying the good weather. I enjoy going to the lake … going to Wild Waters with my kids and having a good time
Melissa Humphrey
Patient transporter Not really, no, because the school starts and work-and-school, and life gets crazier. Things get a lot more hectic and less time to be outside and be in the water.
