letters

Takin’ care of business

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

I hope you all had a great winter solstice and will have a healthy and happy new year.

I got a letter from a reader, J. Tyler Ballance, who suggested some interesting ideas. I guess I find them interesting because they’re along the lines of my thinking for 2014. Basically, my mantra for 2014 is this: Fix things that are broken; in the meantime, don’t break things that work.

I just decided to run Ballance’s whole email on this page, so I won’t bother repeating what he has to say, but let me tell you where I’m coming from.

Since I moved into my house more than 10 years ago, people in the shower get scalded every time somebody flushes a toilet, waters the dogs or runs the dishwasher. I’m going to have a tempering valve installed. Once it’s fixed, it will probably never be broken again. My house is 50 years old; it’s about time.

At this newspaper, our user interface with our calendar system has been screwed up since its creation. We should have the best online calendar in the city, but it’s horrible. People use it, but I hear complaints about it at least two or three times a month. Start the countdown, by Dec. 31, 2014, I intend to use all my influence to get it fixed and usable. If I learned anything this semester, it’s about the ramifications of not making things work for the people who want to use them.

I’ve got a closet in my guest bedroom more than half-filled with books in boxes. They’ve been in those boxes for a couple of years. Time to either put them on the shelves at my house or at the library.

I’ll bet everybody has some of these sorts of things. This year, I’m going to spend a bit of time identifying a few. Maybe I’ll write a list to myself, or maybe I’ll publish it, so I can be mocked for my failures.

As I look at the above drivel, it occurs to me I came dangerously close to making a new year’s resolution. Right now, lets just call it “hope.” —D. Brian Burghart brianb@newsreview.com

Forward thinking

Now is about the time when news organizations produce filler copy to take the place of real news [editor’s note: or run really long letters], so that everyone can take more time off for Christmas. Those sorts of editions are just a rehash of the main headlines from the nearly completed year. Pretty lame stuff, especially with regard to 2013.

I want to offer you an alternative to that backward looking approach.

Challenge your readers to describe what we all can do in 2014 to make this a better place to live. Here are some examples (in no particular order) that you are welcome to use with or without attribution, as you wish:

When you are out shopping, put the carts in the cart corrals. No, the curb does not count. If there is no cart corral, take the time to walk the cart back to where it belongs at the store. Taking shopping carts from stores means that we all must pay higher prices to replace all of the stolen carts (some cost over $400). If you walk to the store and back, buy a pull behind cart for yourself to use. We will have a cleaner community and lower prices at the stores.

Buy locally as much as possible. Dollars spent locally have a multiplying effect on the local economy that just can’t be matched when you buy from the big corporate stores.

Take a look at where the products come from. Try harder to buy Made in the USA goods. When you find goods from Communist China, return the item to the shelves, with the, Made in China label facing outwards to warn other shoppers.

Teach children and others to put things back where they belong. This applies to shops, schools, work and the home.

We have a lot of new immigrants here. Our borders are like a sieve, and the current government will do nothing to stop the invasion. Our only alternative is to help teach these new residents how to be good Nevadans. Help start citizenship classes through work, school and your church. However, the best way to teach good citizenship is by your own example.

Never leave litter anywhere—not on the ground, on store shelves, not anywhere. Always take the time to find a trash can and use it. Speak up when you see others littering and explain how this hurts our community and drives away jobs.

Stop running red lights. Speeding up as a yellow light changes not only places you at risk, you could kill someone’s father, mother or child.

No matter how eager for it to be your turn, do not cut in lines, don’t butt into other conversations and if something truly is threatening life or limb, preface your interruption with, “excuse me.”

Smile more, look your fellow citizen in the eye and say, “howdy.” Howdy is a great, universal greeting. You don’t even need to know what time it is, as you do for good morning, good afternoon or good night.

There should be giant alarms over every restroom door that would sound an alarm every time someone exits without washing their hands. Seriously, folks, we can dramatically reduce the amount and severity of most disease, by thoroughly washing our paws every time we use the restroom. Add thorough hand washing to covering coughs and sneezes with a handkerchief (or at least your sleeve), and we will greatly reduce the spread of many common diseases.

While we are thinking about public restrooms, etching initials into the mirrors makes only one kind of name for you, STUPID! If you want people to know your name, or know where you are from, then do something noteworthy for this community, so that people will recall your name for the good that you have done. Make that your goal; to do such good work here that your name will be lauded on street names, buildings, parks and in the hearts of your fellow citizens. Graffiti and other vandalism just means that you are a moron.

We all want a bustling, successful business community, but we also want clean, quiet and friendly neighborhoods. We can make cleaner neighborhoods by starting beautification projects that involve young people and newcomers, thereby teaching pride in each of our neighborhoods. We can have more peace by taking barking dogs inside, or better still, opting not to own one of those yappy nuisances. Car entry devices can be set on silent entry and exit. You needn’t announce to everyone when you come and go. By the way the beep, honk or chirp, sometimes sounds, but the door locks did not engage. With silent entry, you can actually hear the doors all lock.

Let this be the year that you make your voice be heard by our elected representatives! Join and contribute to a political campaign. Work hard to throw every incumbent out of office. The folks who held office in 2013, clearly did not work on your behalf. Everything continues to decline, except the cost of living and taxes, so throw them out. Throw the bums out!

Throughout the upcoming campaign season, the first question that we must ask every candidate is, “What have you done so far and what will you do, to enhance our liberty?”

For the few who feel you have been wronged by someone, and you have exhausted all legal remedies, the right answer is not to shoot your enemies, then dutifully shoot yourself as soon as some armed responder arrives. The right approach is show that you have the power to forgive the transgression. At the very least, resolve to learn from that bad experience, and go forward with your life, living in such an exemplary honorable, prosperous way, that the offense by your enemy will become terribly small by comparison.

I am sure that your team and our fellow citizens will come up with many other valuable suggestions. This is just a start to help us look forward and to try and become a better community in 2014. J. Tyler Ballance Reno

Pay to play

Re “Some nukes is good nukes” (Let Freedom Ring, Dec. 19):

Having lost a parent from direct Iodine-131 exposure (resulting in terminal leukemia 19 years following her work as a WAC assigned to the Corps of Engineers working on the Manhattan Project based at Hanford, Wash., in 1945, processing the plutonium for the Nagasaki bomb), I speak with some familial consequence/experience regarding nuclear power and nuclear energy. Folks say we have so much new knowledge now on how to deal with the waste—oops. How’s that working out at Hanford, a site from 68-plus years ago? It’s the No. 1 or 2 superfund site with a radioactive hydrogen plume headed for the Columbia River. What do we do with the waste from nuclear energy? Is any other question necessary?

On the other hand, if Nevada (my home state) is to become the nuclear repository, [Nevadans should] study carefully the Alaska Permanent Fund. I fly airplanes up there for a living. Wouldn’t it be nice if every citizen of the state of Nevada who had been a resident of this state for two or more years got a cut--maybe $2,000 a year or more of the money coming into this state from the “service”we do for our country and the huge capitalism involved in this industry?

Jody Everett Peterson Carson City

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 Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Editorial Intern Sage Leehey Contributors Amy Alkon, Chanelle Bessette, Megan Berner, Mark Dunagan, Bob Grimm, Ashley Hennefer, Sheila Leslie, Dave Preston, Jessica Santina, K.J. Sullivan, Kris Vagner, Bruce Van Dyke, Allison Young Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Junior Art Director Brian Breneman Design Vivian Liu, Serene Lusano, Marianne Mancina, Skyler Smith Advertising Consultants Meg Brown, Gina Odegard, Bev Savage Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Office/Distribution Manager/ Ad Coordinator Karen Brooke Executive Assistant/Operations Coordinator Nanette Harker Assistant Distribution Manager Ron Neill Distribution Drivers Sandra Chhina, Ron Large, Joe Medeiros, Jesse Pike, Martin Troye, Warren Tucker, Matthew Veach, Gary White, Joseph White, Sam White General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley Business Manager Grant Ronsenquist Business Nicole Jackson, Tami Sandoval 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&R are 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&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form.

ThiS ModErn World by tom tomorrow

Up your participation in 2014

We all have things we tell ourselves we’re going to do, but we follow through far less than we’d like. In 2014, let’s make a plan to be better people in order to have a better community.

January: Attend one live local music event. Reno’s got an awesome music scene, but all too often, audience participation is just not there. Be there in 2014.

February: Attend one Reno City Council meeting. Everyone should see exactly how this city’s sausage is made. You’ll truly have a better understanding of your community.

March: Volunteer one hour for the less fortunate. Cook some food and take it down to Record Street. It doesn’t have to be fancy. The Loving Hearts Club and Amber Lynn Dobson can always use the help.

April: Take one hike. There are lots of short hikes around. Start with Galena at the foot of Mount Rose. You know you’ll feel better.

May: Buy one piece of locally made art. Again, pocket-book participation is the sincerest form of appreciation. While there’s a ton of cool stuff out there for less than $50, why not buy a single focal piece for your living space?

June: Plant an organic tomato. You don’t have to wait til the snow is off Peavine. Just plant a tomato in a clean five-gallon bucket, and bring it in if the weather gets threatening.

July: Attend one cultural event. It’s Artown, how hard can this be? August: Make something. You may not believe you have an artistic bone in your body, but there is nothing like the feeling that comes from being creative: Knit a scarf, draw a picture and put it in a nice frame, dig a garden, make a costume. You name it; if you take your time, it will be better than you even imagined from your grade school art experience. September: Visit or write an elderly relative. And if you don’t have any elderly relatives, visit or write somebody else’s. It’s not as hard or as In 2014, let’s weird as you’d think. make a plan to be October: Clean a public space. You don’t need a group. Just drive better people. 15 minutes out of town, find a side road, grab a garbage bag, and fill it up. Better yet, scour a public park of cigarette butts. November: Help get a good person elected locally. We’re not all that convinced that the system isn’t irrevocably broken at the federal level, but if you spend just a minute getting to know the local candidates for office, you can make a real difference. Just one afternoon walking in your own neighborhood or stuffing envelopes or making phone calls may be enough to have a long-term beneficial effect on your city. December: Shop in local stores. Can you believe it? It’s the holiday season already, and it’s going to be make-or-break season for a lot of local merchants. Spend your money where it does the most good. Ω

Your favorite Christmas?

Asked at Overlook Restaurant, 1664 N. Virginia St.

Annette Pymm

Accountant When I was 10 years old, when my mother’s grandparents were still alive, because we had all the family over there—like 30 people. And we were just little kids at that time. I think that’s pretty special.

Anthony Allen

Cashier I’d have to go back to—I think I was 12—and I got my first radio. Me and my little brother opened up all the Christmas presents before my mom and dad could watch us open them.

Jennifer O’Niel

Academic advisor I was probably 6 or 7, and I was from a big family, and the best part was there were zillions of presents under the tree. And it was never as good after you opened them. But imagining what the presents were, that was always really great.

Catherine Pollock

Student I remember we were sitting around our Christmas tree with probably about 30 people from my mom’s side of the family. She has seven brothers, so they all have kids. And my grandpa read us “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” which is pretty much our whole family’s favorite Christmas book. I was probably about 10.

Kim Boehner

Events coordinator When I was 11, and we got the first Nintendo, and that’s all we wanted and my grandmother forgot—she hid the present and then couldn’t remember where she hid it. ... And she had to find it. It turned up later that night, so it was almost like a present hunt. We had to find it. And I miss my grandmother a lot.