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Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review. I don’t have what you’d call an addictive personality. There are few substances I haven’t idly sampled and lived to tell about. Nicotine was a long-term habit, pretty much the best part of 35 years, and I’ve always been a hard drinker, but I feel like the one who got away, as far as horrible addictions go. I thank first-person journalism because I don’t have to withhold my feelings, but I have had many family members who’ve been beset by that monster. But when I get anal about something—anal retentive, which means I can’t let something go, referring to Sigmund Freud’s psychological stage—I’m like a dog with a bone. Particularly if I’m chewing on a bone. Or alphabetizing books. Or reading Twitter. If I’m going to be a gardener, I’m going to take the master gardener classes. If I’m going to learn app design, I’m going to sell cutting edge apps on the open market. If I’m going to do a master’s, I’m going to do two—at the same time. You get the picture. It’s related to my ADHD. I know that because my shrink told me it was back when I considered— and tried—taking medicine for it. ADHD-positive people call it hyper-focus. People who have a problem with it, call it “obsessive.” But I’ve always considered it part one of the best things about me. I have an incredibly long attention span when I’m working on something that interests me. But my interest can drop like a penny when something more interesting comes along. I took the anti-ADHD drugs for a few months, but I quit them because I lost that hyper-focus. I also lost the bad temper, and the busybodiness, and my tendency to have a whole separate conversation going in my head when I’m talking to someone. But none of that “better human being” stuff was as important as sacrificing one of my favorite attributes about myself. I often think about that when somebody is telling me about shortcomings. Usually I think about it at the exact moment they’re telling me. Usually I think about it at the exact moment they’re telling me right before I move on in my head to categorizing the contents of the freezer.
Re “The next generation” (Feature story, Feb. 19): The answer is yes. As the artist who runs The Generator, the whole point of the space is to create a sustainable long term arts ecosystem in Reno that is not tied to any one particular interest, style or discipline. The Generator is not a Burning Man arts organization. We are not funded by the event. It acts as inspiration in the same way that the Tate Modern in London acts as inspiration. We are creating a long-term sustainable arts environment in conjunction with a wide range of arts organizations. And at no point has our mission been exclusively tied to Burning Man. We think there is inherent value to the ideas expressed in the desert and the question is: How do we bring those ideas and concepts to the real world in a way that helps to benefit everyone? In working with the city, we are trying to find a way to create a venue for everyone to show and see art in Reno at little to no cost to the city. It is a park that most cities and states pay for. We are going to fund the park using private funds and have it open to the public for free. Matthew Schultz Reno Editor’s note: The question Matthew Shultz is answering is, “Is The Generator Phase 2, a potential land deal between the city and a Burning Man-affiliated arts organization, good for Reno?”
Who does Congress work for? Re “When ignorance reigns” (Editorial, Feb. 12): There seems to be a consensus that a major problem in society is our lack of communication. It’s much easier to agree with a point of view similar to your own; therein lies the secret to the success of FOX news, or Rush, or others of their ilk. They can be found in a lie or discredited in some way, on a daily basis. But if you try to tell that to a “believer,” you will get nowhere. Their eyes glaze over
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when you suggest they “fact check” something, like, oh, I don’t know— something like science. Your editorial correctly points out that ignorance does indeed reign, and this is where we are today. A lie propelled forward through the media is a powerful thing when we have a percentage of our population who refuse to think for themselves. Unfortunately, there is nothing new here. Some of us have watched in horror as the failed policies of the drug war have wreaked havoc on society for many decades. Ignorance reigns! The government is responsible for this. The propaganda machine was hard at work in concert with media to sell the idiocy of criminalizing drug users. Why should we expect some folks to not shut them out completely, and instead listen to the soothing ranting of Hannity? Some of us have seen this coming, but it only adds to our cynicism that things will not change until we are faced with real calamity, the kind that will affect everyone, including those who think they are untouchable. It’s sad to think how little humans have evolved, and yet, how much we have accomplished in spite of it all. That is the reason I’m somehow still hopeful we can overcome this nonsense of hate and the feeling of needing to avenge something. Congress needs to do something FOR the people, not against them for a change. Then maybe folks will be a bit more amiable and perhaps, begin to listen to reason and get their kids vaccinated for the good of all of society, not just a select few. J.R. Reynolds Reno
Working for the wolves Re “Buck Wild” (Green, Feb. 5): The Bureau of Land Management is on the side of the ranchers and cattlemen! If left to BLM and our government, they will round up every wild horse left. These horses are
Editor/Publisher D. Brian Burghart News Editor Dennis Myers Arts Editor Brad Bynum Special Projects Editor Georgia Fisher Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Contributors Amy Alkon, Woody Barlettani, Bob Grimm, Ashley Hennefer, Sheila Leslie, Eric Marks, Jessica Santina, Todd South, Brendan Trainor, Bruce Van Dyke, Allison Young
Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Junior Art Director Brian Breneman Production Coordinator Skyler Smith Design Melissa Bernard, Brad Coates, Kyle Shine Advertising Consultants Joseph “Joey” Davis, Gina Odegard, Bev Savage, Jessica Wilson Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Operations Coordinator Nanette Harker
—D. Brian Burghart
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OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
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FILM
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MUSICBEAT
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housed in pens, which is the most ridiculous plan! BLM has provided no shade in the summer or shelter in the winter for the horses they have previously taken off the range. The helicopter roundup is horrible, and horses stampede from fear and many young ones are trampled in the process. Most are sold to kill buyers at auctions and end up in slaughtered in Canada or Mexico; they are subjected to abuse and torture along the way. How can our government spend millions to make this happen just for special interest groups? Where’s the democracy? Taxpayers are basically funding the wild horse extinction! Janice Kyle Columbus, Georgia
A bad idea whose time has come to die What do ‘being struck by lightning’ and ‘finding a five-leaf clover’ have in common? Both are more likely than being legally killed by an armed citizen. Never mind, say gun toters, who insist that just showing a gun usually stops a crime. All told 2.5 million times per year, according to the NRA’s pet study, a 1994 telephone survey of about 5,000 people. Of course, if you asked 5,000 people about Bigfoot sightings, in theory you could get a Sasquatch count, where they live, so forth. But could you find as many in the wild? Those welldebunked 1994 numbers predict that in Northern Nevada we should see 35-40 gun defenses police are aware of, with 13-15 involving shooting, and at least five perpetrators should be killed or wounded. Charles Bronson twice a day, Reno? These actually happen so rarely, you can probably recall only a few—don’t count that guy who’s up for murder, just yet. (No surprise that redefining murder is the other front in the gun culture war.) If there’s scant benefit to having concealed carriers on campus, is there any real harm? Well, we know that gun accidents outnumber heroes 4 to 1 in other settings, and you can already detect dozens of gun mishaps on campus with a simple Google
Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Manager Anthony Clarke Distribution Drivers Sandra Chhina, Steve Finlayson, Debbi Frenzi, Vicky Jewell, Angela Littlefield, Joe Medeiros, Ron Neill, Christian Shearer, Marty Troye, Warren Tucker, Gary White, Joseph White, Margaret Underwood General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley Business Manager Grant Rosenquist
NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
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THIS WEEK
search. The most ironic incident was in Arkansas, where an accidental shooting at the college radio station bookended a professor’s testimony against allowing guns on campus. This is one time we all need to call the Legislature’s comment line (775-6846800) and put a stop to a very bad idea. No on AB 148. No on AB 2. C.G. Green Reno
Everybody come together Re “The next generation” (Feature story, Feb. 19): Expanding Generator 2 isn’t taking away from other amazing art projects in town such as Reno Art Works, the Holland Project or Cuddleworks. There’s a new gallery in town—the Lasting Dose, and I know that the creators of that worked at and with the Generator. The Generator isn’t only for Burning Man; it’s for the arts community in Reno. Instead of fighting for a piece of a small pie, I think what’s being attempted is to make the pie bigger for everybody. I hope that becomes more apparent so that we can all come together and make Reno an amazing arts destination. Heaven knows we definitely have the talent. Michelle Leutzinger Reno
Spare the children I am writing because I am concerned about AB No. 148, and I’m against it as a mother of children in the public school system in Nevada. AB No. 148 would allow concealed weapons on any public property in Nevada, including college campuses and public schools. If AB 148 passes this will cause much more harm than good. Look at the school teacher who accidentally shot herself in an elementary school in Taylorsville, Utah. What if that bullet had hit a child? Lisa Cooper Reno
Business Nicole Jackson, Kortnee Angel
Sweetdeals Coordinator Courtney deShields Nuts & Bolts Ninja Christina Wukmir
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MISCELLANY
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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.
Cover and Feature story design: Brian Breneman
MARCH 5, 2015
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