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Fly, be free Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review. My son, Hunter, graduated high school last week. He turns 18 on July 4. He’s off to college on the East Coast in August. I know he’s going to do well. Except for a slight teenaged spaciness, he’s directed, not over-anxious or ambitious, and fairly well adjusted. He’s a good kid in ways I never was. I’ve got to be honest, though. I don’t know how much of the credit I earned for this. I’m horrible at talking about my emotions, and I’m pretty sure he’s every bit as repressed where that is concerned. I never encouraged him to be especially social; I hope he doesn’t hole up in a dorm room. I don’t think I ever forced him in directions he didn’t want to go. The only exception to that I can think of was forcing him to drive at 16, but again, that was supposed to expand his horizons. If anything, he’s had too much self-determination, but that quality is in his DNA. His mother and I discussed ways to allow him to be his own person from before he was even conceived (physically, not metaphorically). Parents get a lot of the blame when their kids go wrong. They get a lot of the credit when kids go right. I don’t think either is necessarily earned. I mean, if I look for ways I positively influenced him and compare them to the positive ways he influenced me, the benefit was mostly mine. I think one thing I did well was I never laid a finger on him. My parents beat me routinely—hands to paddles to straps to fists—and I never got over my offended sense of justice. I’m sure I yelled too many times, but maybe I didn’t damage his psyche much. I guess the shrink will let me know in 20 years or so. So what is a parent’s contribution? You encourage your children in the right ways and try not to discourage inquisitiveness. You try to be honest about the banal things in life without fostering cynicism. You foster self-confidence, and try to set an example of work ethic. You just treat them like you wish you’d been treated, right? I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like enough, but somehow it’s going to have to be.
Government should support church schools Re “Wealth redistribution” (Letters to the Editor, March 19): I recently picked up a RN&R, and glanced through it while waiting for a table. I took a moment to read a few of the letters to the editor. The one labeled “Wealth Distribution” by Janice Flanagan of Reno stood out. Here are her words, but in a different order. “We have precious few tax dollars and must use them wisely. Public tax money should be used to educate all children. Certainly parents can choose how and where to educate their children.” OK, so I agree with this so far. But then the rest of the letter: “I do not believe we should use public money to support private schools. The Republicans in our Legislature are using the legal fiction of tax credits to businessmen who donate money (so-called Opportunity Scholarships) to students who attend private, even religious schools. This is being done under the guise of school choice. Public tax money should not be used in this manner.” The first paragraph makes perfect sense. The next paragraph, I see that Janice refers to “The Republicans,” “religious schools” and “Opportunity Scholarships” in a very negative tone. It appears that what she means is: Public tax money should be used to educate all children as long as they do not go to private religious schools with the aid of an Opportunity Scholarship authored by a Republican. I pay tax dollars to public schools, by choice I sent all my children to private religious schools. My children have flourished in that environment. I have neither asked for or received financial assistance to do so. I believe every child should have the same opportunity that my children have had regardless of financial ability. The students at these private religious schools work very hard to achieve their goals. Why would anyone shame a politician for trying to include hardworking students of an opportunity that their parents might not otherwise be able to offer?
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.
I am so tired of hate, negativity and narrow-minded thinking. The prejudice needs to end. I hope to see a day when all work towards a common goal of an exceptional educational opportunity, without waste of any resources. By the way, private schools are doing an exceptional job of educating students at a lower cost than the public schools. Perhaps public schools could implement some of the cost savings already used by private schools? Julie Wientjes Reno Editor’s note: For what it’s worth, on Nov. 5, 1878 Nevadans voted to amend the Nevada Constitution to add this language to Article 2, the article covering education: “No public funds of any kind or character whatever, State, County or Municipal, shall be used for sectarian purpose.” The vote was 97 percent to 3 percent. A similar measure was approved in 1938.
Foundation Re “Pack of liars” (Editorial, April 23): I just responded to a comment on the on-line Providence Journal that flabbergasted me. I wondered if a person had a “theory of history.” I do know that Karl Marx at least believed that a science of history was possible. The person flatly denied that science—the scientific method— could be applied to human society. I thought it was no coincidence that he was also a political reactionary and a climate change denier. I recalled the famous Henry Ford quote: History is bunk. A Google search took me to your excellent editorial. Could our ruling class now believe that life itself is meaningless? But they intend to live it up at the expense of the rest of humanity? Ron Ruggieri Cranston, Rhode Island
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 Associate Art Director Brian Breneman Ad Design Manager Serene Lusano 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 Kelly Miller
brianb@ ne wsreview.com
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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
Re “Introduction” (RN&R newsletter, June 11): Ah, the challenge in the Reno News & Review to tell you something that you didn’t already know. OK, here goes: How do you pronounce “Kuenzli” as in Kuenzli Street, which runs between E. Second St. and the river? If you pronounced it as “Koon-zlee,” as most people do, you get the big gong. If you said “Kinz-lee,” you got it right. So how do I know this? Judy Kuenzli was in my Reno High School class of 1956, and she pronounced it “Kinz-lee.” Her family owned property in that area and sold or gave a portion of it to the city of Reno for construction of the street, as I recall. I realize that this is of little interest to anyone, besides me and probably my friend, Karl Breckenridge. John Metzker Reno Editor’s note: We’ve been doing a weekly email newsletter for a couple of years now. This letter is referring to the newsletter. The Reno GazetteJournal has recently started its own newsletter that seems, at the very least, admiring of ours. So, exhibiting our keen sense of irony, last week we wrote our newsletter in a voice that imitated their voice imitating our voice. As intended, it was stupid, but the irony was somehow lost on some readers. (Not ours.) You can sign up for our newsletter here: www.newsreview.com/reno/local/ MyNR It’s usually funnier than it is ironic, except when Dennis writes it. And yes, potato was intentionally misspelled in the earlier headline. Incidentally, during his years at KOLO News, Dennis did a ratings series on the origin of Reno/Sparks street names in which he tried to correct the prounciation of Kuenzli. Ignorance weathered his effort.
It’s not immaterial This letter is in response to the coverage of the court decision concerning Cleveland Police Officer Michael Brelo.
—D. Brian Burghart
OPINION
You say potatoe
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FOODFINDS
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FILM
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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
I listened to Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge John P. O’Donnell read his decision and found his thought process reasonable given the series of events he was required to describe. Whether or not you agree with his decision is immaterial given that the law has spoken. And certainly people can protest peacefully and work to improve the system that produced such a catastrophe. Still, there are no innocent parties here. Certainly Timothy Russell should have obeyed the order of a police officer to stop. What other lives were placed in harm’s way because he chose to continue fleeing? But why does it require so many police cruisers to join in a high-speed chase? Given the length of the travel why couldn’t some sort of blockade have been set up to stop the person fleeing? Russell and Malissa Williams did not have to die because the ultimate cause of their death could have been prevented. And what does this say about a potential diversionary tactic that could be employed by domestic/foreign terrorists on American soil? For those of you in the AfricanAmerican community who are tempted to be filled with rage and hatred at every white police officer, I can only say that I had a member of my family, Patrolman Hilary Cudnik, believed to be the distant cousin of my Uncle Boley Cudnik, who was killed in the act of performing his duty. But he was killed by an AfricanAmerican. Because of the influence handed down to me from my paternal grandfather, Albert Joseph Bialek and my mother, I did not react to Hilary’s murder like most people did. I never believed that looting and burning down businesses would solve anything and would certainly not bring him back. My AfricanAmerican brothers and sisters please refrain from engaging in violence as it will only exacerbate the situation. But rather let our two communities come together in reconciliation and love to make Cleveland once again the best city in the nation, if for no other reason than to have achieved racial harmony once and for all. Joe Bialek Cleveland, Ohio
Business Nicole Jackson, Kortnee Angel Sweetdeals Coordinator Courtney deShields Nuts & Bolts Ninja Christina Wukmir Lead Technology Synthesist Jonathan Schultz Senior Support Tech Joe Kakacek Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins 405 Marsh Ave., Third Floor Reno, NV 89509 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-4572 Classified Fax (916) 498-7940 Mail Classifieds to classifieds@newsreview.com
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MISCELLANY
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Website www.newsreview.com Printed by Sierra Nevada Media 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 design: Brian Breneman Cover photo: Eric Marks
JUNE 18, 2015
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