Mail letters to Letters, Santa Fe Reporter, PO Box 2306, Santa Fe NM 87504, deliver them to 132 E. Marcy St., fax them to 988-5348, e-mail them to editor@sfreporter.com, or use our online form.
MISSING THE MARK
"Critics heated over clerk's new voting machines," [Outtakes, Dec. 7:
] deprecates citizens dedicated to voting accuracy as aging, bearded, thirtysomething, long-haired women or young mothers holding babies. It wrongly states they were called to the clerk's office despite her canceling the meeting. The cancellation came only two hours beforehand so finding who was planning to attend and informing them was not possible.
Clerk Espinoza displays confused thinking in saying both that she "was being set up for a public crucifixion" and that she "had no idea what (the interested citizens) were going to do." She displays great naivety in believing her personal "in the shoes of the voter with special needs" testing is sufficient to conclude that the Sequoia "are perfectly secure machines." Apparently, she has made no effort to inform herself of any of the many credible reports of problems in testing and use elsewhere.
Clerk Espinoza disrespects the citizens she is to serve in claiming "she has no knowledge that Sequoia machines have had problematic voting in the past." That can be true only if she did not read the "barrage of letters and pointed concerns about Sequoia machines" she had received in previous weeks.
Deputy Clerk Denise Lamb's acerbic characterizations "flamboyant, paranoia, hysteria, political agendas, theories" of others' serious efforts destroy her credibility for enlightening the clerk on the issue. Never mentioned is that blind persons have stated a definite preference for the AutoMARK system not chosen.
Contrary to the Reporter, the truth is not still "in the eye of the voter." Many studies establish serious problems with the chosen system. The real story here is the failure of the clerk to become informed, the bias of her deputy, and their disrespect for citizens, not that the latter's appearance amuses the reporter.
Has the Reporter no regard for volunteer citizen efforts to benefit Santa Fe?
John Otter
Santa Fe
LABOR OF LOVE
I am mystified that the debate around the issue presented in the article [Outtakes, Nov. 16:
] is centering on the quality of care offered at St. Vincent Hospital, something that was never even in question. Please let me clarify that the issue was the unprofessional and inappropriate behavior of the (now former) co-ordinator of doula services towards her colleagues and coworkers. It was clear that this sometimes affected birthing families and the people who care for them in less than positive ways.
It is unfortunate that speaking out about an untenable situation is seen as revenge or a personal vendetta. People were being hurt. Things had to change. Perhaps we can now begin to work together to facilitate the care of our families in this community, rather than continue with petty bickering and unnecessary territorialism.
Karolyn Wilson
Independent Doula and Lactation Consultant
Glorieta, NM
DON'T HAIL THE KING
Shame, shame, shame on you, Reportidors. How could you even let DJ King George's response to your interviews [Outtakes, Dec. 21:
] make it one inch past the copy desk? I hope for all intents and purposes that you were simply trying to get the young man to see his own, uh, lack of sensibility. However, this does not excuse the fact that you allowed such nasty, smutty, primitive, sexist garbage to run in a publication accessible to kids of all ages. I'm a dedicated reader of the Reporter but that remark, having been printed, makes me want to reconsider my appreciation for your newspaper. There's enough sexism pouring out of every other orifice of every other place in the media to not have to read it in the Reporter. If all you were looking for was reaction, here it is: Grow up.
Pete Gurulé
Santa Fe
CHI-TOWN
In her review of
The Squid and the Whale
[Screener, Dec. 21:
] Jennifer Lowe refers to "the work of certain New York novelists: Philip Roth, Saul Bellow (whose paperbacks turn up repeatedly during the movie), and even JD Salinger." While it may be true that the film-which I have not seen-is trying to create and sustain an intellectual context for its actions, and that because of this it, as Lowe says, "invites ready comparison" with these writers, it's somewhat misleading to call Saul Bellow a New York novelist. He and his work are equally-if not more so-associated with Chicago.
William Potter
Santa Fe
MD POV
I want to congratulate your reporter Gwyneth Doland on hitting the nail on the head with her analysis of the Public Education Department's proposed nutrition rules [Total Pig, Jan. 4:
].
Although the proposed rules are a step in the right direction, I agree with your reporter that they fall short of the letter and intent of House Bill 61 which directed the PED to develop nutrition rules that cover all foods and beverages sold in schools, including fundraisers during school hours.
The rules fall short also of what the governor has been quoted by the news media as saying-that he was ready to ban all junk foods in the schools-and also fall short of what I understand was the consensus of the panel that PED used to develop the rules.
The school nutrition rules as currently drafted are full of internal inconsistencies which will lead to a lot of confusion in their implementation and enforcement. I would recommend that the Public Education Department put these proposed rules aside and use instead the NM Action for Healthy Kids redraft of the school nutrition rules which are consistent, clear and address all foods and beverages sold in schools.
As a pediatrician who has seen the obesity epidemic among our children unfold in the last 25 years I believe that the major factor in the spread of this epidemic is the obesogenic environment to which our children are exposed on a daily basis. It is time for schools to admit their responsibility on this and take serious steps to reverse it.
Thank you very much for your interest in this matter.
Maria Goldstein, MD FAAP
Chair, Childhood Obesity Prevention Committee
NM Pediatric Society
RAISING A STINK
"(T)he musty odor of cheap drum kits" [J Spot, Jan. 4:
]?
Smells like bad writing to me.
Jeff Sussmann
Santa Fe
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