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.
BLOWING SMOKE
To Jonanna Widner: The biggest whiners I know are smokers, and you are the biggest smoking whiner ever [J spot, April 12:
]. You are irritated because Santa Fe doesn't provide you with quite the hip experience you want, musically, smokingly or otherwise. What irritates the crap out of me is smoke, particularly that from modern cigarettes specially made to enhance your addiction pleasure and that of large tobacco companies. What irritates the crap out of me are whining smokers who believe that it is their right to foist the byproduct of their habit onto everyone else-a typically self-centered attitude. If you want all the hip, hip, overhip rockandroll latenight scene you can handle, try LA or NYC…oops, they have total smoking bans. There is a way, however: Establishments specifically catering to smokers. Maybe they can operate as clubs, with nominal memberships, or whatever, but the focus is on smoking, and they offer tobacco for sale in any or all modes of delivery. Smoking rooms? A good idea. You didn't think you could live if you couldn't smoke on a plane, but you did live through that, sort of. I say "ban" smoking in public "forever" in Santa Fe. And if those words freak you out, try snuff, or perhaps tobacco brownies. It'll be OK.
Steven Davis
Santa Fe
CLEARING THE AIR
Amazing that Jonanna Widner can devote an entire column to the proposed anti-smoking ordinance without mentioning the most important reason for such a law: the health and safety of those who work where smoking is allowed. As a working musician for over 35 years, I can tell you that the smoky environment is the single most negative aspect of providing good music and entertainment for people, smokers and non-smokers alike. Why should musicians and bar and restaurant workers have to put their health in jeopardy because of second hand smoke in the work place? Nightlife is thriving in New York City and the state of California, both places where smoking is no longer allowed in bars and night clubs.
Which of the following do you agree with Ms. Widner? It's OK for Los Alamos Lab to poison our air and water with depleted uranium and perchlorates. It's OK for people to drink to excess and then drive and kill people. It's OK for music critics to harm the health of others because they're too lazy to walk outside for a smoke break. Bar workers have fewer rights than Santa Fe Reporter employees, whose office is smoke-free.
No one is saying people don't have a right to smoke. Many smokers are very considerate of others. Nonsmokers are simply demanding their health and well being be treated as more important than a small inconvenience to smokers. Arguing that smoking is "part and parcel of the rock 'n' roll experience" is like arguing that slavery was part and parcel of the cotton growing industry and should have been allowed to continue. Times change, and social practices that harm our fellow human beings must fall by the wayside. I call on all our city councilors to ban smoking in all public buildings and businesses.
Jeff Sussmann
Santa Fe
WIPP IT
According to Rice via Arends, the Buckman well field extends across the Rio and will pull contaminated water into Santa Fe within the next 26 years [SFR Talk, March 29:
]. Do we move the town or halt the contamination source?
The NMED and DOE [1] approved a reduction in surveying procedures to detect contamination released from WIPP; and [2] will approve remote-handling of waste at WIPP, as the technique is required to facilitate handling high-level waste. WIPP is operational. Yucca Mountain isn't and probably will never accept high-level waste. It appears the NMED-DOE solution to the storage of spent fuel rods at US reactors is to send this high-level waste to WIPP.
K Wylie
Santa Fe
PATRIOT ACTS
We must keep in mind that not only do Mexicans and other Central or South American ethnicities want to come to this country [Outtakes, April 5:
]; many people from all over the world would like to come here to escape oppression, poor economies, religious persecution and corrupt governments, etc.
Any hopeful immigrant should follow the immigration laws and regulations as did my great-grandfather when he came here.
We can't criminalize 12 million illegal immigrants. We can demand those now living in this country follow the laws, respect our cultures and learn our language. The same as any American would be expected to do in Mexico.
Matthew Kuzman
Santa Fe
KEEPING AN EYE
Thank you for last week's conscientious and informative cover story [Cover story, April 12:
] that highlights the important work being done by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and related civil liberties advocates. I believe that their presence, efforts and accomplishments are greatly appreciated by the majority of Americans; many who may not fully understand these Herculean endeavors to protect cyberspace and electronic media from government, corporations and other potentially dangerous forces.
Whether we concern ourselves with the liberty or ability to protect real life or data-related privacy; benefit from a free press; peaceably consume cannabis; make one's own decision regarding an abortion; protect individuals from identity fraud; avoid national identification cards; or be homeless, poor, non-Christian or a non-citizen, the increasingly totalitarian (and debt-accruing) federal government is continuously opting to chip away at human dignity and the quality of our personal lives. While I am admittedly disappointed by the ACLU's "effectiveness" over the past 40 years, I pray for their re-emergence and for the continued growth and prosperity of the EFF and related public service organizations.
Ivan Smason
Santa Monica, CA
SALON SALUTE
I am the owner of Blue Monkey Salon and Blue Monkey Cosmetology School. I am responding to the many letters that were sent to the Reporter over the past two weeks.
I would like to say thank you for the incredible support we are receiving from friends, clients, and the community as a whole. It could not have come at a better time. I have received many letters via mail and e-mail that were not published by the Reporter, and I thank you all for caring enough to take the time out of your busy lives to let us know how much you appreciate us.
I need to give credit to all of the stylists and students who put in long hours, and work their butts off to make sure that the salon and school run as smoothly as possible. Each and every person at Blue Monkey is a valuable asset, and as every businessperson will know, you cannot please everybody all of the time.
Thank you also to the Reporter for your well-written articles, and caring staff. I appreciate you keeping everyone current on our moving situation.
Nicole Carter
Santa Fe
The Reporter welcomes original, signed letters to the editor. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. They may be edited for clarity and space. Please include address and phone number for verification purposes; these will not be published.
