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.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Three months ago, this paper began publishing the internationally syndicated sex advice column "Savage Love" in its personals section. The column appears weekly in dozens of other newspapers around the country, including New York's Village Voice, the Boston Phoenix and Denver's Westword. Its author, Dan Savage, is currently the editor of The Stranger, a weekly newspaper in Seattle, an author of four books-his most recent is
The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family
-and a contributor to This American Life, a radio show broadcast on NPR, and the New York Times.
We are publishing "Savage Love" because we strongly believe in the open exchange of ideas and information, and in the educational value provided by the frank and unedited discussion about sexual matters that takes place in Dan Savage's column.
Some of our readers believe the Santa Fe community is not ready for "Savage Love." The Reporter has received a number of letters about the column, both pro and con, but none as virulent as the two that follow. Because we value your feedback, we'd like to encourage you to read Dan Savage's column and tell us what you think.
HATING LOVE
I've read the Reporter for years, considering it a good resource with some interesting editorial. Not being particularly straightlaced myself, I could understand the paper's periodic forays into less-than-mainstream subjects. However, when I made the mistake of reading "Savage Love" in the May 3-9 issue, about the woman who enjoyed anal sex and wanted to know how to "clean up" afterward…I was grossed out. I know there are people who enjoy this stuff and others who enjoy reading about it. But what the hell, Reporter?? If you're a publication that will print ANYTHING, then that means you have no editorial standards. And that means you're not worth reading. And that means I won't be looking at your advertisers' ads, for which they've paid you a shitload of money. So who's getting screwed in the butt now? Try to find some taste besides what's in your mouth, and go for something a little more worthwhile than cheap shock value.
Lois Manno
Santa Fe
TIGHTEN UP
What in the world were you thinking? I am a longtime Reporter reader and sometimes advertiser, and could hardly believe my eyes when I read the Savage Love column in your May 3-9 issue. I am not a prude; however, it is totally inappropriate, and might even be illegal, for you to run a column with a graphic and disgusting description of the hygienic aftermath of anal sex. I know you don't publish a children's paper; however, the Reporter is freely available to people of all ages from news boxes all over town. And, as an adult, I do not want to see offensive and gross material in a paper that advertises itself as being about "news and culture." Alternative papers can be edgy, and that is just fine. Crude, however, is another matter entirely. You have a duty to make sure that what you publish is not obscene, and this column certainly seems to meet the legal definition, as detailed in the landmark 1973
Miller vs. California
, not to mention what I suspect most might term the common sense definition. If Mr. Savage doesn't know the difference between what is acceptable in a generally available publication and what is not, your editors certainly should. You have failed in your responsibility this time, and I encourage you to tighten up your system so it doesn't happen again. Thank you.
Honey Ward
Santa Fe
US AND THEM
In my reading the Reporter today [Outtakes, May 3:
], there were comments regarding IMMIGRANTS, businesses that were closed in support of THEM, kids who did not attend school and so forth. Although the majority of my family's ancestors arrived with the Spaniards, we are so easily confused with other Latinos who speak Spanish, brown or not. A majority of the citizenry that I speak with online or on the phone daily fail to see why the Mexican population is making such a fuss. Either they are here legally or applying for legal status to continue to be productive US citizens; if not, why do they parade with the Mexican flag, voice allegiance to Mexico, refuse to register to vote, oppress people who are not Mexican, and display negative conduct, unlike former immigrants? There seems to be a bigger underlying issue and each conscience-minded citizen needs to be more informed and ready to take necessary action. Every driver's license and public assistance center should have printed pamphlets in Spanish informing immigrants what it means to be an American citizen. Then they can make a clear choice and make application at the same time or not. If not then they can return to their native country. The laws pertain to everyone, not just the people who read English.
Evangeline Lopez
Santa Fe
NOT MELLOW YELLOW
I read with interest the article about Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano [Cover story, May 3:
]. One must question the research conducted, as well as the fact checking and editing that went into the article.
Although the biographical information can probably pass as factual, there was a distinct lack of depth to the research on Solano's actual experience as a law enforcement officer and as sheriff. The detractors interviewed made points that warrant further exploration. His support from the union presidents, past and present, can hardly be assumed to be the position of all officers under Solano's command.
As to the fact checking and editing, Sgt. Linda Ortiz was referred to once as "Deputy" Linda Ortiz and the "giant, yellowish campaign billboards" that "now dot Santa Fe's thoroughfares" referred to in Frosch's article don't exist. Ortiz' campaign signs are not yellow. If care was not taken to verify something as simple as the color of a giant billboard, how can your readers have any faith whatsoever in the factual basis for the rest of the information published?
Bennie Dimas
Santa Fe
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Editor's note: The reference to Ortiz' yellow campaign signs references the numerous signs she has in town that include bright, yellow writing on them. Indeed, they are not huge in comparison with her other signs, which use a different color scheme. Linda Ortiz is initially identified in the story as a deputy. According to the Santa Fe Sheriff's Department, all officers are technically considered deputies. In the section of the story devoted to Linda Ortiz, her rank is identified as a sergeant and she self-identifies as a "senior sergeant."
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.
