Letters for April 8, 2004

Guilt by association
I am a journalism major at Chico State University and was disgusted to learn that Doe Mill architect R. John Anderson is the husband of Eleanor Cameron [Inside view, March 25]. That fact alone, of course, doesn’t bother me. What I’m upset about is that Cameron, a professional journalist, had the audacity to write a review of the Doe Mill Neighborhood housing development [in the new local home and garden publication in/side/out].

She should never have gotten near the story to begin with; it’s a conflict of interest. It’s all the worse that she failed to mention her relationship with Anderson. Such behavior is irresponsible journalism and makes us all look bad. I have never read a copy of in/side/out, and Cameron’s glaring blunder is enough to ensure that I never will.

Aaron Hansel
Chico

‘President Moron’
Although Mr. Bush says he doesn’t read newspapers, he surely is aware that many world leaders have called him “dangerous” and a “moron.”

To wit: Nobel Peace Prize-winner and former president of Costa Rica Oscar Árias Sanchez called Bush “the dumbest president [Americans] ever had. What the United States needs to do now is to replace George W. Bush.”

Last year, then Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, after his aide called Bush “a moron,” said Bush is “not a moron.” He did not elaborate.

On March 18, 2004, Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad endorsed Sen. John Kerry, saying he would keep the world safer than President Bush. (Mahathir retired in October ‘03 after 22 years in power.)

The March ‘04 Spanish election was an implicit referendum on Bush. Prime Minister-elect José Luís Rodríquez Zapatero has called Iraq (read Bush) “a fiasco” and has threatened to pull out Spain’s 1,300 troops in the so called “coalition of the willing.”

Polish President Aleksander Kwasriewski said on March 18, 2004, that Poland had been misled and was considering withdrawing its 2,400 combat troops from Iraq. It was in Poland last year that Bush said, “We’ve found the weapons of mass destruction. You know, we found geological laboratories.” Not incidentally, on March 17, 2004, Hans Blix, the former U.N. chief weapons inspector in Iraq, who found no WMD, said that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq violated international law.

I don’t understand why Tricky Dick Cheney keeps asking Sen. Kerry to identify the leaders critical of Bush and who favor the senator. Doesn’t he read a newspaper, either?

Prof. Francis X. Callahan
Chico

Parking market
Insanity is defined as “the constant repetition of a failed task, but with the expectation of a different outcome with each new attempt.” I enjoy visiting the Saturday Farmers’ Market at its Second Street parking lot location; obviously so do many other of our citizenry. Shoehorned into this parking lot are the farmers and their wares, the trucks and trailers that the vendors utilize, and of course, we happy few, the patrons.

Here we also find those with a tenuous grasp on reality, to wit those who expect to find a parking place in this already crowded parking lot. It never fails, there will be easily a half a dozen cars doing orbits in the lot, expecting to find that miracle parking spot, when, lo and behold, another clueless wonder enters into the same fray. Just what do these drivers expect; that the others doing “the orbit” are in some sort of slow NASCAR race and not also looking for a parking spot? Or am I missing some sort of social imbroglio about parking just one block away and walking to the market?

Thank you for letting me vent.

John Bilinsky
Chico

Soldiers’ tribute
Last November, the Chico State University Student Democratic Club displayed a memorial to those who have lost their lives in the Iraq War. Its purpose was twofold; to highlight the true cost of the war in Iraq, and to question why our current administration has not acknowledged the sacrifice they have made. The display was well-received by students and faculty who viewed it, and it brought the war home to us all. Many who saw it were sobered by the fact that some of these men and women are their own age, from their own hometowns and lost their lives protecting our liberties and freedoms. Since then, more than 200 more Americans have died in Iraq.

During the memorial, we collected funds to send a package to the troops. True to our word, albeit late, a package was sent out last month to former Chico State student Khaled Dudin and his company, the 1st Panther Battalion with the 1-505 Infantry Regiment, presently stationed in Fallujah. We hope this package will bring a little of home to these soldiers and let them know their counterparts Stateside are thinking of them.

Cal Talbot
President, CSUC Student

Democratic Club

A critic’s critic
Bang, Bang, You’re Dead, performed at Chico Cabaret, was a powerful production of a difficult and poignant theme of gun violence and youth despair. It was put on by Theatre on the Inside Out, the youth theater branch of the Cabaret. I was greatly moved by the performance and did not feel that DNA’s review did it justice [“Acting for Columbine,” Fine arts, April 1.]

The cast did a great job, and the simple staging underscored the powerful and gut-wrenching drama as it unfolded. The play weaves together the complex threads of the roots of violence experienced by youth in a way that is not over simplified and leads to deep insights about violence and loss of hope. There were no obvious, pat answers, but one leaves the theater with a sense of hope that change and healing are possible.

Director Phil Ruttenburg and the cast led a stimulating discussion with youth and adults participating. In his review DNA indicated that the discussion was dominated by adults. Youth were given the opportunity to speak, but if you work with kids, you soon learn that they don’t always speak up. I only wish there had been more time to discuss and explore more deeply, and that more youth and adults had the opportunity to experience the evening.

Emily Alma
Chico

Measured advice
Two advisory measures concerning campus parking problems are on the CSU Chico’s A.S. elections ballot April 13-15. Measures A and B will affect students as well as businesses near campus. Measure A would stop the issuance of general parking permits to students who live within a one-mile radius of campus, unless they have special needs. Measure B would ask the city to increase the number of bus lines and bike lanes to campus.

If the measures fail, the school very well may build an $11 million parking structure. This money will come directly form the students’ pockets in the form of higher tuitions. Vote YES on Measures A and B.

Sean Dunn
CSUC Senior