Letters to the editor May 5

Don't just cover graffiti; fight it

| The New Mexican

5/5/2008 - 5/5/08

Santa Fe is an expensive place to live; it's also a dump. Graffiti is everywhere. The city tries to mitigate the impact with a graffiti-cover-up crew. However, in many cases, this simply changes the color of the tag.

Take a drive down Jaguar Road and you will see either large patches of mismatched paint on every exterior wall, or a once-blue tag that the city has replaced with a faint brown tag.

The graffiti problem is so absurd that the city is now tagging itself. It is clear that despite their best efforts, the city, police and cover-up crews are completely unable to do anything about the graffiti problem in Santa Fe. The city has stated that taggers are to be considered dangerous. Consequently, it has the responsibility to respond accordingly.

Brian David Lansrud-López
Santa Fe

Don't encourage cars
Did anyone miss the exquisite irony of Brigette Russell's April 26 letter, "Pay for parking"?

"Please don't let Santa Fe go the way of L.A. ... so build the necessary infrastructure now," she wrote. One would have hoped that she was suggesting more spending for public transportation. But no — build parking garages; build more roads; build more infrastructure to accommodate more and more vehicles and voilá! L.A.! Conservative indeed.

Vincent Leyendecker
Santa Fe

Meter ridder
We see parking spaces downtown occupied all day, every day, for years on end without consequence. Since enforcement in the city apparently only applies to those honest or embarrassed enough to pay meters or fines, what's the point of having meters in the first place? On the other hand, if we want people to come downtown, why not get rid of all those meters and really fine those who overstay the limit (three hours is more reasonable), and boot those who do it more than twice in a 12-month period?

Some portion of each parking structure could be set aside for those who really need to park all day — at a fee. Downtowns all across the country have been revitalized by getting rid of meters. With new parking coming, we have an opportunity to get people to come to downtown, if we use some imagination — and vigorous enforcement.

Tom Jervis
Santa Fe

Pressure works
What has happened to the tough, feisty American people who would fight back with marches etc., against a government that ignores their plight? Our country was built on rebellion against the foes of its citizens.

For one, gas prices can be easily controlled by overtaxing the $123 billion in oil company profits and applying it to lower the prices at the pumps accordingly. Our representatives in Washington have still not taken back the tax breaks from these companies. I am seeing more TV ads from the oil and gas industry extolling the wonders of how safe it is to extract these liquids from the earth.

I think we should demand equal time and expose the truth about how devastating the pollution of our land and water has been from these "new extraction techniques." I am proud that Gov. Bill Richardson is taking a stand to determine exactly what will happen if drilling takes place in Santa Fe County and elsewhere. See what can be done when everyone gets together and applies pressure on state and county officials to stop the drilling?

Muriel Fariello
Santa Fe

Reinforce education
It's no secret that Santa Fe has serious problems with underperforming students and a high dropout rate in its schools. Therefore, I was extremely disappointed (but not surprised) when The New Mexican Sports section featured an article, "Santa Fe High golfer hoping to regain eligibility," detailing a parent's appeal to the courts when the student failed to qualify for an athletic event because of poor grades.

Where are the articles showcasing academic excellence by student athletes? On the same day, The New Mexican's editorial ("Tying grades to cars?") damned as "draconian" the governor's plan for denying underperforming high-school students a driver's license by a mere six months. With community support like this, it's no wonder the schools feel under siege and our kids continue to lag academically.

Bob Heffner
Santa Fe

Well-rounded roads
Whoever is in control of all the new traffic islands around town must have at least graduated from go-cart school. The newly constructed blockage to the easy entrance of Acequia Madre might have been needed, but the access to Acequia Madre should not be so severe. Please, make it more rounded!

Henry H. Griswold
Santa Fe

Change cities
Regarding Don Eaton's April 27 My View, "Small changes could make big difference in city":

We have in our midst yet another transplant who wants to transform us and the City Different and make it "better." Imagine Don Diego de Vargas returning 12 years after the Pueblo Revolt and saying to the Pueblo leaders, "No hard feelings, and I have some great ideas for this place ..."

As a native of Santa Fe, I'm quite protective of my hometown, so I have consulted with a few of my Spanish, Indian and Anglo friends who also grew up here.

We are sorry he doesn't like "ugly" cinderblock walls and that a trickling river during a drought isn't aesthetically pleasing. Hence, we have decided that Mr. Eaton should attempt to enjoy the Santa Fe he obviously liked enough to move here, or consider going back to a greener, "wetter feeling" Oregon.

Jaime Gaskin Eyrich
Santa Fe

Not litter
Regarding the April 24 letter, "Campaign litter," accusing two candidates of ignoring rules for placement of campaign signs:

Mark Martínez, who is running for Santa Fe County Commission in District 5, contacted the city of Santa Fe regarding the rules and regulations before placing any of his campaign signs, and he fully intends to retrieve his signs once the campaign is completed, as I hope all the candidates will do. I intend to give him my full support and vote.

Elizabeth Iddings
Santa Fe

Keep them home
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurobiological disorder estimated to occur in one in 150 individuals.

As a pediatric and family nurse practi-tioner in public health in New Mexico and the grandmother of a 10-year-old boy, I have a dual interest in this issue. ASD interferes with the normal development of communication and social interaction skills. My grandson's autism is severe, and recently his needs and behaviors, including aggression and self-injury, combined with an IQ of 45, have escalated beyond the abilities of his family, school and ongoing therapies. He has been an inpatient at Children's Psychiatric Hospital to receive stabilization. CPH has determined he requires a specialized long-term residential/school program.

Unfortunately, the state of New Mexico offers no such school. Texas offers several fine programs, and Texas Hill Country School admitted him April 25.

His stay there could be several years. New Mexico must create facilities to permit individuals with autism to stay in our state.

Carole Owens
Santa Fe

Bombs saved lives
In "Bombs didn't end WWII, scholar says" (April 23), so-called scholar Ward Wilson suggests that it was not the use of the atomic bombs against Japan that ended the war in the Pacific in 1945, but a number of other suspect reasons.

For instance, he says the bombing of Hiroshima was not enough to convince the Japanese military to surrender. He's right: It was the second, subsequent A-bomb dropped on Nagasaki that persuaded the emperor that they could not continue. (Nowhere in the article is the second bomb mentioned; only in the photo caption is it cited.)

Wilson also maintains that the Soviet Union was poised to attack Japan. After the siege of Stalingrad several years earlier, in which the Soviet Union lost millions of soldiers and civilians, and the invasion of Manchuria, the Soviet Union was depleted and exhausted. Stalin's threat of invasion (more accurately, a declaration of war against Japan) was more for political gain with the Western powers than it was for real.

It was the two atomic bombs that saved thousands of American lives — and, perhaps, Soviet and even Japanese lives — had we had to invade the Japanese mainland.

Kay Lockridge
Santa Fe

Process precludes best
In his April 28 letter, "We can do better," Ross Phillips asks if Americans really believe that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are the best qualified to be chief executive of the United States.

My answer to him is "no" — none of the three presumptive candidates is the best. Fact is that the best and most qualified candidates would never put themselves or their families through the horror show that presidential political campaigns have become in the United States.

Several years ago, Colin Powell was questioned about being such a candidate. He said "no thanks," no way would he subject his family to all that. That's why we are left with the candidates we have now. And that's why unless there are drastic changes made to our election process, we will continue to see the most qualified persons simply walking away.

Lynn Clark
Santa Fe

Unequal voice
Staci Matlock 's April 26 article, "For some, climate-change debate continues," gave far too many inches to chemist William Keller's contrarian views on the cause of global warming.

Like most reporters, Staci assumes that if there are two sides to a story, both should get equal billing. Keller is way off-scale in being one voice against a vast majority of scientists.

She then gives investment manager (not scientist) Joe Moure opportunity to vent anger at Al Gore and for this outrageous quote: "Unfortunately there are a lot of people making a lot of money pushing the argument that hydrocarbons are causing global warming." ... And the Hydrocarbon Boys aren't making obscene profits, at the same time collecting huge subsidies from the American taxpayers?

At least Quivira Coalition director Courtney White got the final, earth-balancing word. Personally, and in our own community, we should strive for resilience and sustainability.

Brad Lee Holian
Santa Fe