Letters 5/18/06

May 17, 2006

Bad Dogg
You must be kidding! Your recommendation of Snoop Dogg appearing at Interlochen would be like inviting John Wayne Gacy to address a Boy Scout convention, or an invitation for Jeffrey Dahmer to come to your family cookout. How many young people do you want damaged?
The first occupation of Snoop Dogg was as a pimp. Of course he hasn‘t been in trouble with the police since, oh perhaps two weeks ago. In addition to being a lousy role model for even ghetto children, his product is even worse. Rap music is trash, produced by garbage, and its only redeeming charm is that the practitioners tend to murder each other a lot. The lyrics are typically misogynistic, deameaning to all women (to the extent that the gutter patois can be understood).
If your wish is granted, today‘s Interlochen teens can look back fondly 40 years from now. Just imagine the conversation: “Honey, do you recall that wonderful ballad we heard about shooting three policemen?“ Or, “It‘s wonderful to remember that great old standard about turning my sister into a whore.“ (Oh, the term is “ho,“ another contribution to our cultural improvement by the rap community.)
Columnist/editor Downes has been thoughtful and correct on a lot of political issues, but on this one he is way off base.

Michael J. Gillman • TC

Who‘s to blame?
We as individuals can continue to blame high gas prices and record profits on whomever we choose, but the whole thing depends on the individual choices we make every day. Our lifestyles have created our current situation and until we put our egos aside and become the change we wish to see in the world (thank you, Gandhi), nothing will change.
With that in mind... questions I ask myself regularly include:
Can I hitchhike to work?
Can I live without dark chocolate?
Can I continue to work 40 hours a week and at the same time help make a local difference in some way?
Can I grow all my own food or at least more of my own food?
Should my son wear cloth or disposable diapers?
Can a tourist town like Petoskey develop a healthy and viable local economy (composed largely of locally-grown and
made goods)?
I do not know the answers to the above questions, but I do know I am the only person that can stop myself from trying to find the answers. Anything is possible,

Matthew Weeber • Petoskey

The true culprits
Enjoyed reading George Foster’s “Random Thoughts” regarding the culprit for skyrocketing energy costs. He is right on target. It was especially interesting to contrast this against the views expressed in the accompanying article, “Gas Prices: Who’s to blame? What to do? Two views from top Democrats.“
As Pogo would say, “We have met the enemy and it is us.”

Jim MacInnes • Beulah

The battle for tctv2
I’m writing in response to Mike Kroes’ article regarding the recent changes at tctv2. I agree the most important shows public access television can air are the local political meetings, and that tctv2 should bring us more of them, but I think his article completely skirts the tragedy that occurred when shows not filmed locally were deemed “not in the public interest.”
New policy has bumped shows like “Democracy Now“ from their regular time, to be scheduled as filler with lowest priority that could appear at 2 a.m. or 1 p.m. The rationale was that locally filmed shows would be assured of a slot, even though we who watch the station know that some shows are shown over and over again and nobody in the history of tctv2 has been refused a time slot on the channel -- until now.
Kroes states that when community leaders launched the station “they did not envision a replay service for programs that can be seen in many places around the country.” He’s missing the point that local citizens wouldn’t see these shows at all without public access television. Local people sponsor this station and specifically these shows.
I donated $100 to tctv2 in order to keep “Democracy Now“ on the air at a regular, predictable time. Tctv2 will no longer have my support if these new policies continue.

Chris Bazzett • TC

TC‘s progress
Although I’ve not lived in Traverse City since high school, being my birth town, I have a special place in my heart for the city. I have watched, albeit from a distance, Traverse City grow from a little city to bordering on a major metropolitan hub. Because I’m in town at least once a month and because I spent most of my professional life in a major metropolitan area (Chicago), I have several ideas and suggestions for the future of Traverse City.
Those people who want the city to stay as it was in the past will never get their wish, as human progress denotes change and growth. The only questions are how the growth is managed and the direction it takes.
Traverse City has done a wonderful thing by cleaning up the West Bay beachfront. Now with the power plant gone and with the zoo soon to be gone, the bay front is beginning to look more like Chicago’s lakefront.
Chicago has for its lakefront a 30-mile long p ublic open space and park. It is beautiful. You will see the beauty of Lake Michigan to the east with no obstructions and the city with its tall buildings to the west. Along with the beautiful lake are parks, beaches, walking and bike paths, and areas to sit and just relax.
Traverse City is on the verge of having the same wonderful addition. I would further suggest that the height restrictions on new construction in the downtown area be lifted. Which would the city rather have and which would add to the economic future of the city? Beautiful 20-plus story buildings in the downtown area or more sprawl in the surrounding areas?
Because growth will not stop, it’s to the city‘s advantage to build up and not out. I’m not talking about the destruction of downtown with its stores along Front Street; I’m talking about space not now used to its full economic advantage.
The city tax base should also be considered. Would the city rather keep the commercial tax base within the city limits or let the growth go out to the townships?
The second concern is the need for another east/west auto thruway. It would be cheaper, quicker, and more convenient to expand South Airport Road and eliminate lights by putting in access and exit ramps. Would there be some displacement? Of course, but much less than building big bridges and ripping up the countryside.
I lived in the Chicagoland area when the expressways were built and there were local and commercial problems; but would anyone now want to return to the old days? I don’t think so.
Some of your readers will say I’m a fool to compare Traverse City to Chicago but consider the layout of both cities and the projected growth of our up-north wonderland. Several years ago Traverse City was ranked in the top 250 economic cities in the country. The last ranking I saw ranked Traverse City in the top 110. The population, the business, and the economic base of the area are exploding. If it’s not controlled and directed, our children will have a civic mess on their hands. Political, business, civic, and professional concerns must work together to control and direct the growth.

Micheal Cromley • Afton

Mother‘s Day appeal
In the United States, we celebrate Mother’s Day on May 14. But many mothers -- in the US, Iraq, and Afghanistan -- have precious little to celebrate. We’ve buried far too many of our loved-ones in this conflict. We’ve seen too many lives crippled forever by physical and mental wounds. We’ve watched in horror as our national resources are poured into war and corporate profiteering; while our families’ basic needs of food, shelter, education and health care go un-met. We’ve seen the growing plague of fear, hatred and intolerance seep into our homes, communities, and collective psyche.
This is not the world we want for ourselves or our children. That’s why we are marking this Mother’s Day by calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan; occupations that have fueled an endless cycle of violence, death and destruction.
The polls indicate that most Americans and Iraqis want U.S. troops to return home. Even the majority of U.S. troops (72%) think they should return home by the end of this year. It is time for the politicians in both countries to listen to us, the people.

M’Lynn Hartwell • TC

Religion & stem cells
I agree with little of what Claire Posner writes (Letters 5/11). The controversy over stem cell research is politically charged. I think the main reason is that research on human embryos is wrong, regardless of the age of their cells. A majority of us is in favor of stem cell research when done on “adult” cells such as that from umbilical cord blood.
The U.S. remains the world leader in the field of stem cell research. No other country is even close to catching up. It is critically important for policy makers to know and understand the facts.
Governor Granholm is misleading suffering families into believing some miracle cure is being denied them because of the law in Michigan prohibiting human cloning and ESC [embryonic stem cell] research. Both the lives of the embryo and the suffering patient are to be respected.
The choice is not between science and ethics, nor between science and ideology, nor between science and personal religious “views,” but is between science that is ethically responsible and science that is not.
Scientists who hold the view that medical discovery is greater by ESC research should do it without taxpayer funds. Private investors generally avoid funding ESC research, primarily because they see no chance of a return anytime soon.
My religious views are perfectly valid in political decisions. My religion guards the truth and the difference between right and wrong. Science has no right to do a wrong thing. And, it is wrong to take my tax money to subsidize the destruction of innocent human life.
President Clinton’s National Bioethics Commission conceded that human embryos “deserve respect as a form of human life.” Can you name the active ingredient in bone marrow transplants? Stem cells.

Marian Johnson • via email

Money is the issue
Anne Stanton‘s article, “Inside the Parking Deck Puzzle,“ totally misses the point of why the citizens of Traverse City have asked to have this issue placed on the ballot for a vote.
The reason why over 1,600 signatures were collected was to ask the question whether the taxpayers of Traverse City should support bonds of up to $16 million (not including upwards of $3 million of interest), backed by the full faith and credit of the taxpaying citizens for a private development. That is the issue at hand.
This said, how could we expect to afford such a debt load when the citizens already are backing $13 million in bonds for a parking deck on the east side of town that sits half empty most of the year? How could we expect to afford such a debt load when the director of the DDA is making deals with a business that fails (Bart‘s Barbeque), leaving the city with $100,000 in debt for a poor decision? How could we expect to afford such a debt load when many people are having to cut back on their spending because they are losing their jobs due to plant closures and our ever-increasing property tax burden?
The question is and always has been: why should taxpayers back private developments downtown? If developers want to build up downtown for a profit, so be it, but this should be done at their own expense, not the residents.

Jim Carruthers • TC

Correction
Developer Mike Uzelac‘s name was misspelled in the May 4 “Parking Lot Puzzle” article. Below is a photo of the building with the parking deck Uzelac hopes to build.