Soap Box

I've been busy

Sorry for waiting so long between posts, but I've been busy running. And swimming. And lifting weights. A lot.

As I noted earlier I've been part of a Running Room marathon training class since mid-January. It's taught by ultra-marathoner Judy Weller of Rochester. There are just two of us in the class — Rev. Henry Briar is the other — so, it's almost as though I've got a personal trainer. And I did when Henry was on vacation or busy during Lent. What this has meant is that I can't slack off. If I don't show up for a hill workout, midweek tempo run or 15-mile endurance run, people notice. Namely, Judy. So I've been pretty diligent about sticking to a schedule, especially since the youth hockey season ended.

I'm also still hoping to do a triathlon this summer, so I've been swimming about two or three days a week at the Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center. I'm as slow as a legless duck — and about as graceful — but I'm at least to the point now where I can cover a half-mile without stopping.

Add in weight training three days a week, and I don't have much of a social life. But that's OK; I'm not much of a party animal anyway, and I like to think I might be prolonging my life. Although I'd still like to drop another 15 or 20 pounds, I feel like I'm in the best physical shape I've been in at least the last 20 years.

But this workout stuff does seem to be a little more difficult at age 50 than it was at age 30. Anyone know where I can find a good massage therapist. My neck hurts.

Tainted venison gives anti-hunting group ammunition

Below is a letter from a group that wants to ban all hunting in this country. It results from a news story involving a North Dakota doctor who claims he found lead bullet fragments throughout the venison he tested. His unscientific and unreviewed study, food shelves in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa have suspended a program in which hunters can donate venison to those who need help feeding their families.

The jury's still out — and will be for some time — on whether venison harvested with lead bullets is a health hazard. But I think it's a bit of a reach to use this news story as an excuse to promote the outlawing of all hunting.
— Greg Sellnow, editorial page editor

A physician recently found lead in 60 percent of donated meat samples, prompting the North Dakota Department of Health to urge food pantries to discard the hunter-donated venison they had notyet distributed. Minnesota food shelves will wisely follow North Dakota’s lead.

The doctor who tested the meat (William Cornatzer - an avid big-game
hunter) called lead a severe neurotoxin that could cause problems for
children and women of child-bearing age.

Opining against consuming uninspected meat, the New York Department of
Agriculture and Markets wrote “The poor and homeless are entitled to
receive the same level of health protections from government as those
more fortunate... the general public should not be exposed unwittingly
to the potential food safety risks of consuming wild game... “

Hunter-led venison donation programs encourage violence and put the
poorest members of the community at risk. To learn more about the risks
involved with hunting, visit www.AbolishSportHunting.com.

Joe Miele, President
Committee to Abolish Sport Hunting
Maywood, NJ

Coleman campaign faces letter writing charges

The story below appeared in our newspaper on Friday. Unfortunately, this type of thing is rampant these days in political campaigns. During elections season we receive literally dozen of letters to the editor that we suspect are not authorized by the person who's claiming credit for it. It's one of the reasons we're taking some steps within the next couple of weeks to drastically reduce the number of meaningless, disingenuous, and candidate-orchestrated letters that in many cases amounts to little more than free campaign advertising. Stay tuned.
— Greg Sellnow, editorial page editor

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senator Norm Coleman’s campaign says its procedure was not followed when supporters wrote nearly identical letters to three newspapers under the name of two authors.
The campaign says in a statement that the lapse was “inexcusable.”
The letters criticized DFL Senate candidate Al Franken for getting into a verbal altercation with a conservative Carlton College student.
The campaign says its policy is to provide supporters with talking points or outlines for such letters. Coleman’s campaign says that in this case, the volunteers were not given clear enough instructions on the policy — and should not be blamed.
The letters appeared in the University of Minnesota’s Minnesota Daily, the Winona Daily News and Winona State University’s Winonan.

Last call for input on campaign letter policy

We're putting the finishing touches on a new, much more restrictive policy on letters to the editor that are related to political campaigns. We're planning to roll out the new policy in March, and I'll be writing an Opinion Page column soon outlining the new restrictions.

But before we make that official I'd like to make one final plea for suggestions from readers. Here are some of the restrictions we're considering:

• Campaign-related letters can be no longer than 200 words (the max for other letters is 225).

• Letters must address local and/or state issues. This includes letters related to the presidential race.

• Letter writers can submit no more than one campaign letter before the primany and no more than one additional letter before the general election.

• Absolute adherence to our guidelines. This means any letter that is even one word over the limit will be automatically rejected. Letters that are not accompanied by a full local address and local phone number will be trashed. (We now try to get that information when it isn't included, time permitting.)

• Repetitive letters will be rejected. In other words, if three readers write about how Norm Coleman or Tim Walz are good for Rochester because they back the city in its efforts to keep coal trains out of Rochester, we'll print one and throw out the other two.

• We'll print a maximum of 30 campaign letters a week. If we get more than that we'll choose the best written and most well researched letters and throw out the rest. For example, we might print one pro Walz letter and one supporting his opponent and toss the remainder.

None of this is set in stone yet, so please let me know what you think.

Greg Sellnow, Editorial Page Editor

George Will's uneven writing

I don't always agree with him, but I've long been an admirer of George Will as a columnist. The man has an immense intellect and an an encyclopediac ability to put things into historical perspective. But then he writes an arcane lead paragraph like this, and I just shake my head. If you can get beyond that lead without moving onto the next columnist or the comics page you're a better reader than I am.

WASHINGTON — With metronomic regularity — the rhythm may arise from some strangely shared metabolic urge, which may explain the mystery of their marriage — the Clintons say things that remind voters of the aesthetic reason for recoiling from them. Aesthetic considerations even cause many Republicans — a coarse commercial breed, they are notoriously insensitive to higher things, but they are not immune to the repulsive — to hope, against three decades of evidence, that Democrats can be sufficiently sensible to nominate Barack Obama, even though Hillary Clinton would be more vulnerable to John McCain.

Greg Sellnow, Editorial Page Editor

Divorced Mayo spouse wants benefits reinstated

Following is an interesting letter from a guy who's upset that Mayo revoked his privileges at its new Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center because he was divorced from his wife. She's a Mayo employee; he's not. DAHLC membership is available to Clinic employees, retirees and their spouses. My comment follows at the end.

I am writing this letter neither out of spite nor malice. I simply would like to express an opinion regarding the Mayo Clinic policies when a divorce is involved. We all know the clinic preaches a healthy lifestyle. They, the clinic, should be applauded for all the work and effort they do giving back to the Rochester community. During my separation and imminent divorce I found myself mentally in a different place daily. The one thing I could rely on was going to the Healthy Living Center and losing oneself in self pity or just plain basic reflection of my present life and purpose of self being. I found myself feeling so much better after a workout, mostly from a mental standpoint. The physical attributes are of course a bonus, but one can’t argue with one’s mental well being versus being in shape. One typically follows the other. Similar to life, work hard and you will eventually reap what you have sown. Therefore, why take away something that has profound benefits for an individual and those he or she has come in contact with? So I ask the clinic policy makers to re-visit their policies regarding a spouse due to divorce. A grandfather clause may be in order. In my estimation of the 30,000 some odd employees of Mayo Clinic, that about 10 percent of the employed get divorced, not enough to overwhelm the current facility. Since the opening on Sept. 4, 2007, the enrollment has increased by over 3,500 members, and growing. I and many others in my situation would agree that extending Healthy Living Center benefits would not only be a kind gesture, but the right thing for an organization such as the Mayo Clinic to do. It’s funny when money is involved the clinic overlooks the fact that I am allowed to remain a member of the Credit Union. I would like someone to explain the distinction in one benefit but not another? Practice what you preach. We all heard it growing up. So here’s hoping the decision makers at Mayo come to a realization of changing their policy on this issue for the health and well being of others.

I have sympathy for this guy. My wife's a Mayo employee, so I have access to the DAHLC and I'm a heavy user; it's a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility. But I have to side with Mayo on this one. If you're going to extend benefits to ex spouses of Mayo employees, then what about Mayo employees who choose to leave the clinic and take jobs elsewhere in the community. What about Mayo patients and their families. I'm sure many of them would love the opportunity to use the DAHLC? Or what about other people in the community who've never had jobs at Mayo but have close friends employed there with whom they want to work out? You have to draw the line somewhere, and personally I'm thankful that line is extended beyond employees to spouses.

Mayo doesn't make a profit on the DAHLC. In fact, I'd guess they spend many times more money maintaining the facility than they take in in (quite nominal) membership fees. And I'm guessing that's one of the reasons why this invidual wants to maintain his DAHLC membership benefits — because it's cheaper than joining a private health club.

It's too bad he's had to leave the DAHLC, but I just can't fault Mayo on this one.

Greg Sellnow, Editorial Page Editor.

PETA weighs in on local deer poaching case

Dear Editor:

For the entire community’s safety, let’s hope that the teenagers who
allegedly “shined and shot" four deer are charged, aggressively
prosecuted, and if convicted, are given the maximum sentence, including
jail time and counseling, in order to help prevent their violence from
escalating (“Dodge County attorney: Teens killing of deer was
‘sadistic,’ "

Psychiatrists and law enforcement officials have repeatedly documented
that kids and young adults who are cruel to animals are likely to turn
that violence against humans. Brenda Spencer, who opened fire at a
school, killing two children and injuring nine others, had previously
set cats and dogs on fire. Five-time murderer Carroll Edward Cole’s
first act of violence as a child was to strangle a puppy. All of the
kids involved in recent deadly school shootings first “practiced" on
animals. According to Robert Ressler, founder of the FBI’s behavioral
sciences unit, “These are the kids who never learned it’s wrong to poke
out a puppy’s eyes."

Visit www.HelpingAnimals.com for more
information on the link between cruelty to animals and humans.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Bell, Senior Cruelty Caseworker
Emergency Response Team
Cruelty Investigations Department
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Unsolicited movie review

Here's a letter to the editor that we didn't use in our print version for several obvious reasons, not the least of which is that our letters to the editor section is not where readers usually turn for movie reviews. My comment follows beneath it.

Please forward this to the correct person. The Cloverfield movie is horrible. It made me and my wife motion sick, (wife actually vomitted.) Meanwhile even my 17 year old son said it was the worst movie he had ever seen. Do not pay to see this movie!!! I got a refund. I am really angry that there was no warning about the way it is shot, the screen is constantly shaking. If you go see it take a barf bag and make sure no one is in front or behind you. Horrible.

Sincerely,

MS
Rochester, MN

This person is entitled to his/her opinion. But I just checked the reviews for Cloverfield and they're generally pretty positive. So, not everyone had the same gastrointestinal reaction to the movie. I'm not a big fan of the whole handheld camera approach (Cloverfield is shot to make it look like a home movie) but this review is just a bit harsh. I personally have a pretty negative reaction to any movie that Woody Allen is in. But I've never had to use barf bag while watching "Annie Hall."

Greg Sellnow, Editorial Page Editor

Reader requests apology for Fischer cartoon.

Here's an e-mail from a reader who was upset with a recent Ed Fischer cartoon.

I am deeply troubled by the cartoon appearing January 30th, 2008, by Ed Fischer. It strikes me as racist in terms of the fact the spices next to the “boiling pot “ are labelled “Asian Pepper “, whereas none of the other spices say “caucasian” or “blacks.” Gang membership is made up of people from all races, not just Asians. I find it an outrage the P-B allowed that to be printed and I would hope that the P-B post on the front page of their website, and in their paper an apology to your local Asian community. A Community Member

I think this person is reading a little too much into Ed's cartoon. Ed also had Chile peppers listed among the ingredients in his "stew." I think he meant "chili" peppers. Nonetheless, I supposed if you're looking for trouble you could assume that Ed is biased against people from Chile.

Greg Sellnow, Editorial Page Editor

Reader comment on out of school suspension program comm

Here's a comment from a reader in reaction to the news story regarding the school district's plan to partner with the Boys and Girls Club to oversee students who've been suspended.

First of all, I would like to start this letter by stating that I have never been moved to write a letter to the editor. I had several thoughts when reading about the PASS (Positive Alternatives to School Suspension) plan. I agree wholeheartedly that children should not view an out of school suspension as a “free day to hang out at home.” I read the Rochester School District Procedural Code for Dealing With Pupil Removal from Class Exclusion and Expulsion Proceedings. The rules seem reasonable — don’t disrupt the rights of others to an education and follow the rules of the school. The only responsibility that our children have is to go to school, behave well and learn as much as they can. The society that we live in today, and explosive technology growth that we are experiencing demands an education for the expectation for future success. I think that an out of school suspension should be treated as one of the most serious of our parenting challenges. I am troubled by the high number (995) of out of school suspensions given last year. The part of the PASS plan that concerns me is the $60,000 to $80,000 price tag. I think that the program should shift the cost from the school district to the children and parents of the children who are committing the offences. Fees and fines can be a great deterrent. If a child were forced to spend his babysitting money or money earned at a job to pay the fees associated with an out of school suspension, maybe they would be less likely to repeat those same behaviors. As a parent, if I were forced to pay a fee for my childís misbehavior, there would be consequences at home that would help deter that child from future inappropriate behaviors. Our legal system charges fines for bad behavior and our jails charge fees for the privilege of getting out of jail to go to work. Maybe if children were charged a fee for bad behavior we could lower the ridiculous number of out of school suspensions, and parents would take back the responsibility for our children. Moirasheen Benz