|
|
 |
Revenge Of The NerdTo the Editor, Regarding the reference to the Nerd quality of candidate Ken Marcus (June 4): I would like to give big thanks to the Skinny writer who referred to me as a "nerd." I am glad someone noticed. This quality, in a political candidate, is enviable and desirable. I have been hesitant in calling attention to this outstanding attribute due to my humility, shyness and my aversion to bragging.
So Nerds of the World--all people who can read, write, add, subtract and reason without help--unite. Remove your own baskets and let your lights show. The Skinny has made it politically correct to be literate and astute. As always, this was a great column and I'm glad the Tucson Weekly is around.
--Ken Marcus
To the Editor. C'mon, guys. Your shot in the Skinny at "nerdy" Ken Marcus and his magic fortune cookie was funny, but I believe your criticism was off-target (June 4). Though I suppose Emil Franzi might have had his hearing aid turned off during crucial points of the Greater Tucson Neighborhood Coalition's candidate forum on May 26, others in the audience certainly noticed that Franzi's boy, Ray Carroll, also failed to voice his support for the Citizens Growth Initiative. Ray has since said that he does not support the effort. What caught my ear that night was the incumbent Mr. Carroll promising the audience that he would run a clean campaign devoid of personal attacks. After the forum, however, Ray proceeded to tell me privately that if we, the Marcus Campaign, didn't "lay off the heavy stuff," he and his henchmen would have to start digging up dirt on Ken. That's not what I would have expected from the new and improved, loveable and cuddly Ray Carroll. I guess what Ray meant earlier was that he won't need to engage in personal attacks when he's got Emil Franzi to do it for him. Maybe it's time you dudes took off those rose-colored glasses for a moment and realized that Saint Raymond is running in a Republican primary. It's not the Democratic Party, not the Libertarian Party, and not the Green Party--hell, it's not even the Communist or Irish Republican Party. Ray probably began losing this race last year and raised the flag of his ultimate demise by January in Green Valley. You guys try to paint Marcus as a potential spoiler in this race because you refuse to view county politics as anything beyond the paradigm of pro-growth/no growth. The Republican Party rank and file are concerned about growth and development, but they have a slew of other concerns as well. I'm sorry to see that the absolute contempt you have for the development community as embodied by Brenda Even's candidacy has permanently affected your overall view. The Tucson Weekly is still the absolute best forum for political coverage in the Old Pueblo. However, I'd hate to see a symbiotic relationship develop between your paper and some political elements in this town that causes your vision and, ultimately, your coverage to become permanently skewed. You guys are better as observers than you are as players, but nobody's saying you can't do both. Just be honest about it.
--Scott D. Kirtley
Look Upon My Works, Ye Mighty, And DespairTo the Editor, Regarding Margaret Regan's "The Block Busters" (June 9 ): There is much talk lately of revitalizing the downtown area. What for? Will the people who live "east of Campbell" come if you build it? What is that "mix of enterprises--entertainment, retail, [and] cultural" that will lure other than "a particular clientele that's interested in art?" May I be so bold as to posit that those who are interested in other things besides art are, in all senses, already satiated by the abundance of strip and other malls offering that elusive mix the downtown so woefully lacks? How can this be, you ask? Plainly spoken, folks, we lack that essence which bespeaks the concept of "city." Webster's defines a city as "an inhabited place of greater size, population, or importance than a town or village." More importantly, however, is what history has defined a city as being. A city is a place where architecture acts not only to distinguish neighborhoods from one another, but forms a cohesive visual impression by which people recognize one metropolis from another. A city is defined by the waves of ethnic poor who pass through decrepit hovels and sweat shops on their mythic adventure up the scale of economic success. A city has concentric rings of expansions, zones of emergence, that date its history like a great tree. Through expansion and reclamation, a city is an ongoing experiment in high-density living. Unfortunately, Tucson has little in common with the prototypical city. Instead of concentric rings of emergence, the sleepy burb enjoys an ancient core surrounded by one great expanse of suburb stacked upon suburb. While original building practices took into account what it is you can build out of sand and little water, Tucson's growth is rife with outlandish architecture imported from post WWII cookie-cutter development started by the Levitt Brothers in New Jersey. And what of late, where one can choose from amongst Spanish Mission or Satan Fe (yes Satan) fare for those wealthy enough to buy upwind of the sprawl? Like it or not, there is little to distinguish the mass of Tucson for any other Southwestern suburb. Traveling through our neighborhoods is a trip through the Sears catalogue of development: Chain Stores, Chain Housing, Chain Education, Chain Entertainment, and Chained Living. But, the people of Tucson must love this way of homogenous living, for why else would they have for so long agreed to live and entice others to move here? The economic environment, perhaps?
And now, BID wishes to be the light by which the disenfranchised re-discover the downtown. How apropos. Let one of the last centers for diversity and genuine entrepreneurship be consumed by corporate interest. Bring on the leveling of structurally sound but aesthetically hideous buildings. Move in twenty screens of pabulum and another pristine Java bar serving beverages so hot you could boil linguine in them. Let the Robber-Barons and Feudal Lords preside in their mountainslope gated communities and speculate on what part of the desert to rip up next. The artists and poets will continue to tithe with what existence they can eke out of leftovers downtown or whichever burned-out district remains for them. Hopefully, some will catch a ride down the line to more hospitable climes. Tourists and Snowbirds will go on gawking at curios in Caucasian-owned Native Art stores. The southside will continue to hide its jewels well preserved for lack of Chain Store interest in cornering a market perceived unable to consume. Most will continue on unawares. Let it all go to pot for 50 or so more years; until the water disappears, and the whole town dries up and wrinkles in the sun like the prune it has already become. --Barry Sandberg
Foolin' With Mother NatureTo the Editor, Thanks for printing Jeff Smith's recent article about Patagonia's ongoing relationship with the Nature Conservancy, Inc., as well as the expected letters in response. His essentially accurate and tastelessly enjoyable eruption has provided a bit of levity in an otherwise troubling situation. As one of Jeff's sources of "inaccurate information," I was pleasantly surprised at the response to his piece locally. Why, I've now been described in print as "one of a couple of bitter and biased individuals...spouting poisonous bile" onto the "sidewalks" of Patagonia! (And I don't even live on the street that has a sidewalk!) That'll sure teach me to keep my nose out of business that doesn't concern me, like public policy, or the imminent and permanent transfer of a vast resource from the public to the private sector, for free, and with as little public scrutiny as possible. So the next time you read an article about how cattle have ruined the riparian habitat Southeastern Arizona, think about the San Rafael Valley, south of here, where cattle have grazed for hundreds of years. Take a drive, take a look. On your way back through Patagonia, swing past the Patagonia/Sonoita Creek Preserve and note the obvious deficiencies in the health of the ecosystem there. And when you read about the Amphi School District's pygmy owl woes, remember that, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department's statements, they opposed the listing of this bird as endangered after surveying less than 10 percent of its possible habitat in Arizona. Is it good science to form conclusions based on such a sampling of the available data? Can it be good public policy to do so? So, I apologize to the "independent thinkers" of Patagonia for the indelicate way I have approached this issue, and I can only suppose that if my parents had been breeding for the traits valued most in sheep, I would be less likely to offend. Thanks. --John Spitler
Over The RainbowTo The Editor, These words are mine alone; I do not speak for the Family, though I think many of my brothers and sisters will agree. My first reaction, when I saw the sensationalist cover of the Tucson Weekly showing a horde of hippies and ominous warnings about law enforcement, was a sense of horror and alarm ("Rainbow's End"]. Please understand, this kind of front-page publicity is very dangerous to our scene. It is likely to exacerbate the attraction to the Gathering of a non-peace/love element that you seemed so concerned about in your article. All are, of course, welcome at the Gathering, but I have long believed that those intended to be there will learn of it, and that advance publicity about Rainbow benefits only the press. The second reason I object to this publicity is that it is likely to arouse law enforcement. Most of the time, the cops are pretty happy to let us be. Each new year and new site brings the chance that some jerk on a power trip will take the opportunity to declare war on us--and war is what it will be if they plan to eject 25,000 people from the woods. To this theoretical killjoy, our mere existence is an affront; we all have had encounters with such maladjusted individuals and pray fervently that none be police given charge of a Gathering detail. I fear that such a person (who is hopefully so reactionary that he or she does not even read The Weekly) will take the cover as a challenge to do something about "them damn hippies." The article itself was short, balanced, and reassured me that the Arizona State police was not, in fact, planning operations to mount an armed invasion of the Gathering. I would like to take issue with a point or two: Open taking of drugs is not common or condoned at Gatherings. On the contrary, dangerous drugs such as alcohol, speed, cocaine and heroin are strongly discouraged and it is simply not socially acceptable to consume these substances in the Gathering site. I assume the "illegal drugs" referred to means cannabis, for that is all one is likely to see openly consumed at a Gathering. The myth of enormous amounts of cannabis at Gatherings is detrimental from a PR standpoint, because it attracts both drug-seekers and narcs, and has been greatly exaggerated. Because there is no large importation, and no money to be made from it, all the cannabis at a Gathering is "personal stash." Far more Rainbows smoke herb than bother to bring any, and most people run out early--and can't buy or harvest any more without leaving the Gathering. It is literally true that I smoke more cannabis in Babylon (that's what we call the rest of the world). So, to the theoretical jerk who's toying with the notion of making an example out of us, please go play your power games with someone else. We just want to be left alone. That's why we go to the woods. We're nice, harmless, if somewhat weird people, and you have nothing to fear from us. The Rainbow Gatherings are a special and holy time for many of us, and we're vulnerable but have faith that our mission is worth the risk. We're praying for world peace, you know. That's what these things are really about, the rest is just trying to live in our unique and delightful culture. I welcome you to join us and pray with us, but please leave your guns in Babylon, where they belong. And if you try to kidnap my brothers and sisters, be assured that we are not so meek when shanti sena is called. My words are my own. Love to my brothers and sisters. --Chattering River We Want Letters! Thrilled by our brilliant insights? Sick of our mean-spirited attacks? Need to make something perfectly clear? Write: tucsonweekly@tucsonweekly.com
|
 |
Home | Currents | City Week | Music | Review | Books | Cinema | Back Page | Archives
|
 |
© 1995-97 Tucson Weekly . Info Booth |
|
I wanted to keep my ability to read the facts, check the numbers
and come to quiet, studied conclusions about the serious campaign
issues quietly in the background. I was hiding my light under
the proverbial basket, so to speak, and now you have removed the
covering. Thank you again for the acknowledgment and affirmation.
In boom times, Tucson supported a rapidly growing industry creating
the weapons of peace needed to ensure city life American style.
However, in lieu of migrant waves working themselves up the ladder
of economic well-being and greater education, Tucson opted to
import settlers from the far-flung expanses of California and
that other haven of higher education, the Northeast. With them
came a taste for home, and hence the patriation of more familiar
dwelling types and plant life. The other refugee to sniff sanctuary
came as real-estate barons flocking to cash in on ludicrous desert
land deals that bested the selling and development of toxic waste
sites, seashore property and great expanses of prime wetlands
in other locales. And thus was born the great expansion of Tucson.
With little planning or care, the Pueblo marched on the desert
creating one of the greatest examples of sprawl we have in this
country. A sprawl, so defined by its antithetical relationship
to the essence of a city.