Letters to the editor for Saturday, Nov. 10

SCHOOL REFERENDUMS

A broken system

Someone needs to explain to me why my nephew and niece in the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted School District and friends in Robbinsdale will be subjected to more crowded classrooms and fewer classes than my neighborhood kids in St. Louis Park. Tell me how this meets the requirement of Minnesota's Constitution, Article 13, Section 1, which calls a uniform system of public schools. The districts are all in Minnesota.

Something is wrong with our state's approach to public school funding when the political campaign expertise of parent group leaders is the most important factor in determining a child's educational opportunities.

EILEEN SMITH, ST. LOUIS PARK

CARS ON NICOLLET MALL

Not the traffic it needs

The Downtown Council seems to have lost its mind ("Honk if you like this idea: Driving on Nicollet Mall," Nov. 8). Retailers need high volumes of traffic in the form of people, not cars, passing their stores -- buses that stop on every block and pedestrians fulfill that need.

A line of cars with one occupant each lined up on Nicollet Mall (where there is nowhere to park) would be the death knell for any street-level retailer.

Downtown faces obstacles in its efforts to thrive, but the lack of personal automobiles on Nicollet is not one of them.

CHRIS LUNDBERG, MINNEAPOLIS

Don't change a thing

Private cars on Nicollet Mall? Buses moved to other streets? Good idea? As a downtown resident, I have just a few words about the idea -- it stinks, literally and figuratively!

The skyways continue to work for the people who live and work downtown! The buses on the mall bring seniors like me and people from outside of downtown very conveniently to the heart of the downtown shopping, dining and entertainment area.

RICHARD D. THORSEN, MINNEAPOLIS

COFFEE HOUSE MUSICIANS

Listen, then legislate

I am one of those singers and songwriters who play music at the coffee shops and cabarets in town ("Coffee-shop musicians singing protest song," Nov. 6). For some people we're the guys in the corner of the room who add ambiance. For others we inspire you on a dull or frustrating day. We make poetry, we preach, we reflect, we add rhythm.

It's more than a hobby to us. But it pays about the same. Next to nothing. But just like the guy who pulls up to Lake Calhoun every day to paint another sunset, we're addicted.

My wish, and I think the wish of other performers like myself, is that the city should respect our art, our craft. Let us perform spontaneously in simple venues without the need for our hosts to jump through hoops or pay any licensing fees. Before noodling with the current law I think city officials should come and see a performance or two. Meet artists and owners on their own turf. Then write friendly regulations without weird language or restrictions.

CARL FRANZEN, MINNEAPOLIS

INTERNET PORN

Not harmless

Steve Chapman seems to have a rather simplified view of the world when it comes to pornography. His statement that "pornographic websites provide a harmless way for potential predators to satisfy those desires" (Opinion Exchange, Nov. 6) implies that pornography production is a victimless crime.

Might I suggest he read "Ordeal," the autobiography of Linda Boreman (better known as Linda Lovelace), about her forced participation in the pornographic movie "Deep Throat"?

The widespread availability of pornography on the Internet means there are more and more people (mostly women and children) exploited in the production of such films and videos. Perhaps Chapman should ask them if they think it is "very good news" that "hard-core fare" does not cause rape.

CINDY WELDON, ST. PAUL

GOPHERS FOOTBALL

Always hospitable

Based on the play of the University of Minnesota's football team this year, you might as well call the Metrodome the Mayo Clinic. It's a wonderful place for visitors to get healthy.

TOM MROSLA, MINNEAPOLIS

DEATHS IN IRAQ

Put them in perspective

The Nov. 7 Star Tribune proclaimed in big bold type proclaims that 853 soldiers were killed in Iraq this year.

How about a headline which puts the war dead in perspective? Minnesota alone is on target for a total of 500 people to be killed in traffic accidents this year. More than 12,000 people have been murdered in the United States since January.

A total of 853 soldiers killed protecting this country from terrorist attacks doesn't seem so bad compared to the carnage that occurs every day in the United States. It is probably safer to be in Iraq that walking down a street in a major U.S. city or driving on one of our overcrowded roads. So let's not get so excited about casualties in Iraq.

HAROLD OLSON, MINNEAPOLIS

Mondale endorses Hillary

Back to the '70s

When Walter Mondale rose to national fame as Jimmy Carter's running mate in 1976, America was in the midst of a national moment strikingly similar to the one we find ourselves in today. After the painful scandal of a deceitful president, a questionable pardon and in the wake of an unpopular war, Carter was the people's candidate: honest, candid and void of a tarnished record in Washington.

So why is Mondale endorsing Sen. Hillary Clinton? Her lack of clarity and honesty, coupled with her vague support of the Iraq war and the Kyl-Lieberman resolution on Iran, seem to make her the last choice of someone who experienced such a similar historic moment as Mondale.

AARON SPADING, MINNEAPOLIS