WATCH VS. ALDRICH

Charges don't paint an accurate picture

I am dismayed by WATCH's call for Hennepin County Court Judge Stephen Aldrich to resign ("Judge's joke puts him in hot spot, again," Nov. 13).

WATCH says its purpose is to help women and children affected by domestic abuse. Thirty years ago, that was me. I hired Stephen Aldrich to help me start a better life for myself and my nine children.

Judge Aldrich represented me vigorously through the divorce and later issues. But he did much more than that. He supported and empowered me to defend my boundaries and deal with the damage done to my children. He introduced me to Chrysalis center for women, where he volunteered regularly.

Though I had rusty skills and a dated job history, he hired me. He mentored me as I became a legal secretary. After seven years, I moved on to work for a senior partner at Dorsey & Whitney. But to this day Judge Aldrich remains a personal friend, wise counselor and part of my extended family's support system.

Working beside him, I have seen Judge Aldrich help dozens of other women, men, children and families. Before WATCH existed, he was combating domestic violence. For example, together with a founder of Harriet Tubman Shelter and others, he planned and taught at one of the state's earliest seminars on the subject for the Minnesota Council on Family Relations.

WATCH may not like his personal style, but most people do. It is both caring and effective. Judge Stephen Aldrich should stay where he is.

HELEN PETERSON, NEW HOPE

GIVE TO THE MAX

A good day that could have been even better

Thanks to everybody who showed once again how much we Minnesotans value the quality of life for all citizens of our state by donating more than $14 million on Give to the Max Day. One of the reasons giving on that day was so attractive to donors was the promise of matching grants from a consortium of local foundations. Originally advertised as a 50 percent match, due to the unanticipated outpouring from Minnesotans, the matching funds will now provide only a 4 percent match, hardly enough to encourage donors again next year.

In order to establish this tradition of generosity, I call on the foundations to step forward and increase their commitment to the matching funding to provide at least a 10 percent increment. Otherwise, the match is basically meaningless.

SUSAN FREIVALDS, ST. LOUIS PARK

GAYS AND CATHOLIC CHURCH

It is welcoming of diversity but not sin

In the Nov. 17 article "Gays reject church's attempt to 'cure' them," Michael Bayly of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities says the Catholic Church "needs to be more accepting of diversity."

Isn't he really saying that the church needs to be more accepting of sin? After all, there is no more diverse grouping of human beings on the planet than the Catholic Church. It is arguably more diverse than the United States. It exists in every corner of the globe and includes the young and old, men and women, Eskimos, blacks, whites, gays, straights, Asians, Native Americans, Australians, little people, liars, thieves, etc.

What the church teaches is that some of these categories are physically descriptive and some are sinful. Bayly's problem isn't with the Catholic Church so much as with the Ten Commandments (as the church has interpreted them for 2,000 years).

BUTCH GRANDY, SEDONA, ARIZ.

GOPHERS END SEASON

Coach Brewster, stay home for the holidays

If the Minnesota Gophers football team doesn't win today against Iowa, it should reject any invitation to a bowl game.

I know it looks good on head coach Tim Brewster's résumé to have gone to two bowl games, but basically he's had a terrible year. His team lost games it should have won, and barely beat South Dakota State. So unless the Gophers win at Iowa, Brewster will be taking a team of losers to a losers' bowl.

Please, coach, don't embarrass the team and Minnesota by prolonging the agony.

FRANCIS TARANTO, MINNEAPOLIS

•••

We are now nearing the end of the Gophers football season, the first in their new stadium. During this run we have found several things to be true:

• By building a stadium with a locker room larger than those of NFL teams and with cherry wood lockers for the players, Athletic Director Joel Maturi and others find it very easy to spend other people's money.

• We have found that the Gophers truly do need more talent to be a winning team.

• We find that the Gophers really need more talent in the coaching ranks.

• Finally, we see that the Gophers are bowl-eligible, but not bowl-qualified. A major difference in definitions.

DALE PROBASCO, BACKUS

XCEL'S PRIVATE JETS

Are its customers picking up the tab?

Xcel Energy needs to answer whether its top executives who are flying around in private jets are paying for it by raising our rates (Star Tribune, Nov. 19). Are the executives turning off the heat for the poor this winter while at the same time jetting around the country?

JIM DAHLGREN, CRYSTAL