Letters to the editor for Tuesday, April 1

Today is the six-month anniversary of the statewide smoking ban. While Minnesota's "Freedom to Breathe Act" has been effective at deterring smoking, getting smokers to successfully quit remains a difficult challenge.

There are many smoking-cessation programs available to assist Minnesotans in their quest to quit, but smokers need more than support. Guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control call for behavioral counseling as well as FDA-approved pharmacotherapies, like Chantix, to help smokers effectively quit.

An addiction to nicotine is one of the hardest substance dependencies to break. Many Minnesotans, despite their best intentions and the support of family, cannot quit on their own. The bottom line is that most smokers still need a physician's help to effectively use the therapies available and quit smoking for good.

DR. THOMAS NORDAHL, BLOOMINGTON

I would like to thank the Star Tribune and reporter Josephine Marcotty for the March 31 article on rising STD rates in Minnesota.

I was surprised and encouraged to read such a thorough and accurate article on an issue that is often clouded by stigmas and moral arguments. Additionally, the article avoided the shaming and blaming of sexually active teen girls that many recent discussions of this issue have included.

Most important was a strong emphasis on the need for education. The first step in lowering our shockingly high infection rates is educating our young people about them.

The article also mentioned the bill that would mandate sex education in Minnesota. On April 8, a group of youth from high schools and peer education groups will be at the Capitol lobbying for that very bill. We hope that this year the bill will pass, and we will soon have comprehensive and accurate sex education in every classroom in Minnesota.

Right now, the first and most important thing we can do is talk. The article and the recent information from the CDC's STD study should serve as a wake-up call to parents, educators, lawmakers and young people. Let's talk about sex.

MIRIAM AMELANG, MINNEAPOLIS

Lori Sturdevant's March 30 column ("Experience in office: An advantage, until it's not") stated that Ashwin Madia's dominance over Terri Bonoff was due, at least in part, to many first-time attendees at Senate District conventions having a former affiliation as moderate Republicans. As a first-time attendee at the March 8 convention at Oxbow Creek Elementary School in Champlin, I can tell you that wasn't the case. The first-time attendees at the convention were a lot like me -- lifelong Democrats drawn for the first time to get personally involved in the party's processes for choosing a candidate.

Madia's voice carries a solid Democratic message opposing George W. Bush's folly in Iraq. He will be an advocate for all Minnesotans -- not just for the rich. He is passionately against the U.S. practice of torture and Bush's trampling of the Constitution and international treaties.

Knowing the delegates we elected, I can't believe that Sturdevant's efforts to label Madia as a former Republican or "just" a person with a persuasive speaking style will sway them in any way at the convention.

GREGG BENDTSEN, BROOKLYN PARK

In its March 29 editorial calling for the death penalty ("restructuring" in your Orwellian-speak) for two high schools, the Star Tribune states, "Admittedly, earlier staff overhauls have yielded, at best, mixed results. Of the seven schools that have been fresh-started, four have since closed. Another one has shown modest gains. And according to district officials, it is too soon to tell with two others."

So you cheer on the destruction of two high schools with zero proof that seven earlier destructions have yielded any positive results. To paraphrase Albert Einstein: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

ROB LEVINE, MINNEAPOLIS

But it's not they who are slinging mud, it's the media. The media create conflict where none existed in order to get what they perceive to be a good headline. How boring to report the same old information about where the two stand on the issues. We've heard it over and over again in numerous debates.

Along the same lines, is Clinton's staying in the race really creating a rift in the Democratic Party or is it the media that are telling us there's a rift? Why not let the democratic process run its course? Sure, I prefer Obama, but when it comes down to the November election, I'm going to vote for the Democratic nominee. They're not that far apart on issues.

Perhaps we should not have begun the candidate selection process almost two years before the election. How about giving them a limited running time as they do in other countries? Six weeks sounds good to me. Heck, I'd even take six months. I'm bored to tears.

JULIE POPE, ST. LOUIS PARK

To those who oppose Rep. Phyllis Kahn's attempt to change the legal age to consume alcohol in Minnesota (Star Tribune, March 29), please consider this hypothetical situation: A 20-year-old active member of our armed forces returns from a year-long deployment in Iraq, goes to a Twins game and has a beer. He or she has committed a crime!

Kahn's wacky idea I have one question for Rep. Kahn in response to her misguided effort to lower the state drinking age: What are you smoking? Maybe we need Kahn to step aside so we can have a representative who not only represents his or her constituency but also has at least one foot grounded in reality.