Readers Write (Feb. 16): Concert etiquette, Minneapolis parking, city skyline, genetically modified foods

It was just a matter of time before the Audience Police showed up ("Concert etiquette," Readers Write, Feb. 8). Who decided that applause is obligatory or that remaining in one's seat for it is "elementary courtesy"?

I have attended two wonderful performances at Orchestra Hall and one extraordinary show at the Walker in the last month. All were deserving of extended applause. I have been known to start a standing O myself by leaping to my feet after a finale, swept away by the music and drama.

However, the nature of the performer-audience relationship is much like that of the restaurant server and patron. The ticket price is the payment for attending. Applause, like a tip, shows appreciation for a quality experience.

Perhaps the early leavers did not enjoy the performance. Perhaps a restroom was badly needed or family needs quickly arose. Do we really want to discourage cultural attendance by harshly judging the ticket-buying public? With economic inequity rising, it's difficult enough to fill those seats now. Let's keep our eyes on the stage!

Save those meter slips! One aspect of the horrible meter system in Minneapolis that has yet to be mentioned in letters to the editor is that the system is technically flawed.

About two weeks ago, I pulled up to a meter station, put two quarters into it for 24 minutes, took my receipt and went into a coffee shop. Six minutes later, I came out to find a ticket on my windshield. I was outraged, of course, and snatched the ticket from beneath the wiper. Then I saw the parking enforcement officer just down the block busily ticketing another car. Waving the ticket and my meter slip (which clearly indicated that I was in a paid spot with plenty of minutes), I approached him to voice my displeasure at the injustice. He said to calm down, explained that it sometimes takes up to 10 minutes for the payment post to communicate to the machine that the officers use to create the citation, and said he would void the ticket.

What if he hadn't happened to still be at the scene of the crime? I would have had to waste time dealing with the city to prove my innocence and rectify the mistake. How many people have neglected to take their pay slip or have tossed it or have simply paid a fine to avoid the hassle of dealing with the city's errors? How many people have been bilked by a city that is incapable of properly running a meter system — one known to be flawed?

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Meters that allow paying by credit card directly at the meter, such as in the St. Anthony Falls area, are not without their challenges, either. The display on these meters is tilted backward and is so high that I, at 5 feet, 1 inch tall, could not read it on a dark and snowy night. When I contested the inevitable citation, the agent canceled it but warned me never to come back with the same problem. Why should short people have to avoid these meters? Why did the city install meters that some people are unable to use?

I applaud Minneapolis for its choice of building for the Nicollet Hotel block ("Pohlad group's 36-story tower wins mall block," Feb. 7). All of the submissions were impressive and with merit. It is exciting that all came from Minnesota companies. Not that we have a shortage of talent — just that our talent has not always been locally utilized. We should expect the hiring of local companies when public land and/or public money is used. More than just spurring the local economy and keeping our money here, there is a uniqueness to Minneapolis that is only seen by living here. We are skyways and sidewalks. Given the opportunity, we want to be outside. In the land of four seasons, it is not always possible, even for the hardiest of us. New York City and Chicago are similar, but not the same. LHB Corp., with its office in the neighborhood, is vested in what happens here. It director of design and campus planning, Bruce Cornwall, has been looking at the site day after day for 10 years, imagining the possibilities, while knowing the big picture of Minnesota's uniqueness. That experience is priceless.

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The proposed structures on the Nicollet Hotel block and Nye's Polonaise site are just towers. Just tall glass. No character. They could be anywhere in the country. We're becoming a nation of same-looking cities. And having a chunk of Nye's on the front of that building doesn't fool anyone ("Nye's tower plan endorsed," Feb. 11). The Nicollet Hotel, long since departed, was a much more welcoming sight than this long, tall, glass "Gateway" structure. It would have been wonderful to build a modern-day replica of the Nicollet Hotel. Make it taller. And make it look like something besides a tall, glass thing.

The debate is not all about what we put in our mouths. After all, humans have been eating GM food since we changed wild grass into corn 7,000 years ago. It is not the GM foods themselves, but the motivation behind the modification that matters. Golden rice that can alleviate vitamin A deficiency in developing countries, saving hundreds of thousands of children? Good! Roundup-ready crops that promote wholesale destruction of competing foliage (including monarch habitat), hasten the evolution of pesticide-resistant weeds and encourage farmers to turn to older, more toxic pesticides? Not so good! A label on my food is not going to distinguish between these. Portraying the debate in simplistic pro- and anti-GM factions avoids the substantive issues that need to be debated and the public policy that must be defined.

As in so many controversies, we are forced to choose sides, when our opinions do not fit either. Let's stop cheerleading for one team and buckle down to work on regulations that will allow us to enjoy the fruits of GM progress while protecting our environment and exercising restraints on corporate greed.