Readers Write for Saturday, Nov. 21

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

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

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).

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

•••

• 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