Readers Write for Sunday, Jan. 24

I applaud the Star Tribune for its series of articles on the tragic and senseless personal results of drunken driving in Minnesota. I also applaud law enforcement agencies across the state for the 2,577 arrests for driving while intoxicated (DWI) in Minnesota last month.

But the tragic deaths from alcohol-related crashes are not going to stop as long as we continue to have drunken drivers with double-digit DWI arrests on their records. And that won't change until we stop electing spineless legislatures and governors who insist on maintaining a system of laws without appropriate teeth or penalties. Consider some examples:

In France, arrest for drinking and driving draws a $1,000 fine, imprisonment for one year and loss of license for three years.

Finland (.05 Blood Alcohol Content) and Sweden (.02 BAC) imprison drunken drivers for one year with hard labor. Sweden has the lowest rate of fatal drinking-related traffic accidents in Europe.

Russia (.02 BAC) takes away the license of a first offender for life.

The list goes on and on. The point is that Minnesota seems to be more concerned with protecting the "rights" of a drinker to drive than the rights of the people the drinker endangers to live lives free from the fear of being killed or maimed by a drunken driver.

It's time to stop protecting the liquor industry and its customers and start protecting the people. Now.

In her Jan. 17 column, Katherine Kersten wrote: "If gay-marriage supporters were being harassed and hounded from their jobs, the press would rightly raise an outcry." What does she mean "if"?

The press is full of reports of people insisting that gay men and women aren't worthy of being employed as schoolteachers and clergy, are being discharged from their military jobs and are damned to hell because God hates them. I look forward to her column expressing her outrage at the way gay men and women are harassed by many church leaders, politicians and the press.

MIC HUNTER, ST. PAUL

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Let me reassure Katherine Kersten, who frets that same-sex marriage will soon be "imposed," that no one will be forced into same-sex wedlock against their will.

ANNE HAMRE, ROSEVILLE

Having helped travelers experience cruises for over 30 years, we are the first to admit that cruising is not for everyone, nor are all cruises created equal. Unfortunately, we don't believe your Jan. 17 article ("The reluctant cruisers") represents the experiences of most cruisers.

Cruising is one of the fastest-growing segments of the travel industry. Almost 95 percent of cruise passengers rate their cruise experience as satisfying, resulting in a high repeat factor. The cruise lines must be doing some things right, at least for the majority of passengers.

There are cruises with guest lecturers or cooking classes and theme cruises with everything from special musical groups to Broadway shows. Definitely one-size does not fit all and necessitates making an educated choice to obtain the "right fit."

The writer's experience, while unfortunate, stresses the importance of working with a professional travel agent. Go to TravelSense.org and click on "Find a Travel Agent."

Nick Coleman is a good guy. His brother's a good man, his dad was one heck of a DFLer. But I do have to chew on Coleman for his Jan. 10 column, "If there's a 'copper rush,' there's peril."

First, there's been no "quiet" exploration for copper/nickel in northeastern Minnesota. It's been very public. In fact, this PolyMet project has been doing the environmental permitting for five years at a cost of over $20 million. Second, this project is at the old LTV taconite plant. As such, it utilizes most of that mothballed plant, turning a brownfield into the next generation of mining. Incidentally, mines, towns and thousands of people already live and are located "in and near the Superior National Forest"! The old LTV plant is located in the Superior, too. What's Coleman's point as it relates to that comment? As far as his reference to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness: We've been mining on its edges for 125 years.

Now on to copper/nickel mining itself. Do we need these metals? You bet you do. They run your home. Your lights turn on because of them. Your refrigerator contains them. Your computers and cell phones have 26 minerals in them. Your heart pacemaker has them. And windmills, commuter trains, electric cars and solar panels in our new "green economy" all have these metals. I'd rather these metals be produced by U.S. workers under tough U.S. environmental laws than in the Third World without any restrictions.

Incidentally, I don't want to be Nick's Sherpa, neither do my neighbors and friends. Who the heck are these environmentalists cited who claim Rangers live "in an area that is dependent on ecotourism, not mining, for its future." Of the seven counties of northeastern Minnesota, 35 percent of the entire economy is mining. You have to create wealth from the earth to have livable wage jobs that allow people to be tourists.