Readers Write: (Jan. 22): Auto theft, Dinkytown project, state lottery, Seahawk's outburst, women's sports coverage

On Martin Luther King Day, Bernice Gilliard had her car stolen. Bernice has run a free clothing ministry — "From Me to You" in south Minneapolis — for many years and was loading up her car with items that a person had requested from her. The car was running while she went inside for the second load. When she came out, the car was gone — presumably taken by two women. This car, with more than 200,000 miles on it, is an integral part of her ministry. Most of the people she helps do not have transportation, so she delivers these items to them.

"From Me to You" is very well-known in south Minneapolis, so whoever took the car knew who they were taking it from. They will not be judged by Mrs. Gilliard, but I feel very sad for them. As of this writing, the car had not been recovered.

Natalie Roloff, Bloomington

As a resident of the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood of Minneapolis, I don't object so much to a new hotel potentially going up in Dinkytown ("6-story hotel in Dinkytown a big concern," Jan. 21), but rather that Doran (or a similar company with an obvious disdain for design) would build it. We are being subjected to the rapid Doran-ization of the neighborhood: The company seems to have fallen into a lazy (or penny-pinching) habit of throwing up buildings that are a hodgepodge of random colors and cheap-looking materials.

STATE LOTTERY

I buy the occasional lottery ticket, and I've always considered it to be voluntary taxation. But something about the continued push by the state to increase gambling is starting to verge on greed ("MSP may widen gambling," Jan. 20). There are plenty of places to buy lottery tickets, and I don't think it needs to be expanded. How about our lawmakers concentrate on ways to stimulate the state economy or cut government waste?

SEAHAWK's OUTBURST

Gillespie consulted the electronic media on the feeding frenzy over the Sherman tirade, but he didn't consider the response of parents and grandparents of children who watched the game and were treated to the frothing Sherman in a postgame interview.

I waited for the network announcers to react, but heard nothing to moderate what was said. It was as if they considered this a fair representation of the often nasty and violent sport of football.

I guess it is. And I won't eat it up.

•• • •

I admit that my initial reaction after watching the live Sherman interview was one of shock and disappointment. What I heard was opposite from the content of previous online articles written by Mr. Sherman.

I suggest that we examine our individual reactions to the matter and take some lessons from it. First, always think about what you say and what you write. Second, disagreement never has, nor ever will, equal hate.

I may not agree with Sherman's using that moment as he did, but I choose to learn from it and move on.

GENDER EQUITY

It's a chicken-and-egg conundrum: Women's sports get relatively little coverage because they don't generate much interest from the masses; there's relatively little interest in women's sports because there's little coverage.

The University of Minnesota, host of the Jan. 17 Hockey City Classic, billed the event as an outdoor "doubleheader" featuring both the Gophers men's and women's hockey teams. The Star Tribune's prominent sports section coverage the next day was all about the men, with a shorter article on Page C7 about the women's game, which drew a much smaller crowd.

Certainly, there are different lenses to look through to determine newsworthiness. In this instance, I find the Pioneer Press' lens more appropriate and more appealing, resulting in a responsible approach to the chicken-and-egg conundrum.

Rich Cowles, Eagan

CORRECTION