On Wednesday, I and hundreds of other students met at Central High School in St. Paul and marched on the Minnesota State Capitol to demand stricter gun laws ("Student walkout leads to Capitol," March 8). We waved signs and screamed until our throats hurt and our voices were hoarse. We made ourselves heard.
And yet Thursday, there I was looking at articles about the march, scrolling through the comments, and nearly to a one, they call us "brainwashed," "ignorant," "puppets of the liberal agenda." They say we don't understand what we're saying, that kids should stay out of politics, that most students only came because they got to miss school.
I am furious. These people use our age as an excuse to block out everything we say without ever hearing it, no matter how loud we are.
We marched because we are tired of our peers being murdered. We marched because we don't want to be next. We marched because the only way to end gun violence is better gun laws, but most of all? Because nobody else is doing anything.
So … it's up to us.
Evelyn Lewis, St. Paul
MOVIES AND CULTURE
Actually, people seem to enjoy violence on film — worldwide
A March 7 letter writer complained about the violence in movies and connected the hypothesis that America loves violence. However, three of those movies he mentioned that were reviewed on March 2 as R-rated and violent are not American. One is from Chile, another is from Germany and the third is from Britain. And apparently he also is not aware of the bloody animation shows and movies that are made in Japan.
Essentially, the better statement is that the whole world likes to watch violent entertainment, and that includes me, since I saw the movie from Chile and the one from Germany last week. Perhaps the problem is that America (and possibly due to lax gun laws) is possibly more likely to have these extremely violent acts than other First World nations.
William Cory Labovitch, South St. Paul
• • •
Recent letters on the subjects of violence in the movies, fashion and sexualization highlight the concerns many of us have regarding our society today. Five recently reviewed films are all R-rated; Hollywood fashions leave little to the imagination. These issues indicate where our priorities are.
But let's also examine our priorities in other areas. The CEO of a large, local company is compensated 333 times that of the average worker in his company; a baseball player is compensated $32 million for playing baseball about eight months of a year. Meanwhile, we Americans spent $70 billion last year on pets, while many people, including children, are homeless and many people around the world are starving.
Priorities, priorities — ours are certainly not in the best places at this point in our history.
Norm Ledeboer, Medicine Lake, Minn.
THE PRESIDENT AND THE PORN STAR
One wish …
I feel saddened, irate and sickened by the March 8 headline "Trump out to silence porn star."
Dignity. I want some dignity in the White House.
Lydia Kihm, Minnetonka
MAYO CLINIC
Again, praise for Noseworthy ignores consequences he's caused
The March 3 commentary "Salute to Mayo Clinic's retiring servant-leader" states that the authors, members of the clinic's board of trustees, "observed firsthand [CEO and President Dr. John] Noseworthy's leadership and can share some insight as to what his approach offers others."
I can share some insight as well. I have been a resident of Albert Lea for 45 years and was employed by the Mayo Clinic Health System for many years. The Mayo Clinic Health System is part of Mayo Clinic. What we are being offered is reduction of services! Noseworthy and his leadership team made decisions, and announced their decisions. The needs of the patient and the voice of the patient have not been acknowledged. Repeated attempts to make that voice heard have been disregarded.
These decisions affect more than 50,000 people in our community. We now have no ICU, and the elimination of medical surgical services is to occur soon, followed by labor and delivery. These services, which have been available here for decades, will now be 20, 30, 40 or even 60 miles away. This requires increased transport, often by ambulance and often requiring increased wait times, with strain on availability of emergency response staff.
Possibly, Noseworthy's "visionary initiative" of the Destination Medical Center in Rochester allows no room for Minnesotans' needs to be met in their own communities. Should there be praise for this endeavor or acknowledgment of losses?
High-quality health care and wellness doesn't need to be confined to Rochester!
Jill Morstad, Albert Lea, Minn.
The writer is a retired registered nurse.
E-MAILING SENS. KLOBUCHAR, SMITH
Well, when I write, I hear back
My experience of communication from U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith is very different from that of a March 6 letter writer. I receive regular e-mails from both with updates on coming votes and their work in Congress. Please send them your views and reasons. I do not think they are mandated to tell you how they are going to vote.
Jeanne Martin, Northfield
GENDER BIAS
Letter writer shows it's two-way
The March 8 editorial page carries a letter from a feminist that includes the rather ugly statement that she is uninterested in the views of men. This causes me to ask a few questions. Are feminists part of the human race? Are men? Do men and women have anything meaningful in common? What is the meaning of the term "bigotry"? Is it an accusation that can only be applied to men and never to women, regardless of whatever hateful things a woman might say?
In light of this letter, it is beyond shameful to reflect on the things that men have done for women. They have laid down their lives defending "women and their children," and they have performed backbreaking, menial and meaningless work for them. The lives of all the men who have, down through the centuries, sacrificed themselves for "women and their children" stand as an indictment against the hatred and bigotry of feminists like this letter writer.
Steve Prescott, Minneapolis
DISPUTE OVER DUKE THE DOG
Obvious injustice in East Bethel
All the terrible things going on in the world, and I find myself getting angriest about a petty city contractor stealing a lost dog ("Family takes its dogfight to City Hall," March 6). There's no other word for it: She knew who the owner was and that the owner was trying desperately to get Duke back. Couldn't she have arranged for the fee to be paid over time? Or is losing the beloved family pet yet another indignity that those strapped for cash just have to endure? East Bethel Mayor Tom Voss managed to come up with about the lamest excuse ever — "the dog owner failed to claim the dog" — despite knowing that the owner was having trouble raising the fee. And the new owners evidently "fear harassment"! Well, I'm not surprised; they don't come out smelling like roses, either. I can't imagine holding on to Duke knowing that his owner's family is hurting over losing him.
East Bethel has certainly covered itself in glory — or something. In the America I grew up in, this would never have happened. I hope these parties can muster up some humanity, admit the injustice involved and see that Duke gets back to his own family.
