LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Haiti help
Editor: With the recent and ongoing disaster in Haiti, many
organizations are soliciting donations to help the Haitian people.
The sheer volume of “charities” can be daunting and confusing,
especially if a person wants their donations to quickly and
substantially go to help the needy. To complicate matters, an
article was published last Sunday in a local newspaper titled “In
times of crisis, beware of scams.” The article starts out by
stating “Take precautions to make sure your donations go to those
in need, not to crooks.”
A practice I have followed for some time is to do research to
make sure a charity is legitimate, and it uses my money effectively
and efficiently. When making donations, I routinely use a charity
rating website (www.charitynavigator.com) that evaluates charities
and provides a wealth of other information. Their website currently
provides a long list of charities that are helping survivors in
Haiti along with ratings and other information. Reported on are
financial statements, history, the percentage of monies going
directly to the cause and their fundraising and administrative
expenses. There are other charity rating organizations online as
well.
A good way to donate is through your church or faith
organization. I am a member of the Sebastopol United Methodist
Church. Our larger church has been in Haiti for some time and,
through our United Methodist Committee on Relief, a program exists
where 100 percent of all donations goes directly to help the
particular relief effort. I’m sure other faith organizations have
similar programs.
I believe many people would like to help with the relief efforts
in Haiti. It is my hope that your readers will find the above
information useful and choose wisely when making their
donations.
Dennis Hansen
Santa Rosa
Dutra gives a sign
Editor: I just wanted to take a moment to thank The Dutra Group
for donating such a beautiful scoreboard to Sebastopol Little
League, and Lunardi Electric for installing the scoreboard at no
charge to the league. They have done so much for our community and
Sebastopol Little League.
The field that it was installed on is for player’s ages 13-16,
and it means so much to the players having community support in
their activities and especially the baseball program in
Sebastopol.
Laguna Field is used for junior and senior games. It is not only
for Sebastopol’s benefit but for all junior and senior teams that
interlock with District 35 and play games in Sebastopol. Having a
scoreboard that shows the score, strikes, balls, errors and pitch
count, helps allow umpires, managers and coaches to keep accurate
pitch counts. According to my 13-year-old, it is just plain cooler
and the scoreboard makes the game, and makes you feel like you are
a big leaguer.
We look forward to starting the season and getting lots of use
out of the scoreboard and hopefully the opportunity to host
tournament games.
With these difficult economic times we need to find fun ways to
spend our time. Why not come by and watch a game, grab a hot dog,
and check out our new scoreboard.
All games and schedules will be posted on our Web site by Apri1
15 at www.sebastopollittleleague.org.
Thank you again to everyone at Dutra Materials and Lunardi
Electric for making this project complete.
Michelle Carreras
President
Sebastopol Little League
‘Smart’ or ‘killer’ meters?
Editor: Is the clever marketing of the new wireless meter that
PG&E wants to put on every house and business just to convince
us to accept this change without any question and without any
public hearings? I’m all for appropriate technology which enhances
the lives of the majority.
But, the wireless meters will not provide this and in fact may
endanger our health, safety & bottom line.
For one thing, these will be vulnerable to being hacked. But
even without that problem, there is already a class action law
suit, and complaints about their accuracy (people are saying their
energy bill greatly increased while their usage did not
change).
We are going in the wrong direction here by increasing our
wireless exposure while in Europe they are busy getting rid of it.
Why? Here’s a few facts: Wireless meters will emit millions of new
electromagnetic RF signals every day. Exposure to electrosmog is
documented to have major biological effects on living tissue
including birds and bees. Exponential increase in use of wireless
technologies poses serious health concerns as the Bioinitiative
Report (www.bioinitiative.org) — recognized by the European
Parliament — demonstrates many negative health effects, including
cancers.
The Utility Reform Network in San Francisco and State Senator
(Dean) Florez (D-16) are calling for a moratorium on these
meters.
They are slated for installation in Sonoma County in February.
This is a public health issue we need to understand better before
we accept it. Please help us support a moratorium by signing the
petition at emfsafetynetwork.org.
Christina Sophia
Graton
Response to ‘Gospel’
Editor: I read with interest your most recent column, “The
Gospel of Newspapers.” I agreed with so much of what you had to
say. I was taken aback, however by one line: “Holding a spiritual
belief and practicing a faith is what makes us most human.” Are
those of us who consider ourselves good citizens and good people
but do not hold a spiritual belief or practice a faith less than
human? It kind of took the punch out of your column for me although
the last paragraph was persuasive in its emphasis of fairness,
respect and compassion for all.
Carolyn Moore
Healdsburg
Cover both sides
Editor: “The Gospel of Newspapers” was a disappointing piece of
partisan politics. (Sonoma West Publishers) couldn’t care less
about the dilemma in which Tiger Woods finds himself or the state
of local religious activities in Sonoma County, but it couldn’t
resist the chance to slam Fox News and Brit Hume. Obviously you had
no personal knowledge of what was said by Mr. Hume or you wouldn’t
have made such a stupid statement as to suggest that he “inferred
Buddhism was inferior to Christianity.”
Brit Hume is a brilliant political correspondent and Fox News is
one of the few news stations that dares to cover both sides of
every issue. The irony of this small town paper, with one viewpoint
and one viewpoint only, taking on Fox News and Brit Hume is more
than I can take. Mr. Atkinson, you would serve yourself well by
getting your information from reliable sources, not blogs on the
web. I have cancelled my subscription to your paper.
Marilyn Pozas
Healdsburg
Whose gospel?
Editor: Referencing your recent editorial “The Gospel of
Newspapers,” I finally get it … Marvin Bowers’ column inches are
the Healdsburg Tribune’s ‘genuflect’ to our local newspaper’s
religious editorial diversity. You state that “The best newspapers
are ecumenical, helping people of many faiths to come together ….”
All of your op-ed pieces from local community clergy have been
Christian. When did you offer such generous editorial space to
Muslims, Jews, Atheists, Buddhists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses,
whoever? Do you believe that all the citizens of Healdsburg are
Christian?
You state: “… A newspaper of general circulation should be a
channel of communication for all religions …” Face up to it,
Rollie, the Healdsburg Tribune is decidedly leaning towards a
Protestant Christian “slant,” so please do not try and tell us that
you are a newspaper that honors and acknowledges all religions
until such time as you give equal space on your op-ed page to
believers/writers of all faiths.
Jim Hamilton
Cochiti Lake, NM
(formerly of Geyserville)