Dear Editor:

Thanks so much for Brian Van De Mark’s solid, informative and well written feature on Intervention in the March 15 GLT. As a teacher I deal daily with students and familys whose lives are torn apart by the addiction of one or more family member. Often, the others around the addict are at a loss as to what actions to take next or what options are available, other than the painful hanging on as they watch life spin out of control.

Your article gives clear directions, outlines steps to take and shows the support needed to help someone trapped in addiction. The idea that an addict has to ask for help, or even start out wanting help in order to get help is a myth. Obviously, in the end, anyone’s recovery is dependant upon their own desire for something different, but by a skillful intervention that is focused on breaking down the addict’s denial system, the impact of an addict’s situation can be put directly in front of them to look at. Your article is a resource I have already shared with my other staff members and one that I will share with families when they come for help.

Thanks for shedding a light of hope in a dark corner of suffering for millions of families.

Don Hollins

Dear Editor:

I learned with great disappointment about your publication’s decision to end coverage of LGBT sporting events. I believe that sport is a powerful education tool to break down stereotypes in addition to bringing the community together.

One example of this is what we do at SD Armada Rugby Football Club. Our membership is about half straight and half gay and bisexual. We play both straight and gay teams. Through our games and socials we promote an environment of tolerance in the same way the integration of african-american players into baseball in the 1940s helped pave the way for the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

I would encourage you to reconsider this decision and continue to tell the stories of members of the community that strive for excellence in their athletic endeavors.

Carlos Legazpi

Dear Editor:

It is not hard to find something in each and every one of Nicole’s columns to be offended by, and her column of 3/15/07 is no exception.

Most columns are laughable, like we as a community need more pictures and stories selfaggrandizing her majesty Nicole for his/her latest elevation or luncheon with some politician, but when a supposed leader in our community continues to beat the drum that marriage equality is not obtainable then I must protest. And to call those of us who dare to disagree radical is insulting. If Nicole supports same sex marriage then he/she should not continue to tell his/her listeners that we should accept civil unions for the sake of political expediency.

Polls do not dictate what is right or moral.

To define a fight for equality as accepting separate but unequal treatment is ludicrous. He/she states that she respects those who are fighting for marriage equality while calling those of us who dare to disagree radical. A real leader like Martin Luther King fights the hard fights, not the fights that are easy to win.

I would venture to guess that if someone proposed that gay men who wear women’s gowns and tiaras should be given less than full rights of citizenship Nicole would not preach to all of us to accept whatever crumbs of rights the politicians throw at us to keep us quiet.

I also believe that if Nicole wants to see a true radical he/she should look in a mirror if he/she can accept the true and ugly reflection of the type of shameless leader she has become. I know it is all about Nicole and what she believes, but there are many in our community who want equal rights, not some watered down civil unions. Nicole loves to equate our fight to the civil rights fight, but by her very logic, the “colored restrooms or water fountains” should have been perfectly acceptable even though we all agree now how reprehensible the very idea of separate but equal was. Marriage equality now is not a radical idea, Nicole as a leader of the Americas is! Nicole can accept less than equal rights, I for one am proud to be a radical and demand equal rights including marriage equality now, not at some unforseen time in the future.

Dennis E Mayer

Dear Editor:

Unfortunately for the newly formed Hillcrest Town Council (HTC), growth is not something that can be stopped by a neighborhood committee. Although it is a valiant effort, it is developers and government officials who hold the keys to the bulldozers in San Diego. Growth is essential for an urban community like Hillcrest to thrive. Growth provides diversity and keeps business and residential corridors active and interesting. But it is the type of growth and what is being built that is critical to maintain. What is needed is a much more stringent oversight policy of what developers are proposing and a system in place that regulates design. Often developers are using the cheapest construction methods possible and not even consulting with designers or architects on their projects. How the design of these new buildings fit into the existing streetscape and surrounding neighborhoods is what’s most important here. The idea should not be to stop development, but to improve the type of development that is currently happening. What we are seeing now is the demolition of historic Craftsman homes that have been there for decades replaced by flat multi-unit boxes. And the generous height allowance in Hillcrest has many of these new structures taking away the sunlight from neighboring homes and patios. The row homes in the parking lot of Whole Foods are a great example of poorly designed structures that have become an eyesore for the community. Had designers and a community council been consulted that project would not have happened in that location and improvements to the design could have been suggested. Another developer favorite is the condo conversion of old apartment buildings and fooling renters into thinking they are providing affordable housing this way. Ironically these overpriced poorly built alternatives are actually reducing the available inventory of apartments and displacing renters that had been there for years. Right now developers see Hillcrest as the wild wild west, plenty of old homes on decent lots with generous zoning and height allowances. “Mow ‘em and Grow ‘em” is a common phrase of local developers with their eye on Hillcrest. Hopefully both renters and homeowners will become involved in creating a system that helps maintain the beautiful charm that makes up this special neighborhood. Otherwise get out your cowboy hats because this special and quaint community will have a whole new look and feel in the next ten years.

Jimmy Sullivan

Dear Editor:

I propose a NEW LAW.

Everyone should be mandated by law to be checked for HPV.

All boys, 13 years and older, should be prosecuted as adults and put in jail if they knowingly spread HPV without warning the girls, as HPV is shown to maybe, perhaps, but who knows, be the cause of cervical cancer in a tiny percentage of some women exposed to it.

And just for the sake of equal rights for women, girls knowingly spreading HPV to boys should be treated the same.

If such laws against knowingly spreading disease are good enough for the mostly gays and blacks affected as regards supposed HIV infection, then they are good enough for everyone.

Ain’t this one Crazy planet?

Michael Geiger

HEAL San Diego