Letters from the Issue of June 19-25, 2002

 Daddy Is Right -- You're Ignorant and Uncool

Potty-mouth free weekly takes it on the chin: Today, when I was in my parents' room, I found a copy of New Times, which read on the front page: "Bitch-Slapping Whitey" (June 5). Now, being eleven years old, I know what bitch means, but I do not use the word. My dad says people who use bad language are ignorant, so I would like to inform you that New Times is not setting a good example, and being a respected paper, you should. Plus you are being very ignorant.

A lot of New Times papers are on street corners or posted where people can see them, so you should be careful what you write on the cover. In fact I don't think you should use words like that at all if you want to become better. Just because using words like that may seem cool, it's not. It's peer pressure that makes people use them.

Danielle Gregorie

Key Biscayne

Who flushed South Florida down the toilet? Look in the mirror: We salute Steven Dudley's articles on water quality in South Florida ("Ecological Politics" and "Beneath the Pink Underwear," June 5). These articles point out the obvious: Water quality affects the quality of life in South Florida, and water quality is a commodity that residents and business compete for.

The real danger in allowing the sugar industry to continue polluting water is not immediate. It may take years for the system to completely break down, but when it does, residents will suffer. Sugar will move, probably to a "free Cuba," and after the reefs, Florida Bay, and the Everglades are all destroyed by sewage-injection wells, rock mining, overdevelopment, and agri-business, commerce will be nowhere to be found.

Let's all be clear about one thing: We all are to blame. Citizens elect officials with track records on the environment. We use water with little or no regard for how limited is the supply and how delicate is the system supplying water. It's nice to have sugar barons to blame, for sure. They are truly the evil big-business polluter, political heavyweights with more than their share of influence. Yet to point the finger only at the big, easy target is to admit defeat by saying, "It's not my fault. Big Sugar did it."

Citizens must support boycotts, change overly consumptive living habits, become active in groups that support reasonable environmental policy, and take responsibility for the restoration and protection of the environment -- especially water systems.

Wyatt Porter-Brown

South Florida Chapter

Surfrider Foundation

Something this dumb in a paper that is free: Only in the provincial and culturally stunted marshland that is Miami would Jen Karetnick's vitriolic diatribes see the light of day, let alone the black-and-white of newsprint.

In "Inedible Poetry" (June 5) she publicizes a superfluous and self-aggrandizing limerick about her prowess as a reviewer. Was that little ditty by her friend Mr. Gerstein (did he really need a plug?) any less inane than the spoken-word poetry she defames in her column? Second, she complains about poor spelling on a café menu. Is that really a valid criticism given the fact that her own publication could hardly be looked upon as the proofreader's paragon?

Another thing, could she please be so kind as to define the term "formal and academic poetry"? Those terms generally denote ill-conceived and pedantic verse. How can she, without the merest hint of irony, declare herself a poetry snob? Is she not aware that she is the food writer for the Miami New Times -- the Miami New Times. Need I say more?

Perhaps she and her "doctor-husband" should limit their outings to the highly revered cultural institution of Starbucks. The menu, I've been assured by numerous white friends, is devoid of any typos. And here's the kicker: She won't be looked down upon for being the great white hope of iambic pentameter that we all know she is.

Tracy Olmstead

Miami Beach

Only a serious memory lapse could account for such a blunder: While reading Rebecca Wakefield's article "Lehtinen for Mayor" (May 22), I realized she reported incorrect information about who the current mayoral front-runners are. She must have forgotten about school board member Marta Perez's many significant accomplishments over the past five years.