In order to fight rape, we need to change the way we think and talk about sex, one reader writes. Other readers take a candid look at the sleeping ban and at the truth about a little drug called MDMA.
Hold Men Accountable
Unplanned pregnancies result from unplanned sex. When will we change the conversation to include our men? Instead of arguing about restricting women's reproductive health, why not have a discussion about regulating men's sexual behaviors and our failure to punish crimes against women and children? Abuses ignored do not fade, they flourish. We are all witness to this tendency with regard to rape in the military and child abuse in the Catholic church. It’s time to try a different approach.
J.T. Younger
Santa Cruz
System in Failure Mode
Santa Cruz County Courthouse, Friday the 17th of February, 1:30pm,
Department #2. With hands and feet shackled the prisoner shuffled into the courtroom led by the Sheriff Deputy. There were another four deputies present besides the District Attorney, Deputy District Attorney, Judge and Court Reporter. The crime the prisoner was accused of was sleeping on the park bench in front of the County Courthouse. I sat there in awe and disbelief that our government was wasting so much of our tax dollars and police time prosecuting a homeless man with nowhere to sleep at night while allowing real criminals in the banking system to steal peoples' homes through foreclosure fraud and many other real crimes against our society. This outrageous spectacle of injustice is a flashing warning light to us all that this system is in failure mode.
Drew Lewis
Santa Cruz
You Oughta Be Ashamed
Why are you promoting drugs, especially Ecstasy (MDMA), on the front page of your paper.html? As a newspaper you have a lot of influence and I would be surprised if the sales of the illegal drug Ecstasy did not rise because of the “Helper” article of yours. This is really not OK.
The background of the paper is fun-colored and there is a big “Fix” on the page. This article will lead people walking past to believe that MDMA is accepted! You really should be ashamed of yourself. This drug kills people all the time. I am an 18-year-old college student and even I think that this is NOT OK.
There is a famous case of Time magazine promoting Ecstasy on their cover several years ago. The drug dealers loved it; their sales rocketed. I hope this is not what you had hoped to achieve.
Jenna Pase
Santa Cruz
