Published: June 20, 2009 08:25 am      

Letters for June 20, 2009

Concert exit policy doesn’t make sense

I went to the Crosby, Stills and Nash concert in Cooperstown on June 12. The concert was great, but I will not return to Doubleday Field for concerts in the future. There is a rule (yes, I know it was published beforehand) that one can’t go out and come back in. This struck me simply as authority to assert power for no legitimate reason, and I had the temerity to strongly question it first to the gatekeeper and then the promoter.

When asked why it was so, the gatekeeper said it was policy, the non-answer used for millennia. Is this not the response given by totalitarian governments everywhere throughout history? When asked again, the other gatekeeper said that I might go out and give my ticket to someone else who would then come in. Were they kidding?

Then I was referred to the promoter for an answer. His first response was that he promoted concerts all over the state, an answer slightly less sophisticated than the “it’s policy” one. Finally, he told me that at Yankee Stadium the rule is also “one can’t go out and come back in.” I know the Yankees are The Empire but it was the first time I’d understood they set policy in Cooperstown, if not everywhere.

Coincidentally, in the June 13-14 Daily Star, a column by James daSilva states the Yankees’ greed has been well-documented with a security atmosphere that turned ushers into wardens and your seat into a cell. Am I the only one who suspects there might be something rotten in the state of Denmark or perhaps, even in the village of Cooperstown?

Richard Lowenstein
Oneonta

Ministers share more than a name

The Rev. Mitch Wright’s letter on June 15 deserves response. I use the term reverend not to “underscore or exacerbate” my comments but to indicate a certain amount of respect for a man of God, although I use the term loosely.

His letter is vitriolic and conveys a certain amount of disrespect for others’ opinions. He is the pastor of Hope Presbyterian Church in Oneonta and, thus, reminds me of Obama’s “minister of hate” and that whole debacle that surrounded Obama when the media found out and reported that he was his pastor for many years. Obama was then forced to disentangle himself from this hate-mongering person.

I wonder how many Oneontans who attend this church have more sense than to listen to what this pastor portrays and have cut themselves off from their association with him? I hope there were many.

Joyce A. Tahany
Oneonta

School in Morris should have closed

I am writing about this flu that is going around Morris Central School. I have four children in this school. We got a note sent home saying that it was under control _ then we heard that there were more kids sick than what they had told us.

I don’t think the school is looking out for the safety of our children or the school would have closed. There is only a week left of school. It’s not that big of a deal, but no, they would rather put all of our children at risk now.

They say they are doing all they can. Well, the best thing they can do is close school and help keep more kids from getting sick.

Ginger Miskell
New Lisbon