Letters to the editor: Issue of June 16, 2016
Tips for the trail
I’ve hiked from Lake Poway to Mount Woodson dozens of times over the past 30 years. In recent years weekend hikes have become more crowded, but I always welcome additional people to experience nature and all its glory. Unfortunately, a few never learned or have forgotten trail etiquette so here are a few basics for the benefit of all:
• Nature is a place of respite from the constant clamor of everyday life. This is no place for blaring, amplified music, animated cell phone conversations or loud conversations with hiking partners.
• In narrow sections of the trail, groups should walk in single file.
• Hikers walking downhill yield to those coming uphill on switchbacks and narrow trail sections.
• Hikers should always yield to horses, stopping and standing off trail so as to not be viewed as threatening to the animal. If in doubt, communicate with the rider.
• Hikers passing slower hikers do so on the left and announce his/her presence, for example saying “on your left.”
• Stay on the trail; do not cut across switchbacks as it hastens erosion of the trail.
• Find a place to step off the trail if you stop for a rest.
While we’re at it here’s a few tips to make your hiking more enjoyable:
• Bring more water that you think you need; you may need a gallon or more when hiking Mount Woodson on a warm summer day.
• Wear proper foot wear; this usually means hiking boots with lugged soles to protect your feet and ankles from injury.
• Wear a hat and sunscreen.
• Bring a gallon-size or larger Ziploc bag to pack out all your trash.
Experiencing nature allows us time for self-reflection and rejuvenation of the soul; in these complicated times we live in these tenets are more important than ever.
L.B. Hom
Rancho Bernardo
Praise for band fest
Those of us who attended the two-day, free band festival last month in Old Poway Park shared in one of the wonders of Poway!
The Pomerado Community Band is to be commended for the effort it put into an event that brings together bands from not only the San Diego area, but from other parts of Southern California and even Arizona. The bands ranged from eight fantastic trumpeters to wonderful concert bands. The musical offerings were so varied that nearly every taste could be pleased.
The festival is an annual May event at the park. It requires much effort and those who perform deserve audiences worth of their talent and the thanks of Poway.
Judith Nemec
Poway
Back to the 1950s
I am compelled to respond to the June 9 “Au Contraire” column by Amy Roost The article raises many troubling issues.
The overriding message of the column is that we all need to take responsibility for our own safety. While this sounds noble, this implies that rape victims can be responsible in some way for their attack. The comparison of the behavior of the young woman who was brutalized by Brock Turner at Stanford to someone waving money around in a “sketchy” neighborhood is offensive and inaccurate.
The flaw lies in Ms. Roost’s “inevitability of rape” theory: males are more easily aroused than females; young males have limited impulse control; thus, rape is inevitable. This, she implies, is particularly likely when there are vulnerable women in their path.
This thinking victimizes the males that she attempts to defend. To describe young men as overly sexualized, uncontrolled beings demeans men of all ages. Being aroused and having limited impulse control does not make a rapist.
Rapists are deviants who seek to dominate, degrade and dehumanize their victims (both female and male). Statistics show that these deviants are apt to rape again. Brock Turner assaulted an unconscious person behind a dumpster. The details of his violation are shocking. To dismiss this or any rape as in any measure attributed to an overactive libido aroused by a drunk young woman victimizes both parties and takes our thinking back to the 1950s.
Leslie Carter
Poway
A matter of self-identity
In response to Ted Sandall’s letter published on June 9, I would like to provide some education about transgender students.
For the true transgender, it is not a decision about someone “feeling” that they want to use one restroom over another. It is a matter true self identity. No sane person would “decide” to take on potential hate, ridicule, bullying, prejudice and isolation that comes with living his/her life authentically.
And when it comes to changing morals, it would be a much better world if we all chose to educate ourselves about people who are just different than us, live with love, respect and compassion for each other, and realize that good old common sense no longer serves our changing world.
Denise Welsh
Poway
