Lucky to Have Him!

I AM SOOOO tired of these uptight, simple-minded and humorless people attacking the most talented person at your paper, DeCinzo. Having DeCinzo at Metro Santa Cruz is like having Alex Rodriguez on some AA baseball team.

Santa Cruz is so lucky to have him, and his points of view are often a breath of fresh air to this overly politically correct town, where a segment of the population, with a distorted understanding of liberalism, insists we all think and behave a certain way.

It used to be that free thinkers, like DeCinzo, thrived in liberal climates, but now it seems Santa Cruz is looking at a kind-of "liberal orthodoxy," where the red button to push in case of "individual thought" is always kept close at hand.

DeCinzo depicts what most people with common sense and who live in the real world all think and feel but are too afraid to admit it. Sorry, if you don't like his message(s)—sometimes people need to be offended—and if you disagree with his point-of-view, remember our society should be encouraged to make up its own mind rather than rely on the press to package its politically-correct opinions for them.

Which one of these statements is true?
1) People only use 10 percent of their brains
2) Eskimos have more than a dozen words for snow
3) Kentucky Fried Chicken goes by KFC now because it no longer uses real chickens
4) People believe anything they read
Answer: Number 4—unfortunately.

Eitan Altshuler, Santa Cruz

You're Telling Us

MR. DECINZO has proven himself quite controversial, if letters to the editor are any indication. Those of us who enjoy his quirky, though often stinging, humor are less inclined tell everyone about it. To your readers, I say: do not take cartoonists and their creations so seriously. Do not hold them to rigid standards of political correctness, for they endeavor to illustrate the ugliest, most hypocritical and stupid aspects of our society. And to you, dear editor: do not fear that the presence of DeCinzo's work in your paper will limit your readership. After all, there is no competition.

 Elaina Ramer, Santa Cruz

Wise Up: Downsize

MICRO-APARTMENTS like they have in Japan and Europe are the obvious solution to housing shortages on the West Coast ("Playing the Percentages, Part II," News&Views, Nov. 21). They rent for as little as $400 in Tokyo, one of the most expensive, crowded cities on earth. In Santa Cruz, a 100-square-foot unit could easily rent for less than $200 per month. People have more important things to spend money on than rent.

Melissa Cromwell, Santa Cruz

Neanderthal Thinking

THAT UCSC history professor's analysis of the Cave Train Ride ("Landmark Study," Cover Story, Nov. 7) was surprisingly intolerant of the evolutionarily impaired. Surely, anyone but a right-wing Christian realizes that we must all celebrate diversity and multiculturalism, as represented by the lifestyle choices shown. Anyone who was not just a running dog for the patriarchy would realize that in the postmodern world, the cave people have values that are just as good as those of anyone else. As Jacques Derrida once wrote, "J'ai payé un prix très élevé pour ce manège-ci!" That is, I believe he might have written it, if he had taken the ride.

Robert Allgeyer, Aptos

The Mayor of Santa Cruz

I REALLY APPRECIATED the story on Tony Hill. Tony was a very close friend to me. I remember Tony as the first person that embraced me when I moved to Santa Cruz in the mid-'90s. I would subsequently leave Santa Cruz, but anytime I was within 100 miles of the city I made it a point to come see Tony. I considered Tony the Mayor of Santa Cruz. I miss him greatly. Brother, I know you are in heaven fighting any forms of injustice that might exist. I love you.

Charles Osiris, Fairburn, Ga.

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