Shoveling tickets add insult to injury

As one of over 1,400 Madisonians who got whacked with a $109 fine for having an incompletely cleared walk, I protest the draconian and punitive application of this ordinance.

In view of the severity of the winter with its frequent snowfalls and temperature swings causing ice formation following rainfall, I think the city should show a bit of restraint. This should come in the form of a first offense warning, and looser application of the intent of the measure.

The walk in front of my property was cleared to bare concrete to well over half the width of the walk, yet it was deemed inadequate and I was ticketed. Upon calling to inquire, I was disgusted by the blunt and uncaring attitude exhibited. There must be many of those ticketed 1,400 who cannot afford the work time lost and expenses associated with appearing Downtown in court to protest the citation.

The ordinance must be revisited and made more reasonable, and should be revoked for the current winter. A revised measure could be reapplied with proper introduction in October.

-- Ken Groehler, Madison

It was another time, another place, another sport. And it was another emotion-filled, memorable retirement.

None of us saw it or heard it live. Most of us experienced it in small theaters located in small towns throughout America -- a grainy, RKO Pathe news clip of a tall, gangly ball player in a pin-stripped, New York Yankee uniform who slowly, laboriously announced he would no longer be playing baseball, the game he loved.

He was Lou Gehrig.

He spoke of the joy he had in playing the game, the camaraderie of his team. The honor of playing well, the importance of giving your best and the obligation to be a credit to your sport and your life. He spoke of being thankful for the opportunities given to him by his God, and his fans.

He left that day with a heartbreaking, debilitating disease that took his life. But he left with a title that still stands the test of time: The Pride of the Yankees.

On Thursday we watched another retirement, from another sport, and another team. Fortunately, this man retired at his peak with the scars of his tough sport, but intact in will, spirit and enthusiasm.

It is ironic that he cited all the same elements in his career as did Gehrig. That gives us a good reason to retire Brett Favre with the same accolade: The Pride of the Packers.

-- Marshall Smith, Madison

Ryan was laughable rather than offensive

I probably would have been offended by Boston Globe writer Bob Ryan's Monday article attempting to diminish Brett Favre's accomplishments, if I weren't so busy laughing. Here's a guy trying to make the argument that Warren Moon was as good as Brett Favre.

Most people realize it's nearly impossible to name "The Greatest Quarterback Ever." There are certainly those who belong in that conversation -- surely Joe Montana and Dan Marino; probably John Elway; and Peyton Manning's and Tom Brady's recent cartoonish numbers will most likely land them there. But it's a reach to name Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Dan Fouts and Warren Moon in that group. I'm too young to have seen the ones before them play.

Favre simply made plays no one else could make -- routinely. He wasn't just a really accurate passer with a good team around him, Favre was a breath-taking marvel. He was also really good for a really long time, as evidenced by the fact that he set nearly all the significant career passing records.

No one will argue that Favre's penchant for throwing interceptions when he seemed to think he could throw the ball through defenders wasn't frustrating. That's the only flaw his detractors have.

Especially during his three straight MVP seasons -- the only three-time winner, I might add -- Favre was the greatest football player I have ever seen.

-- Tom Trow, Stoughton

Did students vote in home districts?

Regarding Dave Arnold's Sunday guest column, I thought perhaps he was castigating his fellow students a bit too much regarding their perceived failure to vote.

During four years as an undergraduate student at UW-Madison, I never voted in a Madison-area election. What I did do was vote via absentee ballot from my hometown, a policy I continued to follow while in graduate school in Chicago.

I always figured that I was not a resident of either Dane or Cook counties, merely a transient whose real home was elsewhere. Accordingly, I figured that for me to decide issues that would affect the permanent residents was inappropriate.

After I got my doctorate and left college, I started considering myself an actual resident of wherever I happened to be.

Maybe some of Arnold's fellow students feel the same way. He might consider an editorial survey regarding the issue.

-- Dave Marohl, Sun Prairie

Will Mohs bus the homeless elsewhere?

If Fred Mohs' true concern is to create a "Downtown we can all be proud of," the solution is not to punish community organizations willing to help those less fortunate.

Closing the overflow shelter at First United Methodist Church opens the door to possible trespassing and vandalism by those seeking shelter during a particularly long and cold winter.

It seems that Mohs has a classic case of "not in my backyard" syndrome. According to Mohs, he is open to other solutions. Perhaps he would be willing to allow his parking lot to be used as a loading area for the homeless to board buses (paid for by Mohs) and transported away from the Downtown area. In other words -- out of sight, out of mind.

-- Kelsey Anderson, Madison

Proper drug disposal may protect water

Regarding your three-part Associated Press article on pharmaceuticals found in city water, for years I have been concerned with the practice of flushing drugs down the toilet. Please educate readers on the proper method of disposing of both over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

According to the Harvard Heart Letter, "Regulations prohibit medication recycling. However, there are a few innovative drug disposal programs in which citizens can drop off medications along with household hazardous waste, mail unused drugs to their state's drug enforcement agency or donate drugs to the needy."

The newsletter offers these suggestions about what the public can do to ensure safe drug disposal:

* Ask your pharmacist if he or she can take back medications.

* Call your city or state to ask about disposal programs like those mentioned above.

* If you need to put your medications in the trash, keep them in their original childproof and watertight containers. Leave the label on, but scratch out your name to protect privacy. Add some water to pills, and put some flour in liquids. Conceal the vials by putting them in empty margarine tubs or paper bags before throwing them out.

-- Pamela M. Crouse, clinical and quality improvement director, Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association, Madison