Try sale of indoor smoking license

While reading the paper recently, I came across an advertisement stating "Cigarettes are legal. Businesses should be able to buy an indoor smoking license and post a sign that says We Smoke. ' Then you 'd have a choice. "

It seems to me -- a non-smoker -- that this is a common sense way to handle the smoking problem for all involved. Has this option ever been considered by the city or state? If not, why not?

-- V. M. Neveu, Fitchburg

It 's been suggested we round up the homeless and put them in the already crowded Dane County Jail. Who are they letting out to make room for the homeless? How cost effective is this solution?

Do none of our elected officials understand that the problem of homelessness is not just going to go away, that services for the homeless are much less expensive than jail, and that the community would benefit from options for low income housing?

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz expressed concern over not being a "shelter magnet " -- attracting large numbers of homeless to Madison because we have such great shelters -- and we seem OK following this theory, though it 's not proven and doesn 't make sense. Where are these homeless people going to get the money and resources to travel?

Ignoring social problems like the lack of affordable housing, homelessness, domestic violence and the need for welfare reform will lead to a storefront community. It looks good on the outside, but is rotting from within.

-- Sally Jackson, Madison

Free treatment may end homelessness

If Madison wants to take care of the out-of-control homeless problem once and for all, it will need to close all the costly, ineffective shelters. Then, with consent, transport the shelter users to facilities where professionals can properly address the reasons why they are homeless and provide treatment, counseling and rehabilitation.

Shelters with free food and lodging serve as "magnets " for transients from a wide area, including out of state, and can occasionally cover for a few criminal elements who unfairly infiltrate them.

Keep it simple. We can 't force them to accept our assistance, but if they urgently need help and there are no shelters available, they will comply.

Homeless people with substance abuse and mental problems can be taken, without cost, to area treatment centers. Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, medical issues and substance abuse or mental problems should be cared for -- at no charge -- at a veteran 's facility. Indigents with medical problems can receive treatment at a local medical center.

Working homeless people unable to pay high rent should be provided low-cost, pay-as-you-go, dormitory-style accommodations. Special job training and employment counseling can be arranged through the Wisconsin Department of Employment and Vocational Rehabilitation, usually at no charge. Women and children can continue to receive excellent care at an "expanded " Salvation Army Center.

We need to see the destitute not as inferior or moral delinquents, but as brothers and sisters who have an earnest desire for human dignity and to enjoy a basic right that the rest of us take for granted.

-- Norman C. Granvold, chairman, Operation End World Hunger, Stoughton

Canada tar sand oil production inefficient

An important issue not addressed in recent comments on Canada 's effort to extract oil from tar sands was the efficiency of the process.

While it "costs " the equivalent of one barrel of oil to produce and deliver about 30 barrels of Middle Eastern oil, that same barrel only produces an estimated three to six barrels of tar sand oil.

To turn tar into oil, it takes a large amount of natural gas to allow the oil to flow. According to Canada 's National Energy Board, it takes about 1,700 cubic feet of natural gas to produce a barrel of oil.

Since Canada is a major supplier of natural gas to the United States, the more that 's diverted to oil production, the less there will be to export. The United States will, in turn, depend on natural gas imports from countries like Trinidad, Egypt, Nigeria and Algeria.

And Canada 's natural gas production is predicted to decline after 2010, putting Canada 's ambitious tar sands program on a crash-course with declining natural gas supplies.

Embracing tar sands as a possible solution is a diversion from our real problem -- overconsumption and waste. Instead of focusing on how to increase supply, we need to discuss how to use the Earth 's remaining liquid supplies to bridge us to a sustainable future.

-- Ross DePaola, Madison

Downtown library must aspire to more

I wish I could share the State Journal editorial board 's enthusiasm for Terrence Wall 's Downtown library proposal. While looking for innovative ways to build a new library is necessary, Wall 's proposal misses the mark.

The building illustrated is undistinguished. The oval entrance sheathed in glass and the "hole " in the building are design gimmicks that fail to elevate the design above the level of freeway architecture. Drive the West Side along the Beltline and you 'll see plenty of flashy yet uninspired design work.

Why is inspiration important? Because a library is an essential community institution and the main building should, at its best, express something important about our values and aspirations.

By making the library part of what is essentially a speculative mixed-use building, Madison expresses little beyond the values of commerce and function. There are many examples of communities across the country erecting new libraries that aspire to more.

If and when the Madison Library Board issues a request for proposals for the Downtown building, they need to seek innovative financial solutions without losing sight of other important values.

-- Michael Bridgeman, Madison

Filter rants to stem information overload

Are you as distressed as I am about the abundance of information deluging us daily? Much of the information presented through written or broadcast media is sadly lacking in facts or insight. This is even more evident in today 's pugnacious political environment, where one 's opponent is demonized just for being one 's opponent.

As a result, I 've developed a technique to cull out the garbage and focus on what is worthwhile.

As soon as I read or hear a personal attack on any person, I immediately stop reading, listening or watching. I am not interested in anyone 's hateful rants. I don 't need anyone to tell me what I should think. I prefer thoughtfully informed opinion or, as Jack Webb would say, "Just the facts, ma 'am. "

-- Al Michaels, Oregon

Clinton, Obama and Dems -- heed Pope

It 's hard to imagine how two intelligent people like Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama can be so blind when it comes to the question of when life begins.

Clinton believes life begins at conception, but calls it "potential life. " Obama didn 't know the answer, but said there 's something powerful about "potential life. " Both support a woman 's right to choose abortion.

Clinton and Obama should check out a biology book and learn that life does indeed begin at conception. It is not "potential life, " but life with great potential if given a chance to develop and be protected from our government.

That protection was removed over 35 years ago with the infamous Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court decisions that gave us abortion on demand in this country.

Clinton and Obama should take a break from their campaigns and listen to Pope Benedict XVI when he visits our country. I am sure the pontiff will touch on life issues, including abortion and embryonic stem cell research.

In fact, the entire Democratic Party, including Catholic legislators who have continued to deny the right to life of unborn children in this country, should listen to the words of Pope Benedict XVI.

-- Pat Hardyman, Blanchardville