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Letters: Big city buildings altering Ashland's downtown Are we missing it? Can it be the countless functions, the ongoing committees, the endless needs of a growing family that are keeping us from seeing what is happening to Ashland? Is it also the lack of good illustrations and adequate examples that both the city council and the Ashland Tidings have failed to present to the community. How many Ashlanders realize the magnitude of a 45,000 sq. ft. building which can now be a part of the lovely plaza that graces this small city? The next time you drive by the new 5000 sq. ft. library addition, take a good look. Then look across the street at the 15,000 sq. ft. fire station that fills a substantial portion of the block. Was it clearly pointed out that one building in the downtown area could be the length of the entire block between Pioneer and First Street? Several years back there was a loud outcry about allowing a store the size of Albertsons (40,000 sq. ft.) into Ashland. The ordinance finally passed on the condition that structures that size remain out by the freeway next to Bi-Mart and Shop 'n Kart. Where has that alert, concerned and vocal citizenry gone? Regrettably, the pressures of everyday living consumes many of our Tuesday evenings when we could be present at City Hall or watching the Ashland City Council on channel 9. There are many decisions made that require input and attention from the majority of the citizens, not just an active few. I have a recurring nightmare which quite possibly could prove true. We could look away for a few months and find that a big box, totally predictable, nicely manicured city has replaced the once singularly charming, breathtakingly beautiful village that caught our eyes years ago and caused us to stay. Ramona DeVaul, Ashland Put the ski area expansion to a citywide vote Headlines of the Ashland Daily tidings dated 9-25-03 "Quality Control Team Urged for Expansion." Does this mean expansion is a done deal? Are we still looking at options including - No Expansion. The article continues with plans for a community fund raiser planned by the Mt. Ashland Association. How much is a community expected to give to a Business that pays $1.00 (one dollar per year)? Since the City of Ashland, and we as residents own and lease the mountain, maybe we should have more say in its future. Lets put it to a vote for the citizens of Ashland! Nancy K. Meyer, Ashland Guest forum: Waking Up From The Cabaret By Bob Morse Ashland I recently chanced a viewing of the 1972 film Cabaret which chronicled the rise of Fascism in 1931 Berlin. In response to concerns about the Jewish agenda to take over the world vocalized by his landlady, the movie's British male lead explained how the German citizenry were being deceived by media-promoted propaganda. Seventy-two years later, history informs us that the alleged Jewish conspiracy was fabricated. What aspects of today's news might become classified as misinformation by the scrutiny of retrospective review from the year 2075? Can you remember back not so long ago when the word terrorist was rarely uttered? There was a time when the motto "better dead than red" reflected the fear over potential Communist occupation, an angst whose percolation kept the cold war boiling until the threat of Communism dissipated. I recall a moment frozen in time when the dreaded Communist Chinese were no longer our enemy upon President Nixon's traveling to China to open economic doors. Apparently, the might which "makes right" remains meek unless accompanied by fright, and the target of the might and fright are forever being altered by sleight of tongue. Cultural conditioning has erroneously taught us that our language-and thus our thought-is a symbolic reflection of the world surrounding us. But as the British character in Cabaret asserted, the Jewish-condemning newscasts were providing a lexicon and formulating a mindset which rendered the Jews demonized and de-humanized. Linguistic manipulation, word spins, and demeaning innuendoes collaborated to establish a Zeitgeist, a spirit of the times, which filled the populace with enough fear to accept assumptions and commit violence without questioning. In such eras, myths flourish which reduce that of God to residing only in us, not in them. Dr. Wernher von Braun, the German-born engineer known for his development of the liquid-fuel rocket, had an insider's view of Nazism before emigrating to the United States. On his death bed, von Braun warned that the weaponization of space was being justified by hoaxing a series of threats and explained how scare tactics were used to identify an enemy. First the Russians (with their "killer satellites") would be considered our enemy. In time terrorists would become the enemy du jour (von Braun articulated this prediction in the mid-1970s), followed by third-world country "crazies," then asteroids, and finally aliens. Perhaps the decimation of truth is not simply a casualty of war, but instead the real agitator of violence as twisted words distort our thinking to the extent that we sacrifice love for fear. Having seen countless members of the human family be shuffled back and forth over time from the "enemy camp" to the "winning side," we are reminded that neither our humanness nor our godliness is mutable; only our perspective changes. May we together create a world of "right makes might" where we forever proclaim our right to hear truth and demonstrate our might, or courage, to speak truth in order to manifest the peace we so desire. 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