Archive for April 16, 2009
Coincidence? We Think Not.
by John Weckerle
Update: I met with Wally Gordon after this article was written, and Mr. Gordon explained that the appearance of the subject material was inadvertent. The Independent printed a clarification of the source in their next edition.
We would like to point out to our readers the striking similarities between the story titled “Free concerts in Mountainair” on page 10 of the April 15, 2009 edition of The Independent and our article, “Spring Must Be Here…,” published a week earlier. We’d like to point out specifically that the similarities are very striking – as striking as striking can be. Apart from deletion of a couple of phrases and insertion of the word “concert” which was inadvertently omitted from one of our sentences, one might be tempted to think that The Independent’s article was simply lifted from NM-Central.com – without permission.
There is an old saying: “Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.” In the case of published material, however, that particular brand of flattery is illegal. We’ve sent a “cease and desist” message via e-mail to The Independent’s editor, Wally Gordon, demanding payment and an apology. We will keep our readers posted (pun intended) regarding The Independent’s response. We’re not sure whether they’re reading their e-mail today, but we think it’s a pretty good bet that they’re reading this. We’d like to suggest that The Independent be a little more careful in this regard in the future – or similarities may not be the only things striking.
What’s In A Name?
by John Weckerle
Today, we received the following response from Tom Sievert to Chuck Ring’s December 22, 2009 article about naming the Edgewood public library (we subsequently endorsed Mr. Ring’s position that the library should be named for Mark Jensen and his mother, Alta Mae Jensen in our January 6 article):
“Alta Mae was My mom’s baby sister. Mark was my cousin. Both deserve and should be honored. Please, though, don’t tag my beloved Altamamma with the moniker Ms. She was devoted to her husband Maurice. If you knew Maurydad, you know the nut that was Mark did not fall far from the tree. I do believe Alta Mae would want to be remembered as Mrs. Alta Mae Jensen. Missing Mark, Altamama and Maureydad.
Tom.”
We will postpone discussion of the distinction between the honorifics “Ms” and “Mrs” for the time being, although we understand Mr. Siefert’s point and intend to discuss it further in a future article. We would prefer to address the issue of naming the library, for now. We understand that the Edgewood Town Council has, in the past, wrestled with the issues surrounding naming of public assets, and that there are issues to be resolved on that front.
In this particular situation, however, we think the Town Council can act without risking impropriety. We call on the Town once again to name the library after Mark Jensen and his mother, Alta Mae.