Glad to see Boskey go

I keep reading in the newspapers and watching television and everyone seems surprised that ex-city councillor Sam Boskey is not a city councillor after 16 years ["In search of a coalition," Nov. 5].

Well, I spoke with members of the cultural communities in Sam Boskey's old riding, and what they told me was, "What good is Sam Boskey when he cannot get a tree removed or a pothole fixed?" Maybe he's great at city hall, maybe he's even an intellectual, as city councillor Marvin Rotrand claims [Mirror Nov. 12]. Maybe he should be teaching at university.

But this is not what the cultural communities want or need. What the city needs is more "neophytes," as Marvin Rotrand referred to new city councillor Sonya Biddle.

And as soon as the people get more organized in the Victoria riding, where Mr. Rotrand is city councillor, he will join Sam Boskey as an ex-city councillor.

--Bob White

Bad gambling math

In the article "Snow bored? Twenty cool things to do this winter" [Nov. 12], Jason Bogdaneris suggests betting on hockey (number 17), and how predicting six tie-games on a $20 wager can return you $10,000. Good idea, bad math: by my calculations, a $20 bet on six games would net you in the vicinity of $330,000.

--Stanley Whyte, Concordia University

Strippers are people too

I was glad to read the letter ["Surgically correct?" Nov.12], from the woman who works as a stripper to pay her tuition fees. It is time we exposed strippers as being, very often, nice people who bare flesh only to make enough money to get by.

Lots of people think only junkies, the uneducated and the uncultured would work as strippers. In reality, a lot of college students, both male and female, including future lawyers, accountants and the like work as nude dancers.

But there are problems. We often hear how in our society so many women ruin their health while trying to cultivate a Barbie Doll figure; anorexia is just one of the symptoms of women who often try too hard to lose weight and look ultra-slim and pretty.

On the male side, one of my male friends works as a stripper in a gay bar. It saddens me to see so many male strippers use heavy-duty steroids to bulk up and gain upper-body muscles, big chests, shoulders and pectorals are an obsession among many male strippers.

Never mind if those who have very big pectorals have legs that are undermuscled and disproportionate bodies, as often happens when guys are not naturally well-built and try too hard to look muscular through steroids. And we all know steroid use can have devastating long-term health consequences on the user, including kidney failure, liver disease and heart problems as well as shrunken testicles.

Besides, a lot of clients actually prefer lean, good-looking men as dancers instead of heavy-built guys. Face and proportion are perhaps more important to male beauty than sheer muscles. Male strip-club managers should take this into account and hire a greater variety of dancers, including more thin men.

You do not have to be really muscular to be in shape--you just need to have energy. A lot of thin guys have more energy than heavy-set men. When will our society realize this?

--Mack Forester

Ban transsexual Net porn!

You at the Mirror should get a petition going to prevent Internet servers carrying TS porn. It hurts transsexuals, branding them as cheap hookers and exhibitionists.

--Lauren Rattay

Weeklies not pollution

This is in response to the recent letter, signed "Downtowner," which suggested that the alternative weeklies make the city a mess ["Bitter litter," (e)Mail, October 29]. What really ticks me off is people like you, Mr. Downtowner, who have the nerve to bitch about something that is a collective problem with all forms of media in the city, not just one.

Pollution is a major problem in most developed cities in North America, not just ours. It's not only Montreal's alternative publications that litter the city, but also everyday products from newspapers to paper cups, and I see a lot more of these than the weekly papers you are trying to put down as the source of the problem.

Just because you do not agree with the views and perspectives in these alternative papers does not mean you have carte blanche to blame society's problems on them.

--A Montrealer

Correction

Last week's article on snowboarding ["Chairman of the board," Cool Winter Guide, November 12] stated that last year's boards and accessories are available for less than half-price at Ski Exchange (54 Westminster N.). In fact, while Ski Exchange offers considerable rebates, it is their affiliated store, Diz (18 Westminster N.), which offers last year's models at half-price.