Cents And Sensibility To the Editor, A little bit of ignorance can go a long way, and Jeff Smith displayed enough naiveté about the copper industry to supply not just one but two harangues in the Tucson Weekly (June 27 and July 4). He seems to imply in both tirardes that the one-cent piece is a major reason for the existence of copper mining, and if that despicable little penny would just go away, we wouldn't need any more evil copper mines. Poor Jeff. I guess word just never reached him (or the environmentalists he parrots) that the "copper" penny is no longer copper, but is mostly zinc. Fourteen years ago, in 1982, the U.S. Mint changed from the 95 percent copper penny to the 97.5 percent zinc penny. So what impact does the zinc penny currently have on the copper industry? Not much--there's only 0.0625 grams of copper in each one. Approximately 13.6 billion pennies were minted last year, so about 1.874 million pounds of copper went into cents. That may seem like a lot of copper, but compared to the output of the Morenci copper mine, that's chump change. That one mine produced 950 million pounds of copper last year and is expected to produce more than one billion pounds per year by next year. Divide 950 million by 365 and you get 2.6 million pounds of copper every 24 hours. Last year's entire penny production would account for less than 75 percent of one days' worth of copper production at Morenci. And Morenci is just one of more than a dozen large copper mines in Arizona. Together, Arizona copper mines could produce a year's worth of pennies in six hours. Does it make sense to stop making cents, if your stated aim is to decrease copper demand? No. Here's where the law of unintended consequences makes a mockery of the "copper" penny argument. If we did stop making the penny, we would still need something to use for small change, and because prices would have to be in increments of five cents, we would most logically turn to nickels to play the role of the pennies they replaced. What is a nickel made of? Pure nickel, as the name would suggest? No--the "nickel" is 75 percent copper! The nickel has 60 times as much copper as a penny. If we replaced every five pennies with one nickel, copper usage for new nickels would increase twelve-fold over what it would be if we kept making pennies. The copper industry would bow down and kiss Jeff Smith's feet in appreciation if he succeeded in killing the "copper" penny. Is that irony, or what? --Ray Harris On A Positive Note To the Editor, Having recently arrived in Tucson after a year's absence, I find your music reporting, with Jennifer Murphy at its helm, a welcome surprise. After all these years it is so nice to open my Weekly every Thursday and read the catchy prose of someone who loves alternative music, who knows how to write, and who is a woman! I hope Jennifer Murphy is a permanent addition to what seems to be a reinvigorated staff of arts writers. Brava! Encore! --Maggie Golston P.S. Can Tucson get the same in a literary editor? Please, please, please? Mission Mish-Mash To the Editor, Regarding Emil Franzi's "Mission: Imperceptible" (Tucson Weekly, July 25): At least the Republicans have a statement of values, which is more than most of the politicians who run our city/county have. Their next step is to translate those values into actions and plans. If they don't, then criticize. Right now your editorial looks like a cheap shot. --Kurt Cooper Give Me Libertarian To the Editor, I am writing to express my disappointment in accuracy of the Tucson Weekly's coverage of candidates for the upcoming election. Senior editor Jim Nintzel's extensive "Ballot Box Basics" spread featured the candidates for the Pima County Board of Supervisors (Tucson Weekly, July 18). I was disappointed to find it included only the Democratic and Republican candidates. In a time when third parties are big news in this country, the omission of a Libertarian candidate for public office is a negative reflection on the Tucson Weekly. The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the country. The Libertarian Party has a very extensive following in Arizona, especially in Pima County. I would expect an "alternative" newspaper to cover such a new party. The Tucson Weekly's web page states that it "strives to inform Tucsonans about what's really going on...." I wonder how your newspaper can claim to do this while publishing an article which covers candidates from only two parties in a three-party race. For your information, Ted Glenn is the Libertarian candidate for Pima County Board of Supervisors in District 4. I am Mr. Glenn's campaign manager. I hope you are willing to correct this oversight. --Jackie Casey Jim Nintzel replies: I completely stand by the accuracy of "Ballot Box Basics." The feature almost entirely focused on the September 10 primary election; there are no contested primaries for Libertarian candidates this year. I can only assume you didn't bother to read the story, because I specifically mentioned your candidate, Ted Glenn, in the summary of the District 4 race. I quote: "The winner of the GOP primary will face Democrat Craig Runyon and Libertarian Ted Glenn, neither of whom had raised more than $250 by the end of May. Given that nearly half of District 4's voters are registered Republicans, only 37 percent are Democrats, and Libertarians make up just 1 percent, it's unlikely either Runyon or Glenn will be serious contenders for the office." Best of luck with your campaign! We Want Letters! Thrilled by our brilliant insights? Sick of our mean-spirited attacks? Need to make something perfectly clear? Write: tucsonweekly@tucsonweekly.com

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