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No, I didn't see Mickey Mouse, but he was there in spirit at the WWE event held recently at the Aitken University Centre.

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It seems every time I attend an event there, I come away from the experience shaking my head or embarrassed, saying: "Is that the best we can offer talent coming to our city?"

The WWE show started at 1 p.m. sharp. I assume this is because WWE was organizing its show, not AUC.

My son and I arrived at 12:15 p.m., figuring we'd have time to hit the merchandise stands and the snack counter for a couple of hot nachos.

What we found was 3,000-plus people standing outside the AUC. The doors did not open until 12:20-12:25 p.m. That's 3,000-plus people scrambling for seats through two narrow hallways to get seated for 1 p.m.

We just barely got to our seats when the show started. If the doors had opened sooner, I would have bought a WWE program, T-shirts and merchandise, and gotten snacks/drinks before the event, but there was no time.

I guarantee there were people who never got to their seats for the start time.

Ten minutes after the show started, an "AUC official" was telling student "AUC officials" that fans had to stay seated or be ejected from the premises.

Who goes to a wrestling event to stay seated when the wrestlers win/loses a match and/or are going to and from the ring? We paid $120-plus for two tickets - only to be threatened with ejection after the first match because people would stand when the wrestlers were entering, exiting or finishing a match?

At intermission, we got to the concession stand fairly quickly and were 10-15th place in line. We get to the counter, but there was no popcorn, no Pepsi, no hotdogs, no nachos. How is this possible? Only diet pop and three brands of chocolate bars - where is the planning here?

This venue/event was executed like many other AUC events - poorly managed, poorly organized, poorly executed.

Profits at this event could have doubled with simply opening the doors earlier, having stocked concessions and being prepared for a crowd.

I was embarrassed.

I've been to many out-of-town events and, compared to those, this was the most poorly organized I've ever seen.

To spoof a quote from my favourite wrestler, Brett Hartt: AUC's event planning is the worst there is, worst there was, and the worst there ever will be!

Scott Kennie

Fredericton

Backflow preventers could lessen flood damage

While Bert van der Horst's letter in the May 6 edition of The Daily Gleaner is well-noted, I'm unsure that the recent floods should call for demolition of the former Lord Beaverbrook Hotel (now Crowne Plaza), nor should they be deemed a reason to re-consider the construction of the new convention centre.

As I understand it, most of the flooding in the downtown is restricted to basement flooding caused by backflow from the St. John River into the city's storm water sewer system. This type of flooding is surprisingly easy to mitigate by the installation of backflow preventers within the building, or as a simple add-on to the storm water sewer system itself.

I would suggest to all the businesses and residents who could possibly be affected by future basement flooding to consider this relatively cheap upgrade. It could potentially save them the time and money of clearing their basements every spring.

I understand that the former Lord Beaverbrook Hotel is sometimes (as in this year) affected by surface flooding, which would require more extensive/expensive flood mitigation measures. However, that's certainly in the realm of reality.

I would also suggest the city install backflow preventers in its parking structures and buildings affected by the flood - if not installing backflow preventers at all the major storm water sewer outfalls to the river - thus protecting the downtown as a whole. They should also consider making backflow preventers a mandatory element in their development specifications for the downtown/flood areas of the city.

This would certainly reduce the fire department's workload by freeing their tankers and manpower from pumping downtown garages and basements to more significant activities.

I am sure the engineers involved with the design of the new convention centre will certainly provide for proper garage flood mitigation by including backflow preventers and, if need be, automatic sump-pumps in their design.

S.A. Davis

P. Eng.

Fredericton

N.B. not doing enough for the environment

Earth Week 2008 was celebrated in Ontario with the announcement of a ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides, and in British Columbia with the ushering in of revised mining rules to prohibit companies from staking claims for uranium and thorium.

How did the New Brunswick government celebrate Earth Day?

Three ministers announced new sheriff cars fueled by ethanol. The announcement was reported the next day on the front page of this newspaper with the photo caption: Cars for justice. But are the cars just?

While there is debate over how much rising food prices can be blamed on ethanol production, ethanol comes from corn and there is definitely a push to replace some traditional fuels with ethanol. This has created a new demand for corn that has thrown off world food prices.

Jean Ziegler, UN special rapporteur on the right to food, has called using food crops to create ethanol "a crime against humanity."

The food-versus-fuel controversy has never been so great, with riots in the streets of Haiti over food prices, recently forcing Haiti's prime minister from office.

Some Haitians cannot afford a meal a day and are eating cookies made of yellow dirt.

Quebec, and most recently Ontario, have introduced legislation banning the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes on lawns and gardens. A recent study by the Canadian Cancer Society shows that New Brunswickers support pesticide legislation.

Victoria, B.C., has become one of the latest municipalities to implement a pesticide-restriction bylaw, joining a growing list of over 150 municipalities across the country.

Meanwhile, the provinces of British Columbia and Nova Scotia, and the Inuit government of Labrador, have passed bans or moratoriums on uranium activity.

It is time for the government of New Brunswick to take similar actions in the public interest.

We have known for well over 20 years, ever since it was scientifically proven, that pesticides are carcinogens, neurotoxins and endocrine disruptors.

There is already too much radioactivity in our environments. We do not need more exposure to hazardous radioactive emissions from uranium mining.

As U. Utah Phillips, folksinger and historian, so eloquently put it: "The planet is not dying. It is being killed and those killing it have names and addresses."

Tracy Glynn

Fredericton

Abortion doesn't have effect on demographic crisis

Has it occurred to Peter Ryan that the current demographic crisis that New Brunswick is experiencing is not about birth rates, but about encouraging youth and young families to stay in this province?

Strengthening our province by increasing our population is an important issue. However, this issue should never infringe on the legal right for women to choose to have an abortion. Women are not baby-producing factories who should serve to improve our economy.

To really improve the quality of life in our province, we want people who choose to live here. New Brunswick needs to continue to be an open, welcoming province where there are more opportunities for everyone, and where rights that are respected in other provinces are also respected here.

The reality is, women do not decide to have an abortion on a whim.

Mr. Ryan does not take into account the realities that women live with every day. Although adoption is an important and excellent option for some women, the fact remains that there are physical, emotional, financial and mental repercussions to women who continue an unwanted pregnancy. As a woman of "child-bearing" age, I can assure Mr. Ryan and all those concerned with the repopulation of our province that it is a dangerous proposal that our sustainability means forcing women to continue a pregnancy they do not want.

Jennifer Richard

Fredericton