Columnist Susan Snyder: Spring has arrived — in this column

Tuesday, March 29, 2005 | 8:27 a.m.

It was wonderful to return home to Las Vegas on Sunday evening and find that spring had, indeed, happened.

We spent the weekend in Santa Fe, N.M., where "spring" was what we had to do to avoid the puddles of melting snow outside the mission at Chimayo. Still, Easter weekend is a fine time to visit the mission, which draws thousands of people who walk there in hopes of witnessing a miracle.

Anyway, now that I am certain spring has started, it's time to clean:

First, we must give credit where it's due. The generous members of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Soroptimists Club want to make sure everyone knows that Terra Contracting, Inc. donated the $1,000 that the club presented to the Nevada Women's Archives at UNLV's special collections.

I neglected to mention Terra Contracting in a March 22 Valley Views that told of the donation, which provides a scholarship for a graduate-level intern. The archives are housed at the University of Nevada Las Vegas Lied Library.

Watch the birdie.

Red Rock Audubon Society is hosting an opportunity for spring bird-watching and also conducting a silent auction to help pay for the group's activities.

Join members at 8 a.m. Thursday for a four-hour excursion at Floyd Lamb State Park where watchers will look for birds of prey, waterfowl and some migrating birds returning to the north. This is a good trip for beginners and senior citizens, but you must reserve a spot. Call Rita at 382-3327. You'll need to bring water, a snack and $5 for the park entry fee.

Red Rock Audubon also is hosting its second annual silent auction at 7 p.m. April 20 in the Wengert Room of Nevada Power, 6226 W. Sahara Ave. People may bid on an array of prizes, from framed bird prints to dinner certificates and show tickets. The event also is to feature a presentation, "Wildflowers of the Mojave Desert," by Hermi Hiatt, a local botanist.

For information on this event or to donate an auction item, call Pam Nickels, 375-7230.

And because I cannot sit still another day without at least bringing up what is sure to be an unpopular point of view:

Protesters who have been camping out in front of Terry Schiavo's hospice forced Florida officials to beef up police patrols and close down a nearby elementary school for an entire week.

But unfortunately the ongoing national rant about values, morals and faith have not inspired passionate discussion about the eating disorder that set the stage for a heart attack that disabled Schiavo 15 years ago.

The woman, whose condition prompted the nation's most contentious right-to-die case, suffered from bulimia nervosa, a binge-and-purge disorder that lowered her body's potassium level to a lethal point. Her irreversible brain damage resulted from a lack of oxygen after the heart attack.

Nearly 4 percent of all females and 3 percent of all teens suffer from bulimia nervosa, according to the national Eating Disorder Coalition. The group's studies have shown that 40 percent of 9-year-old girls diet, and girls as young as 5 are concerned about dieting.

This isn't a question of faith. For more information, www.eatingdisordercoalition.org.