One reason to vote for Referendum C
Re: “Preparing for a doctor shortage,” Oct. 2 Perspective article.
I appreciate The Post’s article highlighting challenges facing medicine. Since my husband began attending the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 2003, in-state tuition rates have jumped from $15,000 to almost $21,000 per year, due primarily to funding cuts for Colorado higher education. Out-of-state tuition his first year ($65,000), as well as living expenses, adds to well over $200,000 in student loan debt when he graduates in 2007. He’s ruled out many of the “personal care specialties” the article mentioned, including family medicine and pediatrics, because he simply cannot justify the relatively lower pay with heavy student-loan payments.
As higher education costs in Colorado rise, more students will be forced to make these types of choices; it will be difficult rationalizing immense debt to earn a school teacher’s salary, for example. Without Referendum C, all higher education students (and their parents) will bear higher percentages of increasing education costs, to the detriment of Colorado’s future. Low tuition rates in public education help students access more careers with less financial pressure. Before voting, please consider the negative impact to higher education in Colorado if Referendum C fails.
As for us, we will be voting in favor of Referendum C.
Mary Ann Clements, Denver
Colo. legislators’ trip to U.S.-Mexico border
Re: “Lawmakers target immigrants,” Oct. 4 news story.
Just read the headlines and you will get the wrong message. Lawmakers are not targeting immigrants, they are targeting illegal immigrants, which is what the headline on this article should have said. What a slap in the face to the thousands of immigrants who do it the legal way, filling out applications and waiting their turn. I can only hope that every reader finished the entire article and got the whole picture.
Ken Worth, Silverthorne
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I am writing to thank the three Colorado legislators who recently traveled to Arizona to meet with the unauthorized “citizen patrol” camped out along the U.S.-Mexico border. Their embarrassing and misdirected efforts to address immigration by supporting a rag-tag group of angry, ill-informed people have inspired me to send $50 to the American Friends Service Committee here in Denver. This local group is working to oppose such hate groups. Were it not for these legislators’ very public trip to Arizona, I may not have been aware of this vigilante collective and the danger it poses to our civilized society.
These three Colorado legislators have the right to embarrass themselves, as does the infamous Tom Tancredo. However, if they believe they can send Colorado tax dollars to Arizona to support these dangerous loose cannons, they will be disappointed.
Ethan Hemming, Denver
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Despite our best efforts, illegal immigration is unlikely to be stopped. However, the negative impacts can be greatly reduced by emphasizing vigorous enforcement of our laws regarding employment. Instead of criticizing the Colorado politicians in Arizona, how about identifying the employers of these people and the pitiful wages and lack of benefits they offer? The employers of these people must be forced to pay living wages. They must be required to provide either a wage sufficient to obtain health insurance or health insurance coverage as part of their compensation to their workers.
Employers who pay these people as though they are indentured servants or slaves are unethical users who take advantage of others. Employers who cheat the state by paying people “under the table” must face harsh consequences. We must create a system in which employers have a strong incentive to pay living wages and treat all employees with decency. As long as we ignore the major role that employers of illegal aliens have in causing and exacerbating the problems caused by illegal immigration, we will never have a chance of solving this problem.
Camille Accountius, Longmont
President Bush’s speech on the war on terror
Re: “Bush tries to revive focus on terrorism,” Oct. 7 news story.
It should be no surprise that President Bush chose to make a major speech on terrorism while his presidency is unraveling. Fanning fear and posturing as a wartime president worked well for him during the last election.
The White House said the president gave his terrorism speech to remind Americans that, after “a lot of distractions” in recent months, the country still is under threat.
Distractions? Military experts are calling the war in Iraq “unwinnable”; the federal deficit is out of control; record gasoline prices are handicapping the economy; Americans are facing stunning increases in energy costs this winter; Republicans in the White House and Congress are at the center of several unsavory scandals; the president has appointed unqualified cronies to sensitive government jobs; and the federal government isn’t prepared to respond to disasters. These are legitimate and troubling issues, not distractions.
The most immediate threat facing America may be the incredible ineptitude of this administration. Using terror to shore up the president’s job rating is the worst kind of politics.
Mary Becker, Golden
Pledge of Allegiance
Re: “Changing a few words in our nation’s Pledge,” Oct. 7 guest commentary.
Insertion of the words “under God” ruined the rhythm and poetry of the pre-1954 Pledge of Allegiance, and it’s debatable whether “indivisible” now refers to “one nation” or “God.”
A simple grammatical fix would be to remove either “indivisible” or “under God” from the Pledge.
John Davoren, Denver
Rising utility costs
The people of Colorado are being hit with huge hikes in fuel, natural gas and electricity costs, and we are being asked to conserve. Didn’t we go through this in the ’70s and ’80s? Didn’t we just go through this with water the past few years? As a matter of fact, we did such a good job conserving water that our rates promptly went up. After all, we can’t expect to actually save money by saving water – that would be bad.
Something tells me that the energy situation is the same. We will all shiver, shake and stay put this winter and indeed use less energy, and my prediction is that prices will continue to rise as profits go down because of conservation. After all, we can’t the energy business to sacrifice profits – there are stockholders and CEOs to consider!
The rich get richer, the middle class get poorer and the poor, well, they don’t vote anyway. Ain’t life grand?
Mike Wolford, Aurora
Columbus Day parade
I find it interesting that letter- writer Joseph Coscia regards the Columbus Day parade as a tribute to Italian-American heritage. Coscia is proud of his heritage, as he should be. The Italians gave us many wonderful artists, many scientists, great musical composers, etc. So why not call it Italian Heritage Day?
My grandparents came to the U.S. from Russia, but I don’t think a Stalin Day parade would symbolize Russian heritage. I don’t think a Hitler Day parade would be the way to show the world the true German heritage.
All the fuss is about semantics. Columbus Day by any other name would serve the same purpose as Italian Heritage Day – and bring an end to all the controversy.
Howard M. Botnick, Aurora
