Support for emergency contraception bill
Gov. Bill Owens and the state Senate have a chance to do what anti- choice legislators continually fail to do: They can provide a way to reduce the need for abortion. Emergency contraception can prevent pregnancy – after the condom breaks, after you skip a couple of birth control pills, after a rape. But it is most effective in the first 12 hours.
House Bill 1212, Colorado’s emergency-contraception bill, allows, but does not force, pharmacists to prescribe emergency contraception. I often have to wait a week to see my doctor – and he’s never open on Sunday. But my pharmacy is open 24 hours a day. When every hour counts, going straight to the pharmacy can help prevent an unintended pregnancy.
Gov. Owens and state senators, I’m counting on you. Join the doctors and pharmacists who support HB 1212. Pass it and reduce the need for abortion in Colorado.
Sarah Saldana Custer, Denver
Solving America’s immigration crisis
Re: “Guest-worker boost; Clash looms on Senate floor after bill clears Judiciary Committee,” March 28 news story.
Any solution to our immigration crisis must consider its two most important causes.
Big business controls Congress with the goal of maintaining cheap labor – witness Congress’ refusal to raise the minimum wage for the past nine years. People who say that immigrants do the jobs Americans refuse to do never add that the wages being offered are too low to support American families. Immigrants take these jobs at slave wages.
We also need to recognize the role the Catholic Church has played in this crisis. Stephen D. Mumford warned about not controlling our immigration in his 1984 book, “American Democracy & The Vatican: Population Growth & National Security.” He describes the church’s creation in 1975 of a national network of centers designed to assist illegal immigrants in circumventing the immigration laws of our country. These were even advertised on Spanish-language radio stations, with a guide suggesting that assistance could be obtained from any Catholic diocese. Mumford’s warning that the Catholic Church is pitted against the national security interests of the United States by its efforts to further its own power with increasing numbers now rings alarmingly true.
Since it is unlikely that either big business or the church will change its agenda, a viable solution does not seem possible.
Janet Brazill, Colorado Springs
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Thank you for the coverage of the immigration issues that are facing our country. My hope is that every American will learn about these issues and write to their legislators to make their voices heard. We need leaders and citizens who are not afraid to pass the laws that are needed to bring these issues into balance. We are in danger of losing a middle class to cheap labor and employers that are willing to hire illegal labor. Wake up, America! We have problems that need to be dealt with.
Richard Johnston, Northglenn
Allocation of funds in state budget plan
Re: “State budget up by $1 billion,” March 28 news story.
Legislators don’t get it, nor does the governor. They can put all the extra monies from our economic rebound into basic services, but when the next recession hits Colorado, they will look back and wish they had spent more on economic development. Without incentives, the private sector will not fuel our economy with job creation and new business expansion. Public- works projects are not limitless, nor will the construction industry be sustainable through a plethora of Federal Reserve rate increases.
The marketing of Denver, DIA and Colorado in general has been neglected for five years. The word throughout the rest of the U.S. is “It’s a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to move my company there.” We need to change that perception now.
Steve Lustig, Greenwood Village
Denver policing tactics
Re: “Big police idea starts small,” March 27 news story.
I’ve read with interest the continued reporting of changes in Denver Police Department operations, and feel the need to address several issues.
First, while I believe change is needed, I do not feel the subscription to one theory of crime causation is healthy. Multiple theories of crime causation and prevention are grounded in different aspects of human and community behavior, each offering a plausible yet unproven reason that crime occurs.
I have great respect for criminologist George Kelling’s work and the willingness of DPD administrators to engage in organizational change. However, the focus on “broken windows” gives an appearance of political expediency and a use of limited police resources in a manner that may not be clearly thought-out, particularly the effect upon other organizations.
Second, I believe The Post is oversimplifying the theory of broken windows and, in doing so, leads the public to believe that police officers are now focusing on petty offenses in marginalized neighborhoods rather than “real” police work throughout the city. The Post has missed an opportunity to engage a broader discussion of how crime prevention and quality of life is a larger community issue, not merely a police issue.
Ingrid Oliphant, Denver
The writer is a former probation officer supervisor and senior probation officer for Denver County Court.
C-470 girder collapse
It was heartening to read the two articles on the C-470 girder collapse over Interstate 70 written by Jeffrey Leib in your March 21 and 22 issues. The first reports of the tragedy on May 15, 2004, triggered many thoughts and sadness. How ironic an end it was for this family of three who left suburban New Jersey following the Sept. 11 tragedy for the safer life in Denver.
Prior to last week’s articles on the collapse, it seemed as though the whole tragedy had been swept under the rug by the state government and construction industry. Leib’s articles not only reported findings of the National Transportation Safety Board investigation, but also the settlements and the changes to Colorado Department of Transportation construction-approval procedures that hopefully will prevent more construction catastrophes. Nevertheless, I urge you and your staff to keep an eye on CDOT and public works projects where lives are at stake.
Thanks to the NTSB for its investigation and thanks to The Post for reporting some closure to this Colorado tragedy.
William Owens, Centennial
Are CSAP testing standards too low?
Re: “CSAP and teaching to the test,” March 24 Open Forum.
Letter-writer Jane A. Diamond’s assertion that CSAP testing makes children stupid is akin to believing that bathroom scales cause obesity. Diamond rightly believes that a child should be “a good problem-solver” who finds more than “one right answer” to complex questions. Unfortunately, the CSAP proves that our dumbed- down public schools mostly produce students who cannot find even one right answer to very simple problems.
I once showed a writing sample from the CSAP website to public school teachers, administrators and school board members and asked them to tell me its grade level. They all thought it was fourth- to sixth-grade work, and I agreed. Unfortunately, the CSAP grading scale places it well into the advanced 10th-grade range.
I encourage everybody to visit the CSAP website (cde.state.co.us/ cdeassess/csap) and analyze the questions and the scoring scale. Then take a look at what Singaporean students are doing (sgbox.com), and ask yourself whether the CSAP is really all that tough.
Diamond clearly loves her great- nephew and worries “that when he goes to school it will make him stupid.” Her concern is not unfounded; I encourage her to investigate private, parochial and home school alternatives.
Brad Jolly, Longmont
TO REACH US
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