Prom nights and parental responsibility
Re: “Prom isn’t worth all it can cost,” April 25 Diane Carman column.
Diane Carman’s excellent article hits the nail on the head – well, almost. Where in the world are the parents of these kids? Does any parent believe teenagers can act responsibly without sleep for 24 hours, let alone be behind the wheel of a car with a young lady at 6 a.m. after being up all night?
Here is how my mom managed to raise seven sons and a daughter: Mom let us know the rules: no alcohol; be home by 1 a.m. or else forget about going out the next year or so; be prepared to kiss mom goodnight or face her wrath the next morning (the “kiss” was mom’s version of a breathalyzer test).
Parents, forget the before and after prom parties and assume the responsibility for protecting the kids God has given you. Better tough love than no kid to love.
David C. Nilges, Centennial
New urbanism and the death of Jane Jacobs
Re: “Author-activist Jacobs was early critic of urban renewal,” April 26 obituary.
I object to Adam Bernstein’s statement, “In more recent years, she was regarded as a chief influence on the ‘new urbanism’ movement.”
Saying that she had an influence on new urbanists is a lot like saying a Humvee must be a sensible car because it looks like it was made out of a packing crate. One of Jacob’s primary principles of a healthy neighborhood was the presence of “marginal enterprise.” She said that the flavor of cities is found in those start-up businesses that flock to healthy neighborhoods. New urbanists are the offspring of those planners who tore down our cities in the 1960s in order to save them.
A perfect example of new urbanism in Denver is Cherry Creek. Marginal enterprises that gave Cherry Creek its flavor are rapidly being replaced by national chain stores that can afford the exhorbitant rents. In 20 years, after the chains have sucked out the last of its flavor, taxpayers will be financing the very latest urban renewal scheme to “save Cherry Creek.”
New development along Colfax is designed to eliminate the marginal enterprises that were well on their way to creating a sustainable neighborhood. The success of places like Tommy’s Thai, the Bluebird Theater, Pete’s Gyros Place and Goodfriends has lured the planners and big developers to the area between York Street and Colorado Boulevard with a new development scheme based on destruction of the marginal businesses to be replaced by big businesses requiring customers from outside the neighborhood for their survival.
Claiming that Jane Jacobs might advocate this kind of development is a basic misunderstanding of her work.
Tom Morris, Denver
Reasons not to close Manual High School
Re: “Manual allies denounce DPS,” April 24 Denver & The West.
I see many educationally sound reasons for not closing Manual High School.
First, if you re-open it in the fall as a traditional high school, you will see area students return to the school. Without that happening, I’m afraid DPS will use the student numbers as a reason to permanently close Manual.
Second, the books and lab equipment, etc., will be dispersed throughout the city. Science books and geography books are upgraded regularly, while math, English and language books don’t need that upgrade as often. Where do we get the money to replace those items when DPS reopens Manual a year from now?
Third, students will not attend regularly or be able to participate in after-school activities, or even in school activities that require after-school rehearsals or performances, like choir, jazz band and sports, if they must travel more than 30 minutes from home. All electives stimulate the brain and body and are necessary for the understanding of all subjects.
Fourth, it will put a burden on parents to remain active in their child’s education if they don’t have access to a car. Clearly, the price of gas is prohibitive now.
Fifth, if you return to a traditional high school next fall, you will give everyone – students, teachers, parents and DPS administrators – a chance to have input in the additions and changes made to their traditional high school without abandoning the four grades of students, as DPS is doing now.
Lastly, leaving any building empty increases the chance of deterioration.
Jean McBirnie, Denver
“Special-needs” kids
Re: “Special-needs kids enjoy palette of fun at arts fete,” April 23 Denver & The West.
As a parent of a child with Down syndrome and an elementary school educator, I am encouraged by your acknowledgement that all children benefit from such rich learning experiences as Aurora Public Schools’ Festival of the Arts. However, I would have expected your article to go further in its support of inclusive education experiences. Three times your article identified the children as “special-needs children,” thereby limiting their capabilities to their disabilities. While the intent of the writing was laudible, the impression left was one that belittles the very children you were attempting to celebrate.
Jennifer St. George Palmer, Parker
Free internet access
Big businesses – this time in the form of AT&T, Verizon, et al. – are pushing hard and with all their huge lobbying resources to take away the public’s free access to the Internet.
Both the FCC and congressional leadership are in near full agreement with this takeover. If this plan is allowed to become law, the greatest democratic communications tool in history will soon be just a memory. The only thing that can stop this juggernaut of power is the voice of citizens. We all need to communicate with our congressmen and tell them we are not in agreement to allow the bigs to rake off even more money from us and to lose our ability to receive and send information around the world as we choose. Lost will be the only free and fully transparent communications link our country has.
John Ruckman, Lakewood
High gas prices
I can’t help but feel a bit entertained by the sudden outrage and surprise from people about gas prices, as if it were totally out of the blue. It is on the news constantly, like it’s actually news. We have an administration that said it wanted to run the country like a business and people voted for it. Is it a coincidence that Bush is an oil man and oil is now at record highs? The price of gas is so high because people keep paying it, using it. Those who voted for and continue to support Bush & Co. can blame themselves.
A sucker is born every day.
John Phillips, Salida
