The value of learning multiple languages
Re: “English initiative advances,” June 14 news story.
Being fluent in German, English and Spanish, I have always found that speaking various languages and being actively involved in diverse cultures enriches my life and is a unifying experience.
While it is important for immigrants to the U.S. to learn English to excel in a predominantly English-speaking society, it is equally beneficial for U.S.-born students to learn foreign languages to excel in the world. Like anything else, languages are not static; they evolve and change over time. Latin, for example, has been replaced by several new romantic languages, while in the U.S., English has been the dominant language in conducting business, rather than Lakota, Navajo or one of the other native dialects. Who is to say that in the future we won’t be expected to know Spanish or even Chinese?
I am always at a loss as to why various political groups in the U.S. are trying to outlaw any other language but English. Are they afraid people might wise up to their game if they know too much? Knowledge is power, and knowledge of other languages gives you the power to research what is going on in this world by being able to read reports from other countries rather than being spoon-fed only the issues the U.S. media want you to know about.
Burghilde Ruffatti, Denver
Honoring the victims of Columbine
Re: “From heartbreaking to groundbreaking,” June 15 news story.
My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones in the Columbine shooting. I cannot know what they are feeling, but I too lost a family member suddenly and violently.
Something that really saddens me about the construction of the Columbine Memorial is the exclusion of the other victims, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, for there cannot be any real healing until we accept that they were victims, too. There are still those who view Harris and Klebold as monsters and curse their parents, because they must find someone to blame. There are also those who still agonize with “Why?” and struggle with their pain, but we must recognize that the Harris and Klebold parents are in even more agony, as they are subjected to guilt and outrage on top of their losses.
If the goal and realization of this memorial is truly to raise awareness, then let us love and honor the lives of all of the victims. We read about other Columbine-style plots, but until we realize that we allowed these “monsters” to be created, we have learned nothing that will prevent this history from repeating.
Tom Gore, Golden
. . .
I had the honor of attending the groundbreaking ceremony at Clement Park for the future “Ring of Remembrance” to memorialize the tragedy at Columbine High School in 1999. The ceremony was poignant, with many family members and friends of the victims present. The Ring of Remembrance will be an important reminder of the victims, will engender a sense of closure for the families and, most important, will be an enhancement to our community itself.
Former President Bill Clinton gave an inspirational speech, this being his third tireless visit (and generous fundraiser) for Columbine. The catastrophe that occurred during his presidency greatly affected him personally as a parent. It seems his sympathy has not abated – he has not forgotten. There was an outpouring of empathy to Colorado from the national and international communities at the time.
Some state Democratic politicians attending the groundbreaking were acknowledged; however, there was nothing minutely partisan about the ceremony. In fact, gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter was only introduced as former district attorney. Glaringly absent were local and state Republican politicians, especially Gov. Bill Owens. Perhaps someone can shed some light as to why the Republicans seemed to view this ceremony as partisan. After all, it was all about community and, yes, “family values.” If I were a Republican (which some of the victims’ families are), I’d be embarrassed that partisanship needlessly came into play. Do we not remember? “We are all Columbine.”
Carrie Lecakes-Lewis, Highlands Ranch
Overcrowding at Body Worlds 2 exhibit
I was really excited about seeing Body Worlds 2 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We had a 6:15 p.m. reservation on Saturday, and were told to make sure we were lined up at the door on time. Unfortunately, “on time” doesn’t seem to apply to the museum.
Once we were admitted, we moved from one staging area to the next, one line to the next. Each time there was movement, we thought we’d finally get in to view this exhibit. No, not true. We finally got to the actual exhibit at 7 p.m., a full 45 minutes after our reservation time. Once we got in, we were disappointed that there were so many people trying to view the exhibit we couldn’t even get close enough to read the information on the displays.
Surely the museum has been holding exhibitions long enough to have a better handle on traffic and crowd control. Clearly, scheduling entry in 15-minute increments doesn’t work. It was announced while we were in line that attendance had surpassed the expected 400,000 visits by 50,000, and closing is still a few weeks away. So why not come up with an effective system of scheduling that takes larger-than-expected crowds into consideration and allows visitors to view the exhibit at or near their reserved time?
Patti McKay, Lakewood
Global warming threat
I went to see the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” and, as I expected, I was horrified. I was shocked to learn of the discrepancy between the number of scientific articles that disagree with global warming compared to the amount of newspaper articles that do.
It is the responsibility and duty of news organizations such as The Denver Post to accurately and vigorously report on this problem. Sadly, I haven’t seen a front-page article on global warming in a long time. This isn’t something we can ignore by keeping it to the opinion page. I have no faith in our leaders on this subject; change will only happen if the perception of the problem changes, and that ball is in The Denver Post’s court.
Scott Donnell, Denver
CU professor Churchill
Letter-writer Robert E. Forman was doing just fine in his letter (June 16) supporting the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct that Ward Churchill be dismissed from the faculty at the University of Colorado, until he closed with the admonishment that liberals should stop their whining.
I am not aware that the Churchill fiasco was any kind of liberal-conservative issue. It is one of academic integrity, something that liberals and conservatives both are capable of displaying and of lacking.
Those who try to cast virtually any public issue in liberal or conservative terms tend to be those who choose not to do any intellectual heavy lifting. Buzzwords are not the lingua franca of public discourse.
Lawrence H. Kaufman, Golden
Illegal immigration
This is the most powerful nation on Earth, and we cannot close our borders? There is something terribly wrong here. The border patrol apprehended 1.2 million people in 2005, and they say there is at least one who gets through for every one they apprehend. This has to stop.
Some say we cannot militarize our borders, but give us no reason. There is absolutely no other way to stop this onslaught of illegal immigrants. We have to close our borders now, before the next 11 million cross them.
Irwin MacLeod, Colorado Springs
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